Tamora Pierce's Blog, page 9
August 5, 2011
Update to mine of August 4
cross-posted from my fan journal
So ABC, finding itself under fire from both Christians and feminists (and rightly so) has changed the title of Good Christian Bitches.
And, according to TV.com, it was Fox that named the other show Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 and sensible ol' ABC that changed it to Apartment 23. Let's not forget, the link I posted, with the b-word title, was to ABC's fall publicity release.
This is important. It's not like we got these titles as working titles from scripts that were smuggled out of the studios by an unpaid intern. These were on the publicity release. TV.com even says they think the b-word title is "much better."
So, in conclusion, ABC cleaned up its act. But it did so only after a certain point, and not when someone said very early on, "Are you people crazy?"
So ABC, finding itself under fire from both Christians and feminists (and rightly so) has changed the title of Good Christian Bitches.
And, according to TV.com, it was Fox that named the other show Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23 and sensible ol' ABC that changed it to Apartment 23. Let's not forget, the link I posted, with the b-word title, was to ABC's fall publicity release.
This is important. It's not like we got these titles as working titles from scripts that were smuggled out of the studios by an unpaid intern. These were on the publicity release. TV.com even says they think the b-word title is "much better."
So, in conclusion, ABC cleaned up its act. But it did so only after a certain point, and not when someone said very early on, "Are you people crazy?"
August 4, 2011
Yah. Nobody's gonna like this.
cross-posted from my fan journal
I am happily leafing through the current Entertainment Weekly this morning, enjoying one of my favorite pop cultural fixes, and I come across a cross-page ad for an upcoming television show on NBC: Playboy Club. That's right. It's set in a Playboy Club in the 1960s, to reap some of that Mad Men resonance--the clothes, the sexual politics, the music, the smoking, and the drinking. And the women in the corseted, crotch-cutting, chest-displaying outfits, complete with painfully high heels and the serving procedure known as the "Bunny dip": crouch without bending your back, holding your drink tray perfectly level at shoulder height. Because we couldn't do this at a dance club like Whiskey à GoGo or someplace where the culture was changing, like the Greenwich Village or San Francisco nightclubs. No, we have to have it be the Playboy Clubs where we can show women put on display like products in your grocer's dairy case in every episode as background, with men freely given permission to ogle and grope them and treat them like fecal matter because, hey, that was the time. The producer claims it's about female empowerment and women using their bodies to get what they want. A spot on the board, asshat? A job as CEO or CFO? How about second vice president at a bank? What about head chef at a pricey restaurant, or producer/director of a movie? (Hey, wait--we can hardly get a lot of those jobs now.) And what happens to them when they get wrinkles, or start to sag, or gain weight, or get pregnant, or develop minds of their own? How do their bodies get them what they want then? Or even now?
ABC, at the same time, is offering us Pan Am, focusing on "stewardesses and pilots and their glamorous world". (Keep scrolling down in the article for the other shows mentioned in this post.)
I thought I was through with this crap after the publication of COFFEE, TEA, OR ME? and Germaine Greer's blistering series of articles on how demeaning a Bunny's life really is. I thought feminism would clear this garbage off televisions when All in the Family's Edith Bunker finally rose up and told Archie what he could do with his racism and sexism and moved out, when divorced women were portrayed as workers and parents rather than "easy," and when women headlined dramas rather than only home how-to shows and pre-school kids' TV.
But wait! There's more!
ABC also has Good Christian Bitches!--glamorous backbiting women à la Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girls, and Pretty Little Liars--and Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23.
To all of you who told me that I was wrong (when I said that using the b-word just tells people it's okay to use this term that trashes women), and that you were using the b-word to reclaim it for women, I hope you're happy. Because now cheap TV producers think it's a cool word to use on national television to mean nasty women.
