[  Mood: Silly ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC Radio ]

Barry Lyga’s name may be familiar to some of you. I featured his first novel, The Amazing Adventures of Fanboy and Goth Girl in one of my What to Read After Harry columns. Boy Toy is Lyga’s second novel and is also aimed at the YA set. It is not an easy ready, but it is an important book that needs to be in most school libraries. Unfortunately, given its topic, I think this is going to quickly become one of the most banned.

Boy Toy tells the tale of Josh, a High School senior who seems to have everything going for him. He is smart, athletic and good looking. Yet he has a hair trigger temper and gets involved in fights and is frequently suspended. But this is understandable, as he was also molested by his teacher when he was twelve. His female teacher.

Lyga has been quite daring in choosing to tell the male victim of molestation by a female teacher. He is taking on the incredibly stupid myth of the older woman intiating the young man into the arts of love and points it out for the bullcrap it is. (I teach twelve year olds. I don’t find them sexually attractive. I just want to make them a sandwich.) Lyga is also walking down a road many of these stories don’t go by pointing out that not all peodophiles are men.

The author has to walks a very fine line in this book. It would be easy for this to devolve into a moralistic after-school special. Worse, it could easily have been an exploitation tale full of sexually tittalation (pun not intended). Instead, Lyga has given us a tale that hits just the the right note, with a main character who is not just a one-dimentional victim. Those around him are not perfect either and react with a varrying maturity to Josh’s situation and behaviour.

If there is a stumble, it is the ending where Josh finally confronts his abuser. Her admission of guilt comes a little too easily. But that is a minor fault when the novel as a whole is evaluated.

This book is a must read for those thinking of entering teaching as it really shows what the impact of our actions on our students are. It is also only appropriate for those students in Grade 9 and up as there are some very mature scenes. But, they need to read this book, if only to understand that predators come in all shapes and sizes. Parents would do well to also read this as Lyga knows how the youth brain works. His ear for dialogue is bang on.

Go read this.

[  Mood: Sleepy ]
[ Currently: Getting ready for bed. ]
Hello all!

Horror of horrors – we lost the Internet for over 24 hours. Hense why you are getting this now. But we have it back now . . . and the shakes are starting to fade. Let’s celebrate with . . . Fun Stuff and Oddities!

Making A Difference Differently
This blog post explains my job so well.

Wood Post-It Notes
Very cool.

Girlfriend Doesn’t Realize Boyfriend is on Vacation
I have no idea if this is true, but it is funny.

Jamie Oliver as Village People in a TV trailer
Love this.

n00b Boyfried
Also funny.

Texas Irons
So coool. Personalizing steak got so much more fun.

Misspelled Tattoos
So sad.

squirrel photo crasher
You have most likely seen this and there are allegations this is photoshopped, but it is still good.

Super Terrific Japanese Thing: Boob Pudding
Oh, the Japanese.

5 Tips for Raising Your Girl Geek
For all you dads of girls.

[  Mood: Happy ]
[  Currently: Watching House ]

Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians is a YA novel that a sarcastic, fun filled romp with an author who consistently breaks the fourth wall to talk to the reader.

It tells the tale of Alcatraz, a young orphan who has bounced from foster home to foster home due to his unique talent of breaking things. It turns out that this talent is his secret power. Alcatraz in an occulator from an ancient line of occulators who are fighting an ongoing battle against librarians who are trying to take over the world.

Alcatraz must quickly learn to control his powers in order to help his newly discovered grandfather recover the Sands of Raschid that have just been stolen.

Aimed primarily at boys, parents will also enjoy this book, especially with the references to Michael Creighton, David Eddings and "important books about disfuntional families". Fantastic read. It will be in the next After Harry.

[  Mood: Fed Up WIth Life ]
[  Currently: Listening to CBC Radio ]
Dear Minister Van Loan

To say this morning’s news upset me would be an understatement. For my government to think that sending someone who has fled one of the most repressive regimes in the world back is a good idea is ridiculous. It would be laughable if the result weren’t certain to be so incredibly tragic. Amnesty Internation lists many of the human rights abuses in Mynmar. The UN has repeatedly expressed concern about the military regime in Burma. A US document that the Canadian Goverment hosts on canada.ca sates that the Burmese government has a hiostory of "chronic and egregious abuses of human rights". Finally, your own website states "The abhorrent human rights and humanitarian situation in Burma is particularly dangerous as the government’s actions not only oppress its own people, but also bring substantial transnational destabilizing effects which threaten peace and security in the entire region and undermine freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law". The Canadian gornment has imposed sanctions against the Myanmar government because of the human rights abuses.

So why then are you sending him back?

Just based on the above, we should shelter him. If you add in the fact he was forced to be a child soldier adds to the absurdity. The Canadian government is concerned about the issue and in fact gives money to help prevent the use of child soldiers. Yet by sending Nay Myo Hein back, you are flying in the face of government policy.

Think also of our history. Canada has a history of taking those people who need a safe place to live. Since before our founding, we have been a sanctuary. Ask any of the desendants of the slaves that made their way north to freedom. The Vaniers worked to bring refugees to Canada after WWII. We sheltered U.S. draft dogers during the Vietnam War. Thirty years ago Project 4000 was launched in Ottawa, sparking a nationwide movement. We are a nation built on compassion.

Please, Minister Van Loan, I implore you. Reverse this decision. Do what we as Canadians have always done. Save this young man. Let him stay.

[  Mood: Amused ]
OK, so I am not really a teetotaler, as I have been known to have a single malt scotch or two, but I do love tea. Love it. And on my recent trip to Toronto I went to the fabulous Tea Emporium to pick up a large supply of specialty tea blends.

So I wanted to share what I have been drinking. For this first entry:

Organic English Breakfast

As you can see the tea comes in a shiny metal/plastic pouch which makes photos fun!

The blend inside the pouch.

Steeping. Since I like my tea strong, let’s say it sat for five minutes.

And now with some milk. The taste was your typical EB with the Assam lending deep notes to the China black. A nice, warm cuppa.