Category Archives: Books&Art

Book and art reviews, postings, tutorials.

Dec18

JUST LOVED READING: Amina’s Voice

Posted on December 18, 2017 by marion

JUST LOVED READING: Amina’s Voice

Just Loved Reading:

Amina’s Voice

Middle Grade/Fiction

Khan, Hena. Amina’s Voice. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2017.

Amina Khokar is a Pakistani-American immigrant who, with her brother and parents lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Her best friend, Soojin, is an immigrant from South Korea and is about to become an American citizen. When Soojin becomes friendly with their once-sworn enemy, Emily, and announces that she is changing her Korean name to something American, Amina feels her life is about to be upended. To make things even more stressful, her parents have signed Amina and her brother to the state-wide Quran competition. Amina freezes in front of audiences, refusing to use her beautiful singing much less her imperfect Arabic.

On top of everything that is happening, her strict great-uncle is coming for a long visit and is all too willing to help her perfect her Arabic for the competition. Only when the Islamic Center is vandalized, does Amina realize she is not alone, but has the support of loving friends and family.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

The author weaves the cultural and religious traditions of Amina and her family within the larger American society that the live in. Amina is no different than any other middle school student in her town but all of a sudden, she has to face hatred and destruction of the Islamic center. Her quiet world is no longer. It’s only when her friends support her does she realize where she really belongs.

Amina and her family and friends lived in Minneapolis,Minnesota. To learn more about Minneapolis, click on the following links:

http://www.minneapolis.org/

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/great-lakes/minneapolis

Amina and her family are part of Minneapolis’ large diverse Muslim community:

http://iccmn.us/v2/

Nov21

JUST LOVED READING: Dumpling Days

Posted on November 21, 2017 by marion

JUST LOVED READING: Dumpling Days

JUST LOVED READING:

Dumpling Days

MG/Fiction

Lin, Grace. Dumpling Days. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2012.

Pacy and her two sisters are headed to Taiwan to spend their summer vacation. They are not looking forward to spending a month in a country they’ve never visited before, don’t speak the language and don’t know the relatives they are going to live with.

And even though their mother has signed them up for art classes to encourage them to learn about their heritage, the visit doesn’t necessarily start off smoothly. Pacy is artistic but painting bamboo for a week isn’t what she expected from a painting class. Plus, the girl sitting next to her in class isn’t nice to her at all.

Many Taiwanese don’t understand why Pacy doesn’t speak Chinese and show their displeasure. Pacy defends herself at least in her own mind. She’s an American and her parents never made her learn Chinese. Pacy’s loving relatives introduce her and her sisters to the temples and neighborhoods of Taiwan, strange foods like chicken feet and quail eggs and the customs of Ghost month which go on during their month-long visit. At least, Pacy can eat her favorite dumplings every day.

By the time the month is up, though, Pacy realizes what her identity is: she is a Taiwanese-American even if she can’t speak Chinese and that her family loves her despite of that fact.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

As a Greek-American, I easily understood Pacy’s struggle to identify as a dual American although I speak, read and write Greek. Having visited the countries of my ancestry, I also understood the clash of cultures that she experienced. I lived in my father’s village in Cyprus for seven months. There was no running water or modern plumbing of any kind, no electricity and little in the way modern transportation. There was a bus that went through the village in the morning and returned at night and one or two privately owned cars. There were plenty of donkeys, though!

No one signed me up for painting classes but I did learn to pick fruit and olives during the harvest, make a fire and skin and gut freshly killed birds! (My aunt showed me how!)

So I empathized with the struggle to learn to even like the country of your heritage let alone identity with that heritage. There’s a lot of freedom that comes from eventually realizing and accepting what you are.