Oh, yes. And they're re-booting Charlie's Angels. Again. Because women can't kick butt without a man to tell them to do it. I'm reserving judgment on the program about two guys who think the only way to get ahead is to dress up as women. Transfolk gotta eat, too, even if cisjerks snicker at it.
I am so angry I cannot see straight. Don't tell me I'm getting excited over nothing. This tide of egregious disrespect has been creeping up, and creeping up. Now, as they try to take our reproductive rights away, and we discover that rape numbers in the civilian and military population are under-reported (the FBI numbers don't include statutory and date rape, 60% of the population doesn't report it at all, and in the military it's 80% that doesn't report), our mass media tells us that we are here for sex. Women are shown in the media as sexual objects, as pieces of meat there to display desirable things like cars, watches, drinks, and a suit on a man.
Now the women who ruin their backs and feet running up and down airplane aisles and the women who were penalized for a two-pound gain are being shown off once more as the living equivalent of sex toys, which makes all of us sex toys. We're all of us bitches, because our media culture tells us so.
I am happily leafing through the current Entertainment Weekly this morning, enjoying one of my favorite pop cultural fixes, and I come across a cross-page ad for an upcoming television show on NBC: Playboy Club. That's right. It's set in a Playboy Club in the 1960s, to reap some of that Mad Men resonance--the clothes, the sexual politics, the music, the smoking, and the drinking. And the women in the corseted, crotch-cutting, chest-displaying outfits, complete with painfully high heels and the serving procedure known as the "Bunny dip": crouch without bending your back, holding your drink tray perfectly level at shoulder height. Because we couldn't do this at a dance club like Whiskey à GoGo or someplace where the culture was changing, like the Greenwich Village or San Francisco nightclubs. No, we have to have it be the Playboy Clubs where we can show women put on display like products in your grocer's dairy case in every episode as background, with men freely given permission to ogle and grope them and treat them like fecal matter because, hey, that was the time. The producer claims it's about female empowerment and women using their bodies to get what they want. A spot on the board, asshat? A job as CEO or CFO? How about second vice president at a bank? What about head chef at a pricey restaurant, or producer/director of a movie? (Hey, wait--we can hardly get a lot of those jobs now.) And what happens to them when they get wrinkles, or start to sag, or gain weight, or get pregnant, or develop minds of their own? How do their bodies get them what they want then? Or even now?
ABC, at the same time, is offering us Pan Am, focusing on "stewardesses and pilots and their glamorous world". (Keep scrolling down in the article for the other shows mentioned in this post.)
I thought I was through with this crap after the publication of COFFEE, TEA, OR ME? and Germaine Greer's blistering series of articles on how demeaning a Bunny's life really is. I thought feminism would clear this garbage off televisions when All in the Family's Edith Bunker finally rose up and told Archie what he could do with his racism and sexism and moved out, when divorced women were portrayed as workers and parents rather than "easy," and when women headlined dramas rather than only home how-to shows and pre-school kids' TV.
But wait! There's more!
ABC also has Good Christian Bitches!--glamorous backbiting women à la Desperate Housewives, Gossip Girls, and Pretty Little Liars--and Don't Trust the Bitch in Apartment 23.
To all of you who told me that I was wrong (when I said that using the b-word just tells people it's okay to use this term that trashes women), and that you were using the b-word to reclaim it for women, I hope you're happy. Because now cheap TV producers think it's a cool word to use on national television to mean nasty women.
Oh, yes. And they're re-booting Charlie's Angels. Again. Because women can't kick butt without a man to tell them to do it. I'm reserving judgment on the program about two guys who think the only way to get ahead is to dress up as women. Transfolk gotta eat, too, even if cisjerks snicker at it.
I am so angry I cannot see straight. Don't tell me I'm getting excited over nothing. This tide of egregious disrespect has been creeping up, and creeping up. Now, as they try to take our reproductive rights away, and we discover that rape numbers in the civilian and military population are under-reported (the FBI numbers don't include statutory and date rape, 60% of the population doesn't report it at all, and in the military it's 80% that doesn't report), our mass media tells us that we are here for sex. Women are shown in the media as sexual objects, as pieces of meat there to display desirable things like cars, watches, drinks, and a suit on a man.
