Lisa See will be at
The Bookstall on
Monday, April 3rd at 2:00pm in a program co-sponsored
by the
Women’s Exchange which is
such a great local organization. See, of course, is the best-selling author of
titles like
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan and
Dreams of Joy. Her
latest,
THE TEA GIRL OF HUMMINGBIRD LANE, is about Li-yan, a member
of the Akha minority from Yunnan province, in China’s Southwest.
Fate, spirits,
and omens are all important in her culture, as is the local tea trade. Eventually,
Li-yan has a daughter out of wedlock who is given up for adoption, named Haley,
and raised in California by Caucasian parents. Yet, mother and daughter
seek to find each other in this emotional story which
Library Journal
says, “deftly confronts the changing role of minority women, majority-minority
relations, East-West adoption, and the economy of tea in modern China.”
Like See’s previous works, there is clearly
much to explore and the publisher provides a book club
reading guide for
THE TEA GIRL OF HUMMINGBIRD LANE.
I will definitely be recommending this new
book and it will certainly appear on next year’s Junior Theme list. In addition to meeting Lisa See, you can read an excerpt on the
author's website.
The Bookstall is
also sponsoring a luncheon with Chris Hayes this week (Friday, March 31 at 11:30 at
The Union League Club downtown). He recently authored
A COLONY IN A NATION which deals with race relations in this
country,
particularly criminal justice and discrimination in law enforcement. In fact, Hayes (who appears on MSNBC and also wrote
Twilight of the
Elites) uses history and statistics to argue that there are really two
Americas: a nation and a colony. He states, “One is the kind of policing regime
you expect in a democracy; the other is the kind you expect in an occupied land….”
where “police behave like occupying soldiers in restive and dangerous territory.”
The violence and subsequent reactions which
prompted Hayes’ book also led to a plan by Senators Scott (South Carolina) and
Lankford (Oklahoma) called “
Solution Sundays,” where they encourage constituents of different races to have
dinner together. That is a simple, but very powerful idea to help erase
misconceptions, decrease fear and bridge the “borders” between
A COLONY IN A NATION that Hayes depicts.
And, appearing at The Bookstall next week (Thursday, April 6th
at 6:30pm) is Chelsea Clinton, promoting the release in paperback of her IT'S
YOUR WORLD: GET INFORMED, GET INSPIRED & GET GOING! Contact the
store for more details. Even though that text is recommended for middle school,
I am curious to get a look at it since it is purportedly “describes how readers
can enact change in the world around them and find solutions for such global
problems as climate change, poverty, gender inequality, and homelessness.” Those are all high interest topics for our
students and ones we plan to feature at the new activism station in the
library. Thank you to The Bookstall for sponsoring these many events.
I was surprised at how much I liked RETIREMENT REINVENTION by
Robin Ryan. A veteran career counselor
(20+ years) with extensive speaking and writing accomplishments, she decided to
write this book after battling cancer in order to provide some advice on
planning happy years of retirement. She includes sections on making a plan,
where to live (two homes or one?), giving back, travel and education. I
especially liked her emphasis on finding something fun to do. Ryan encourages
her readers by suggesting they craft a new life with purpose and that they
explore new ideas such as the many, many hobbies and part time work or volunteering options listed
in her book. In fact, she asks: “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?” and advocates:
“do what you love simply because it will make you happy.” 