TAIWAN

Pacy and her sisters’ ancestors are from Taiwan. To learn more about Taiwan and its culture check out the following links:

https://www.britannica.com/place/Taiwan

https://www.lonelyplanet.com/taiwan

Apr19

Just Loved Reading: Paper Boy by Vince Vawter

Posted on April 19, 2017 by marion

Just Loved Reading: Paper Boy by Vince Vawter

Just Loved Reading:

Paperboy

Middle Grade Fiction

Vawter, Vince. Paperboy. New York: Delacorte Press, 2013

“Words in the air blow away as soon as you say them but words on paper last forever.” (Paperboy, p 21)

Memphis, Tennessee, 1959. The protagonist in Paperboy can’t say his name without inhaling big gulps of Gentle Air as his speech therapist taught him. (We learn his name in the last chapter and that his first name and his last name start with the same letter.) Some words are easier to say than other words depending on the first letter of the word because some letters are easier to pronounce than others.

He calls his best friend Rat because it’s easier to say than his real name, Art.

He throws a mean ball, though – it’s the one thing he knows he’s good at – in the opinion of his team. He feels at home on the baseball mound but not everywhere else in his white suburban world.

He takes over Art’s paper route for one month even though he knows it will be hard for him to communicate with the customers on collection day. He knows he’s taking on a challenge. But the people and the events that he encounters, the hidden family secret he uncovers and the surprising new friends he makes during that month and on that paper route changes his attitude life forever.

And that is just the beginning.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

The protagonist is one of the most likable, sympathetic, inspiring children in children and Young Adult literature that I have ever read about. I wanted to hug him. Other readers may want to hug him, too. He never stops thinking of ways to overcome his stuttering but confesses his loneliness because his stuttering sets him apart from other kids. In spite of everything, he doesn’t give up or feel sorry for himself. Instinctively, he lives one day at a time but tries everyday to overcome his “affliction.”

The reader will root for him through every step of his journey from trying to collect money to witnessing a knifing to becoming friends with a deaf boy and a retired sailor to discovering a family secret. This boy is a hero because of the way he handles himself in these situations with the kinds of people he encounters and the decision he reaches about his family’s past.

In the author’s note, Vince Vawter, a stutterer, quotes James Earl Jones, who overcame his stutter and became a renowned actor: “One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can’t utter.” Like the author, the hero in Paperboy realizes that although it is hard for him to speak, he is better at writing words (and throwing a fast ball).

Paperboy will lift up your spirits.

Apr3

JUST LOVED READING: The School The Aztec Eagles Built

Posted on April 3, 2017 by marion

JUST LOVED READING: The School The Aztec Eagles Built

JUST LOVED READING

The School the Aztec Eagles Built

Non-Fiction/Middle Grade

Nicholson, Dorinda Makanaohalani. The School the Aztec Eagles Built. New York: Lee and Low Books, 2016.

Relations between Mexico and the US were not always cordial especially when they fought over what were once Mexico’s northern territories. In 1835, Texas declared its independence from Mexico. This led to the US – Mexican War which lasted from 1846 to 1848. When it ended, Mexico lost Texas, Nevada, California, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico and parts of Wyoming and Colorado.

On May 13 and 22, 1942, German U-boats torpedoed two unarmed Mexican oil tankers off the Florida coast. Germany refused to apologize for the aggression and Mexico declared war on the Axis powers, Germany, Italy and Japan. Mexico had a small military and had never fought another country overseas.

US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Mexican President Manuel Avila Comacho met to discuss how the two countries could help each other. By this time, Japan had attacked the US at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The result of these discussions was the formation of the Mexican Expeditionary Air Force. The flight operations unit was known as Air Fighter Squadron 201 or the Aztec Eagles.

The Squadron consisted of pilots and ground crew who took care of the airplanes. They trained initially in Idaho and then in Texas where they encountered prejudice from the locals and distrust from the American air pilots with whom they were going to work. Eventually, the American and Mexican pilots forged a mutual respect. The Squadron flew missions from the Philippines which ended when the US dropped the bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. When the pilots and crew returned home, they were hailed as heroes and decorated veterans.