Now the women who ruin their backs and feet running up and down airplane aisles and the women who were penalized for a two-pound gain are being shown off once more as the living equivalent of sex toys, which makes all of us sex toys. We're all of us bitches, because our media culture tells us so.
July 23, 2011
This Weekend Sucks
I had a wonderful time at the Alpha workshop in Greensburg, PA, but right now I'm reeling from the impacts of the Oslo bombing and mass shooting on the island of Utoeya, both in Norway, and the smaller, but human and hard, tragedy of the death of singer Amy Winehouse, whose work I loved. The Norwegian shootings are hellish, the product--as far as we knew right now--of a right-wing extremist with guns and a bomb. Right now no one has published any explanation of what the arrested shooter, 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik, meant to achieve with his murders. What's known is that he belongs to a right-wing extremist group in Norway (though the government believed such groups had been eradicated), and the island youth camp was hosted by the left-leaning Labor Party, but so far he hasn't made any statements, or they haven't been published. What's known is that he's commited the worst mass shooting in history, of teenagers.
I hate our times. It's not that there weren't mass killings before in history. It's just that lone nutballs weren't able to kill so many in the name of their vicious, anti-life agendas.
And Ms. Winehouse--no one knows, yet, but her road was a bumpy one, her life troubled. Things have gone downhill for her since she was booed offstage in Belgrade, when she was apparently on some kind of substance, alcohol or drugs. But I wanted her here. As long as there's life, there's hope.
I understand one thing. She had emphysema hanging over her. My grandfather had emphysema, as does Tim. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) killed my dad, several other of my relatives, and appears to be the Pierce family disease. Lung disease of any kind gives me the horrors, and emphysema is my worst nightmare. I understand very well how someone might look at a future of slowly drowning to death and just . . . give up. I've always hoped Amy Winehouse wouldn't--but I would understand very well if she had, either in spirit, or with a little extra help.
It's a weekend for thought and prayers for all who are hurt and all who are sorrowing.
I hate our times. It's not that there weren't mass killings before in history. It's just that lone nutballs weren't able to kill so many in the name of their vicious, anti-life agendas.
And Ms. Winehouse--no one knows, yet, but her road was a bumpy one, her life troubled. Things have gone downhill for her since she was booed offstage in Belgrade, when she was apparently on some kind of substance, alcohol or drugs. But I wanted her here. As long as there's life, there's hope.
I understand one thing. She had emphysema hanging over her. My grandfather had emphysema, as does Tim. Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) killed my dad, several other of my relatives, and appears to be the Pierce family disease. Lung disease of any kind gives me the horrors, and emphysema is my worst nightmare. I understand very well how someone might look at a future of slowly drowning to death and just . . . give up. I've always hoped Amy Winehouse wouldn't--but I would understand very well if she had, either in spirit, or with a little extra help.
It's a weekend for thought and prayers for all who are hurt and all who are sorrowing.
July 9, 2011
Important sex advice for Bristol Palin
I am putting up this piece by Jaclyn Friedman from the Good site because I think it's important, not just for Bristol, who tells us in her book that Levi "stole her virginity" (at least, she thinks so, since she had a few drinks and had to work it all out the next day because she didn't remember), but for plenty of us who made excuses for the guy and blamed ourselves after we'd been, to use the prettiest term, date raped.
Note that second word. Bristol may not want to believe it, and I still have issues, but any well-educated third wave feminist knows what happened: rape. Date or no, drinks or no, it's rape. Bristol would probably never agree, but I think most of us who have been in her position would have loved for someone like Jaclyn to come over, raid the fridge, and give us the straight up rape talk.
