Ciara Lightner

Summer is officially over and it’s time to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month! These months give us a chance to highlight voices that sometimes get overshadowed. And poetry is a great way to allow ourselves to enjoy a new perspective. To aide in the enjoyment of this wonderful time, here are some new poetry books to peruse while waiting for the cooler weather.

Diannely Antigua’s latest work Good Monster is an exploration of what happens to the child no one protected grows up. Antigua shares a glimpse into her past during which she suffered at the hands of someone that should have been a protector. Antigua fights her own traumas and chronic illnesses while still seeking those things that make life worth living. Antigua fights through the feelings of betrayal by her stepfather, her mother and her own body to find love and joy in the world. Antigua displays amazing humor and wit throughout the work allowing for the reader to feel a deep connection with her. Her universal desire for companionship is another way in which readers feel a connection with her. Antigua’s voice is strong and at its most powerful when it is at its most vulnerable.

Spencer Williams work Tranz has definitely come to fight. It is fun and funny and often times brutal. Williams takes a deep looks at herself and explores her own triumphs and failings. But Williams is not the only one who needs to do some reflecting. Williams forces a mirror up to not only society but ourselves as individuals. As a trans woman Williams seeks to reconcile her familial relationships with the added knowledge of her identity. She explores her childhood and what it means now after her transition. Williams doesn’t’ just highlight the good aspects of her life but the awful parts as well. Her existence is honest and flawed but still lovely and full of joy. Williams lays herself bare, defiantly and beautifully.

Two great anthologies are also available. Latino Poetry: The Library of America Anthology is an amazing work that spans the gamut of culture that exists under the heading of Latino. The work is expansive, starting with the poems of the seventeenth century and moving forward. The poems reflect their time periods and what their writers faced. It culminates in a wealth of modern poets defining what it means to be American. The other anthology is Here to Stay: Poetry and Prose from the Undocumented Diaspora. Admittedly this work does not just cover those with a Hispanic background but everyone who has been affected by the undocumented status. As such it is still a wonderful resource to explore as it shows how deep and truly complex this issue actually is. This work gives a chance for those who are rendered voiceless by their status a chance to speak up.

Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! And Have a Happy Fall (the season not the action….you know what I mean)!

During these hot summer days, it’s best to stay inside and stay cool. What better way to spend time indoors than with a good book? What about creepy Science Fiction? These new books are the perfect way to enjoy Summerween!

Suyi Davies Okungbowa’s new work Lost Ark Dreaming, is a story of hope in a world that is drowning. A crumbling structure, built to withstand the rising floods by a corporation, houses the last of humanity. The society, located off the coast of West Africa, is separated by class and reflected in the floors of the building. Uppers, the wealthy and managers of the company, live in the top floors while the poorest and undesirables are housed below the water line in the lowers. Yekini, unremarkable cog in the corporations from the middle floors, is tasked with an expedition to investigate a problem in the lowers. Accompanying her is Ngozi, an egotistical bureaucrat from the uppers. Along the way the two discover some of the corporation’s dark secrets and Yekini becomes determined to dredge those secrets up from the depths.

In Ghost Station by S.A. Barnes, Dr. Ophelia Bray is out to atone for the horrors her family has committed. Her mother is the scion of a rich and powerful corporation that would rather throw money at a problem than ever admit guilt, and her father is a mass murderer who committed unspeakable acts during a bout of psychosis. Hoping to separate herself from her family’s legacy, Bray agrees to join a dangerous mission to explore a planet. While there, she is tasked with researching a possible preventative measure for psychosis caused from deep space travel. But people start to act strangely. People start to see things. People start to die. Bray needs to get to the bottom of what is happening and figure out if the danger originates from this unknown world or if it was in Dr. Bray all along. Filled with twists and turns, Ghost Station is a terrifying look at the horrors we find in the void and those within ourselves.

Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky, centers on Charles, a robot valet for his human master in a world where humanity has declined. Every day is the same for Charles, check the itinerary, lay the clothes out, shave the master, a never-ending list of repeating tasks Charles is more than happy to tick off. Until one day, Charles cannot complete his tasks. His master is dead and Charles is the one who did it. The problem is Charles has no idea why he did it and now is stuck in a circle of task that can never be completed. But Charles is not the only one stuck in this bureaucratic circle, all robots seem to be stuck as well. Charles must find a way in the world that has lost all direction. What happens to a world full of robots built to care for humans when there are no humans left?

