Eight Books That Made Me

Journalist Jose Antonio Vargas shares the eight books that made him, and you can sense a theme: from James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son to Carlos Bulosan's America is in the Heart through Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, Vargas seeks out the underheard voices of overlooked people. Hear his in this wide-ranging interview.

Librarian Natalie McCall chats with award-winning Canadian author Mariko Tamaki in this episode of 8 Books Remix. In 2015, Tamaki received the Michael L. Printz Award and a Caldecott Honor for her graphic novel This One Summer (two of the three major literary awards for youth awarded by the American Library Association). Her most recent book, Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me, is a sweet, spirited graphic novel about a Bay Area teen whose girlfriend keeps breaking up with her. Tamaki is one of the few graphic novelists with the distinction of writing comic books for both Marvel and DC (about characters from Harley Quinn to She-Hulk to the X-Men).

Natalie and Mariko talk about the book that invented the term "Generation X" back in the day, what it's like to be a girl in rural Canada, and hitchhiking across the galaxy.

Mariko's Eight

Hey, sometimes you just gotta do a double album, and in this generous portion of 8 Books Remix, librarian Natalie McCall chats with Megan Whalen Turner, recipient of a Newbery Honor for The Thief, the first installment of a classic, still-continuing, book series with passionate (obsessive?!?) fans of all ages and backgrounds. The endorsements on her book jackets are a who's who of some of the biggest names in fantasy for children and young adults. If you love them, Megan probably inspired them!

Natalie and Megan talk about why kids should read old books even when they are #problematic, the awesomeness of hypercompetent characters (no scrubs or slobs for Megan), and the struggle to get people to read fabulous books with hideous covers.

Librarian Natalie McCall chats with Misa Sugiura, author of award winning, contemporary young adult fiction. Her latest novel, This Time Will Be Different is a coming-of-age novel about a Japanese American teenager who struggles to understand the reverberating repercussions of her family being interned during World War II.

Natalie and Misa bond over being nerdy English majors, reading problematic classics, the iconic literary heroine Harriet the Spy, and Tim O' Brien's brilliant evocation of the Vietnam War.

Misa's Eight

Librarian Natalie McCall knew she wanted to chat with Randy Ribay after reading his novel After the Shot Drops, her favorite book about school and basketball since Hoop Dreams. His latest book, Patron Saints of Nothing, is a National Book Award finalist. It's a gripping coming-of-age story about a teenager who travels to the Philippines to uncover the truth about his cousin's life and murder.

Randy's eight books ranged from children's fantasy to b-boy poetry to short stories. The two James Baldwin fans talked about everything from writing as an instrument for justice to trying to understand your 8 year old mind to the life changing magic of seeing yourself in a book.

Randy's Eight

Linda Michel-Cassidy talks to Alice Quinn, who recently retired as the Executive Director of the Poetry Society of America (PSA), during which time she established partnerships with prominent cultural organizations, organized hundreds of events across the US, and expanded the Poetry in Motion program. Quinn is the editor of a book of Elizabeth Bishop's writings, Edgar Allan Poe & the Juke-Box: Uncollected Poems, Drafts, and Fragments, as well as a forthcoming book of Bishop's journals. This episode contains Plenty of Poetry!

In episode 3, Natalie McCall talked to the fabulous Lisa Ramee. Lisa's debut novel, A Good Kind of Trouble, is one of the buzziest children's books of the year. It's about Shayla, a girl trying to understand and maybe even participate in the Black Lives Matter movement while also trying to sort out the drama of junior high (crushes, changing friendships, and adults who just don't understand).

They chatted about money (maybe being rich isn't all that great?), race (colorism and learning how to love yourself), and ESP (oops! did you accidentally push your sister down the stairs with the power of your mind?!?)

Dust off your favorite headphones, pull up your favorite podcast app and hang out with them! And if you love it, tell your book loving friends and leave a review.

Show Notes

Check this list to see Lisa's 8 books (and to check them out from the library!)

https://marinet.bibliocommons.com/list/share/639059627_millvalleystaff_kids/1485819829_8_books_remix_lisa_ramee

In 8 Books Remix episodes, librarian Natalie McCall talks with the most talented and innovative authors in Young Adult Literature about five books they fell in love with during formative periods of their lives and three books they wish both teens and adults would read. Anyone who loves books, whether they've read any contemporary Young Adult Literature or not, will love these conversations between passionate book lovers.

Brendan Kiely is The New York Times bestselling author of All American Boys (with Jason Reynolds), Tradition, The Last True Love Story, and The Gospel in Winter. His work has received a Coretta Scott King Author Honor Award and was chosen as a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best pick. A teacher and a writer, he lives with his wife in Greenwich Village. In March of 2019, he spoke at one of our After Hours events about toxic masculinity, racism, and the responsibilities of privilege in the wake of the MeToo movement.

In this episode Brendan talks to librarian Natalie McCall about loving art that wasn't created for you, teaching in a school with no walls, and how reading for pleasure can save your life.

Brendan's Eight

Author Stacey Lee chats about the books that influenced her life and career, from the controversial children's classic readers love (or hate) to the first book she ever read with a character who shared her Chinese-American background. Stacey and our host discuss some controversial questions, such as: will Disney ever make a fairy tale movie with a dark ending? And: does seeing an award sticker on a book cover make you want to pick up a book or run away from it?

Stacey Lee is an award-winning author of historical and contemporary young adult fiction including the books Under a Painted Sky and Outrun the Moon. A native of Southern California, a fourth-generation Chinese American, and a former lawyer, she is one of the founders of We Need Diverse Books, a non-profit that promotes diversity in children's literature and publishing. Her fourth novel, The Downstairs Girl, comes out on August 13th.

Journalist Clare Malone gives us the scoop on the books that have influenced her, from the quirky Bagthorpe Saga series of children's books to thrilling Tudor tale Wolf Hall. Clare and our host discuss works of journalism, Elena Ferrante, and everyone's favorite epic poem about Satan.