The Beautiful Ones by Prince

Prince was a musical genius.  There is no denying it, and there is no debating it.  If you plan to, unfriend me/delete me/stop reading.  Prince joined musical genres, styles, and instrumentation like no one before him, and I don't think we ever will again.  In addition to his own work, he wrote hundreds of songs for others vocalists and produced numerous albums of his own and others'.  Prince came from humble beginnings--a child of divorce with full and half-siblings in Minnesota. It's hard to believe a regular kid from Minneapolis would become a legend.  But he most definitely did.  

I have always loved Prince's music--from the 80s through his death in 2016.  So when the opportunity arose to add this posthumously published memoir to our collection, I jumped on it.  And being that I get to unpack the boxes, well, I grabbed it first. 

*Stops review, climbs up on soapbox, taps mic*

People tell me kids don't need to learn to read or write in cursive anymore.  WRONG.  Yes, there are transcribed versions of our founding documents like the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights, and later documents like the Gettysburg Address.  However, there is value in being able to read our history as written--seeing where penmanship changes due to stress or movement.  And how exactly are you supposed to sign a check or your driver's license?  Furthermore...

IF YOU CANNOT READ CURSIVE, YOU CANNOT READ THIS BOOK.

*Steps off soapbox, reminds friends who are elementary teachers to teach it anyway*

That's right, many of the letters, notes, and lyrics are in Prince's original handwriting, and that is in cursive.

I cried a lot reading this.  For many songwriters, the source is pain.  And there is a lot of it. Physical and mental.

Prince announced the memoir just weeks before his overdose.  I am grateful his estate allowed his co-writer to continue the work and publish it as per Prince's wishes.

 

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Well, here we are again.  WHHS is closed for two days for contact tracing and testing due to a positive case of Covid.  I'm on tech support.  I had 58 emails already (it was 10 when I started writing this; I opened my laptop at 6).

This was the September Book Club selection.  However, with all the crazy going on right now, we've elected to push the meeting to October.  This was chosen by Ms. Marcella, and she will moderate. 

I have to say I struggled with this.  I tend to struggle with non-fiction that does not hold my interest.  While the topic is timely (racial social justice), there were A LOT of names, dates, and places.  All of them are in the South, and I did not have much as a frame of reference for where things were happening geographically.  In addition, some of the first names of the convicted prisoners were the same, which was confusing. 

It's not that I didn't like the book.  It is important work, and clearly still a reality for Black and Brown communities.  I simply struggled with the writing.  If I were to recommend it, it would be in excerpts.  As this is a memoir in a way, I would say students interested in social justice or appellate law would do well in reading it.

Stay safe out there.

All opinions expressed on this blog and its video version are solely those of Mrs. W. 

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe

 I'm typing this inside the Library.  Things have changed rapidly in a few days.  We are officially welcoming Ms. Fanelli, Mr. Fallon, and Mr. Pistone as roommates! The QR codes are made for sign-in to be touchless.  A new video of the space will be made once we get ourselves settled.  It will be different to say the least!

So on to today's review.  I was in a conference session with Ben Philippe this summer on comedy in YA.  This was the same session I heard about Midnight and Rayne.  I had HOPED this would be more amusing.  

Unfortunately I did not find this to be all that funny.  I smiled a few times, but I was definitely not rolling around laughing.  I don't like to "genderify" books, but this is definitely a boy-ish book.  And maybe because I'm a cis-gendered female, I just couldn't get into it.  I've been teaching teenage boys 19 years, and I am a Mom to one.  Maybe that's enough locker room smell for one lady.     

I won't be recording this review as it just dawned on me our school desktops do not have webcams!  And I'm far back in the line for a new laptop.  Alas...

I'll be adding this to the collection early next week along with all the other new books.