Kimberly Hirsh

Colleen at Chasing Ray pointed me to an interesting article entitled “Still not an equal partnership” at The Times Online.  The gist of the article is that despite the fact that women seem to read more than men, men seem to be read more than women.

Gender as a subject fascinates me, mostly because I don’t understand it.  The article speaks for itself.  I don’t have much to add to it.  It addresses primarily literary fiction, and I do find that aspect interesting.  What about genre fiction?  I’d be interested in seeing the numbers on that.  One of the “problems” with fiction written by women is that its subjects - motherhood, domestic life, relationships - don’t interest men.  But again - what about genre fiction?  Sprawling adventure stories with women as writers or protagonists?  How is that the same or different?  Stories about motherhood, domestic life, and relationships don’t really interest me, and when I write, I don’t write about motherhood or domestic life.  I do write about relationships, because loner characters can’t take a story very far.  Women are more willing to identify with a male protagonist in any form of media - books, television, video games - than men are to identify with a female protagonist.  What’s that about?  I think it goes back to the unfortunate devaluing of the feminine.  I feel like most of the major feminist problems - suffrage, the glass ceiling, harassment - have made great strides, and that the battlefront of current feminism is one of the mind and the arts.

I find this article’s comments especially fascinating.  They are, as far as I can tell, all from men who are defending either their disinterest in literature written by women or saying the article is outright wrong.

This quote does upset me:

“Middlebrow writing by women is full of feminist garbage. A man need only read a couple to get the flavour. Writing by men is much more varied."

Firstly, I’m not sure what “middlebrow writing” means.  Secondly, declaring writing by men to be more varied is not saying anything particularly new or startling.  Unfortunately, men have a much longer literary tradition than women do, with rare exceptions; no one need remind me that Sappho was a woman.  When you’ve had more time to do the work, of course the work will be more varied.

In addition to being curious about this with respect to genre vs. literary works, I’m also interested in children’s and young adult literature and how gender comes into play there.  See my Weekend Wondering a couple weeks back.  How much do boys read?  When they read, who are the authors?  Who are the protagonists?  I don’t ask about girls because I feel like I know more about them, having been one.  Perhaps next year I will take some informal polls of my students to find out if they read and what they read.

Do you know boys?  Do you know what they’re reading?  Would you be willing to share that information?

Oh my goodness, it’s 1:30 pm.  When did this happen?

Yes, folks, Summer Vacation has begun.  (This is why we suffer the difficulties of working in education.  Granted, it’s an unpaid vacation, but it is a large block of time in which to pursue other interests.  Litblogging, for example.)

I’d like to remind you of my Pirate Reading Challenge.

The original post is here, and the post where I introduce myself as Captain Anne Scarlett is here.

The rules are simple:
1. The challenge begins June 12, 2007 and lasts until September 19, 2007. There be significance to these dates: durin’ the week o’ June 10 in 1718 Blackbeard ran aground his ship Queen Anne’s Revenge.  September 19 be International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

2. The goal be to read books about pirates. Set your own goal for how many pirate books you’d like to read. (I recommend 3 as a minimum; I meself will probably try for 14 or so.)

3. The books can be any level, fiction or nonfiction. The only requirement be that they be about pirates.

4. As you finish the books, review them.

5. Your final summary should be posted in Pirate Speak (thar’s an English to Pirate translator here) on September 19, and include links to your reviews o’ pirate books.

6. Sign your name to the ship’s articles in the comments to the original post.

I haven’t started reading my pirate books yet.  I’m currently working on the first of my books to review for The Edge of the Forest; I have some training for work Friday.  I will probably finish my current audiobook (Celia Rees’s Pirates!) on the drive to the training, and then hit the library on the way home to pick up Treasure Island.  After that, my next pirate selections will probably be Capt. Hook and Pirate Island, because I own both of them.  Then, I’ll probably start in on Bloody Jack, as it’s been recommended to me multiple times.  

My goal is 14 Pirate Books.  What about yours?

Welcome, me hearties!  I be Captain Anne Scarlett, also known as Mermaid Jane, and this be my ship, Melusine.  I’d like ya to be joinin’ me in the Pirate Reading Challenge.  Here be the rules:

1. The challenge begins June 12, 2007 and lasts until September 19, 2007. There be significance to these dates: durin’ the week o’ June 10 in 1718 Blackbeard ran aground his ship Queen Anne’s Revenge.  September 19 be International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

2. The goal be to read books about pirates. Set your own goal for how many pirate books you’d like to read. (I recommend 3 as a minimum; I meself will probably try for 14 or so.)

3. The books can be any level, fiction or nonfiction. The only requirement be that they be about pirates.

4. As you finish the books, review them.

5. Your final summary should be posted in Pirate Speak (thar’s an English to Pirate translator here) on September 19, and include links to your reviews o’ pirate books.

