more jewish sci-fi contemplation

I've finally read Hereville!

I found it at the Beverly Hills Library at last, plus the author will be at the Association of Jewish Libraries West Coast Conference that's coming up soon, so I figured the time had come. The beginning starts off like it's going to buy into nasty stereotypes about women's roles in Orthodox Judaism and terrible stepmothers. My heart sank, and I almost didn't continue. B"H, I read on, because the author totally turns both these notions on their heads by the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and recommend it highly. I can't wait to post a glowing review on Amazon!

The upcoming conference, by the way, is on the topic of graphic novels for Jewish kids. A comic book about the founding of the state of Israel won the Sydney Taylor prize last year or the year before, I think, and Hereville won this year. Of course the first in the genre that is well-know was Maus about 15 or 20 years ago, but only now is this genre gaining momentum.

I've been reading more and more "Jewish" sci fi and fantasy (some of what is classified as such is anything but Jewish, if you ask me) and writing more pieces, too. I'm realizing from some of the comments I've gotten back from friends that a big hurdle in the genre is the idea of deus ex mechina. As an Orthodox Jew, I strongly believe that Hashem runs the world...and that everything will be "right" in the end. The sci-fi genre, in particular, has a big undercurrent of rugged individualism, and fantasy often depends on the threat that things could work out very badly indeed, with evil at odds with good and totally independent of it. These tendencies tend to conflict. I'm trying to resolve it in my writing.

Books for the needy

About thirty years ago, a linguistic anthropologist researched children's literary experiences at home in three communities. In her famous article, "What No Bedtime Story Means," Dr. S.B. Heath wrote about her findings. She reported that children who have books in their home and use them regularly have better literacy in school. Even if a child had books in the house, they had to be used...it was insufficient to have a beautiful book if it was treasured so much to the extent that it was left on the shelf as a display piece.

When I taught in So. L.A. nearly a decade ago, my students (mostly working class and Latino) often had no books of their own. Many didn't visit the library unless on a school visit, although there was one in the neighborhood. Many parents, cash-strapped and not functionally literate themselves, chose to spend what little money they had on DVDs and video games. Others had a few books. These had often been received as gifts, and remained on the shelf so as not to be ruined (just as in Dr. Heath's study). Alternatively, my students had books, but these were often t.v. tie-ins of questionable literary merit. And some of my students had parents who wanted to read, but were each working two jobs to make ends meet. These folks were simply too busy and too exhausted to read a bedtime story. Thus, my students often had very few literary experiences before they reached school.

Contrast this with the average Ashkenazy Jew in America: books cover the walls (content and language varies by religiosity); many books are so well used they have actually been "loved to death" and are in tatters; libraries are regularly visited; newborns are given copies of Baby Faces, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and Blue Hat, Green Hat as gifts long before they can actually hold the books in their own tiny hands.

And people wonder why we are the people of the book?


In steps the wonderful organization, First Book. First Book has partnered with General Mills to distribute free books in Cheerios boxes at selected times of year. Plain Cheerios is a WIC friendly food, so putting them in that particular brand helps them reach their target audience, kids whose families may not be able to afford books, and who may not access public libraries. While these books are printed cheaply, they are high-quality literature. The authors have either won First Book's annual writing competition for new writers or are established writers themselves...and the illustrations are fabulous.

Here's a link to this wonderful organization. http://www.firstbook.org/

Using your talents

A few years ago, a group called Mishmeres HaShalom (now called Tiferes) sent out a DVD of Rabbi Noah Orlowek on the topic of Happiness. Happiness is a particularly apropos topic at this time of year. We're now in Adar, and "When Adar enters, joy increases," as the Sages said.

According to Rabbi Orlowek, people are happiest (animals, too) when they are fufilling that which they were created for. A person should 1) consider their talents and abilities, then 2) use them for the purposes of a mitzvah.

There's a famous story (I think it appears in the the Gemara) of a gentleman who had a beautiful singing voice. When he would travel on pilgrimage to Jerusalem every year, he'd lead the prayer services. One year, he just didn't feel like doing so. He was punished by G-d, since G-d had given him this magnificent voice for it to be used in Heavenly service.

When I heard the lecture by Rav Orlowek, I thought about my own talents. At the time, I'd sold a book (it hadn't yet come out), but had no additional publishing success. I was frustrated about how much work I was doing--writing, researching, submitting--with little to show for it.

I decided to use my writing as a chessed. I sent goofy poetry to relatives. I prepared the newsletter for one of my son's nursery school. I wrote an article for a local magazine about a community issue that needed attention. I began to think about my writing not just as a way to express myself or a way (I hoped) to make a little money, but as a responsibility.

Maybe we can all think about our talents and choose one thing we do well to bring assistance or joy to others.

Books and the autistic child

Many kids with high-functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome have special interests, and their obsessions carry over into their library habits. The best way to describe this situation is someone with a one-track mind trying to build more track in just one direction.

You see, those of us with family members on the autism spectrum get dragged into their atypical relationship with books. We "must" go regularly to the library, where they borrow every book on their preferred topic that they can find. Sometimes, they borrow the same books over and over again (or "convince" their siblings to get the book out for them, since they each only get three books). We buy our Aspy relatives books about their favorite topic as gifts because they're guaranteed to please.

Sometimes, access to these favorite books has to be monitored, controlled, or even doled out as a prize because our kid wants to spend all day reading about space, cowboys, trains, or the like. They'll forget to eat, put off bedtime indefinitely, get distracted away from their homework if you don't pry their prized books out of their hands.

At one point, I had to complete a survey. It read, "Does your family choose books, outings, and vacations based on the autistic family member's special interests?" Well, yeah. The neurotypical family members read the books favored by our family members with autism just so we can make conversation. Eventually, it may even become a genuine interest of the other family members. Or at least we know a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff. Like space, cowboys, trains, or the like. (And don't even ask about how many car-related outings we've gone on.)

My sister recently shared a website explaining that so many autistic kids have had Thomas the Tank Engine books, videos, and toys as their "special interest" that it's actually been documented in scientific literature. See this link: http://www.myfavoritetoys.com/autism_thomas.php

The neat thing about the article is that it describes how this fascination can be used in a therapeutic way.

And don't get me started on all the Aspy kids fixated on Harry Potter...