Kate’s 2¢: “Live A Little” by Howard Jacobson

“Live A Little” by Howard Jacobson

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

  The character voices Allan Corduner uses brings us right into the middle of an argument on the phone between the 91-year old mother and her 70-something youngest son. It is a dramatic and funny opening to “Live a Little”.

   Anyone over a certain age can identify with the “mislaid” words and memory. That is why (have I told you this before?) I have written my auto-biography. My husband or children can read it to me if I lose my memory. It will be, at best, a reminder of my life; or at least, it will be a beautiful story.

   It takes the story quite a while to revisit the events, lives,  and loves in each of these elder folks, until the meet each other. Then, they slowly bond over talking about Shimi’s recently deceased brother.

   I enjoyed much of the droll “elder” humor, such as: “…Though all the world ignores us, you alone are my thesaurus.”. However, I found the story moved rather slowly, except for the beginning phone conversation and the surprise at the end of the story.

From Wikipedia:

Jacobson’s fiction, particularly in the six novels he has published since 1998, is characterized chiefly by a discursive and humorous style. Recurring subjects in his work include male–female relations and the Jewish experience in Britain in the mid- to late-20th century. He has been compared to prominent Jewish-American novelists such as Philip Roth, in particular for his habit of creating doppelgängers of himself in his fiction.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Live a little DB96925

Jacobson, Howard. Reading time: 9 hours, 40 minutes.

Read by Allan Corduner.

Humor

Romance

Ninety-something Beryl Dusinbery keeps forgetting everything, including her own children, but spends her days stitching morbid samplers. Shimi Carmelli, last of the eligible elderly bachelors in North London, remembers everything–including a shameful childhood incident. But their combined talents allow them to eke out new adventures. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.

“There Plant Eyes” by M. Leona Godin

From Joan Myles, jmyles63@gmail.com:

From Homer to Helen Keller, from Dune to Stevie Wonder, from the

invention of braille to the science of echolocation, M. Leona Godin

explores the fascinating history of blindness, interweaving it with

her own story of gradually losing her sight.

There Plant Eyes probes the ways in which blindness has shaped our

ocularcentric culture, challenging deeply ingrained ideas about what

it means to be “blind.” For millennia, blindness has been used to

signify such things as thoughtlessness (“blind faith”), irrationality

(“blind rage”), and unconsciousness (“blind evolution”). But at the

same time, blind people have been othered as the recipients of special

powers as compensation for lost sight (from the poetic gifts of John

Milton to the heightened senses of the comic book hero Daredevil).

Godin—who began losing her vision at age ten—illuminates the

often-surprising history of both the condition of blindness and the

myths and ideas that have grown up around it over the course of

generations. She combines an analysis of blindness in art and culture

(from King Lear to Star Wars) with a study of the science of blindness

and key developments in accessibility (the white cane, embossed

printing, digital technology) to paint a vivid personal and cultural

history.

A genre-defying work, There Plant Eyes reveals just how essential

blindness and vision are to humanity’s understanding of itself and the

world.

About the Author

M. Leona Godin is a writer, performer, and educator who is blind. Her

writing has appeared in The New York Times; Playboy; O, The Oprah

Magazine; and Catapult, where she writes the column, “A Blind Writer’s

Notebook.” She was a 2019 Logan Nonfiction Fellow and has written and

produced two theatrical productions: The Star of Happiness, based on

Helen Keller’s time performing on vaudeville, and The Spectator & the

Blind Man, about the invention of Braille.

She founded the online magazine Aromatica Poetica as a venue for

exploring the arts and sciences of smell and taste; not specifically

for, but welcoming to, blind readers and writers. She holds a PhD in

English Literature from NYU and has lectured on art, accessibility,

disability, and technology at NYU’s Tandon School of Engineering, Rice

University, and the American Printing House for the Blind, among other

venues.

Praise for There Plant Eyes

“…elegant, fiercely argued.” —Wall Street Journal

“‘The dual aspects of blindness—that it is a tragic horror on the one

hand and a powerful gift from the gods on the other—remain stubbornly

fixed in our cultural imaginations,’ Godin, a blind writer and

performer, asserts in this thought-provoking mixture of criticism,

memoir, and advocacy.” —The New Yorker

“There Plant Eyes is so graceful, so wise, so effortlessly erudite, I

learned something new and took pleasure in every page. All hail its

originality, its humanity, and its ‘philosophical obsession with

diversity in all its complicated and messy glory.’”

