Does Facebook beat MySpace? March 17, 2008

Due to the over-saturation of MySpace I decided to join Facebook and see what all the fuss was about.  And after reading this article I began to see differences between the two social networks.  (In fact it was like comparing a PC to a MAC. ) The main appeal for me on Facebook is it’s applications. You can own a virtual pet, have a booklist like Shelfari, become a vampire, and send flirt notifcations to numerous hotties all on one site!  In addition, Facebook has less advertisers and pop-ups.  So if you want to idle your time away I say join Facebook! And if you’re already on Facebook here’s a link to my profile!

(One of the many applications on Facebook is Haiku Zoo.  Pictured here is my pet Davey Sprinkles! You can gain points and interact with other friend’s pets by feeding, poking, petting, and cuddling.  Also you can use points to add accessories, backgrounds, and feed pets.)

Haters Chat September 4, 2007

*We recently did a chat on Alisa Vades-Rodriguez’s Haters.

Book Synopsis: 16 year old Paski moves from the sleepy town of Taos, New Mexico to flashy southern California. She must adjust to her father’s mid-life crisis as well as the over-achieving rich kids at her new high school. (The book takes place Aliso Niguel High, check out the heated discussion from real students on amazon.com.)

 

 

Gayle: soooo….Haters!

Jolene: Yeah I liked it. Very hip.

Trisha: I have mixed feelings about it. Liked some parts, didn’t like others.

Gayle: I thought it was a fun read

Gayle: Not exactly earth shattering with a social message but fun for the most part

Jolene: Yes a fast fun read. I liked the idea of race not being an issue.

Trisha: Me too! That’s probably what I liked best.

Gayle: I liked the humor about the dad’s car and his friends.

Jolene: Yeah that was interesting.

Trisha: It’s been, like, six months or so since I read it, so I’m not sure how much I remember.

Jolene: Kinda stereotypical though.

Gayle: Jessica Nguyen was the best nemesis.

Gayle: I liked how her house was a shrine to her

Jolene: She was hella crazy yo.

Jolene: She reminded me of a crazed Korean soap opera character.

Gayle: I could totally see Haters: the movie.

Jolene: Yes definately. Just like Bratz the movie.

Gayle: Instead of High School Musical 2, it could have been Haters with the same cast of characters replacing Ashley Tisdale with Brenda Song.

Jolene: Haters the musical? Hmm very interesting.

Trisha: That would be interesting.

Trisha: Instead of singing on the basketball court, singing on the motocross…uh, whatever you call it.

Gayle: In general I think Haters is a pretty cliched story but with a multi-cultural cast of characters.

Jolene: True.

Gayle: Though race wasn’t a real issue it was sort of around to propel Haters into the realm of multi-cultural literature.

Gayle: You know what bugged me right?

Trisha: But that’s what I liked about it.

Trisha: The Japanese neighbor?

Gayle: I’m such a hater, but I hated the stuff about the Japanese American neighbor.

Gayle: I was like wtf?

Trisha: Yeah, I wondered how she knew Japanese.

Gayle: or wth?

Trisha: But her romance with Paski’s father was cute.

Gayle: I speak conversational Japanese. So I was like yeah grandma’s ghost isn’t making any sense Paski, it’s not only you who doesn’t understand her.

Jolene: Yeah I was wondering if the translation was correct.

Jolene: The whole tie in was a little strange. It felt like it was put there to show how diverse California is.

Trisha: Especially with the hapa [Hawaiian slang; used to mean half Caucasian-half Asian, but now generally refers to mixed race] sons.

Jolene: Yes good point.

Gayle: So I guess Haters fills a niche of fluffy multi-cultural literature but it’s not going to win any awards for diversity.

Jolene: Yeah the diversity wasn’t really authentic for me.

Gayle: Will either of you put it on your favorites list?

Trisha: It’s not a favorite, but I would probably recommend it to a teen.

Jolene: Yeah I would recommend it to teens.

Jolene: But not on my ultimate favorites list.

Trisha: And I’d also list it on a multicultural booklist. I liked it better than some other, less fluffy, books out there.

Gayle: Fair enough, good as an option.