Enjoy these books and let the creepy season begin!

As you have probably no doubt guessed, dear reader, I have a huge fondness for poetry. Poetry allows us to say the things we normally find unsayable. And in doing so, we can better connect, not only to ourselves but to each other. So here are some of our latest poetry books to aid in your quest to say the unsayable.

36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem is the latest work by writer Nam Le. Le explores the diaspora as a result of the Vietnamese war, and the lasting effect on those that have been displaced from their homeland. Centering on the concept of identity, Le shows how detrimental it is to have your concept of self stripped away, and replaced with another’s idea of you. Le mocks the mask that is forced upon him, forcing the reader to contend with their own assumptions and prejudices. Le plays with form, taking the standard concepts and breaking them to create a new way of looking at language itself. Le’s work is an exploration of how one can reclaim an identity dismantled by colonialism.

Mirror Nation by Don Mee Choi, is another writer exploring diaspora, this time looking through the lens of the Gwangju uprising. Choi uses her father’s photographs and personal recollections to inform of a time that has been glossed over. Choi’s father, a photographer working with reporters during this time, saw the violence first hand and came close several times to experiencing it himself. Choi takes this knowledge and bridges it to the present in her own struggles to understand herself and the land her family had to leave. Dealing with her own sense of self, Choi investigates her past to ground herself in the present and reconnect with who she might have been.

With My Back to the World is another stellar work by Victoria Chang. Using the abstract paintings and writings of Agnes Martin, Chang delves into the matter of identity itself. Chang is trying to answer the question of who she is and what it means to be a woman while dealing with her own depression and the subsequent death of her father. Martin’s work allows Chang to delve deeper into her own mind and understand how art is a conduit to understanding ourselves. Chang’s poems seem to question what lies at the crossroads of being a woman and being Asian and how to honor both in a society that values neither.

Enjoy these new poetry books and discover much more at your local library.

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!

Have you been eyeing that new game but aren’t sure that you want to commit to buying it? Video games have arrived at A.K. Smiley Public Library! As our collection grows, here’s a quick look at just a few our recently acquired titles.

Get ready to bash Bowser once again in the new Super Mario Bros. Wonder (Rated E for Everyone) for Nintendo Switch. Mario and his friends have arrived in the nearby Flower Kingdom and are ready to explore. Bowser arrives as well with a very different goal in mind. Help Mario and his friends save the kingdom in an adventure that returns Mario to the traditional side-scrolling format of the original games. Play by yourself in single player mode or team up with friends in co-op mode. Find new power-ups and use them to stop Bowser and his henchmen.

Looking for a cute and quirky roguelite that relies heavily on stealth? Try out Nintendo Switch’s Haunted House (Rated E10 for Everyone 10 and up). Lyn Graves must brave a mansion full of ghosts and ghouls in order to rescue her uncle and friends. Players must solve puzzles and defeat bosses with their sneaking skills at the forefront. With such limited combat, players must rely on critical thinking skills instead of brute force. And due to its roguelite elements, every time a player is knocked out, the levels change, bringing unpredictability to the gameplay.

Spider-Man returns in Spider-Man 2 (Rated T for Teen) for the PlayStation 5. In this action-adventure, play not only as Peter Parker but also as Miles Morales as they take on villains in New York. Taking place around a year after the events of the first game, Morales and Parker are both trying to cope with the realities of being Spidermen and adults. The game’s open world format allows for hours of exploration as well as the chance to try out new abilities for both. Use your new powers to fight enemies like Kraven the Hunter, Lizard, and a new iteration of Venom while trying to find balance of life both inside and outside the suit.

Fulfill your prime directives in RoboCop: Rogue City for Xbox Series X (Rated M for Mature). Play as the titular character as you try to snuff out corruption in Detroit by any means necessary. Arrest criminals, investigate crimes, and issue parking tickets. But be warned, the choices you make will have consequences. This first-person shooter with a linear storyline will appeal to fans of the movies with cameos and Easter eggs. While this might be a brand-new story, Peter Weller reprises his role from the original movies to voice the game. Action abounds as you protect the innocent and uphold the law.

Interested in helping us expand our collection? The Library accepts gently used copies of games from the following systems: PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Switch, and Wii. Games will be added to the circulating collection for patron use. Have suggestions for the collection, let us know! Happy Gaming, Gamers!

-Ciara Lightner is a library specialist at A.K. Smiley Public Library who is currently playing Barbie’s Dreamhouse Adventure…because it’s fun.