Note that second word. Bristol may not want to believe it, and I still have issues, but any well-educated third wave feminist knows what happened: rape. Date or no, drinks or no, it's rape. Bristol would probably never agree, but I think most of us who have been in her position would have loved for someone like Jaclyn to come over, raid the fridge, and give us the straight up rape talk.
July 8, 2011
One pretty cool granny
Parkaso Tomar would be inspiring anywhere (as younger people follow one of my favorite mantras, "If she can do it, I can do it"), but this woman lives in an Indian village in an area where, as the article states, honor killings and female abortions are common. She picked up a gun when she was sixty, keeping her young sister-in-law company at an all-make shooting range, and discovered that shooting is a gift for her. And at 75, she's still shooting.
When she beats a man in a competition, she wins a victory for women everywhere. And she's a role model for younger Indian girls.
Peace be on you, Parkaso Tomar. Women like you are pearls of great price.
When she beats a man in a competition, she wins a victory for women everywhere. And she's a role model for younger Indian girls.
Peace be on you, Parkaso Tomar. Women like you are pearls of great price.
July 7, 2011
So Far, So Good
Thanks to heroic efforts by Julie Holderman, Tim Liebe, and contributor Megan Messinger, the first draft of the TORTALL COMPANION BOOK is in! This includes a spy manual, documents on the military and university structure, bios of selected characters, a listing of and information about the immortals (including some you haven't encountered), an exchange of letters between Wyldon and King Jon regarding Wyldon's takeover of the training program for pages, the training of the Queen's Riders, and much more!
Cara Coville is still working on coats of arms and I on maps, but the text itself is in the editor's hot little hands.
Pray for us. ;-)
Cara Coville is still working on coats of arms and I on maps, but the text itself is in the editor's hot little hands.
Pray for us. ;-)
A very cool critique of "A League of Their Own"
I looked in on Feministe today, and found this gem of a review on the 1992 movie "A League of Their Own," starring Geena Davis, Lori Petty, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, many other fine women actors, Tom Hanks, David Stathairn, Garry Marshall, Bill Pullman, and others. It's directed by Penny Marshall.
It's based on real people and events, set in the time when baseball team owners were about to close the stadiums because most of their players were fighting in WWII. Wrigley, of the gum and Wrigley Field in Chicago, was persuaded by his advertising manager to try all-women's baseball. The movie changes the names, but it shows the gathering of women from all over America as they come to try out, and their struggle to get recognition. Their relationships and ideas are splendid as they play ball, form alliances, help one another, and even (for a few) discover romance.
Oh, forget what I'm saying. Read the review--she says it far better than I do!
It's based on real people and events, set in the time when baseball team owners were about to close the stadiums because most of their players were fighting in WWII. Wrigley, of the gum and Wrigley Field in Chicago, was persuaded by his advertising manager to try all-women's baseball. The movie changes the names, but it shows the gathering of women from all over America as they come to try out, and their struggle to get recognition. Their relationships and ideas are splendid as they play ball, form alliances, help one another, and even (for a few) discover romance.
Oh, forget what I'm saying. Read the review--she says it far better than I do!
June 15, 2011
favorite books of 2010, adult contemporary and fantasy
I know I am taking forever to get the adult list posted, but I figured you would forgive me, since I've spent the last week going over the copyedited MASTIFF, making sure it gets back on time. In any case, I'm not even doing the whole list of adult books I liked last year, but only part of one. I'll do the rest in another section. So brace yourself--and I hope the format difference from the YA/YR list isn't too confusing!