—Maggie Nelson, author of The Argonauts

“Godin guides readers through the surprising twists and turns in

Western blind history, from ancient seers to contemporary scientists.

The lively writing style and memorable

personal anecdotes are delightful. This book is a gift to both blind

and sighted readers.”

—Haben Girma, human rights lawyer and author of the bestseller Haben:

The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law

“This sighted disabled person learned so much from There Plant Eyes!

The book took me on a cultural journey that showed how blindness is

beautiful, complex, and brilliant.”

—Alice Wong, Editor, Disability Visibility: First-Person Stories from

the Twenty-First Century

“In the fascinating There Plant Eyes, Leona Godin moves effortlessly

from erudite explorations of the construction of ‘blindness’ in the

times of Homer and Milton; to incisive and often funny examinations of

technology that helps—or does not—the blind individual; to personal

stories of her own life as a writer and performer. I was only a few

pages in before I realized that what I thought about being blind was

either wrong or woefully insufficient. The reader will be lost in

admiration for the breadth and sweep of Godin’s gifts as a writer and

cultural critic.”

—Riva Lehrer, author of Golem Girl: A Memoir

“I’ve been waiting most of my life for a book like There Plant Eyes to

demystify what it means and doesn’t mean to be blind. With eloquence

and wit, M. Leona Godin articulates what our culture has gotten wrong

for centuries. Blindness, she makes clear, is a feature, not merely a

difference. I’ll be recommending this book every chance I get.”

— James Tate Hill, author of Blind Man’s Bluff

“We are inevitably blind to realities outside our own experience, and

it takes a sensitive writer like Godin—with her poet’s ear—to give

insight into sightlessness.”

—David Eagleman, neuroscientist at Stanford, author of Livewired

“…erudite, capacious…As Godin wonderfully shows, we’ve come a long way

in our quest to understand what blindness means.”

––Kirkus Reviews

“By turns heartfelt and thought-provoking, this is a striking achievement.”

—Publisher’s Weekly (starred review)

From Bookshare:

Synopsis

From Homer to Helen Keller, from Dune to Stevie Wonder, from the invention of braille to the science of echolocation, M. Leona Godin explores the fascinating history of blindness, interweaving it with her own story of gradually losing her sight. There Plant Eyes probes the ways in which blindness has shaped our ocularcentric culture, challenging deeply ingrained ideas about what it means to be &“blind.&” For millennia, blind­ness has been used to signify such things as thoughtlessness (&“blind faith&”), irrationality (&“blind rage&”), and unconsciousness (&“blind evolution&”). But at the same time, blind people have been othered as the recipients of special powers as compensation for lost sight (from the poetic gifts of John Milton to the heightened senses of the comic book hero Daredevil). Godin—who began losing her vision at age ten—illuminates the often-surprising history of both the condition of blindness and the myths and ideas that have grown up around it over the course of generations. She combines an analysis of blindness in art and culture (from King Lear to Star Wars) with a study of the science of blindness and key developments in accessibility (the white cane, embossed printing, digital technology) to paint a vivid personal and cultural history. A genre-defying work, There Plant Eyes reveals just how essential blindness and vision are to humanity&’s understanding of itself and the world.

Copyright: 2021

Book Details Book Quality:

Publisher Quality Book Size: 352 Pages

ISBN-13: 9781524748722

Related ISBNs: 9781524748715

Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group

Date of Addition: 07/29/21

Copyrighted By: M. Leona Godin

Adult content: No

Language: English

Has Image Descriptions: No

Categories: Nonfiction, Disability-Related, Biographies and Memoirs, Literature and Fiction, Social Studies, Language Arts

Submitted By: Bookshare Staff

Usage Restrictions: This is a copyrighted book.

