La Linea and Illegal Immigration

La Linea, by Ann Jaramillo
Miguel's life is just beginning. Or so he thinks. Fifteen-year-old Miguel leaves his rancho deep in Mexico to migrate to California across la linea, the border, in a debut novel of life-changing, cliff-hanging moments. But Miguel's carefully laid plans change suddenly when his younger sister Elena stows away and follows him. Together, Miguel and Elena endure hardships and danger on their journey of desperation and desire, loyalty and betrayal. An epilogue, set ten years after the events of the story, shows that you can't always count on dreams--even the ones that come true.

Ann Jaramillo's La Linea has debuted at an extremely important and interesting time in our country's history. The debate surrounding Illegal Immigration has reached its boiling point in several states as, according to NPR, "...congress Debates the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. immigration law in two decades." If you find yourself slightly lost among the facts and heated discussions, here's a breakdown of the situation as seen on NPR's website:

The Immigration Debate

There are more than 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the United States, and more arrive each day--putting a strain on health and education services, but also filling low-wage jobs in key sectors of the U.S economy.

President Bush wants to deploy National Guard troops to tighten border security...the Senate's plan includes a guest-worker program and a path to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the country. A House measure is less forgiving.

M&E presents...After Hours, July 9th

On Sunday, July ninth, we are hosting an After-Hours teen night at McLean&Eakin, which means that we are closing our doors to adults and opening them to anyone of the teenage persuasion. You are all welcome to join us for an evening of book talks, good grub, music and fun. We'll discuss our favorite books and recommend some great picks for all age-groups. Remember, the more the merrier, so bring your friends.

You Want It? You Got It! Our Favorite Graphic Novels!

Our Top Three Favorites

100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello:
This series is so much fun. It’s 10th volume is about to come out and there is no better time to get swept up in it. Imagine that you have a pretty terrible life and one day a man knocks on your door with a briefcase containing undeniable evidence that there is one person who’s responsible. Along with this evidence you are given a gun and one hundred untraceable bullets. No police agency will investigate any crime committed with these bullets. What would you do?

Fables by Bill Willingham:
Forced out of their home world by an invading army our childhood fabled characters have been made refugees in our world with most of them residing in modern day New York. Goldilocks is planning a revolution with the three bears, Snow White is messing around with the Big Bad Wolf, and Prince Charming… well he’s screwing just about everyone. The 7th volume is nearly out and this series is showing no sign of slowing its pace with each new book packed with twist and turns

Y: The Last Man by Brian K Vaughan
Never have I enjoyed a G.N. so much and had so much trouble telling people why it’s great. Yorick is the last man on earth and it is no paradise. A plague has swept the earth killing everything with a Y chromosome except Yorick… and his monkey. “OOOOKKAAAYY?” you are saying to yourself, but truly this is worth taking a look at, why else would it have been reviewed recently on NPR’s “All Things Considered”. Give it a chance you’ll probably find this world without men pretty addicting.

ALA's Outstanding Books for the College Bound

So, if you're heading off to college in the fall, chances are that you've given some really serious thought to your major. Very serious thought. And don't worry, you'll continue that serious thought until someone (parents, school, the government, your friendly local militia) forces you to make a decision, at which point you'll probably opt for Business or English and call it a day.

C'mon, you know it's true.


But, rest assured, it's not actually that tricky to choose the right major. You see, you already know what you like. Sure you do. You like ice cream and puppies and reading detailed biographies of Hugo Chavez. Well, then, chances are you'd be happy in History or Political Science classes. You get my drift? In college you read a ton. If you're reading what you love to read, College is a pleasant breeze.


Which brings me to...
The American Library Association has put together a selection of fabulous books organized into the five academic disciplines. It's rather clever.


HISTORY
The Endurance: Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition, by Caroline Alexander
Witch-Hunt: Mysteries of the Salem Witch Trials, by Marc Aronson
Lindbergh, by Scott A. Berg
The Farming of Bones, by Edwidge Danticat
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation, by Joseph Ellis
Understanding September 11: Answering Questions about the Attacks on America, by Frank Mitch
Troy, by Adele Geras
The Modern Mind: An Intellectual History of the 20th Century, by Peter Watson
Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World, by Jack Weatherford Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: August 27, 1883, by Simon Winchester

HUMANITIES
Sarah, by Orson Scott Card
Exploring World Art, by Andrea P. Belloli
Bee Season, by Maya Goldberg
What does it Mean to be Human? Reverance for Life Reaffirmed by Responses From Around the World, by Frederick Franck
The Black Chord, by David Corio
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
Photography, An Illustrated History, by Martin Sandler
The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions, Huston Smith
The Passion of Artemisia, by Susan Vreeland
Encyclopedia of Acting Techinques, by John Perry

