Three Fairy Tales to Read After You Watch Beauty and the Beast
Did you see the Beauty and the Beast live action film yet? I recently did, and it made me think of all the fairy tale retellings that are published and made. Fairy tales were first told to teach children lessons; it wasn’t until Disney’s series of animated films like Snow White and Cinderella that they became more like the stories we see and hear today. That hasn’t stopped people from retelling them in a variety of ways. Here are three recent retellings that you may find interesting if you love Beauty and the Beast.
Novels and Memoirs Told in Poetry
When most people think of poetry, they think of rhyming lines broken into stanzas that go on for about a page or so. Rarely do they think of the many novels, memoirs, and folktales told entirely in verse, whether it be formal (i.e. Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter) or free. These are often great places to start for those who find poetry intimidating or difficult to understand, as I once did.
Here We Are: Feminists from All Walks of Life Share Their Stories
Here We Are: Feminism for the Real World is more than just a how-to guide for feminism. It’s a gathering of voices, experiences and perspectives. It’s an invitation to join the feminist party, and all are welcome!
An Interview with Olive Witch Author Abeer Hoque
Abeer Hoque was born in Nigeria to Bangladeshi parents and moved to Pittsburgh when she was thirteen. She struggled to find her place in America, and eventually moved to Bangladesh on her own, where she still didn’t quite fit in. She details her multicultural growing-up and coming-of-age story in a new memoir called Olive Witch. Abeer will be at CLP – Main on Wednesday to give a reading and answer questions, but I was able to catch up with her via email in advance of her event.
Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with a Quick Review of Irish-American History
Why are we all wearing green today? How is it that one particular ethnic group came to figure so fully—politically, culturally—in the American story, to the point that as a … Continued
Inspirational Girls
Marley Dias started 1000 Black Girl Books and has been an inspiration to me (also, her website is an amazing book resource!). She exemplifies how much we—not only as individuals, but as groups—can do to help and support others, starting from a young age. I feel as though so often many of us feel that we have to wait until we grow up to do something extraordinary. I thought that it was important to talk about someone who inspired me and didn’t wait until she grew up to do it.
Phenomenal Woman: Maya Angelou’s Incredible Life
Most people recognize Maya Angelou’s name. She may be the most popular and well-known author/poet of our time. What many people might not know is how fully she lived her life, how many adventures she had, how phenomenal she really was.
Ecofeminist Novels by Black Authors
Ecofeminists believe that nature and culture are intrinsically linked, and that the environmental harm we’re doing to our planet parallels the harm oppressive cultures do to marginalized groups like women and people of color. The word “ecofeminist” is itself a compound of “ecology” and “feminist.” In practice, it is an intersectional, multidimensional approach to social justice that recognizes we are linked to the land and our environments. Unsurprisingly, many women of color have written both novels and nonfiction books with strong ecofeminist themes; here are just a few of them.
Eleventh Stack Presents: Black History Month
This month, Eleventh Stack is celebrating Black History Month by featuring posts only about Black and African-American authors, artists and organizations. As librarians and library workers, its our job to make sure our community is represented in our collections, and that we highlight books, movies and music by a diverse set of creators. We also acknowledge that those efforts cannot be limited to one month of the year. Even, so, I’m excited by the content we have planned this month.
My Favorites From the Youth Media Awards
Earlier this week ALA (American Library Association) announced the 2017 youth media award winners, which includes over 20 awards for books, video and audio books. Here are my favorites from the award-winners.