Played

I just finished reading my first young adult book listed from the titles on teens reading. Played by Dana Davidson. Dana Davidson is an African American writer as well as a teacher. By being a teacher she is able to connect with young adults. She understands the problems teenagers face and writes it into the story. In the book Played, the character, Kyle and Ian become better young people after the mistakes they made. It is sad but sometimes fraternities will take advantage of innocent people. The initiations not only hurt the person wanting to get into the fraternity but other people as well, which is in the case with Played. However, the outcome is a happy ending.

St. Dale

St. Dale is a great book. I have posted my comments on Southern Writers Online.

The Tales of Uncle Remus - The Adventures of Brer Rabbit

I have posted my comments on Southern Writers Online.

Walking Across Egypt

Walking Across Egypt is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Since I am an avid cook I enjoyed reading about the meals Maggie prepared. Maggie's role in the Lottie Moon Christmas offering tells me she was a true Southern Baptist. She was very involved in hr church and I felt her church meant a lot to her. By the dog showing up at Maggie's home introduced the main characters in the story. Lamar, the dog catcher and Wesley the teenage boy from the RC prison. To me one of the funniest parts in the story was when, Maggie got stuck in the chair and Lamar had to cut her out. I think Maggie did not want anyone to know that she watched All My Children because she did not want her friends to know that she a senor citizen would watch a soap opera. Maggie cooked some wonderful meals and enjoyed entertaining. The meals were of a true southern cook. It made my mouth water when reading about the foods she prepared. Maggie might have been lonesome, so that might have been the reason she cooked and invited people over to eat. Maggie would often say "I'm slowing down." She would rather tell people that, than for people to tell her she was getting old. In many ways she reminds me of my mother. She would cook wonderful southern meals and was involved in her church work. Before mama got sick and passed away, she would often tell me she could not do the things she use to do. I think this would be a good book for a teenager to read. It tells of many family values and how cooking is part of a home. Again, I enjoyed the book very much.

Photobucket

I used Photobucket to load pictures from the LISA Conference.

Sarah and I attended the LISA Conference in San Antonio, Texas from November 12-14, 2007.
Library 4.0 was presented at the conference. This future upgrade will enchance circulation and PAC. To view the conference presentations go to http://www.tlcdelivers.com/. Above is a photo of Mrs. Murphy,CEO and owner of TLC and Debbie.

San Antonia Public Library

Front of Library


Circulation Desk




Young Adult Area



Children's Room




Back of Library

Sarah and I visited the San Antonio Public Library.

The World Made Straight

I have posted my comments on Southern Writers Online.

Porgy

I found Porgy difficult to read because of the Gullah dialect. When I came to parts of the Gullah dialect, that I could not understand, I would skip over it. I felt that I was missing part of the story.

After getting into the book, I believe Porgy wanted a better life for himself. I think Porgy fell in love with Bess and that was why he was so upset as the story ends.

DuBose Heyward describes Catfish row similar to Cabage Row. Although Cabage Row at one time was a gated courtyard probably served as rooming-houses for sailors. After sometime one of the mansions became a tenant house for blacks. In the novel, Heyward described Catfish Row as a slum.

Even though it was a difficult book to read, I could not stop reading it. I wanted to know what was going to happen next to Porgy.