Angel Bocanegra was a school teacher in his village of Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico. Tepoztlan had a small two room schoolhouse that could barely hold a couple of the grades. Many of the children formed classrooms on neighbors’ porches, on the grass and anywhere there was space to sit and learn.

Bocanegra enlisted as one of the Squadron’s ground crew. President Comacho reviewed the men before they left for the US and asked if anyone had any requests. Bocanegra shouted out that he had a request for a schoolhouse for his village. President Comacho agreed.

When Angel Bocanegra returned to his village, he saw a brand new building named Escuela Escuadron 210.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

This book narrated the little known story of the Aztec Eagles, Squadron 210 of the Mexican Air Force and how World War II helped to establish goodwill between the US and Mexico. The footnote about Angel Bocanegra was interesting, too. But the book also narrates an account of the Bracero Program brokered by President Roosevelt and President Comacho. The program allowed Mexican workers to enter the US on temporary work permits. So from 1943 to 1945, over 100, 000 laborers worked on farms and railroads. This helped to plug the hole in the work force left by enlisted soldiers and sailors and was another way Mexico, with its small military, could help with the war effort.

Mar26

JUST LOVED READING: Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, A Muslim Book of Colors

Posted on March 26, 2017 by marion

JUST LOVED READING: Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns, A Muslim Book of Colors

Old mosque old Rhodes City, Rhodes, Greece

Just Loved Reading:

Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors

Picture Book

Khan, Hena. Golden Domes and Silver Lanterns: A Muslim Book of Colors. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2012.

Objects that are a part of Islamic tradition and the Muslim religion (food, clothing, domes, etc) resonate in a specific color in the eyes of a girl: red reminds her of the red prayer rug her father uses to pray five times a day; blue represents the blue hijab her mother wears; gold covers the domes of the mosque; purple is the color of the gift the girl receives during the holiday, Eid; brown is the color of dates, etc.

This picture book of colors brings the Muslim religion vividly to life.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

The colors of the objects used when practicing the faith illuminate the Muslim religion and its traditions in this book. The illustrations are colorful and beautiful; the language is simple yet descriptive for children to absorb the information. Told in verse.

Mar26

JUST LOVED READING: Paperboy

Posted on March 26, 2017 by marion

JUST LOVED READING: Paperboy

Just Loved Reading:

Paperboy

Middle Grade Fiction

Vawter, Vince. Paperboy. New York: Delacorte Press, 2013

“Words in the air blow away as soon as you say them but words on paper last forever.” (Paperboy, p 21)

He calls his best friend Rat because it’s easier to say than his real name, Art.

He throws a mean ball, though – it’s the one thing he’s good at – in his opinion. It’s also the opinion of his team. He feels at home on the baseball mound but not everywhere else in his white suburban world.

He takes over Art’s paper route for one month even though he knows it will be hard for him to communicate with the customers on collection day. He knows he’s taking on a challenge. But the people and the events that he encounters and the surprising new friends he makes during that one month and on that paper route changes his life forever.

And that is just the beginning.

WHY I LOVED READING THIS BOOK:

The protagonist is one of the most likeable, sympathetic, inspiring children in children and Young Adult literature that I have ever read about. I wanted to hug him. Other readers may want to hug him, too. He never stops thinking of ways to overcome his stuttering but confesses his loneliness because his stuttering sets him apart from other kids. Inspite of everything, he doesn’t give up or feel sorry for himself. Instinctively, he lives one day at a time.

In the author’s note, Vince Vawter, a stutterer himself, quotes James Earl Jones, who overcame his stutter and became a renowned actor: “One of the hardest things in life is having words in your heart that you can’t utter.”

Paperboy will lift up your spirits.