Jolene: I agree it’s fluffy with an edge.

Gayle: I don’t think I could booktalk it too well.

Trisha: Hmm, how about something along the lines of: A lot of people want to move to LA. Not Paski. She loves living in Taos, New Mexico, but unfortunately, the choice is not up to her…

 

Guyaholic Chat: Relationships and Sexuality June 10, 2007

Here’s more to enjoy from our chat about Guyaholic:

Jolene: What else did you enjoy about Guyaholic? What did you think about Sam’s character?
Gayle: Pretty static, nothing much to him except he’s a cool guy.
Trisha: Liked him, and his name.
Gayle: What did he see in V?
Jolene: It seemed like Mackler almost forgets him, and the last two pages are an afterthought to the character.
Jolene: She’s hot?
Trisha: Well, I don’t think the secondary characters are as important in the book as V, because it’s her journey.
Jolene: True. Maybe I would’ve liked to see more character development on that side.
Gayle: Sam seems to be more of a plot element.
Trisha: Totally.
Jolene: Yeah I agree. Good point.
Gayle: Sam’s there because we need a good guy.
Gayle: Same reason why we need Nate.
Jolene: Because V’s so bad?
Trisha: Someone unlike her, whom she never thought she’d fall in love with. (Re: Sam)
Jolene: Good boy meets crazy girl.
Gayle: Same as we need hockey jock.
Jolene: I liked the way they meet, totally original.
Trisha: So she can get hit on the head by a puck!
Gayle: You need the good guy to show you, you have self worth?
Gayle: V doesn’t seem capable of being alone.
Trisha: To stick with you long enough to get to the point where you want to change?
Gayle: There needs to be male attention.
Jolene: Yeah I guess Sam highlights her dependence on people.
Gayle: Her sexuality is her power.
Jolene: Her need for some sort of emotional bond, since her mom is not there emotionally.
Trisha: Except she’s in denial about that.
Gayle: Part of who V is her sexual identity.
Trisha: I liked that V was the sexually experienced one.
Trisha: And that she wasn’t ashamed of her sexual desires or experience.
Jolene: I think that’s what made her character so complicated. She was sexually experienced, but not emotionally mature.
Gayle: She’s known from early on, that guys will do what she wants because she’s sexy.
Gayle: What to do with the sexual power?
Jolene: Rule the world like Pamela Anderson.
Trisha: She uses sex to keep from forming emotional attachments, like a guy, in some ways.
Gayle: Experimentation to see what fits her.
Gayle: So she freaks out when Sam fits.
Jolene: Yes good point! That’s why I like Sam so much he’s like the girl in the relationship.
Trisha: The one who wants a relationship.
Jolene: I could totally see V as a character on the Real World.
Gayle: There are both men and women who want commitment.
Gayle: Just depends on the personality type.
Jolene: I guess it’s the stereotype that we most see often in romance books.
Trisha: But what was interesting about her is that her voice, even with all her additional experience, is so similar to Mara, and Virginia, and I can never remember the name of the narrator of Love and Other Four-Letter Words.
Jolene: How so?
Gayle: Samantha
Gayle: Haha, another Sam.
Trisha: V is a completely different character than the other three narrators, but her voice is the same.
Trisha: I was expecting something different, but it totally works.
Jolene: Is the language? Style of storytelling?
Trisha: Gayle, help me out here!
Gayle: To make an inaccessible character accessible is the mark of a good writer right?
Gayle: Mackler somehow hits a bull’s eye with feelings of the protagonists.
Jolene: True like Stephanie Meyer’s characters.
Gayle: They all feel insecure with who they are, a common theme.
Trisha: I guess after VVV, because V was so different from Mara, I was expecting her voice to be different. More wild or outrageous or something.
Gayle: Inner growth comes from challenging themselves in some way

Jolene: Very Zen.

Gayle: Mara in stepping out of her emotional cocoon and dating the Common Grounds guy.

Gayle: Virginia when she steps out of her usual and becomes the new green haired Virginia who’s not afraid to speak what she thinks–in essence standing up to her mother and her mother’s expectations.

