On its surface The Middlesteins by Jami Attenberg is the kind of the book I dismiss out of hand. Jewish suburban ennui? Been there. A fat character wrecking her family? Done that. Unhappy marriages and bratty teens. Got the t-shirt. Beautiful writing with a light plot? Don’t even get me started. And yet to dimiss Attenberg’s sensitive and ridiculously readable The Middlesteins based on those surface descriptions would be a huge mistake. I’m ashamed to admit I went into this…
A Wrinkle in Time
As I recently confessed over in Book Riot’s Buy, Borrow, Bypass for most of my life I thought I had read Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time. Turns out I read Watcher in the Woods, which is not at all A Wrinkle in Time. It’s like the Silver Eyes/Tiger Eyes episode all over again. Now, thanks to A Wrinkle in Time: The Graphic Novel Hope Larson’s adaptation, I can say that I’ve sort of read the L’Engle classic. I was…
Sad Trombone Ending
Glory Fleming is a seventeen-year-old piano prodigy living with her widower father in the Bronx. Frank is the hunky, artistic boy next door, a recent arrival from Argentina. When the two meet things start to go wonky in Glory’s world. Or at least the seem to. Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony & Rodrigo Corral really puts the graphic in graphic novel. The story of two teens in love is told through newspaper clippings, instant message chats, postcards, and the other kind…
Rudolph goes down in history like everyone from Sonny & Cher to George Washington
So apparently the Rudolph song is a little like Duck, Duck, Grey Duck only on a much bigger scale. After I wrote the post I turned to Twitter & Facebook to gather more data for my research, and here’s what I learned. The choice of who Rudolph goes down in history as is random and based on things nobody seems to be able to remember. My original theory was that the historical figure you chose was based on your elementary…
Like Jackie Gleason or is it a Duck Duck Grey Duck Thing?
So I was watching the old Rankin & Bass “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” special on TV tonight, because of course I did. Though as far as the Rankin & Bass specials go, I have to say “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” is my favorite not only because ol’ Kris Kringle is a ginger and I love them gingies, but also because I think Burgermeister Meisterburger is the best villan name of all time. When we were kids and we’d…
The Tibblesitting Season is over, welcome the Angry Hermit Season
After everyone was buckled, backpacks filled with stuffed animals for Stuffed Animal Day secured, and we could hear the radio Liam was amazed. “Are they really playing Michael Jackson on the radio?” he asked. “It sounds like it.” “They are playing Michael Jackson for real on the radio?” He was incredulous. “On your radio?” “Yes they are, I said. “It’s a good omen. That means you’re going to have a good day when your favorite musician is the first song…