Film Review: The Hate U Give (2018)
“The Hate U Give” is based on Angie Thomas’s best-selling YA novel of the same name. This post deals with the movie, but you can read my review of the book here. Continue Reading
Review: The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life A Practical Guide
Twyla Tharp, whose name dependably appears in any roster of America’s greatest choreographers, released The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It For Life in 2003. Tharp has been choreographing dance since 1965 and her body of work includes choreography for her own Broadway work on “Movin’ Out,” but before that she worked on well known films such as “Hair” and “Amadeus.” “Movin’ Out” earned Twyla Tharp a Tony Award in 2003 and she has been honored with nearly every accolade imaginable including numerous honorary doctorates and a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship also known as a “genius grant.” Continue Reading
Celebrate Banned & Challenged Books Week
Banned & Challenged Books Week is here! The American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom advocates for the expression and sharing of ideas–including ideas that make people uncomfortable–has designated the last week of every September as Banned & Challenged Books Week. Here is an overview of the ALA’s OIF Banned Books Week website.
From the time I learned to read, getting lost in a good book was my favorite way to spend my time. It was not shocking to me that books were banned. As a fourth or fifth grader I remember my friends and I scheming to get our hands on Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret by Judy Blume, which was not in my elementary school’s library. Believe me it didn’t disappoint when I finally read it, though I’m not sure it was officially banned or pulled from the shelves. But for all the titillation of AYTGIMM, classics that are regularly deemed to be of significant literary value such as Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, The Color Purple by Alice Walker and 1984 by George Orwell have also faced challenges.
History
In 1982, attendees of a bookseller trade show in Anaheim, California were greeted by a display of over 500 books in locked cages and a big sign warning them of these potentially “dangerous books.” Within a few weeks, ALA Office of Intellectual Freedom Director Judith Krug organized a campaign to spark awareness of volume of challenges to restrict the availability of books deemed to be unfit for readers for a wide range of reasons. The campaign took off in 1982 and in 2018 an estimated 2.8 billion readers will participate.
Where and Why Books are Challenged
What are the circumstances surrounding the call to keep these books out of the hands of readers? Most challenges originate as objections to class assignments and inclusion in school libraries, followed by complaints against public libraries. Leading reasons for book bans or challenges are sexual content, racism, occult themes and offensive language. The OIF estimates that the majority of bans are not brought to the public’s attention and remain unrecorded.
The Top 5 Challenged Books of 2003
15 years ago, the OIF reported 458 challenges. The Top 5 were:
- Alice (series) by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor
- Harry Potter (series) by J.K. Rowling
- Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
- Arming America: The Origins of a National Gun Culture by Michael Bellesiles
- Fallen Angels by Walter Dean Myers
The Top 5 Challenged Books of 2017
The last year for which reports are available is 2017 and there were 416 recorded challenges. The Top 5 challenged or banned books were:
- Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
- The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie
- Drama by Raina Telgemeier
- The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
- George by Alex Gino
What You Can Do About Access to Banned Books
The most important thing you can do is to exercise your right to access these works. Is your favorite book among the banned? Take a selfie with it and post it to social media with the hashtag #bannedbooksweek. Encourage members of your book club to read a banned book. Check out a challenged book from the public library.
For more banned books information and resources including social media badges, posters and bookmarks, you should visit the Banned Books website.
Comment below about your favorite banned book!
Photo by Life-Of-Pix via Pixabay CC0.
One Morning in Chicago at Tiztal Cafe
Tiztal Cafe is located on North Clark Street Chicago. In a city known for good food, Tiztal manages to be distinctive.
The far western suburbs of the city are home to the places most familiar to me. But for a random conversation with a stranger during a one-off visit to Urban Village Church in 2015, I would probably not have heard of the place. During fellowship time following the service, a guy mentioned he and his family were heading there for brunch and highly recommended their chilaquiles. Today, I could not describe this guy or recall his name if I had to, but I like chilaquiles, so I remembered the name Tiztal Cafe. Recently, a wedding brought my family to Chicago recently and I finally got around to eating there one clear, sunny Sunday morning.
The interior is small, and there is also a small patio. I wouldn’t quite go as far as to say there were as many people waiting in line out front as there were diners inside, but the wait was a fairly long one. And the cafe is casual. There is no lectern with a sign in sheet nor beepers that flash when a table becomes available. Just a gracious host who stopped up front every so often to collect names from those waiting, and to break up the wait she passed out samples of oatmeal milkshakes, which is a signature offering.
My family was pretty hangry by the time we were seated inside at the very front table which put a great deal of pressure on me for the food to be good. After all, we were in a strange part of town, based upon the recommendation from. . . some guy. Meanwhile, I got to enjoy coffee while we watched an interesting procession of Chicagoans going about their daily lives just outside the front window. Delivery drivers steadily carried bags of food, concealed in plastic bags bound for app users, young tattooed parents walked their babies in very expensive strollers, and we witnessed a man and his sons make two trips in a taxi to shuttle their belongings from a few doors away to an unseen destination. The people watching was satisfying and everything about my surroundings nodded “This is Chicago.”
Let me tell you: it was worth the wait!
My husband ordered the chorizo scramble, my oldest daughter had a Monte Cristo, while both my youngest daughter and I had chilaquiles with scrambled eggs–hers with chorizo, mine without. And we shared an oatmeal milkshake. It’s a smooth cinnamon flavored beverage that was quite pleasant to drink. They also offer smoothies and many, many other items, including lighter fare.
The potatoes that came with all of our meals were a joy to eat. They were caramelized– beautifully browned to a crispy perfection. My chilaquiles were wonderful. They arrived to the table, fresh from the stove and nearly too hot to touch. The tortillas were topped with mozzarella cheese that was ideally salted and melted. A spicy salsa verde was on the side and fresh, finely chopped white onions with a smidgen of fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime were atop it all. Each bite was a celebration of color, textures and flavors. Yum!
Everyone else enjoyed their meals, too. The portions were huge and the food was satisfying. Had we lived nearby, we probably would have each had enough food left to save for at least one more meal. The meals were clearly made with a great deal of heart and pride. I asked a staffer what made the food so special and he told me “The secret to making the food so amazing is that each plate individually. Nothing is made from bottles or cans. Everything is prepared from scratch.”
I should have known Tiztal Cafe would be packed when I saw on various websites that several neighborhoods “claim” it. Tiztal is on the border between a few different neighborhoods, Andersonville, Ravenswood, Sheridan Park and Uptown. Understandable, as the cafe is destined to be a landmark for the lucky ‘hood for years to come. Remember in the 1992 film “The Bodyguard” when Rachel scoffed at Frank when he told her to change up her brunch schedule because ‘everybody goes to brunch on the weekend’? That applies here–the typical brunch time is peak, so you may want to avoid those times. It is open every day after all!
Who wouldn’t like the food? Those who are too impatient to wait, or maybe folks who have very restricted dietary needs. Otherwise, I give the food an A+.
Tiztal Cafe is located at 4631 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60640.
All photos by me copyright 2018.
We paid for our own food and I have received no pay for this post.