Learning to read again

I'm currently taking Farsi classes, and it's very humbling because I'm like a child, learning a new alphabet and having to sound out words character by character until I finally start to automatically recognize them. And then I have to remember what those foreign words I've sounded out mean. But it's a fun challenge, and helps me take a hard look at all that I generally take for granted in reading and writing and appreciate how amazing language and writing are.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

- L'Editrice

Diversity of discussion

I found the following essays very interesting, especially in light of recent events in both the YA world and the (unfortunately) "real" world. They can serve as a kind of post-script to my May 31 posting:

1) "Why My Protags Aren't White," by Justine Larbalestier

2) "Straight Talk on Race: Challenging the Stereotypes in Kids' Books," by Mitali Perkins

- L'Editrice

The smell of books

I just returned from the library and a wave of nostalgia from childhood summers. As I did back then, today I leisurely roamed the aisles, keeping an eye out for any books that looked interesting to me. I love what a multisensory experience the library is: the smell of old books, the look of the yellowing pages and the once-trendy jackets, the heightened hearing I develop when I'm all alone in the stacks.

Appropriately, I happened to be wearing the great T-shirt my former colleague Michelle gave me, which features a little girl reading in a big armchair, below tree branches and a cuckoo clock. And I walked home with a canvas bag full of new worlds to discover.

- L'Editrice

Brave new world?

I found this article fascinating and alarming. Our increasingly connected, increasingly digitized world has infinite repercussions, both very good and very bad.

- L'Editrice.

Your life in ten steps

In a writing workshop I took a few years ago, one of our exercises was to write our autobiography in ten simple sentences--the result was a lot like poetry. Here's what I wrote:

Born in desert.
Crossed the ocean.
Settled in swamp.
Jumped on bed.
Picked on sisters.
Sang in bathtub.
Swam in pool.
Read in cars.
Shined in school.
Dreamed of island.

Really shows how less can be so much more when it comes to writing, doesn't it? I'd love to read others' life poems.

- L'Editrice

Words of inspiration from my favorite TV personality

"Someone once told me, 'It's not about jumping from pond to pond, it's about jumping from lily pad to lily pad.'" --Clinton Kelly

- L'Editrice

Most deserving fan

Help write a great story for a childhood friend of mine. Tomorrow is the last day to vote.

- L'Editrice

From the mouths of babes

I was flipping channels when a conversation between two of the kids on "Run's House" caused me pause. (I promise I am not a reality TV addict; I have never even seen a full episode of this show.) A little boy was teasing his younger brother (See? I don't even know their names!) about reading for fun instead of playing video games.

"I like it," protested the younger boy. "It's like watching television in my head."

- L'Editrice