6. Sign your name to the ship’s articles in the comments to the original post.

THE BASIC RULES:
1. The challenge begins June 12, 2007 and lasts until September 19, 2007. There be significance to these dates: durin' the week o' June 10 in 1718 Blackbeard ran aground his ship Queen Anne's Revenge.  September 19 be International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

2. The goal be to read books about pirates. Set your own goal for how many pirate books you'd like to read. (I recommend 3 as a minimum; I meself will probably try for 14 or so.)

3. The books can be any level, fiction or nonfiction. The only requirement be that they be about pirates.

4. As you finish the books, review them.

5. Your final summary should be posted in Pirate Speak (thar's an English to Pirate translator here) on September 19, and include links to your reviews o' pirate books.

6. Sign your name to the ship's articles in the comments to this post.

MORE ADVANCED OPTIONS:

1. Give yourself a pirate name. If you can't come up with your own, here's a link to some name generators.

2. Name your pirate ship.

3. Hoist your colours! Create your own pirate flag.

4. Go around tellin' people you're a "Bookaneer." (Many thanks to Pirates & Privateers for this word.)

5. Write all your reviews in Pirate Speak.

RESOURCES:
International Talk Like a Pirate Day
The Bookaneer
Pirate Flags
Pirate Books

9:30 AM Friday to 9:30 AM Sunday

Books Read: 4
Pages Read: 1243
Time Spent Reading/Reviewing: 18 hrs

Dancing on the Edge, Han Nolan
244 Pages
3.25 Hrs

Jack Sparrow: The Coming Storm, Rob Kidd
144 Pages
1.25 Hrs

Wildwood Dancing, Juliet Marillier
407 Pages
6.5 Hrs

The Various, Steve Augarde
448 Pages
7 Hrs



Lessons learned: 
1. I have a short attention span.  I took a lot of breaks.
2. As much as I love to read, sleep takes precedence over reading.  I was super-sleepy, and spent almost as much time sleeping as I spent reading.
3. I’m not quite sure how the 14ish hrs I didn’t spend reading OR sleeping was spent.



I’m content with my showing.  Sure, it’s only 4 books, but two of them were rather long.  And the most important thing is, I finished all my library books, so I can take them back now and get NEW library books (though not too many more as I owe Kelly lots of reviews for Edge of the Forest).

I do believe this is supposed to be my last post today; so I’ll just say stay tuned.  Tomorrow I will be bringing you the Pirate Reading Challenge.

This week's question is rather light, and ties into my recent reading of Wildwood Dancing and The Various, and my less recent reading of Tithe and Love in Shadow.

(Have I mentioned that I provided Latin names for some of the sprites in Arthur Spiderwick's Care and Feeding of Sprites?  Occasionally, knowing a dead language leads to awesome things.  If Little Willow is your friend, anyway.)

What's the deal with fairies?
Why do these creatures captivate our imaginations so?  I don't know that I've had a day I felt more pleased with myself than at the most recent Ren Faire when little girls kept whispering to their parents "It's a fairy!" when I walked by.  Why did that make me feel so special?  Why are fairy stories written and rewritten in so many different ways?  What makes them so much more present in the collective consciousness than other fantastical creatures?

Last Week's Question:
In what ways do children's and young adult novels shape readers' notions of gender roles?  How can and do they present more options, especially to girl readers, for how to spend a life?

See the original post and Becky's Book Reviews for answers.  It's especially exciting that we received answers from YA authors Lorie Ann Grover and Janet Lee Carey.

Over at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast, Eisha and Jules invite folks to post seven good things that happened to them in the past week.  I’m doing this for the first time today.  (You can expect a lot of posts this morning, because tomorrow my 48HBC post is supposed to be my last post for the day so I’ve got to say everything NOW!)

Without further ado:

1. Exams went relatively smoothly; even when I didn’t have quite enough copies of a test I was able to pull out the ones I’d given to seniors (who get to take their exams early) and thus salvage the situation.

2. One of my students said to me, “I really like you as a teacher and appreciate everything you’ve done for me."  That was nice.

3. I got lots of stuff in the mail, including a mini-trampoline!

4. I saw Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End a second time.

5. While listening to Celia Rees’s Pirates! (you can expect a review sometime), I realized that I actually know a lot about pirates and should not set aside my plan to write the Great YA Pirate Novel in which two sisters are pirates together and Romantic Love Does Not Save The Day.  (I’m all in favor of romantic love, but sometimes I get weary of its effect in pirate stories.  cf. Tanith Lee’s Piratica.)

6. I decided to prep myself for writing my Great YA Pirate Novel, I should read lots of children’s and YA pirate novels, and also lots of pirate-related non-fiction, and was thus inspired to create Summer 2007: The Summer of Piracy, A Pirate Challenge.