Mainstream Adult Novels
THE GREATEST KNIGHT by Elizabeth Chadwick (historical)
THE ELUSIVE MRS. POLLIFAX and A PALM FOR MRS. POLLIFAX by Dorothy Gilman (mystery adventure with a butt-kicking older lady in the 1960s)
A TIME TO KILL by John Grisham (contemporary, second read)
THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE by Heather Gudenkauf (dark contemporary)
HOMELAND historical fiction by Barbara Hambly (letters between a Southern woman and a Northern one during the Civil War)
NINTH DAUGHTER, THE historical mystery by Barbara Hamilton (pseudonym for Barbara Hambly) with Abigail Adams plunged into a friend's murder
APRIL LADY, ARABELLA, THE CONVENIENT MARRIAGE, COTILLION, DEVIL'S CUB, FALSE COLORS, FREDERICA, THE MASQUERADERS, THE QUIET GENTLEMAN, THE RELUCTANT WIDOW, SPRIG MUSLIN, THESE OLD SHADES, THE UNKNOWN AJAX by Georgette Heyer (historical romances, I don't know how many times I've read each of these!)
PROMISE NOT TO TELL by Jennifer McMahon
HOUSE RULES by Jodi Picoult
Adult SF and Fantasy
THE HAKAWATI by Rabih Alameddine (interlinked Arabic legends)
MAGIC BLEEDS by Ilona Andrews (urban fantasy)
SKULL FRAGMENTS by Mike Arnason (horror)
THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD by Margaret Atwood (sf)
HAMMERED (sf) and BONE AND JEWEL CREATURES (fantasy) by Elizabeth Bear
FLESH AND SPIRIT and BREATH AND BONE, fantasy by Carol Berg
LINCOLN'S SWORD (alternate history) by Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald
GRAVE SECRET by Charlaine Harris (horror)
GHOSTS IN THE SNOW by Tamara Siler Jones, fantasy
UNDER HEAVEN by Guy Gavriel Kay, alternate history China
IN THE EYE OF TREASON by David Keck, fantasy
THE BORN QUEEN by Greg Keyes (the conclusion to The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone fantasy quartet starting with THE BRIAR KING)
FIRE LOGIC and EARTH LOGIC by Laurie J. Marks (fantasy, second reading)
THE SUMMONER by Gail Z. Martin, fantasy
THE RIVER KING'S ROAD by Liane Merciel, fantasy
OATH OF FEALTY by Elizabeth Moon, fantasy
IN PURSUIT OF THE GREEN LION, THE MASTER OF ALL DESIRES, THE ORACLE GLASS, THE SERPENT GARDEN, THE WATER DEVIL, A VISION OF LIGHT by Judith Merkle Riley, historical fantasy
THE BETTER TO HOLD YOU by Alisa Sheckley, fantasy
AT THE QUEEN'S COMMAND by Michael Stackpole, fantasy
SECRETS OF THE SANDS, fantasy by Leona Wisoker
Mainstream Adult Novels
THE GREATEST KNIGHT by Elizabeth Chadwick (historical)
THE ELUSIVE MRS. POLLIFAX and A PALM FOR MRS. POLLIFAX by Dorothy Gilman (mystery adventure with a butt-kicking older lady in the 1960s)
A TIME TO KILL by John Grisham (contemporary, second read)
THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE by Heather Gudenkauf (dark contemporary)
HOMELAND historical fiction by Barbara Hambly (letters between a Southern woman and a Northern one during the Civil War)
NINTH DAUGHTER, THE historical mystery by Barbara Hamilton (pseudonym for Barbara Hambly) with Abigail Adams plunged into a friend's murder
APRIL LADY, ARABELLA, THE CONVENIENT MARRIAGE, COTILLION, DEVIL'S CUB, FALSE COLORS, FREDERICA, THE MASQUERADERS, THE QUIET GENTLEMAN, THE RELUCTANT WIDOW, SPRIG MUSLIN, THESE OLD SHADES, THE UNKNOWN AJAX by Georgette Heyer (historical romances, I don't know how many times I've read each of these!)
