Unfortunately, tonight’s (9/6/18) Butler Book Banter has been cancelled. We will still be open for our regular hours (12-4 pm).
Thank you and sorry for any inconvenience.
Best,
Jen Clemons
Curator
Do you READ LOCAL?
Do you shop at your local farmers market? Support local arts organizations? How about adding “Read local authors” to the list?
Join us on Thursday, Sept 20th when we host Evanston author Sarah Aronson for a chat about local authors and creative ways to incorporate their books into your programming.
Made in Illinois: New Books by Illinois Authors and How to Use Them in the Classroom (and Library)
When: Thursday, September 20th– program starts at 6:15pm
Where: Butler Children’s Literature Center– Crown Library Room 214
RSVP: By September 17th to butler@dom.edu
You can find out more about Sarah, her books, and her love of exclamation points at www.saraharonson.com
Women and Wealth Redistribution: A Review of The Forest Queen
The Forest Queen
Betsy Cornwell
HMH/Clarion Books, August 2018
“Steal from the rich, give to the poor” gets a fresh take in this gender-swapped retelling of the classic Robin Hood tale. Sylvie, sixteen and lady of Loughsley Abbey, begins to question her family’s treatment of the people of Loughsley – especially now that her brother, John, is the unforgiving sheriff. With her childhood friend, Bird, she runs away and lives in hiding in the nearby woods. Slowly, others from Loughsley join them in their new community, including a young woman named Little Jane, the midwife Mae Tuck, and others who feared otherwise being jailed for their inability to pay egregious taxes. Sylvie must eventually confront her brother, along with her own complicity in the evils done by her family, and she comes to realize that the changes required for economic justice mean she must take “radical action” and put herself in potential danger for the greater good.
Sylvie and her mission to redistribute wealth among the people of Loughsley are easy to root for, but the additional focus on gender roles, womanhood, and the idea of community as family are what set this retelling apart. Strong secondary characters help to challenge Sylvie and force her to take a strong stand against a system that she would otherwise benefit from, and parallels can be drawn from the injustices in the story to those of today’s world. As Little Jane, who becomes a dear friend to Sylvie says, “If someone doesn’t care whether you live or die, then living itself is rebellion” (p 241). This thoughtful narrative of what can happen when the privileged few horde wealth while the majority struggles to make do with less and less shows the power in a united band of concerned citizens.
Reminder: September B3 is Almost Here!
Our first Butler Book Banter of the academic year is almost here! Please send us an RSVP note at butler@dom.edu or message us on any of our social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter).
When: Thursday, September 6th – We’ll start with snacks at 6:30 p.m., and get into the book discussion from 7-8 p.m.
Where: Butler Children’s Literature Center, Room 214 in Rebecca Crown Library at Dominican University (map here).
Who: Anyone interested in reading, kids’ books, and friendly discussion!
What: Our reading list is as follows (and we invite you to bring any favorite school-themed books for show and tell!):
Young Adult: People Like Us by Dana Mele (Putnam, February 2018)
Middle Grade: Class Action by Steven B. Frank (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 2018)
Picture Book: The Secrets of Ninja School by Deb Pilutti (Henry Holt, March 2018)
See you in September!
Back to School with Historical Fiction: A Review of Finding Langston
Finding Langston
Lesa Cline-Ransome
Holiday House, August 2018
Langston doesn’t like much about his new life in Chicago – not the small apartment he shares with his father, or the noisy streets and sidewalks, and definitely not his new school, where classmates call him “country boy” and make fun of how he speaks. Langston misses Alabama, where his mother died and where his Grandma still lives, though his father sends her part of his paycheck each week in the hopes of helping her move up north with them. It’s only when Langston discovers George Cleveland Hall Library, open to all Chicago residents, that he starts to feel at home.
In the safety of the library, Langston also discovers his namesake, a poet who seems to have inspired a few of the love letters written by young Langston’s mother to his father. Reading the poetry of Hughes helps Langston work through his grief at losing his mother, but it’s a new friend who recognizes that reading poetry “is a way of putting all the things you feel inside on the outside” (p 99).
Cline-Ransome mixes poetry and history in this slim fiction novel for elementary and middle school children. The post World War II era of the Great Migration is explored through the story of one family, and Langston (the character) also learns a great deal about Langston Hughes and other African American poets and writers of the time. Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood and Chicago Public Library’s Hall Branch are both highlighted and given extra detail in an Author’s Note at the end of the book. Told with heart and thoughtfulness, Finding Langston belongs in personal libraries and on classroom shelves alike.
Announcing Fall Hours!
The Fall 2018 hours for Butler Children’s Literature Center are as follows:
Monday: 12pm – 4pm
Tuesday: 12pm – 4pm
Wednesday: 12pm – 4pm
Thursday: 12pm – 4pm
These hours will go into effect starting Monday, August 27. We are also available by appointment (email butler@dom.edu). Stop by to see our ever-growing collection!
