Overheard conversations: a one-off, or a whole novel

I've got an overheard quote in Leah Garchik's funny column today on love. Funny as in laugh-out-loud, not funny as in odd, weird.

I'm one of those faithful readers who starts my day by opening the Datebook section of the Chronicle and reading Garchik's Public Eavesdropping of the day. And I always check to see if I know the person who sent it in. Just for fun.

And of course, I'm always listening for overheard bits of conversation. They can be much more fun than the whole, complicated story.

Or heart-wrenching. Walking to the library on UC campus recently I overheard a young, attractive blond woman saying to another: "I'm her birth mother. I just want to have a relationship with her."

That's the start of a whole novel, right there.

Arrrgh! Who did I loan that book to?

Did you ever have a book you loaned out to someone, and you wanted to read it again and you just couldn’t remember who you loaned it to? I’ve done it lots of times. I love it when I think of a good person-book match. I want to pass along the pleasure of a good book. And I love it when people loan me a book they think I’ll like. Just so you don’t think I’m a saint, I’ve got a couple of them sitting reproachfully on my shelves right now.

I went to get The Slaves of the Cool Mountains off my shelf. Gone. Loaned out. Because I’m writing a book partially set in Vietnam, I’ve read lots of books about Vietnam and the surrounding area. Slaves was calling out to me for a reread. I even tried ABE books to buy another copy, but being a very old and very English book (published in 1959), it was hugely expensive.

It came back to me, miraculously – my father gave me a bag of books after clearing off a bookshelf, and there it was. I’d loaned it to him.

It had been his book before mine, and before him, it had been owned by Felix Greene. He must have been the first owner, because the author, Alan Winnington, inscribed it to him. Both Englishmen, reporting on the changes being made by Communists in China.

Slaves is Winnington’s travels into the mountainous southwest corner of China where the Norsu people were forced to free their slaves. He goes into amazing detail about the social conditions and the changes people were trying to absorb. Fascinating reading about a culture long since gone. Great black and white photos.

Try a library search. I’d love to have you read it!

Jon Scieszka, literature ambassador

Children's Bookshelf has run a letter from Ambassador Scieszka. That would be Jon Scieszka, who writes books for kids (Stinky Cheese Man, Math Curse, True Story of the Three Little Pigs). He's hysterically funny and irreverent. Silly. Ingenious. Twisted. There's lots of interesting words to describe him.

He goes after kids who are having a hard time with reading. Especially boys. He's been appointed literature ambassador of children's books by the Library of Congress, and he's off to a flying start. You can read the whole letter, or here's a taste:

"But the best, the absolute best tribute so far was my reception at the La Jolla Country Day School. The room was packed with 200 pre-K through first graders. As I entered, they presented me with a red satin Ambassador sash, and the fifth/sixth grade music class played an original composition, "Ambassador Fanfare," on kettle drums, trombone, trumpet, and xylophone.

I liked it so much that I went out and came in three more times. And Dave Shannon was with me, so I had them play it for him as Vice-Ambassador—only half of it, and twice as fast."
Buried under all the humor is this:

"I'm also working on a plan to promote the best of every publisher's list for Reluctant Readers, deputizing teachers, librarians, booksellers, parents, kids, and anybody who's found a book that works. Details to be released soon."

There's a great interview with Scieszka on NPR.

And extra points if you can spell his name wtihout looking.

Kim Pope's Budapest photo

Just got an email from my neice Kim. No photos of her interviewing kids, but she did send this. It's a traveling tradition in her family to take these interesting ground shots.... with just their feet stuck in to prove They Were There.

Reminds me of those photos of Lemony Snicket... always from the back. Funny how much Snicket's back looks like Daniel Handler's big bearish back....

Davis Scholars Program and my awesome niece Kim Pope

I had a long conversation with my niece, the amazing Kim Pope last night. She's actually my niece-in-law, but I claim her straight up as niece, she's so cool. She works at Westminster School where her husband teaches. (He's totally cool too, but this is about her, not him.)

Her job? Davis Scholars Program Coordinator. They've got two pilot programs going on --—one domestic and one international—that award need-based scholarships to really motivated, smart kids from 1) America (first in family to attend college) and 2) anywhere in the world. Kim's recently gone to Budapest and Prague. Heads soon to Lakota reservation (where poverty is as bad as any third world nation), Ghana and Vietnam. She's looking for two kids for next year to come to their boarding school on a full scholarship. Kids who do well get supported through college.

This fills me up with hope. Lots of hope. I love to see people and programs that knit the world together instead of tearing it apart or blowing it up.

Thank you Kim, thank you Davis Scholars people. Hats off to you and your awesome work.

Sunlight and redwood trees, Chiura Obata

After days of stormy wet weather, woke up to sun today. Raindrops are shimmering on everything-- bare winter branches, grass, ferns, and huckleberry bushes. My favorite is seeing the morning sun lighting up one side of the redwood trees. Rusty red-brown bark, bare lower branches. All topped off by huge, leafy branches swaying gently in the wind.

Chiura Obata painted it so beautifully.
Life and Death, Porcupine Flat, High Sierra, California, 1930

Early morning rain, cozy

This morning I woke up early, just as the sky was getting light. Rain was clattering down on the roof. Under the covers I was warm and cozy, the air on my face crisp and cool. I drifted between dreams and listening to the rain, my world small and perfect, just for the moment.