Trisha: Realizing everyone else in her family isn’t perfect.

Gayle: V in accepting who she is, not thinking of her self as damaged goods or whatever socio-oppressive phrase there is for a sexually aware woman.

Trisha: But “damaged goods” in the sense of being relationship-shy because of her mother, right?

Gayle: Yeah.

Guyaholic Chat June 6, 2007

Guyaholic is Carolyn Mackler’s newest book set to be released in August of this year. We had the opportunity to get advanced readers copies of Guyaholic and asked her some interview questions for the SBBT. We’ll be posting our interview with Carolyn Mackler in the near future. **There may be a few spoilers in our chat so reader beware.**

Guyaholic picks up where Vegan Virgin Valentine leaves off but this time from the perspective of Mara’s niece Vivienne Vail Valentine better known simply as “V.”

 

V’s character

Gayle: I think what was interesting about Guyaholic, was that V actually was sort of put together in a way that other previous characters weren’t.

Gayle: She seemed more mature in a way.

Jolene: Yeah like she’s a 21 year old college student trying to find herself.

Gayle: Perhaps because she had to fend for herself because her mom Aimee’s such a flake

Jolene: Especially when she decided to go on a road trip by herself.

Trisha: Yes, she’s been forced to grow up fast because of Aimee.

Gayle: The road trip definitely seems like something a more mature character would embark on.

Trisha: But it seems fitting for V. Passing through town after town, not sticking around…

 

Isolation
Gayle: There’s a sense of isolation that I get with Mackler’s characters, like there isn’t anyone they can relate to or talk to in a way.

Trisha: Ooh, that’s a good point.

Jolene: Very teen angsty.

Gayle: Jessica Darling in Sloppy Firsts has Hope to confide in.

Trisha: Well, not really. I mean, she never mentions her whole thing with Marcus, because of what happened to Hope’s brother.

Gayle: True, but she still seems to be reaching out to others.

Jolene: Is there going to be a sequel to Guyaholic?

Trisha: So I’ve been listening to “Just Listen” on audio, and just read “The Book of Luke,” so it seems like there’s this theme I’ve been running into, or just noticing, of not being able to confide in others.

Trisha: Don’t know if there’ll be a sequel. Maybe she’ll tell us in the interview?

Jolene: It would be interesting if Mackler did a book based on male perspective.

Gayle: I was just thinking of Just Listen and the inability for the protagonist to talk to anyone.

Gayle: A lot of the isolation seems self imposed.

Gayle: Very teen angsty.

Jolene: Isn’t that the theme in most YA lit?

Trisha: Because, like V said, it was easier for her not to develop close relationships.

Gayle: Hmmm, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants seems to break the mold

Gayle: The whole 4 friends for life thing.

Trisha: Angst or isolation?

Jolene: But when the characters split up, there is a sense of isolation.

Jolene: They are out of their element, because they are separated from each other.

Gayle: Both, angst & isolation.

Gayle: Sucks to be a teen.

Jolene: Yes it does, raging hormones and hair growth.

 

Guyaholic Appeal
Trisha: Gayle, how does Guyaholic rate for you compared to Mackler’s other books?

Gayle: Best yet.

Trisha: Same here.

Gayle: Although, The Earth My Butt and Other Big Round Things was great and so was VVV.

Trisha: So, Jolene, you’ve got to read the other books and let us know what you think.

Gayle: I think the pacing of Guyaholic was perfect.

Jolene: I will definitely read the rest!

Trisha: I know The Earth,… was a Printz Honor and all, but I think it’s my least favorite.

Jolene: I agree the pacing was perfect, and the whole plot came together really nicely.

Gayle: What about Love and Other Four Letter Words?

Trisha: I would say Guyaholic, VVV, Love…, The Earth…

Jolene: How many books has Mackler written in total?

Gayle: Those 4 I believe.

Trisha: Yes, the pacing was good. And it’s such a short book compared to those 400 page tomes that are being published these days.

Trisha: But there’s still a lot of story.

Gayle: Economy of words.

Jolene: It seems like the story would work for an older teen to a person in their mid-20s.

Gayle: You get a lot of bang for your buck.

