:O(…postponed Teen FictionCraft Class

The BAD news is….the TVC workshop is postponed.  The GOOD NEWS is Kate will be doing a summer writers workshop here at the Libes.  Keep an eye out – or pen and paper as the case may be.

Yes! Sturgis Library shares its wealth….

Megan Nickerson, Teen Librarian at Sturgis Library, Nettie Berkeley, Artist & More, are doing some really cool stuff that they share …. Any teen can register for programs with The Teen Artists Coalition of Cape Cod. These ‘prayers flags’ were one of the first projects the group accomplished.  Go to their FB contact   http://www.facebook.com/groups/TACCC .

Just before the bunny hops….Teen Fiction Craft class is back at SPL with Kate Conway!

Tomorrow’s Writers Today is back! May 17th!

Teen Writers…apply to Tomorrow’s Writers Today, a program presented by the Cape Cod Writers Center. Saturday, May 17th classes begin at 9:30 am and end at 3:30 pm at the Barnstable Intermediate School in Hyannis.  Student are expected to bring a bag lunch and a flash drive to save their work: CCWC will provide drinks and snacks.  Visit the website for more information: http://capecodwriterscenter.org.

The Language Inside….

I guess I will start this review with a list, a list of things that encapsulate the majors of the book:

Longing, poetry, friendship, losing, gaining, friends here, friends there, tsunami, the Killing Fields, dance, migraines, poetry, becoming, new beginnings, bravery, helping, giving and taking, trust, attraction, love, Japan, parents, friends, language…so much in this book about Emma.  Emma, born in Massachusetts, has lived in Japan since young childhood.  This is where she belongs and feels at home…but Emma, her younger brother and her mother move back to Lowell Massachusetts when she is 16 so her mother can have the best care for her treatment of breast cancer.  Her father is here   then back to Japan but Emma must stay through the year to help her mother.  She is not happy.  But in this story of beginnings Emma meets people here who she comes to understand and feel closer to.  She is afraid of losing her Japanese identity and her friends back in Tokyo. She begins having migraines.  At her grandmother’s urging she begin volunteering at a long-term care center and meets Zena, a quadriplegic who must use a ‘board’ to make any contact.  They write poetry together.  They become friends. It is an eye-opening experience for Emma.  She also meets Samnung, a fellow student from her school, who works with two elderly survivors of the Cambodian killing fields, helping them write poetry to express their lives.  Samnung is also involved with the Cambodian dance troupe and even though it is not Japanese culture, it is an Asian culture that Emma longs for and she finds friendship there as well.  This is a beautifully written story done in ‘poetry prose.’  The realness of all the characters comes out sparingly and honestly in the author’s writing.  The author, Holly Thompson, is originally from Massachusetts but has been a longtime resident of Japan.  I liked her character voices.  So many times for teens (and adults) we are pulled between two places, two friends, two parents, two worlds and if you are lucky you realize that each has its place and time.  All can be appreciated.  Loved this book.

Lonely Is

when the language outside

is not the language inside

and words are made of just 26 letters

not parts that tell stories…

 

The book cover on the right is Thompson’s book,  Friendship through Fiction: An Anthology of Japanese Teen Stories.  Holly’s website is http://www.hatbooks.com/ .