Calling all Triple Crown Publications and urban books fans!
Here's your chance to meet a couple of your favorite authors, right here at the Takoma Park Neighborhood Library. Join us Tuesday, March 8, at 7 p.m. as we present Dirty South author Darrell King and Diary of a Thug author James Tanner. During the evening, they will discuss how they took what they saw on the street and turned it into gripping fiction.
I know, I know…I usually write about books that I’ve read, and the title of my little column is really supposed to be “On My Bookshelf”—but I’ve encountered a movie so powerful that I just had to review it (and, if there’s anyone out there that hasn’t seen it yet, recommend it)!
Join us for this film screening in celebration of the 2011 Black History Month theme: "African Americans & the Civil War." We'll show the first part of this 5 disc series, "The Cause" at 6:00 pm on Tuesday, February 8. The film will last approximately 90 minutes. If you like, stay afterwards to discuss your reactions with fellow viewers.
Ken Burns' award-winning documentary actually took longer to complete than the Civil War itself, but it is a masterpiece of primary source material and narration of real people's experiences during the war. Check out more info on the film here. http://www.pbs.org/civilwar/
Do you enjoy creative writing? Have you got a story saved on your computer that you hope just might turn into a novel someday? Whether you write poetry, fiction, essays, children's literature, or other genres, you're invited to join our writing workshop at the Takoma Park branch. We meet at least once a month, and twice when schedules allow, always on a Thursday evening. The next meeting is this Thursday, Jan. 27, at 7 pm. This is an informal workshop rather than a writing class. All participants are encouraged to bring short samples of their work for the other participants to read and comment on. Ages 18 and up are welcome. Questions? Call 202-576-7252 and ask for Heather. Happy writing!
Are you and your preschool-aged child (ages: 0-4 years) into watching Max and Ruby films, based on the Max and Ruby books by beloved children’s book author Rosemary Wells? Want to share the film version of, say, Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes or Planting a Rainbow by Lois Ehlert with your favorite little one?
We will be observing and celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day at the Takoma Park DC Library this Saturday, Jan. 15. Beginning at 2 pm, families can head to the children's room for a special Martin Luther King Day story time. Afterwards, join us for a craft and cake to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King.
Here's a list of items you can check out of a DC library near you to celebrate at home!
(Takoma Park has most of these on the shelf - ask us if you need help or want to order a copy.)
Martin's Big Words by Doreen Rappaport
JUV 92 KING
Understanding the Civil Rights Movement
DVD 323.0973 U55
Martin Luther King: "I have a dream"
DVD 323.092 M381
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day by Reagan Miller
394.26 MILLER
In Remembrance of Martin
DVD 92 K53I
Tired of clutter at home or work? Need more room for all that stuff?
Join us at the Takoma Park Neighborhood Library on Thursday, January 13, at 7 p.m. for a free seminar on getting and staying organized. Organizing gurus (and Takoma residents!) Tamara Belden and Judy Tiger will offer tips on taming the clutter in our lives.
I absolutely love this season! Here in D.C., there are many things to celebrate: freshly fallen snow; the cold, crisp air…wintertime is definitely upon us. In celebration of both winter and the haiku poetic form, I’ve composed a series of haikus (poems created in the Japanese style of writing unrhymed, three-lined poems--with each line containing five, seven and five syllables, respectively) as a way to pay tribute to this awe-inspiring, sometimes irritating (yet always beautiful!) time of year.
“Winter in D.C.”
#1 -
winter is and was
wreaking havoc on streets/cars
yet we smile. i marvel.
“How can she think she can blend in? Only her skin and her hair are Chinese. Inside—she is all American-made.”
Character Lindo Jong uses these words in a chapter entitled “Double Face”—part of Amy Tan’s epic novel The Joy Luck Club—to describe the feeling that her daughter, Waverly Jong, is Chinese in appearance only, and that her actions and beliefs have become so Americanized that they’ve been rendered unrecognizable to her. Throughout the novel, we bear witness to the fact that each of the main characters within the story balances her ideas of what American and Chinese cultures are supposed to entail, and about whether her counterpart within the mother/daughter duo fulfills her respective role within both cultures. In this and other chapters throughout the work, the reader sees the interplay between folklore and real life, and how the two interact to provide textuality to what has become each woman’s daily existence. Through this, the reader learns more about each character’s background, thereby gaining insight on the experiences that have come to color each woman’s outlook on life.
