Librarian in the Living Room

I will scan these as they delight me …

Well … it’s official … I am way addicted to the manga, Cipher. I also am beginning to feel compelled to write an essay about them addressing the use of androgyny and a seeming romantic love between the two twin brothers who are Cipher’s intriguing protagonists. As a Librarian in a small town, I did become a little nervous at these very provacative good-bye / hello / nighty night kisses between the two brothers. I reviewed volume 7 for its appropriateness for my teens and the community in which they live. None of this was in volume 7 … what is a Librarian to do? I can wait for the backlash … I can include an age requirement … or, do nothing. In this world of even my 12 year old teens watching what I hear are constant sexual love triangles in shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives,  and Sex and the City, this is surely tame. I am always amazed and chagrined about parents who don’t mind violent video games or allowing their children to watch anything on television and anything online but getting ticked off  about a book. At least with a book there is enrichment and important life skills are learned (vocabulary, comprehension, critical thinking …) as a result. This truly mystifies me … I guess I had liberal parents who allowed me to read anything (they were delighted I was reading after my two non-reader brothers) … and watch Headbanger’s Ball on MTV. And my parents were more concerned with movies and shows glorifying blood baths than those with sexual content.

But everyone is different and this is what keeps life and being a Librarian constantly interesting. I would say the lip-kissing thing was a cultural more in Japan, but Anise (their friend) comments on how “weird” it is … but I am intrigued and I am holding my breath that no parents go nutso on me. This odd, loverlike kissing is a small part of the book and it is more important that the message of friendship and building trust is at the forefront of the reader’s mind. There are good messages in this story for teens … plus its 1980s fashion and melodrama (and pop star allusions) only make it better!

Be sure to check out the drawings of 80s pop stars on the side of random pages … even Hall & Oates are made to look super cute!

Any fans of Emily the Strange would most likely love the sardonic and sarcastic Courtney Crumrin. Actually, anyone who likes graphic novels with a supernatural bent will love Courtney. And a note to Teen Librarians: this is appropriate for all tweens and teens alike. If the gore and dark darkness of Emily the Strange made you a little nervous as a Tween / Teen Librarian … worry not here. As of now there are 3 volumes to Courtney Crumrin and I am hoping volume 4 will be available sooner rather than later.

So after Courtney’s snotty parents move her to her freakish uncle’s mansion in the ‘burbs, Courtney finds fitting in more difficult than ever. Her parents are, as always, trying to gain “status” in the neighborhood with any and all well-to-do or powerful people in the community. And if having major trouble fitting in either at school or in her family isn’t enough … she discovers the “night things.” Eventually her uncle’s quirkiness will help her immensely since he has a library of spellbooks that help Courtney figure out a way to keep the “night things” in line … or at least a little bit.

The adventures of Courtney (and of her babysitting job gone awry — the most hilarious moment in the novel) will be impossible to put down. It is infectious because the characters are unique yet familiar and absolutely addicting!

The delightfully cookey children’s books by Dare Wright rank not only among my absolute favorite children’s books but as some of my favorite books ever — period. Do they rank directly with Robert Lowell’s Life Studies and John Berryman’s The Dream Songs? Well, not exactly … but close. Dare photographed her own doll, Edith for these eerily real and psychologically potent collections telling its young readers of loneliness, understanding, desire, temptation, turmoil and punishment. The photographs are captivating, the stories simple as if from a child’s voice, not the voice of a grown woman. But did Dare ever really grow up?

The odd relationship between Dare and her artistic yet oppressive mother would be the very thing to not only keep Dare from developing fully into an adult, but it no doubt helped immensely to create these books … the stories of the struggles, strife, and tiny joys of Edith the doll, the seeming doppleganger of Dare. The doll has many adventures with her friend Little Bear (often being reprimanded by Mr. Bear) … from playing dress up to finally being able to attain a horse named Midnight. The stories are so simple on the surface but they possess the complexities of heart valves to the sophisticated mind of an adult.

 I think I came upon Dare Wright and her work when I was doing research on Surrealist artist, Hans Bellmer. Her books and her life are not only riveting narratives in the deep, but multi-layered dissertations of the heart and mind.

Read more about Dare and join the campaign to keep her books in print: www.darewright.com.

And by the way, director Julian Schnabel will embark on a film about Dare’s strange and textured life called, The Lonely Doll that will begin filming in 2008.

I started this manga with volume 7 … which I hate to do … but it was the only volume available at my Library. I did order the others in the series since I was captivated by this one! Set in the 1980s, it is immensely entertaining to me with the clothes and just the general aura it exudes … over the top yet wonderful 1980s melodrama!

In a nutshell … the protagonists are twin brothers who are now in their late teens but were once child stars. In this volume they are struggling to find themselves (having always been together). There is romance and, if you want to read it deeply, a good deal of existential ponderings). Great manga … wil discuss the whole series through volume 8 as soon as I read them.

This manga is good for young to older teens and would appeal also to an adult audience. It is mainly drama and romance … and like I said that unique brand of 1980s melodrama.

In the above book (a truly wonderful book), Henry Miller wrote: A book is not only a friend, it makes friends for you. When you have possessed a book with mind and spirit, you are enriched. But when you pass it on you are enriched threefold. Sometimes I fear that my almost-constant chatter about books to people is one of the very reasons my living room is lonely … even though I am really never alone. By empty living room, I am meaning people who are tangible to other people … breathing people … real people. But I still feel I sleep among greatness, sit among it in my living room — from John Berryman to Emily Bronte.

My second floor apartment affords me a view of a tiny part of the world where everybody lives … the world with cars and people, people who are sadly often arguing as they saunter down the sidewalk. Or yelling. Threatening. I guess in some ways these are living moments of literature … where story comes from, where poetry comes from, philosophy. An old man with the little boys’ suitcase (imagine: boy going to grandma’s suitcase — love it) and a straw hat who walks down my street like clockwork after the Library closes inspires something in my heart every time. I think seeing the same person every day … at nearly the same time gives me a sense of not being alone in the world …or my living room. Maybe being a part of a narrative … this man on the sidewalk and me in my second-story window … this is our story.

I am a Librarian and a poet. Books have always been a very large part of my life. They have been my friends … little gifts of joy that often rival a roll in the hay. I love being a Librarian and being both around books and readers. I especially enjoy talking books and literature with the teens I work with at the Library. So this blog will be one about books of all kinds — for adults and teens primarily. But I sometimes read a great picture book to my cats that I will feel immensely compelled to discuss.

Right now, I am reading more Jasper Fforde … gearing up for his new one in the Thursday Next series: Thursday Next: First Among Sequels. His books are so whimsical and quirky. In the first book of the series, The Eyre Affair there is a character named Jack Schitt. He is a wonderful writer full of wit … reminiscent of Oscar Wilde? Also check out his Nursery Crime Series. I have not read the NC Series yet because someone is taking their sweet time getting the first book back to the library! But I know one thing … if you were (or are) an English major … READ JASPER FFORDE. You’ll not only be immensely entertained, but feel smart and that although your liberal arts degree may not get you big bucks … you will “get” Jasper Fforde books on levels that a mere Chem major would not.

And to quote Henry Miller again: A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition.

And with my odd and newfound fondness of BB guns I implore you … don’t waste the ammo … or at least not the BBs.

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