LITERATURE AND LANGUAGE ARTS
Go and Come Back, by Joan Abelove
Bastard out of Carlolina, by Dorothy Allison
In the Time of Butterflies, by Julia Alverez
Feed, M.T Anderson
Caramelo, by Sandra Cisneros
How to Read Literarture Like a Professor: A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines, by Thomas Foster
19 Varieties of Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East, by Naomi Shihab Nye
Lucky, by Alice Seabold
The Golden Compass, by Philip Pullman

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Inventing Modern America: From the Microwave to the Mouse, by David Brown
A Short History of Nearly Everything, by Bill Bryson
What Do You Care What Other People Think? Further Adventures of a Curious Character, by Richard Feynman
In Code: A Mathmatical Journey, by Sarah Flannery
The Universe in a Nutshell, by Stephen Hawking
The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number, Mario Livio
Promised the Moon: The Untold Story of the First Women in the Space Race, by Stephanie Nolen
Madness: A Brief History, Roy Porter
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach
The Seven Daughters of Eve: The Science that Reveals Our Gentetic Ancestry, by Bryan Sykes

SOCIAL SCIENCES
Tuesdays with Morrie: an Old Man, a Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lesson, by Mitch Albom
Damned Lies and Statistics: Untangling Numbers from the Media, Politicians, and Activists, by Joel Best
Speak Truth to Power: Human Rights Defenders Who Are Changing Our World, by Kerry Kennedy Cuomo
Light at the Edge of the World: A Journey Through the Realm of Vanishing Cultures, by Wade Davis
Why Terrorism Works: Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge, by Alan Dershowitz
Guns, Germs and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, by Jared Diamond
Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, by Mark Haddon
Caucasia, by Danzy Senna
Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, by Charles Wheelan

Author Blogs, Links and the Gooey Goods

I was poking about the web and chanced upon some pretty wonderful blogs written dutifully by some pretty wonderful authors. Yea, the days have passed when you could only admire your favorite authors from afar, when they maintained their mysterious mystique and remained famous and unattainable. Now, what with authors writing daily online journals, not only can you read all about what they've eaten for breakfast, but you can actually chat with them about books, ideas and day-to-day life stuff!

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Speak, Prom and Catalyst are not the only things Laurie Halse Anderson has written recently. She keeps quite busy on her blog, "Wild Woman in the Forest;" just go to http://halseanderson.livejournal.com

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If you've ever seen the movie MirrorMask, read any of the Sandman graphic novels, or huddled over his mythic novels, American Gods or Anansi Boys, you know how smart, dark and funny Neil Gaiman is. If you haven't, well...get on it! Check out his prolifia (did I just make that word up?) at http://www.neilgaiman.com/journal/

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Did you dig A Great and Terrible Beauty? How's about Rebel Angels? Well, then you must just adore Libba Bray and all her works. Click on http://libba-bray.livejournal.com/ to see what goes on in her mind.

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If you've got the skinny on any author pages or weird and wonderful websites, do share! I'll add them onto this entry. Maybe one day, dream of dreams, we might have some authors hitting our site!

The Seven Most Common Teen Dreams...and What They Mean

The Book of Lists for Teens, written by Sandra&Harry Choron, cites these following themes as the most common among teen dreamers:

1. Banana Cream Pie
(Oops. I was reading from another list.)

1(really, this time). Being Naked. This dream represents feelings of being exposed in some embarrassing way, not the fear that you will forget to wear clothes one day. Finding yourself naked in a classroom may mean you aren't prepared for a test or a project at school.

2. Falling. You may be afraid of failing at something. Or, it could mean that you can't keep up with your friends, or that you don't measure up. Falling dreams can also mean that you have a sense of failure about a specific question.

3. Teeth Falling Out. These dreams can mean that you're concerned about your appearance and that gorgeous smile of yours. But it can also mean that you're worried about what your friends and teachers think of you.

4. Taking an Exam. If you dream that you can’t complete an exam in the allowed time, if you are late for an exam, or if your pencil keeps breaking during a test, you are feeling insecure and worried about letting others down.

5. Being Chased. If you are running away, hiding, or trying to outwit your pursuer, it may mean that your afraid to deal with fears, stress, or problems in your life. Instead of confronting the situation, you’re avoiding it.

6. Flying. Many people have found flying dreams an exhilarating, joyful, and liberating, experience. It may mean that you are prepared and on top of a given situation or that you have gained a different viewpoint on things. You feel undefeatable and nobody can tell you what you cannot do and accomplish. You have a sense of freedom.

7. Weird Dreams that Make No Sense. If you dream, for example, that a large blue shoe is sitting next to you in a space ship made of marshmallows, your mind is probably searching for a solution to a specific problem.

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Care to Weigh in? Had any kooky dreams about, oh say, flying monkeys eating banana creme pie (which could only mean that you're worried about your future retirement in Guam) or nightmares about giant spiders grading your homework unfairly (which clearly means you should lay off the meats before bed)?