Jolene: Also the cover would appeal to the older teens; if they decide to stay with the cover.

Jolene: Very Sex in the Cityish.

Trisha: Yeah, how may covers have her other books gone through?

Jolene: I don’t know, guess depends on what the test groups like.

Gayle: Book jacket vs. paper.

Gretchen Yee in Fly on the Wall May 11, 2007

I’ve enjoyed books written by E. Lockhart such as The Boyfriend List and Fly on the Wall.  Trisha and I really dug that Gretchen Kaufman Yee was cool with being half Chinese.  I especially like that Gretchen collects beancurd babies–that sounds like something someone I know would do. 

We probably haven’t done Fly on the Wall justice with this post so you’ll have to read the book.  I also enjoy reading E. Lockhart’s blog so you might want to peruse there too.

Gayle: Did her Asian-ness really matter though? I totally forgot she was Asian in the course of the book
Trisha: No, but that’s one of the things I liked.  It wasn’t a big deal.
Jolene: Sorry, I haven’t read the book, what’s it about?
Trisha: A girl who becomes a fly on the wall of the boys locker room at school for a week. There’s also an Asian-American guy in the book.  One of the minor characters.
Jolene: How does her Asian-Americaness show through in the book? Are there sterotypes?
Trisha: Nope.  She’s hapa, and I don’t remember race ever being a big deal in the book.
Gayle: Yeah, it wasn’t a big deal. She just so happened to be hapa.
Jolene: Maybe we should define Hapa=Hawaiian slang for half races. Like the Japanese slang for “Hafu.”
Gayle: Hapa pretty much means of mixed race, so you can be hapa-haole (half-white) or hapa in general just means mult-racial.

Name Me Nobody May 10, 2007

Name Me Nobody by Lois Ann Yamanaka is probably my favorite Hawaiiana book.  The reasons why I like it are that Yamanaka manages to capture what it is like to grow up in Hawaii.  Although there is no ethnic majority in Hawaii, it is still far from a utopian melting pot.  Yamanaka effectively translates into writing the sentiments felt by many a teenager growing up in the islands.  She has been harshly criticized before for her stereotyping. However, there is something intangible about her writing that seems to transcend mere stereotypes.  

In recognizing Asian Pacific Heritage Month I don’t want to omit any Pacifc nations so the following are a couple of links on resources on Hawaii and the Pacific that we use at our branch:

Marco Polo by Lena Kanemori of the Hawaii Department of Education: A great resource on Hawaii related topics.  We’ve used this at our library for many a primary school project.

PREL.ORG Pacific Resources for Education and Learning: Another great resource for somewhat hard to find information on Pacific Island nations.  You might need to do a little bit of digging, but the information is in there especially on the Pacific Service Region link. 

The following is an excerpt from our chat about Name Me Nobody.

Gayle: Name Me Nobody’s a tough one though, because it takes place in Hawaii.  The Hawaii factor seems to skew it a bit,
Jolene: Yes she is. It’s probably the best interpretation of what happens when generations assimilate in an island state.
Gayle: Her being Asian is no big deal except for the fact that she doesn’t like being associated with the preppy Japanese kids.
Trisha: Because race is mentioned, but race is not the point of the story.
Gayle: It’s not. I do think Yamanaka effectively captures what it’s like to grow up in Hawaii. There are definite cultural overtones throughout the book.
Trisha: Which I’d love to see in more stories about Asian-Americans.  I’m sick of books with characters who are ashamed of their heritage or discriminated againts. Not necessarily the set in Hawaii part, but the race-as-not-a-big-deal thing.
Gayle: Yes, that’d be great.

Asian Americans in YA Literature Stereotypes Part 2, Positive/Negative Depictions May 9, 2007

I’ve been quite disturbed reading some of the posts on American Born Chinese featured on MySpace. How in the world do people tie together a mass murderer with a totally unrelated graphic novel? I feel bad for Gene Yang for being a public figure in this ignorant time. But as librarians I do feel it is our duty to promote better understanding and more knowledge. Perhaps if more people were exposed to people from different backgrounds and places we’d get along better. To quote Rodney King, “can we all just get along?”

