Issue Nº 22: Howard Zinn (for Kids), Finding Sanctuary in Public Spaces, and Ramona Forever

Took the kids to Boston for a few days, and upon return had to dig up my journal from three years ago to compare the weather in Beantown in June versus April. (The difference was a staggering 42 degrees.) This time we stayed in a Back Bay hotel that was originally a 19th century dormitory for Harvard faculty, complete with an elevator that appropriately clickety-clacked. (Seb dug the views from up top.) The kiddos were obsessed with the Children's Museum on the harbor meanwhile my husband and I were obsessed with arancini, North End deep fried risotto balls that happened to be the only thing that warmed us completely all week.


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For the Discerning & Literary Child

A Young People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn and Rebecca Stefoff. (Here's my take.)

Two picture book biographies for moi: yet another one (!) about RBG and Jane Austen.

The Magic Treehouse series because my kindergartener flipped when she saw them at the library. ("We read this at school, mom!")


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Asides, Ideas, Miscellany

Car free is the way to be. And: Finding sanctuary in public spaces.

What 30 years of female friendship looks like. See also: Scenes unseen.

What Americans thought of the Civil Rights Movement in 1964.

Small batch digital publishing + brick and mortar retail = the bookstore of the future? [Circle one: Yes/No]

“What is the author saying here?” No one ever suggests that the answer might be “He didn’t quite know” or “That sentence was part of a key scene in an earlier draft, and he forgot to take it out in revision.” (And other things that weren't discussed in English class.)

Ramona forever.


“They are not here to do better, or to be smarter, or to get ready: They are here to be, and they know it.” - Adam Gopnik on children


Thoughts? Ideas? Recommendations? I love connecting with fellow readers, writers, parents, and humans. Please drop me a line!

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r.p.