Kate’s 2¢: “Complete novels: the heart is a lonely hunter ; Reflections in a golden eye ; The ballad of the sad café ; The member of the wedding ; Clock without hands” by Carson McCullers

“Complete novels: the heart is a lonely hunter ; Reflections in a golden eye ; The ballad of the sad café ; The member of the wedding ; Clock without hands” by  Carson McCullers

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

“the heart is a lonely hunter”

–Mr. John Singer who is a deaf-mute (He used to speak, but the sounds were scarry.) loses his friend and apartment mate to mental illness.

–Biff and Alice run The New York Café where Jake Blinder gets drunk; Singer takes himto his boarding house.

–Mick Kelly is a teenager, who minds her little brothers and wants a piano, while her parents cater to boarders in their large house.

–Dr. Copeland’s sons are Hamilton, Karl Marx and daughter, Porsha, is cook I the Kelly’s boarding house.

–From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940) is the debut novel by the American author Carson McCullers; she was 23 at the time of publication. It is about a deaf man named John Singer and the people he encounters in a 1930s mill town in the US state of Georgia.

“Reflections in a golden eye:

–Deals with elements of repressed sexuality, both homosexual and heterosexual, as well as voyeurism and murder.

–Reflections in a Golden Eye is a 1967 American drama film directed by John Huston and based on the 1941 novel of the same name by Carson McCullers.  The film stars Marlon Brando and Elizabeth Taylor.

“The ballad of the sad Café”:

–The Ballad of the Sad Café is a work that best represents McCullers’ fictional art. In this novel Carson McCullers portrays destructive infatuation, sexual ambivalence, longing for communication and the human need for love. The novella features three main characters and it is set in a Southern town that is melancholic and desolate.

–“The Ballad of the Sad Café” is a novella by American author Carson McCullers, first published in 1951 by Houghton Mifflin as part of the author’s short fiction collection The Ballad of the Sad Café and Other Stories. The novella tells the story of a bizarre love triangle in a rural Georgia mill town, where a general store proprietress falls in love with a hunchbacked man—much to the ire of her convict ex-husband

“Twelve Mortal Men”

The so-called epilogue  or coda, “The Twelve Mortal Men,” seen in the context of the character-narrator’s struggle becomes not a cryptic appendix to a gothic tale but, instead, the positive act of a man of changed perspective. In this section the narrator fulfills his own earlier inchoate suggestion to “go down to Fork Falls highway and listen to the chain-gang.”

“The Member of the Wedding”

— From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Plot[edit]

The novel takes place over a few days in late August. It tells the story of 12-year-old tomboy Frankie Addams, who feels disconnected from the world; in her words, an “unjoined person.” Frankie’s mother died when she was born, and her father is a distant, uncomprehending figure. Her closest companions are the family’s African American maid, Berenice Sadie Brown, and her six-year-old cousin, John Henry West. She has no friends in her small Southern town and dreams of going away with her brother and his bride-to-be on their honeymoon in the Alaskan wilderness.

The novel explores the psychology of the three main characters and is more concerned with evocative settings than with incident. Frankie does, however, have a brief and troubling encounter with a soldier. Her hopes of going away are disappointed and, her fantasy destroyed, a short coda reveals how her personality has changed. It also recounts the fate of John Henry West, and Berenice Sadie Brown’s future plans.

“Clock without hands”

— The main thread is Malone’s dying of leukemia, but his friend, the Judge, Sherman, and the grandson are more often featured with all their prejudices.

   I realize these stories reflect the period during which they were written.  The narrator did a good job of reading what was written, however, I got very tired of hearing the stereotyped poor grammar and speech of the racist diatribes.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Carson McCullers (February 19, 1917 – September 29, 1967) was an American novelist, short-story writer, playwright, essayist, and poet. Her first novel, The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (1940), explores the spiritual isolation of misfits and outcasts in a small town of the Southern United States. Her other novels have similar themes and most are set in the deep South.

McCullers’ work is often described as Southern Gothic and indicative of her southern roots. Critics also describe her writing and eccentric characters as universal in scope. Her stories have been adapted to stage and film. A stage adaptation of her novel The Member of the Wedding (1946), which captures a young girl’s feelings at her brother’s wedding, made a successful Broadway run in 1950–51.