7. I happened upon 

and , who I liked BEFORE I knew they had pirate-related LJ usernames; and in reading ’s posts about ALA and ’s profile revealing his interest in a possible library science career, made the joyful revelation that former students can be future colleagues.  (The distinction one must make between “student” and “friend” is pretty key in teaching, which is hard when you have AWESOME students as I often do.  Once they graduate, though, they’re totally fair game as friends/colleagues.  I had a couple students this year who claim they shall test my statement of this fact by coming back once they’ve been away for a year or so and asking to be my friend.)

What good things happened to you this week?

When Midge's mother goes on a tour with the London Philharmonic, she sends Midge to Mill Farm to stay with her Uncle Brian.  There, Midge finds an injured flying horse named Pegs.  As she helps Pegs, she is drawn into a world of small and magical people called "The Various."  The Various live in the woods near her Uncle's farm, and their livelihood is threatened both by the barrenness of the land and the possibility of the forest's destruction.

To say much more about the plot of The Various would be, I think, to give away too much.  This is a fun book, aimed at middle grade students and those a little younger (grades 5 - 7 according to School Library Journal and ages 9 - 12 according to Amazon).  It holds up well for anyone who likes fairy stories, though, I think.  It was interesting to read this right after Wildwood Dancing, as it handles a similar topic (the entry of a young girl into the world of fairies) but gives it a very different treatment (more modern, mostly).  

I enjoyed The Various and would recommend it to anyone fond of fantasy, especially the child-enters-secret-world genre.  (If that wasn't officially a genre before, I've just declared it one now.)  I could see giving this to a child who was in fifth grade, giving the same child Wildwood Dancing when she was in seventh or eight grade, and then handing her Tithe once she got to high school.

(Stats Below Are For the Whole Challenge, Not Just This Book)
Books Read: 4
Pages Read: 1243
Time Spent Reading/Reviewing: 18 hrs

****

This will probably be my last book of the challenge, as I don't think I can finish another book of the appropriate level/length in the next slightly-less-than-an-hour.

I interrupt my challenge posts to bring you this tidbit.

Several months ago, I filled out a form at UNC's School of Information and Library Science site to get the director of their school librarian program to contact me.  She finally got back to me recently, and I was pleased by her response, though it didn't exactly tell me anything new. (Emphasis Added)

Dear Ms. H,

You sent information to our school library interest database some months
ago but the database was in the process of being revised and I am only now
getting to the point of responding.  I apologize for the long delay.

You inquired about what you need to NC certification as a school media
coordinator (the official name for the school librarian) through our
program.

The state requires for this 076 certification a a valid NC teaching
certificate (which you have), a master's degree in library science with
specialized school library courses (which you don't have although you have
some children's literature courses), fieldwork (which might be waived for
experience) and a passing score of the PRAXIS specialty area exam.

The details of what is required are spelled out in more detail on the
following website:
<http://sils.unc.edu/programs/continuing_ed/slmc/licensure.html>

You meet the teaching certificate requirement.  Latin and mythology is a
good background especially for a high school teacher.  You would need to
enroll in a master's program in library science and take courses in the
school library specialty area to qualify for licensure as a school
librarian.

Let me know if you have further questions and again, apologies for the long
delay in responding.

Co-Director, School Library Media Program

Wildwood Dancing is a fairytale lover’s dream: familiar tales, retold and mixed with folklore, creating a new and entrancing story.  In this combination of The Twelve Dancing Princesses, The Frog Prince, and various eastern European folktales, 15 year old Jenica finds herself trying to manage her father’s estate as he goes to the shore to recover from grave illness.  Her cousin Cezar quickly appoints himself master of the estate, and sets about restricting the activities of Jena and her four sisters, as well as seeking his revenge on the folk of the wildwood, whom he blames for his brother’s death ten years ago.

The use of familiar stories in Wildwood Dancing is refreshing: Marillier takes care to make the stories recognizable but not predictable.  At several points I thought I saw where the story was going and every time I was a little right and a little wrong.  This is how a book should be: we get the thrill of having figured it out, without the boredom that comes with a more predictable story.  Wildwood Dancing is not only strong in its use of traditional tales, but also in its creation of characters.  The five sisters of Piscul Dracului are five different girls, each with her own whole personality.  At the same time, while Jena is “the sensible one” and Tati is “the pretty one” and Paula is “the smart one,” these girls are not pigeonholed by these roles.

Wildwood Dancing reminded me of Holly Black’s Tithe, which is odd because the moods of the two books have nothing in common.  I think it was just the notion of teenaged girls interacting with faeries that made the connection in my mind.  Still, there is a spiritual connection between them, somehow, and I feel that fans of one would certainly enjoy the other.

(Stats Below Are For the Whole Challenge, Not Just This Book)
Books Read: 3
Pages Read: 795
Time Spent Reading/Reviewing: 11 hrs