Archives for February 2024

I have heard it said that you do not really appreciate history until you have some history of your own. That being said, you may not have a good recollection of California history from your fourth-grade class. No worries, A.K. Smiley Public Library has a pretty impressive collection of California history, old and new!

“Fascinating True Tales from Old California: Crooked Con Men, Eccentric Immigrants, and Fearless Females Who Shaped the Golden State” is informative and entertaining. It is authored by historian Colleen Adair Fliedner and begins with a brief chronological timeline. Short chapters tell interesting tales of Californians and events from 1542 through 1940. There is some overlap and references between chapters of some of the individuals highlighted as they were in the same time-frames and may have crossed paths at some point. Trivia fans can glean some little-known facts about how California was once infested with fleas, experienced pirate attacks, and possibly discover some locations of buried treasure.

Another enjoyable read on our beautiful state is historian Noelle Sullivan’s “It Happened in Southern California: Stories of Events and People that Shaped Golden State History.” Short chapters range from “1600s Big Bears and Basketmakers” to “2003 The Governator.” The book concludes with “Southern California/Hollywood/Silver Screen Facts and Trivia,” a bulleted section to further enhance your trivia arsenal.

If you would like to visit some of the places mentioned in the two previous books, check out “Moon Southern California Road Trips: Drives along the Beaches, Mountains, and Deserts with the Best Stops along the Way,” and “Fodor’s Northern California.” These selections can help you plan your excursions. “Route 66 Adventure Handbook,” by Drew Knowles will take you to some of these locations, as well as beyond California on the “mother road.” Create more of your own memories and history using these books as your guide.

If you are inspired to do a deeper dive into California history, A.K. Smiley Library has plenty of books waiting for you, and our Heritage Room has more than just books for your perusal.

Teens, every once in awhile, a new Young Adult (YA) book passes through my hands on its way to the shelves and doesn’t make it out. It usually starts something like this: a cover or title will catch my eye and I’ll think “Oh this looks intriguing…let me take a quick peek.” Next thing you know, it’s three and a half hours later and the unsuspecting book is trapped in my iron clutches.

This phenomenon happened to me twice in the last month, and both of the culprits were YA nonfiction titles. The first was “Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed” by Dashka Slater. The book reads like a smart investigative podcast, with voices directly from the high school students involved in creating the racist account, the account’s followers, and its targets. The author digs into the story with the kind of depth and messiness it deserves, not glossing over anything, from the students’ raw and honest reflections, to the school district’s possible mishandling.

While the book’s tone isn’t preachy, it also doesn’t shy away from the account’s shattering impacts on everyone it touched, including its creator and followers. Is this a clear-cut story about villains and victims? Read it and decide for yourself.

On another note, teens, I secretly wish I was in a band, but unfortunately, my musical skills are limited to playing the triangle (non-professionally) and singing incorrect lyrics off-key. Despite this, I am a music lover, so imagine my excitement when my eyes caught sight of “Rise Up and Sing!: Power, Protest, and Activism in Music” by Andrea Warner. Clutches…activate!

The book takes a look at the entwined relationship between social justice movements and music in the realms of climate justice, Indigenous rights, disability rights, racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQIA+ rights and more, and best of all, it includes playlists—perfect for me to triangle along with! A diverse array of both modern and older artists and songs are featured, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking to spice up their Spotify account. “Rise Up and Sing!” loudly celebrates music’s singular power to unite, teach, disrupt, inspire, and transform. If social activism gets your heart pumping as much as a good beat, this book is for you.

Excellent news…my clutches have, at last, relinquished the titles above. If your clutches are interested, stop by the Teen Underground at A.K. Smiley Public Library and check them out! If these titles don’t excite you, don’t worry, we have so many more books/DVDs/video games/and more that might…come fill your clutches!

Kristina Naftzger is a Youth Services Librarian at A.K. Smiley Public Library, where she clearly thinks way too much about her own, and everyone else’s, clutches.

Black History Month has arrived! This year’s theme is African Americans and the Arts, and here are some of the latest poetry books to celebrate with this month and all year round.

Aster of Ceremonies is the latest work from esteemed author Jjjjjerome Ellis. Ellis seeks to connect the past and present through their work by invocating people that were once listed as runaway slaves. They seek to reform the idea of the enslaved person running away as a loss of property, to a person regaining their freedom. Furthering the connection, Ellis draws on the fact that many of these ancestors have a stutter, something that Ellis has as well. Ellis celebrates their stutter, theirs, and the ancestors,’ not only through the poetry of the work but also through music as well. Nature also is a driving force of the work, acting as authorities over the land both in the past and for Ellis in the present. Poignant and beautiful, Ellis’s work acts as a gateway into our collective past as a means to define our future.

Plantains and Our Becoming by Melania Luisa Marte is a work that grabbles with the nature of colonialism and identity. Marte, a musician as well as a poet, looks at what it means to exist as an Afro-Latina when that word doesn’t even exist in the dictionary. The work flows through both English and Spanish and explores the experiences her families faced in their travels from the Dominican Republic and Haiti to the United States. Marte is able to take the stories passed down the generations of her family to write her own story and make a new journey of her own. Her work also explores how a woman’s beauty is a commodity to be used, as long as it does not benefit the woman herself too much. Referencing icons such as Cardi B and Megan thee Stallion, Marte shows that even with fame, femicide is still a risk. Marte’s debut work is a celebration not just of her legacy, but all those who look to define themselves.

Tender Headed is the debut work of Olatunde Osinaike and is an exploration of the intersection of masculinity and blackness. It is there that Osinaike finds himself at a crossroads of the man he was taught to be and the man he wants to become. Osinaike’s work is unafraid to put its heart on its sleeve and appear vulnerable. It is through this vulnerability that Osinaike hopes growth will happen. That in taking accountability, the current generation can hope to leave some of the pain of the past generation behind them. While there are moments of heaviness, and melancholy, there are also moments of joy and love. The author looks into a future with his own children and sees the endless possibilities if the hard work is down now. Osinaike’s work is not a condemnation of masculinity, rather a celebration of what it could be.

Check out these works and more! Happy Black History Month!