McCullers was born Lula Carson Smith in Columbus, Georgia, in 1917 to Lamar Smith, a jeweller, and Marguerite Waters.[1] She was named after her maternal grandmother, Lula Carson Waters.[1] She had a younger brother, Lamar, Jr.[1] and a younger sister, Marguerite.[2] Her mother’s grandfather was a planter and Confederate soldier. Her father was a watchmaker and jeweler of French Huguenot descent. From the age of ten she took piano lessons; when she was fifteen her father gave her a typewriter to encourage her story writing.

Smith graduated from Columbus High School. In September 1934, at age 17, she left home on a steamship bound for New York City, planning to study piano at the Juilliard School of Music. After losing the money she was going to use to study at Juilliard on the subway, she decided instead to work, take night classes, and write. She worked several odd jobs, including as a waitress and a dog walker.[3] After falling ill with rheumatic fever she returned to Columbus to recuperate, and she changed her mind about studying music.[4] Returning to New York, she worked in menial jobs while pursuing a writing career; she attended night classes at Columbia University and studied creative writing under Texas writer Dorothy Scarborough and with Sylvia Chatfield Bates at Washington Square College of New York University. In 1936 she published her first work. “Wunderkind”, an autobiographical piece that Bates admired, depicted a music prodigy’s adolescent insecurity and losses. It first appeared in Story magazine and is collected in The Ballad of the Sad Cafe.[5]

From 1935 to 1937, as her studies and health dictated, she divided her time between Columbus and New York. In September 1937, aged 20, she married an ex-soldier and aspiring writer, Reeves McCullers. A New Yorker profile described her husband as “…a dreamer attracted to big, capable women.”[6] They began their married life in Charlotte, North Carolina, where Reeves had found work. The couple made a pact to take alternating turns as writer then breadwinner, starting with Reeves’s taking a salaried position while McCullers wrote. Her eventual success as a writer precluded his literary ambitions.[6]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Complete novels: the heart is a lonely hunter ; Reflections in a golden eye ; The ballad of the sad café ; The member of the wedding ; Clock without hands DB91754

McCullers, Carson. Reading time: 30 hours, 27 minutes.

Read by Mare Trevathan. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Disability

Literature

Five novels published between 1940 and 1960. In The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter, John Singer, who is deaf and mute, becomes confidant to several town residents. In The Member of the Wedding, a young girl invites herself to the honeymoon. Some strong language and some descriptions of sex. 1960.

Downloaded: August 21, 2021

Download Complete novels: the heart is a lonely hunter ; Reflections in a golden eye ; The ballad of the sad café ; The member of the wedding ; Clock without hands

Kate’s 2¢: “I Never Promised You A Rose Garden” by Joanne Greenberg

“I Never Promised You A Rose Garden” by Joanne Greenberg

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   I became interested in this story when Richard Peck mentioned it in his book about writing for Young Adults. Its impact on teens and adults when it was written in 1964 must have been phenomenal.  It is such a deep, poignant exploration of a 16-year old girl’s fantasy world that rules her life. Descriptions of the mental ward are disturbing, to say the least. However, the therapist earns Deborah’s trust, so Deborah shares the descriptions of her alternat universe, the people, the language, and the consequences of speaking to humans.  

   It was interesting to read how the alternate universe dissembled into the various experiences from Deborah’s childhood.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

m

Joanne Greenberg (born September 24, 1932 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American author who published some of her work under the pen name of Hannah Green. She was a professor of anthropology at the Colorado School of Mines[1][2] and a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician.[3]

Greenberg is best known for the semi-autobiographical bestselling novel I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1964). It was adapted into a 1977 movie and a 2004 play of the same name.

She received the Harry and Ethel Daroff Memorial Fiction Award as well as the National Jewish Book Award for Fiction[4] in 1963 for her debut novel The King’s Persons (1963), about the massacre of the Jewish population of York at York Castle in 1190.

Greenberg appears in the Daniel Mackler documentary Take These Broken Wings (2004) about recovering from schizophrenia without the use of psychiatric medication.[5]

Her book In This Sign (1970) was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie titled Love Is Never Silent, aired on NBC in December 1985.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

I never promised you a rose garden DB12303

Greenberg, Joanne. Reading time: 9 hours, 15 minutes.

Read by Esther Benson. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Psychological Fiction

Sixteen-year-old schizophrenic Deborah retreats into a fantasy world of her own invention. Only after her parents reluctantly commit her to a mental hospital does she begin to face reality. Some strong language.