PROMISE NOT TO TELL by Jennifer McMahon
HOUSE RULES by Jodi Picoult
Adult SF and Fantasy
THE HAKAWATI by Rabih Alameddine (interlinked Arabic legends)
MAGIC BLEEDS by Ilona Andrews (urban fantasy)
SKULL FRAGMENTS by Mike Arnason (horror)
THE YEAR OF THE FLOOD by Margaret Atwood (sf)
HAMMERED (sf) and BONE AND JEWEL CREATURES (fantasy) by Elizabeth Bear
FLESH AND SPIRIT and BREATH AND BONE, fantasy by Carol Berg
LINCOLN'S SWORD (alternate history) by Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald
GRAVE SECRET by Charlaine Harris (horror)
GHOSTS IN THE SNOW by Tamara Siler Jones, fantasy
UNDER HEAVEN by Guy Gavriel Kay, alternate history China
IN THE EYE OF TREASON by David Keck, fantasy
THE BORN QUEEN by Greg Keyes (the conclusion to The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone fantasy quartet starting with THE BRIAR KING)
FIRE LOGIC and EARTH LOGIC by Laurie J. Marks (fantasy, second reading)
THE SUMMONER by Gail Z. Martin, fantasy
THE RIVER KING'S ROAD by Liane Merciel, fantasy
OATH OF FEALTY by Elizabeth Moon, fantasy
IN PURSUIT OF THE GREEN LION, THE MASTER OF ALL DESIRES, THE ORACLE GLASS, THE SERPENT GARDEN, THE WATER DEVIL, A VISION OF LIGHT by Judith Merkle Riley, historical fantasy
THE BETTER TO HOLD YOU by Alisa Sheckley, fantasy
AT THE QUEEN'S COMMAND by Michael Stackpole, fantasy
SECRETS OF THE SANDS, fantasy by Leona Wisoker
May 24, 2011
favorite books of 2010, YA/YR/kids
cross-posted from my fan lj
Those of you who know me are probably wondering where in Sam Hill did my 2010 favorites list go. You probably know I had surgery in January and MASTIFF to finish, both events knocking my schedule all to flinders.
Here I am at last with part of the whole thing--the other part will be in the next post. I hope you see something you want to read!
c = contemporary
f = fantasy
sf = science fiction
YA/Teen, YR/Intermediate, beginning
SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson (my third reading!, c)
BONE AND JEWEL CREATURES fantasy by Elizabeth Bear (f, technically adult, splendid for anybody)
BAD KITTY GETS A BATH by Nick Bruel (I don't care if it's a beginning book—I liked it anyway!)
STAR CROSSED by Elizabeth Bunce (who brought you A CURSE AS DARK AS GOLD, f)
PLAIN KATE by Erin Bow (a different flavor of fantasy)
CLOCKWORK ANGEL by Cassandra Clare (historical/steampunk prequel to the City fantasy books)
MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins (sf, end to the Hunger Games trilogy)
FACTOTUM by D. M. Cornish (f, end of FOUNDLING/Monsterblood Tattoo trilogy)
MISTWOOD by Leah Cypress (f, published in 2011)
ENCHANTED IVY by Sarah Beth Durst (a girl looking to get into Princeton discovers it's far more magical than she expected, f)
LEAVING PARADISE by Simone Ekeles (c)
ODD AND THE FROST GIANTS by Neil Gaiman (f)
GUARDIAN OF THE DEAD by Karen Healey (f)
THRESHOLDS by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (f, to be published in August)
THE CRYSTAL DROP by Bettany Hughes (sf)
THE RELUCTANT HEIRESS by Eva Ibbotson (historical romance)
THE CARBON DIARIES by Saci Lloyd (sf or too-close future)
FLY ON THE WALL by E. Lockhart (f, contemporary)
EXPOSED by Kimberly Marcus (verse, to be published in 2011)
TIGER MOON by Antonia Michaelis (a tale with an Indian slant!, f)
FIRE WILL FALL by Carol Plum-Ucci (sf)
I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT by Terry Pratchett (f)
SHOOTING KABUL contemporary fiction by N. H. Senzai (tough issues through different eyes, c)
HORTON HEARS A WHO and HORTON HATCHES THE EGG by Dr. Seuss (so they're kids' books! So what! They teach open-mindedness and tolerance!)
