Back Door

I am going to pause to acknowledge that this title from a romance author and trained sex educator could mean many things. But I am talking about bus back doors. 

I ride the bus regularly. The route near me is a main artery in the city so sometimes we get the extended buses, with the accordion piece in the middle to help them turn. In those buses the back door is even farther from the driver. 

Ideally, the back door should open each time the bus stops. In the DC area, they have added machines to the back doors, to allow people to enter from that door, as well as exit. In my experience, those back door machines work more irregularly than the front door machines. But it does mean that the door should again open at each stop. 

But it doesn't always. The person standing there will yell back door, hoping their voice will carry to the driver. Often someone a little closer to the driver will pick up the call. I watched this the other day on the bus and though about how this is a tiny moment of community. Someone sees an issue that doesn't involve them, but steps in to help solve it. Society works best when we work together. 

Tara Kennedy

Note: If you are reading this outside of your normal work hours, feel free to hold off response until your work hours.  

~To the world we dream about, and the one we live in now. 

"Hadestown", book and lyrics by Anais Mitchell

Invasive Species

They tell us lanternflies are here to stay. I read the book Pest, earlier this year, so I am aware that things we deem pests versus helpful new species changes. That often we hate things and then change our minds, or introduce things and then discover they cause problems when allowed to run amok. 

One of my beta readers for I Belong to You said she could sort of see how the animals of Rock Creek Park might need an HOA of sorts. Because the deer are cute and adorable, or majestic.  But also, they are big and the eat things, things other animals might want to eat. And the only thing that exists in or near the park that might curb the deer population is humans. (Occasionally a deer has foolishly frolicked into the zoo, to discover that we do keep a few predators in there. But so far no one has suggested Lion night in Rock Creek Park as a solution. Also, to be clear, I am pro-deer. Hi, deer!)

But what do they mean when they say lanternflies are here to stay? They mean you don't have to stomp each one you see, because stomping is not the way out. But of course, they mean we can't eradicate lanternflies by stomping them one by one. Not that there aren't solutions to lanternflies. And yes, having read Pest I am aware that humans have never really eradicated a species they were trying to eradicate. 

But some species are gone. Or - more applicably - gone from some of the places they were causing harm to other wildlife. But it wasn't because people stomped them. It took a collective, strategic, and often years long effort. But does that mean you can't stomp one? That is up to you. 

Ripped Bodice Bingo Suggestions

Okay, the Ripped Bodice released their summer reading bingo card, and I have suggestions.  They will include me.  I do not have suggestions for all the categories, so am going to skip a few.

Rescue Mission - This is a stretch, but Not Here to Make Friends by Jodi McAlister
Cover has a sportsball on it - Playing the Player by Amy Andrews
Texas Hold Em
Published before 2005 - I recently re-read Nora Roberts Sea Swept, and it held up well. There's definitely some stuff that is of it's time, particularly in the next book in the series, and Roberts was a hold out on any discussion of safe sex or birth control, so there is no mention of that.  
They Were Roommates - There are many very literal ones that would work here, including a recent release literally called They Were Roommates, but if we count valets as being like roommates kinda, A Gentleman's Gentleman by TJ Alexander would work here. 
Merfolk - Water Under the Bridge by Holley Trent
Historical Ruins - Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura
Haunted House - I'll Conjure for You by Charish Reid, Love in All the Haunted Places by Claire Kann
Road Trip - Time Loops and Meet Cutes by Jackie Lau, Here We go Again by Alison Cochrun
Telepathic Connection - Witch of Wild Things by Raquel Vasquez Gilliland
Who Doin it - Using a loose definition of mystery here, I think One in a Million by Beverley Kendall, The Most Wonderful Crime of the Year by Ally Carter
Punny Title - Tanked by Mia Hopkins, A Legend in the Baking by Jamie Wesley
Medieval
It was Supposed to be a Summer Fling - Unromance by Erin Connor.  
Animal with a Job - Pardon My Frenchie by Farrah Rochon
Fairy Tale Retelling - Perhaps, my I Belong to You would work here.  And if we include Shakespeare as a fairytale, Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra
Fall
Rival Teams - Guava and Grudges by Alexis Castellanos
 

Books About People

The Supreme Court came out against books and it sucks. Sure, they say it's only some books but the reality of things is when the Supreme Court has said that picture books that mention anything about the world that parents somewhere might not like can be removed, it means several things. 

Teachers and librarians are going to have to figure out what books some parent somewhere might not like. My mom was a teacher, and once showed the Disney version of "The Lion King" (the original cartoon one which was rated PG) during after school care on a rainy day when they couldn't have outside time, and had a parent complain. That child's other parent was surprised to hear that because they had taken the kids to see the movie. 

So, in order to prevent further issues they only showed G movies. 

This case was brought by parents in Montgomery County, Maryland. A place I attended school. It wasn't my parents objecting since I am above picture book age. But it feels close. 

The idea that anything aimed at a picture book audience could be so terrible that a child couldn't possibly see it or hear about it, sort of defies the principles of educating children. I am not saying parents can't have values. Of course they can. I once read an op-ed by parents who hate the curriculum about recycling, because they feel the way we truck recycled items around in this country actually creates more climate harm than it saves. That is a perspective. And I understand that when children are in the sponge learning stage, it can be hard to figure out how to say, yes your teachers are very knowledgeable, but also I personally do not agree with everything they taught you today. But guess what, this is the world. Exposure to other people and other ideas is a normal response to talking to other people. You and your children should be prepared for that. 

But let's also talk about what it means for the authors of these books. First it is incredibly sad for them. They worked hard to make books that were lovely and thoughtful and age appropriate. And now they are being told that their books cannot be safely shown to some children if their parents disagree. 

Now when you google their books, you will get a Supreme Court case. 

Many libraries and schools will remove these books from their collections. 

Many libraries and schools will choose not to ask these authors and illustrators to come to their schools.

Should these authors and illustrators choose to produce another book, they will have to decide if they should be more cautious about subject matter or not. 

When their publishers review their sales record, they will likely not consider that being banned from certain schools and libraries hurt their sales. They will just have low sales. And so they will get either lower offers or no offers when their work is being considered. 

Being banned doesn't help your sales, even if you know some authors who were banned and are successful. Judy Blue, to give an example, is not successful because she got banned. She is successful because she happened to write enough bestsellers to counter being banned. Not everyone gets the chance to do that. 

What can you do? Write to your library and tell them you love books. Thank them for displays or programming that includes books that have characters of all kinds. If your library has a board, show up to the meetings. I sent my library what I called a love letter. I was specific about the things I loved that they were doing. 

And I am writing to my city council as they discuss budget to indicate how much I think the library is an important part of our budget. 

Edited: Sure, they say it's only some books but the reality of things is when the Supreme Court has said that picture books that mention anything about the world that parents somewhere might not like can be removed, it means several things. Orinally the prior sentence did nto include the phrase :can be removed".