Downloaded: August 21, 2021

Download I never promised you a rose garden

Kate’s 2¢:” Don’t look and it won’t hurt” by Richard Peck

”Don’t look and it won’t hurt” by Richard Peck

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   This was the first YA book I read by Richard Peck. He discusses several difficult issues seen through Carol’s eyes and how she deals with each issue.

   I found the scene at the bus stop, where the Mother is a waitress in the near-by restaurant,as she watches her eldest, pregnant daughter board a bus to go to a home for unwed mothers quite poignant. So often, teens may think that their parents don’t care what happens to them, when, in reality, the parent(s) love their child, but don’t know what to do with them.

   I started reading YA books by Peck after I read his “Love and death at the mall: teaching and writing for the literate young” and I liked what I read. He has managed to tackle teen issues, bringing them to the forefront so they can be discussed or, at least, read about and privately thought about.  

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Wayne Peck was born on April 5, 1934, in Illinois (died May 24, 2018) to Virginia Grey Peck and Wayne Peck. His mother was a Wesleyan University graduate, and his father owned a service station. A sister, Cheryl, would later become an administrator at a college. He attended elementary and high schools in Decatur, Illinois.

   Peck was an American novelist known for his prolific contributions to modern young adult literature.

   Peck earned a bachelor’s degree in English at DePauw University in 1956. He spent his junior year abroad at the University of Exeter.

After college, he was drafted into the US Army as a chaplain’s assistant and spent two years serving in Stuttgart, Germany. In a 2003 interview he commented, “I think your view of the world goes on—for the rest of your life—as the world you saw as you emerged into it as an adult.”[5]

After his military service ended, he completed a master’s degree at Southern Illinois University in 1959.

Career[edit]

Peck worked as a high school teacher, but much to his dismay, was transferred to a junior high school to teach English. After a while, he decided to cut his career short and write. However, these observations about junior high school students proved excellent material for his books. He said, “Ironically, it was my students who taught me to be a writer, though I was hired to teach them.”[6]

He left teaching in 1971 to write his first novel, Don’t Look and It Won’t Hurt, published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1972, in which “A teenage girl struggles to understand her place within her family and in the world.” He wrote a book each year since then — 41 books in 41 years.

Peck was an adjunct professor with Louisiana State University’s School of Library and Information Sciences.[6]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Love and death at the mall: teaching and writing for the literate young DB41989

Peck, Richard. Reading time: 4 hours, 19 minutes.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Don’t look and it won’t hurt DB50004

Peck, Richard. Reading time: 3 hours, 41 minutes.

Read by Michele Schaeffer. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Family

Young Adult

Carol Peterson, middle daughter of a single mother, gets the responsibilities while her older sister enjoys freedom and popularity. But Carol’s difficulties also mature her so she is better able to help and understand her family. Basis for the movie Gas Food Lodging. For junior and senior high readers. 1972. For junior and senior high readers. 1972.

Downloaded: August 22, 2021

Download Don’t look and it won’t hurt

Kate’s 2¢: “Are You In The House Alone?“ by Richard Peck

“Are You In The House Alone?“ by Richard Peck

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Peck has tackled several issues that bother a lot of people, especially teens,  such as,

Being home alone, rape, birth control, whether or not to have sexual intercourse and with whom, and who to tell what.

   I think the story accurately portrays the way things used to be, but, now there is much more awareness of what to do and where to go for counseling, medical attention, and self-protection techniques. The problem comes when one tries to hide what has happened, so it happens to someone else. It might have been avoided if the victims speak up and shout out very loudly. A case in point is the disgrace and down-fall of the New York State governor. His victims spoke out together and he had to resign August 23, 2021.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Wayne Peck was born on April 5, 1934, in Illinois (died May 24, 2018) to Virginia Grey Peck and Wayne Peck. His mother was a Wesleyan University graduate, and his father owned a service station. A sister, Cheryl, would later become an administrator at a college. He attended elementary and high schools in Decatur, Illinois.

   Peck was an American novelist known for his prolific contributions to modern young adult literature.

   Peck earned a bachelor’s degree in English at DePauw University in 1956. He spent his junior year abroad at the University of Exeter.