More excepts from our chat:

Trisha: So are we including books in which the Asian-American isn’t a protagonist but is an important character?
Jolene: Yeah, why not? Just as long as the character is a positive rendition of Asian-Americaness.
Trisha: Does the character have to be a positive one?
Gayle: Nope I like evil Asian characters
Trisha: One of the reasons I liked Haters is because the evil bitch is Asian-American.
Gayle: Cool.
Trisha: Jessica Nguyen. Richest, prettiest girl in school, who’s also a motocross champion. And eeevil.
Jolene: I need to read that book. Angry little asian girl.
Trisha: Although her mother, at least, is an immigrant.
Jolene: Totally breaks the stereotype.
Trisha: Also Paski’s neighbor’s are a Japanese-American woman and her hapa sons (African-American father). The mother, Melanie, becomes Paski’s father’s love interest. She can speak, or at least understand, Japanese, which I found hard to believe, but at least Paski didn’t assume she spoke Japanese.

* Come back in July, when we review Haters! Can’t do it next month because we’ll be reviewing Carolyn Mackler’s upcoming book, Guyaholic.**

American Born Chinese May 8, 2007

Apparently we were supposed to be offended by the character Chin-Kee according to the Fuse #8 blog: http://fusenumber8.blogspot.com/2007/05/youre-supposed-to-be-offended-that-was.html which linked to this piece “Gene Yang on Stereotypes” http://firstsecondbooks.typepad.com/mainblog/2007/05/gene_yang_on_st.html. Thank you Trisha for doing some background checks on this topic.

Jolene: I know you guys didn’t care for it, but I liked it. Can’t resist the William Hung reference.
Gayle: I didn’t like the whole Chinky thing it bugged me
Trisha: You mean the cousin?
Jolene: I felt it was more like a commentary on being Asian in America.
Trisha: Well, being Asian in parts of America.
Jolene: Yeah Hawaii is a whole other animal.
Gayle: Yeah wth?
Gayle: Buck teeth, queue, yellow. That bugged me.
Trisha: The accent!
Jolene: But that’s how America viewed Asians at one point in time in history.
Gayle: How long ago was that?
Gayle: Did you ever see those Mr. Wong skits online?
Trisha: No. Where?
Jolene: Yeah, I found them hilarious.
Jolene: Icebox.com
Gayle: Chin-Kee sort of reminded me of Mr. Wong.
Jolene: It’s comedy to me like the Dave Chappelle show.
Trisha: Oh, Chin-Kee, Chinky… Totally didn’t see that before. I’m slow.
Gayle: No way. [in reference to Jolene]
Gayle: So anyway I totally hate the whole Chin-Kee thing. Ruined the story for me. I was like get Mr. Wong out of here, you biter.
Gayle: I know Gene Yang saw Mr. Wong skits
Jolene: Well I do see your point.
Trisha: Huh, the second storyline was my least favorite. When Danny was still Chinese. Like, just because you’re Asian you have to be friends/date the other Asian kids? At least we didn’t get a history lesson about China and Japan in World War II.
Jolene: I liked the whole Monkey mythology part.
Trisha: Yeah, I did, too.
Gayle: That part wasn’t bad.
Jolene: I liked the way he blended that into the story.
Gayle: I didn’t like Chinese Danny because he was uncool to the other Asian kids, like distancing himself from them would make him less Asian.
Gayle: So we like the non-original content of the book, the retelling of the folktale
Jolene: Yeah I guess so. Go figgah yeah?
Gayle: Sad.
Jolene: What’s wrong with us?
Trisha: We like folktales?
Gayle: We just don’t like the stereotypical Asian American characters. Bottom line is we don’t like the perpetuation of stereotypes.
Jolene: But how else could this characters be described without using stereotypes?

Asian Americans in YA Literature, Stereotypes Part 1 May 7, 2007

This is a continuation of the chat were having about Asian Americans in YA Literature. For the record, I do on occasion get pedicures from Vietnamese run nail salons. At first I felt guilty, but now I see them as successful entrepreneurs who are filling a niche. I also think I know enough Vietnamese people that I don’t stereotype them as all working at nail salons. I also don’t believe that all Chinese people work in either laundries, restaurants or know kung-fu.