INSIDE OUT by Maria V. Snyder (sf)
DUSSIE by Nancy Springer (f)
MAGIC BELOW STAIRS by Carolyn Stevermer (f)
GIVE A BOY A GUN by Todd Strasser (second reading, c)
LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld (f, steampunk)
DAUGHTER OF XANADU by Dori Jones Yang (historical)
Those of you who know me are probably wondering where in Sam Hill did my 2010 favorites list go. You probably know I had surgery in January and MASTIFF to finish, both events knocking my schedule all to flinders.
Here I am at last with part of the whole thing--the other part will be in the next post. I hope you see something you want to read!
c = contemporary
f = fantasy
sf = science fiction
YA/Teen, YR/Intermediate, beginning
SPEAK by Laurie Halse Anderson (my third reading!, c)
BONE AND JEWEL CREATURES fantasy by Elizabeth Bear (f, technically adult, splendid for anybody)
BAD KITTY GETS A BATH by Nick Bruel (I don't care if it's a beginning book—I liked it anyway!)
STAR CROSSED by Elizabeth Bunce (who brought you A CURSE AS DARK AS GOLD, f)
PLAIN KATE by Erin Bow (a different flavor of fantasy)
CLOCKWORK ANGEL by Cassandra Clare (historical/steampunk prequel to the City fantasy books)
MOCKINGJAY by Suzanne Collins (sf, end to the Hunger Games trilogy)
FACTOTUM by D. M. Cornish (f, end of FOUNDLING/Monsterblood Tattoo trilogy)
MISTWOOD by Leah Cypress (f, published in 2011)
ENCHANTED IVY by Sarah Beth Durst (a girl looking to get into Princeton discovers it's far more magical than she expected, f)
LEAVING PARADISE by Simone Ekeles (c)
ODD AND THE FROST GIANTS by Neil Gaiman (f)
GUARDIAN OF THE DEAD by Karen Healey (f)
THRESHOLDS by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (f, to be published in August)
THE CRYSTAL DROP by Bettany Hughes (sf)
THE RELUCTANT HEIRESS by Eva Ibbotson (historical romance)
THE CARBON DIARIES by Saci Lloyd (sf or too-close future)
FLY ON THE WALL by E. Lockhart (f, contemporary)
EXPOSED by Kimberly Marcus (verse, to be published in 2011)
TIGER MOON by Antonia Michaelis (a tale with an Indian slant!, f)
FIRE WILL FALL by Carol Plum-Ucci (sf)
I SHALL WEAR MIDNIGHT by Terry Pratchett (f)
SHOOTING KABUL contemporary fiction by N. H. Senzai (tough issues through different eyes, c)
HORTON HEARS A WHO and HORTON HATCHES THE EGG by Dr. Seuss (so they're kids' books! So what! They teach open-mindedness and tolerance!)
INSIDE OUT by Maria V. Snyder (sf)
DUSSIE by Nancy Springer (f)
MAGIC BELOW STAIRS by Carolyn Stevermer (f)
GIVE A BOY A GUN by Todd Strasser (second reading, c)
LEVIATHAN by Scott Westerfeld (f, steampunk)
DAUGHTER OF XANADU by Dori Jones Yang (historical)
May 19, 2011
As if I weren't mad enough already
The defense attorney in the Elizabeth Smart kidnapping and rape case enters HIS argument.
Let's start a new list.
being apparently "not that damaged" to anyone's eye does not mean a person has not been raped.
Damn defense attorneys who attack the victim. Damn them all to the hells of our choice.
Let's start a new list.
being apparently "not that damaged" to anyone's eye does not mean a person has not been raped.
Damn defense attorneys who attack the victim. Damn them all to the hells of our choice.