After college, he was drafted into the US Army as a chaplain’s assistant and spent two years serving in Stuttgart, Germany. In a 2003 interview he commented, “I think your view of the world goes on—for the rest of your life—as the world you saw as you emerged into it as an adult.”[5]

After his military service ended, he completed a master’s degree at Southern Illinois University in 1959.

Career[edit]

Peck worked as a high school teacher, but much to his dismay, was transferred to a junior high school to teach English. After a while, he decided to cut his career short and write. However, these observations about junior high school students proved excellent material for his books. He said, “Ironically, it was my students who taught me to be a writer, though I was hired to teach them.”[6]

He left teaching in 1971 to write his first novel, Don’t Look and It Won’t Hurt, published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1972, in which “A teenage girl struggles to understand her place within her family and in the world.” He wrote a book each year since then — 41 books in 41 years.

Peck was an adjunct professor with Louisiana State University’s School of Library and Information Sciences.[6]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Are you in the house alone? DB10446

Peck, Richard. Reading time: 4 hours, 40 minutes.

Read by Laura Stuart. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress,.

Suspense Fiction

Young Adult

Novel about the terror of rape. Gail Osburne receives threatening notes and calls before she is raped by the son of the most prominent family in town. The greatest tragedy for Gail is learning that the legal system punishes her, not her attacker. Some strong language. For junior and senior high readers.

Downloaded: August 22, 2021

Download Are you in the house alone?

Kate’s 2¢: “Love and death at the mall: teaching and writing for the literate young” by Richard Peck

“Love and death at the mall: teaching and writing for the literate young” by Richard Peck

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Reading this book was a wonderful way to spend a rainy afternoon. Here are a few of the take-aways I found interesting: 

–Students don’t want to read your auto-biography. They want to read about someone they want to become.

–“If I’d known how brief childhood would be, I’d have looked closer.”

–Real life people don’t fit into fiction, until they’ve been edited out of all semblance of themselves.

–Older people provide the grandparents the young people have lost to divorce, mis-blended families, and society.

–Schools have become psychiatric, social welfare clinics with students as out-patients.

–Schools neither lead nor follow; they reflect.

–The protagonist is the young person who acts, not on behalf of the story, but on the behalf of the reader.

–Teaching is the craft of communicating with strangers in a language you can find; of meeting deadlines; and trying to give time a shape.

–Reading is a discipline before it is a pleasure.

–Pay attention to what people do, not to what they say.

–Teaching is a job you never really quit. You just go on and on, trying to turn life into lesson plans.   

–A novel is like making a quilt. We gather bright scraps from other people’s lives and then stitch them together in a pattern of our own.

–Writing is communication, not self-expression

   Peck refers to many of his books as he explains how he writes numerous YA novels. I appreciate his listing the other stories he mentions in his book.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Wayne Peck was born on April 5, 1934, in Illinois (died May 24, 2018) to Virginia Grey Peck and Wayne Peck. His mother was a Wesleyan University graduate, and his father owned a service station. A sister, Cheryl, would later become an administrator at a college. He attended elementary and high schools in Decatur, Illinois.

   Peck was an American novelist known for his prolific contributions to modern young adult literature.

   Peck earned a bachelor’s degree in English at DePauw University in 1956. He spent his junior year abroad at the University of Exeter.

After college, he was drafted into the US Army as a chaplain’s assistant and spent two years serving in Stuttgart, Germany. In a 2003 interview he commented, “I think your view of the world goes on—for the rest of your life—as the world you saw as you emerged into it as an adult.”[5]

After his military service ended, he completed a master’s degree at Southern Illinois University in 1959.

Career[edit]

Peck worked as a high school teacher, but much to his dismay, was transferred to a junior high school to teach English. After a while, he decided to cut his career short and write. However, these observations about junior high school students proved excellent material for his books. He said, “Ironically, it was my students who taught me to be a writer, though I was hired to teach them.”[6]

He left teaching in 1971 to write his first novel, Don’t Look and It Won’t Hurt, published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1972, in which “A teenage girl struggles to understand her place within her family and in the world.” He wrote a book each year since then — 41 books in 41 years.