Valuable Reminders: A Review of The Dollar Kids
The Dollar Kids
Jennifer Richard Jacobson
Illustrations by Ryan Andrews
Candlewick (August, 2018)
Ages 10-14
When his family wins the chance to buy a house for just $1, twelve-year-old Lowen sees it as a chance to hit the reset button — Mum can open her own restaurant, Dad can follow his dream of working in a clinic in an underserved community, his brother Clem can finally be the star athlete, and his sister Anneth — well, she’ll need convincing. And sensitive, artistic Lowen can work through his grief over the death of a friend and guilt over believing he caused it. But moving to a small town isn’t easy on any of them, leading everyone to question whether the Dollar House program was such a good idea after all. Dubbed the “Dollar Kids” by hostile new neighbors skeptical of the program and “whether it’s a help or drain on the town” (p. 328), Lowen and the other new kids in town struggle to make a place for themselves, rehab houses, and rebuild community.
The idea of home, be it a building, a community, a family, or a feeling creates a strong backbone for this plot, helping to pull the reader through the slightly slow start to the one year the book covers. By mid-book, the pace picks up in both action and time (the progress noted with each new chapter). While slightly awkward, the change of pacing mirrors the changes Lowen experiences as he processes his grief and settles into life in Millville. Scenes from Lowen’s comic book drawing layer in additional elements of his grieving process, questions of faith, and ultimately his healing.
Diversity (of age, gender, and cultures) among the characters in this story provide a varied range of coping mechanisms for dealing with uncertainty, insecurity, and change by both the new families settling in and Millville residents dealing with the decline of their small, but proud town. The inclusion of parents and other community members as active players in the story is a refreshing change from books that often leave you wondering “What happened to all the adults?” and provides a subtle reminder that communities need all types of diversity to thrive.
It’s Okay to Not Be Okay: A Review of Darius the Great is Not Okay
Darius the Great is Not Okay
Adib Khorram
Dial Books, August 2018
Ages 14 and up
Darius Kellner, named after Darius the Great, doesn’t always feel great, and he and his family know that. Darius’s father also has Depression, and while he struggles to vocalize his love for Darius, does not shy away from tougher conversations about his own mental health and the importance of both therapy and medication. These conversations happen against the backdrop of a rough patch for Darius – he is bullied at school, not appreciated at his part time job at Tea Haven, and feels distance growing between himself and all of his family members: dad, mom, and younger sister, Lelah, who he sees as a replacement for himself.
As a narrator, Darius is not without faults – he routinely gets in his own way, and many times would rather remove himself from a situation or conversation with an “Um” and redirection towards the nearest tea kettle – but his character does learn and grow in his own way. During a family trip to Iran, where his mother grew up, Darius begins to recognize and find his place in his family as son, brother, and friend, though not without mistakes, painful conversations, and learning how to advocate for himself. This young adult novel, told from the perspective of an awkward but earnest narrator, is a testament to the importance of open and honest conversations around mental health. Aspects of daily life in Iran, from religious customs to food preparation rituals, add depth and interest to the characters and give the story a firm sense of place and nuanced secondary characters allow for a reader to see multiple facets of Darius as a protagonist.
September B3: School Days
It’s nearly back to school time—yikes! In honor of all the teachers, librarians, parents, and oh yes, KIDS preparing for the first day of school we will be reading with that theme in mind for the first Butler Book Banter of the academic year on Thursday, September 6th.
So whether you’re looking for friendship, perseverance, and heart in your stories or mean girls, homework overload, and scaredy ninjas (oh my!), we’ve got the book for you!
Young Adult: People Like Us by Dana Mele (Putnam, February 2018)
Middle Grade: Class Action by Steven B. Frank (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, April 2018)
Picture Book: The Secrets of Ninja School by Deb Pilutti (Henry Holt, March 2018)
There are always a bus-load of school themed books this time of year, so if you have a new favorite that’s not on our list, bring it for show and tell.
Please note, we’re making some small adjustments to planning this semester by shifting the meeting time to snacks at 6:30 p.m. and discussion from 7-8 p.m. Also, drop us an RSVP note at butler@dom.edu or comment to whichever social media post you happen to be reading.
See you in September,
Jen Clemons
Curator, BCLC
Picture Book Review: Geraldine
Geraldine
Elizabeth Lilly
Roaring Brook Press, June 2018
Sometimes being yourself is difficult, especially when there doesn’t seem to be anyone who looks like you. Geraldine the giraffe can relate to this feeling: her family is moving and it is the Worst Thing Ever. She has no friends at her new school, and worse, she is the only giraffe there. Now everyone knows her as That Giraffe Girl. Then Cassie comes along – Cassie is that girl who wears glasses – and she and Geraldine become friends who fit in by standing out. Whimsical pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations add humor to this charming story about boldly being who you are.
Butler's Pantry 