Gayle: All the books we like have characters who go beyond the stereotypes as actual characters, not as prefabricated ideas of a certain race
Trisha: So how many books are there that we liked? I think there are some books that I admire more than I liked.
Gayle: I liked three: Fly on the Wall, Samurai Girl, and A Step From Heaven
Trisha: Liked: Fly on the Wall. Admired for one reason or another, but otherwise mixed feelings: Fresh of the Boat; Nothing But the Truth… Oh, and Haters, even though the Asian girl is not the main character.
Jolene: Wait for Me, Name Me Nobody, Kiki Strike (still reading) Need to read more.
Trisha: Oh yeah, liked Name Me Nobody and Kiki Strike.
Gayle: Guess I should read Kiki Strike
Jolene: What did you think of Oona Wong?
Trisha: Oona. She’s the forger, right? I probably liked her because I got a kick out of her breaking the law so expertly.
Jolene: Yeah. But there’s some stereotypes that follow her, like they meet her in Chinatown and she ends up buying a nail salon.
Trisha: Okay, totally stereotyping here, but aren’t nail salons more Korean?
Gayle: I think they’re Vietnamese according to the stereotype.
Jolene: True, hence the Asian stereotype.
Trisha: But isn’t Oona Chinese?
Trisha: Yeah, but wasn’t the point of Mismatch that Japanese and Chinese are different? That just because you’re Asian doesn’t mean you’re like all other Asians? I know, different books. But still. Koreans and Vietnamese and Chinese are different!
Jolene: But that’s not how America sees it.
Gayle: We all eat rice!
Jolene: Maybe that’s the point.
Trisha: With chopsticks.

A book about an Asian-American that we actually liked? May 7, 2007

Before we get to the chat, let me just say that there aren’t too many.

Gayle: I think some authors like to qualify too much the characters being of a different race. Have either of you read the Dating Game series. One of the main characters is Asian.
Trisha: No. I tried the first one, but didn’t finish it.
Gayle: OMG there’s a total trend that I’ve noticed, we can’t finish these books featuring Asian-American characters.
Gayle: Poor writing?
Jolene: Poor writing and uninteresting characters and plot.
Trisha: Didn’t finish Mismatch. Did I mention that already?
Gayle: Me neither, I didn’t finish Mismatch. What about Kira Kira?
Trisha: Didn’t finish. Haven’t tried Weedflower yet.
Gayle: I actually liked Kira Kira.
Jolene: I liked Wait for Me by An Na. I thought it was interesting and kinda reminded me of the movie “Better Luck Tomorrow,” where the protagonist can’t live up to the Asian stereotype.
Trisha: Didn’t finish Wait for Me. The protagonist couldn’t live up to the Asian stereotype, but the mother was too stereotypical.
Jolene: But that’s how most Asian mother’s are.
Trisha: Which is why it’s a stereotype, right? I guess, in the parts that I read, the mother never moved beyond the stereotypical. Maybe I should’ve given it more of a chance? In Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies) (which I did finish), the mother starts off similarly, but she did have more depths, I guess you could put it.
Jolene: That’s true, but how else would she [the mother in Wait for Me] react to–

**spoilers cut**spoilers cut**spoilers cut**

Gayle: All the books we like have characters who go beyond the stereotypes as actual characters, not as prefabricated ideas of a certain race.
…
Trisha: So how many books are there that we liked? I think there are some books that I admire more than I liked.
Gayle: I liked three: Fly on the Wall, Samurai Girl, and A Step From Heaven.
Trisha: Liked: Fly on the Wall. Admired for one reason or another, but otherwise mixed feelings: Fresh Off the Boat; Nothing But the Truth (and a few white lies). Oh, and Haters, even though the Asian girl is not the main character.
Jolene: Wait for Me, Name Me Nobody, Kiki Strike (still reading). Need to read more.
Trisha: Oh yeah, liked Name Me Nobody and Kiki Strike.
Gayle: Guess I should read Kiki Strike.