Peck was an adjunct professor with Louisiana State University’s School of Library and Information Sciences.[6]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Love and death at the mall: teaching and writing for the literate young DB41989

Peck, Richard. Reading time: 4 hours, 19 minutes.

Read by Bob Askey. National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Young Adult

The award-winning author of books for young adults reflects on how and why he writes. He is often asked, “But how did you get your start?” and “Where did you get your ideas?” In broad answers, he makes wry observations on writing for and teaching teenagers and includes excerpts from his books. By the author of Bel-Air Bambi and the Mall Rats (DB 39020). For senior high and older readers.

Download Love and death at the mall: teaching and writing for the literate young

Kate’s 2¢: “Amanda Miranda” by Richard Peck

“Amanda Miranda” by Richard Peck

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   After I read “Love and death at the mall: teaching and writing for the literate young” by Richard Peck, I wondered about his adult novels. I found and read “Amanda, Miranda” and enjoyed it very much.

   It was obvious, from the beginning, that the look alikes were going to pull a swith-aroo, but, the suspense was delightful.

   The character of the narcissistic Amanda reminded me of Amber in Winslow’s “Forever Amber”.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Richard Wayne Peck was born on April 5, 1934, in Illinois (died May 24, 2018) to Virginia Grey Peck and Wayne Peck. His mother was a Wesleyan University graduate, and his father owned a service station. A sister, Cheryl, would later become an administrator at a college. He attended elementary and high schools in Decatur, Illinois.

   Peck was an American novelist known for his prolific contributions to modern young adult literature.

   Peck earned a bachelor’s degree in English at DePauw University in 1956. He spent his junior year abroad at the University of Exeter.

After college, he was drafted into the US Army as a chaplain’s assistant and spent two years serving in Stuttgart, Germany. In a 2003 interview he commented, “I think your view of the world goes on—for the rest of your life—as the world you saw as you emerged into it as an adult.”[5]

After his military service ended, he completed a master’s degree at Southern Illinois University in 1959.

Career[edit]

Peck worked as a high school teacher, but much to his dismay, was transferred to a junior high school to teach English. After a while, he decided to cut his career short and write. However, these observations about junior high school students proved excellent material for his books. He said, “Ironically, it was my students who taught me to be a writer, though I was hired to teach them.”[6]

He left teaching in 1971 to write his first novel, Don’t Look and It Won’t Hurt, published by Holt, Rinehart and Winston in 1972, in which “A teenage girl struggles to understand her place within her family and in the world.” He wrote a book each year since then — 41 books in 41 years.

Peck was an adjunct professor with Louisiana State University’s School of Library and Information Sciences.[6]

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Love and death at the mall: teaching and writing for the literate young DB41989

Peck, Richard. Reading time: 4 hours, 19 minutes.

Read by Bob Askey. National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Young Adult

The award-winning author of books for young adults reflects on how and why he writes. He is often asked, “But how did you get your start?” and “Where did you get your ideas?” In broad answers, he makes wry observations on writing for and teaching teenagers and includes excerpts from his books. By the author of Bel-Air Bambi and the Mall Rats (DB 39020). For senior high and older readers.

Download Love and death at the mall: teaching and writing for the literate young

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Amanda/Miranda DB15088

Peck, Richard. Reading time: 18 hours, 5 minutes.

Read by Jill Ferris. National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Romance

Story set in the Edwardian period of 1911 moves among the Isle of Wight, London, and New York. It features two women: the wily, beautiful daughter of Lady Eleanor and Sir Timothy Whitwell, who was born to command, and her personal maid and look-alike, hard-working Miranda. Mistress and maid become locked in love and intrigue over chauffeur John Thorne. Some explicit descriptions of sex.

Downloaded: August 22, 2021

Download Amanda/Miranda

Kate’s 2¢: “Falsely accused” by Robert Tanenbaum

“Falsely accused” by Robert Tanenbaum

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   This was a very interesting and intricate narrative arc. I really enjoyed it and couldn’t stop listening until the conclusion.

From the WEB:

   Born in Brooklyn, New York, Robert Tanenbaum attended the University of California at Berkeley on a basketball scholarship where he earned a B.A.  He received his law degree (J.D.) from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

   Robert K. Tanenbaum is the author of 32 books – 29 novels and 3 non-fiction books. He is one of the most successful prosecuting attorneys, having never lost a felony trial and convicting hundreds of violent criminals. He was a special prosecution consultant on the Hillside strangler case in Los Angeles and defended Amy Grossberg in her sensationalized baby death case.

