September 25, 2009
As I write this, it’s the first day of fall and, apparently (according to Wikipedia), I am banging on my keyboard at the exact time of day that fall is beginning. I’m right in the moment. And that’s good.
As usual, the good folks at School Library Journal have done an excellent job of explaining the importance and significance of Banned Books Week, beginning this Saturday, September 26, and going through October 3. Since 1982, this has been a pivotal week to celebrate not only the joys of reading, but the freedom of being exposed to ideas, themes, images, and words that challenge our beliefs, expand our knowledge, and give us the tools to grow. And while prose books face the most well known challenges in the public eye, comics, manga, and graphic novels still endure their rough history of censorship and banning.
Every year during the last week in September, the American Library Association celebrates "Banned Books Week" to challenge censorship and celebrate the freedom to read. Do you think parents, teachers, librarians, politicians and other groups should monito
September 23, 2009, 502 voters
Do you usually dress up for Halloween? Have you ever dressed up as a character from a book?
September 23, 2009, 188 voters
Next week's New York Times bestseller list is out, and David Small's incredible memoir Stitches is making its debut at the top.
Ah, Persepolis. That great, great book. Marjane Satrapi's epic two volumes about her life growing up in Iran is one of the most readable and relatable graphic memoirs ever. It shared so much about Iranian culture, and it continues to teach. And now that it's been selected for Philadelphia's One Book, One Philadelphia literacy program, it will reach even further. Good. This work is one of those pleasures to read and savor, and it's completely deserving of this attention, which it achieved by winning out over other book selections to be named the selection of the 2010 One Book, One Philadelphia. Satrapi herself will be in the city to launch the program on September 23 at the Central Library there. Better yet, 5,000 copies of the book are being shipped in to local schools and libraries, and the city will hold dozens of lectures, discussion groups, and workshops for the book.
I’m caught up in three graphic novels that I’m loving right now, and I’m feeling a bit like Goldilocks with them: One I’m really late to discover, one I’m early, and one I’m just right on time. Let’s start with the late one.
With a lineup as diverse as First Second’s, you would expect an editor with equally mobile tastes. Calista Brill doesn’t disappoint. The publishing house’s editor took time out of her busy day to answer our profile questions.
