High School Me!

Visit Tayari Jones' blog to learn why you should post your embarrassing high school photos too!

Please note that I'm not even shying away from the bad pics. This is me turning 17.

Having makeup applied before homecoming sophomore year. (It's one of those skills I never picked up.)

Yes, it was a costume party. I loved that dress, though.Studying while on vacation. Yes, I'm a nerd. Yes, I always was. Better to get these things in the open.Junior prom. And let me tell you, I was so much more comfortable in that than the sweaty girls in their strappy dresses.Graduation day!

Tidbits

I managed to cross off a few more titles on the Cybils list, but it still feels like a long way to go. (In a good way, though! Lots of books I might not have gotten to otherwise.)

There are tons of reviews I'd like to post, but I haven't quite figured out when that's going to happen. For now, here's my endorsement of Jo Walton's Farthing: It resulted in an unplanned trip to Harlem.

(I was reading it on the subway. Between being engrossed in the book and ignoring the announcements because the PA system was pretty poor, I didn't realize the train turned into an express after 59th Street.)

Cybils progress report

If you want to know details about the Cybils NFMG/YA nominees, click here. If you want to watch me track my progress through the list, scroll down.

Reviews? Yeah, one of these days. For now, I just want the sense of achievement that comes with crossing stuff off.

11 Planets: A New View of the Solar System
Afghan Dreams: Young Voices of Afghanistan
Ain't Nothing but a Man: My Quest to Find the Real John Henry
Amazing Kitchen Chemistry Projects You Can Build Yourself
Body Drama: Real Girls, Real Bodies, Real Issues, Real Answers
Chill: Stress-Reducing Techniques for a More Balanced, Peaceful You
Generation Green: The Ultimate Teen Guide to Living an Eco-Friendly Life
George Washington Carver
Girls Inc. Presents: You're Amazing!: A No-Pressure Guide to Being Your Best Self
Gotcha Covered: Everything You Need To Know About Your Period
Great Peacemakers: True Stories from Around the World
Hidden Letters
Horse Song: The Naadam of Mongolia
I Am Scout: The Biography of Harper Lee
In Defiance of Hitler: The Secret Mission of Varian Fry
Independent Dames: What You Never Knew about the Women and Girls of the American Revolution
King George: What Was His Problem?: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the American Revolution
Kiss My Math: Showing Pre-Algebra Who's Boss
Knucklehead: Tall Tales and Almost True Stories of Growing up Scieszka
Lincoln Shot: A President's Life Remembered
Lincoln Through the Lens
Little Lions, Bull Baiters & Hunting Hounds: A History of Dog Breeds
Model
Mysterious Universe: Supernovae, Dark Energy, and Black Holes
No Choirboy: Murder, Violence, and Teenagers on Death Row
Off to War: Voices of Soldiers' Children
One Hundred Young Americans
OUR FARM: Four Seasons with Five Kids on One Family Farm
Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out
Painting the Wild Frontier: The Art and Adventures of George Catlin
Physics: Why Matter Matters
ridiculous/hilarious/terrible/cool: a year in an american high school
Science on the Loose: Amazing Activities and Science Facts You'll Never Believe
Sea Queens: Women Pirates Around the World
Sedimentary Rock
Seize the Story
She Touched the World: Laura Bridgman, Deaf-Blind Pioneer
Snow Falling in Spring
Steel Drumming at the Apollo: The Road to Super Top Dog
Super Crocs and Monster Wings
Swords: An Artist's Devotion
Taking Care of Your Girls: A Breast Health Guide for Girls, Teens, and In-Betweens
The Bite of the Mango
The Great Race:The Amazing Round-the-World Auto Race of 1908
The Lincolns: A Scrapbook Look at Abraham and Mary
The Pocket Guide to Mischief
The Raucous Royals: Test Your Royal Wits: Crack Codes, Solve Mysteries, and Deduce which Royal Rumors are True
The Trouble Begins at 8: A Life of Mark Twain in the Wild, Wild West
The Way We Work
The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir
The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
What the World Eats
Who's Haunting the White House?: The President's Mansion and the Ghosts Who Live There
Women of Granite: 25 New Hampshire Women You Should Know
Yes We Can: A Biography of Barack Obama
YUM: Your Ultimate Manual for Good Nutrition

Updated 12/26. (43/56)

The Comment Challenge

I didn't come close to the goal of five comments a day set by MotherReader and Lee, but I made a lot more comments than usual - which was, of course, the point.

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You might want to vary your reading list if...

I've been working on Cybils books over the past few weeks, including some of the very fun science books.

Which is why, when I cleaned the bathroom yesterday, and splashed ammonia all over the floor, I thought about the fact that it was slippery because ammonia is a base.

Yeah.

And then I went back to scrubbing.

The Possibilities of Sainthood

Go. Read it.

Muchas gracias to Sara Zarr for her excellent interview with Donna Freitas, which was the kick in the pants I needed to finally sit down with my copy. Like Lottery, this is one of those books I should have read the day I brought it home.

Blog the Vote

I actually teared up when I saw this banner in Ridgefield's 300th anniversary parade this year. The LWV held onto a ca.-1915 banner carried by suffragists in town and brought it out for the occasion.

The women who made the banner (obviously) didn't have the right to vote. Neither did these, to name just a few: Sojourner Truth, Carrie Chapman Catt, Lucy Stone, Susan B. Anthony, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Lucretia Mott, Rose Schneiderman, and Mary Church Terrell.

Not enough? Start reading the letters, articles, and oral histories from Freedom Riders collected at Breach of Peace and remember that for many people, seeing an amendment added to the Constitution wasn't enough.

People with political power have, for hundreds of years, tried to avoid sharing that power. Now that we have it - something other people have fought to bring about - let's make it count for something.

Pay a visit to your polling place on Tuesday, and think about what it took to get you there.

Chasing Ray has a roundup of Blog the Vote posts - thanks for organizing, Colleen and Lee!