   Tanenbaum is a nationally known attorney and legal expert.  He is a much sought after media guest and is regularly seen on television shows as a legal expert and commentator.  He has worked as a successful prosecuting attorney and high profile defender. 

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Falsely accused DB81942

Tanenbaum, Robert. Reading time: 11 hours, 13 minutes.

Read by Gabriella Cavallero. A production of the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress.

Mystery and Detective Stories

Legal Fiction

Butch Karp leaves the district attorney’s office and is suing his old employer on behalf of New York’s chief medical examiner, who was fired without cause. Meanwhile, Karp’s wife, Marlene Ciampi, is also in private practice as a PI specializing in domestic violence cases. Strong language and some violence. 1996.

Download Falsely accused

Kate’s 2¢: “Forward Together: an inside look at guide dog training” by Christie Bane

“Forward Together: an inside look at guide dog training” by Christie Bane

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   I’ve been a guide dog handler since 1989. I found “Forward Together” a really good refresher course for me. There were somethings I didn’t know about the puppy raisers and other things I’d forgotten about the actual training. I agree that training techniques have changed over the years and within the guide dog training centers. And, as she mentioned, the handlers who retrain with a new dog from a different school, usually revert to what they were first taught. The dogs are very accommodating and all becomes well in the long run.

christiebane.com

When I was in 10th grade, I had a cool English teacher named Ms. Urbani. She rode a motorcycle and was the first woman I ever met who went by “Ms.” She gave us an assignment: write about your dream job. This was an Honors English class, so most people wrote about becoming lawyers, doctors, engineers, things like that. Ms. Urbani commented approvingly as she handed papers back a few days later. Then she came to me and said, “Here we have one of the brightest people in the class. She could do anything she wants to, but she wants to train guide dogs.” Everyone laughed but probably no one was surprised. They all knew I raised guide dog puppies and brought them to school with me sometimes. I didn’t feel embarrassed at all; I felt proud of my chosen job and more determined than ever to pursue it.

All these years later, I train guide dogs for blind people and am more sure than ever that it is the best job in the world and was absolutely the right thing for me to do with my life. I work at Southeastern Guide Dogs in Palmetto, Florida. I knew I wanted to train guide dogs ever since I was 12 years old, and while I have flirted with the idea of other careers along the way (lawyer, dog groomer, writer), my heart has been with this job my whole life. I always say that “It’s not just my job; it’s also my hobby.” I set up this website so that I could have a place to blog about things I think about while I’m on the job. (And I am pretty much always on the job, whether I’m on the clock or not.) 

I really only do a few things in life. Working at Southeastern is obviously the most important thing I do. But I am also passionate about endurance sports, and am planning to do Ironman Florida in November 2018. I have two pet dogs, Frieda and Duncan, and train them when I have time and motivation. I also puppy raise sometimes, although I will be puppyless for the foreseeable future due to Ironman training Finally, I like to write about all of those things. Besides the blog on this website, I also have a triathlon blog, The Uninspired Triathlete. I guess you could say that writing is the longest-enduring passion of my whole life. Pretty much as soon as I was able to write, I was folding pieces of paper in quarters and drawing a picture on the cover and writing a story on the inside and calling those my books. I have actually written a very long and rambling book on guide dog training, and I plan to self-publish it once I get around to finding a professional editor and figure out how to afford their services. I only have three things in life that I have always said I really want to accomplish: write a book, finish an Ironman, and get an OTCh title on a dog. I’m reasonably close to the first two of these things, and will start on the third once I finish the first two.

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

Forward together: an inside look at guide dog training DB100008

Bane, Christie. Reading time: 20 hours, 4 minutes.

Read by Kristin Allison.

Disability

The author, who has raised and trained guide dogs for three decades, reveals the professional methods behind teaching guide dog skills. Includes explanations of a wide range of guide dog skills, how to match dogs to handlers, and teaching handlers how to work with their new guide dogs. 2020.

Download Forward together: an inside look at guide dog training