Feb16

Another Healthy Apple Salad

Posted on February 16, 2017 by marion

Another Healthy Apple Salad

@Photograph by Marion Constantinides Oct. 2016

Apple Salad:

2 cups Romaine (or greens of choice)

1 – 2 unpeeled red apples, diced

1/2 cup diced celery

1/4 cup craisins (or raisins)

1/4 cup chopped walnuts (or slivered almonds)

For the dressing:

1/2 cup light mayonnaise

2 Tablespoons pineapple juice

1 Tablespoon sugar

In a large salad bowl, toss lettuce, celery, craisins, apples, and walnuts. In a small bowl, mix the ingredients for the dressing. (Or use a mild dressing of your choice.) Pour over the salad and toss.

Take to a picnic or serve with grilled food. Serve immediately.

Apr3

Pythagoras and the Number 8

Posted on April 3, 2016 by marion

Pythagoras and the Number 8

Number 8

The Sketchbook Project “is the world’s largest library of artists’ books…” The sketchbooks also travel North America and even the world via the Mobile Library. For more information, go to https://www.sketchbookproject.com.

I participated in the Sketchbook Project in 2012 and 2013. It’s time to take part again. This year’s theme is Numerology and the visual power of numbers and letters and their relationship to each other.

“The universe is based on the fundamental reality that all things are related and within that underlying notion of unity, all things are energy.”

from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Numerology

The Number 8 is the number of leaders and bosses. It is the number of money, power and success. Love of work and the thrill of achieving success motivates the Number 8. Success is not defined by making money selling a product but of reaching a goal that helps all of humankind.

The symbol of the number 8 is the joining of two spheres representing heaven and earth. The two circles also emulate the infinity symbol

Associated with the Number 8 are the colors pink and rose and the letters H, Q and Z.

For further reading:

Lagerquist, Kay. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Numerology. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books, 1999.

Millman, Don. The Life You Were Born to Live. Tiburon, CA: H. J. Kramer/New World Library, 1993.

Pythagoras and Numerology

Numerology is the study of the meanings of names and numbers and their relationship to each other and has its roots in the cultures of ancient Greece, China, Rome and Egypt and the Hebrew Kabbalah.

Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician and mystic from the 6^th century B.C.E. He is one of the fathers of numerology and regarded as the father of geometry.

He based his system of names and numbers on his belief that numerical relationships permeate nature. Numbers are a source of form and energy and numbers 1 through 9 represent the nine stages of the cycle of life.

Pythagoras and his followers believed that divine law could be calculated through mathematics.

Pythagoras, however, associated numbers with many ideas not just divine law. For example, he explored musical harmony through mathematics and called his concept “The Music of the Spheres.” Pythagoras believed that everything vibrates to its own special harmony; the higher the vibration, the more (or positive) force it has but the lower the rate of vibration, the less (or negative) force it has.

Feb15

The Sketchbook Project: Pythagoras and the Number 1

Posted on February 15, 2016 by marion

The Sketchbook Project: Pythagoras and the Number 1

The Number One

The number one is the number of new beginnings and new opportunities. One represents spirit at the

center of all things. The symbol of the number one is the perpendicular line symbolizing creation, assimilation and expression and red is the color associated with it.

Letters are also associated with numbers: A, J and S resonate with the number one.

Bibliography:

Lagerquist, Kay. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Numerology. Indianapolis, IN: Alpha Books, 1999.

Hay, Louise L. Colors and Numbers, Your Personal Guide to Positive Vibrations in Daily Life. Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 2010.

Millman, Don. The Life You Were Born to Live. Tiburon, CA: H. J. Kramer/New World Library, 1993.

Pythagoras and Numerology

Numerology studies the meanings of names and numbers and their relationship to each other and has its roots in the cultures of ancient Greece, China, Rome and Egypt and the Hebrew Kabbalah.

Pythagoras was a Greek mathematician and mystic from the 6^th century B.C.E. He is one of the fathers of numerology and regarded as the father of geometry.

He based his system of names and numbers on his belief that nature is composed of numerical relationships. Numbers are a source of form and energy and numbers 1 through 9 represent the nine stages of the cycle of life.

Pythagoras and his followers believed that divine law could be calculated through mathematics.