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We're back post-merge and our Mattel and Pleasant tribes are now the Pattel tribe. Will there be friction in the now combined tribe? Who will be the first member of the jury? Will any of the immunity idols come into play? We're debating personality traits, just how far Katniss's Rue guilt will go, whether Kirsten even needs the money given her dead man's chest of treasure back home, and much more in this, our final TBMM tribal council. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

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Have you ever wished your favorite characters from different books could meet each other? Have you ever wished they could fight each other for food, resources, and prizes while sleeping in the sand in Fiji? No? Well we have. In this very special season ending edition of TBMM, we bring back a special guest host, Survivor Superfan Kelsey, to Jeff Probst us through a battle between some of our favorite heroines from past TBMM episodes. Will Katniss quietly dominate with her skills from the arena? Will Kirsten accidentally burn down the camp? Is Turtle going to kick her teammates if they lose a challenge or will she Russell Hantz her way to immunity idol glory? And what exactly is a pastry bar and will it be enough to keep Claudia playing? We contemplate these questions and more as we decide which of our girls will outwit, outplay, and outlast. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

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We're back with part 2 of Gabi, a Girl in Pieces because we needed more than one episode to sing its praises. What can we say, Gabi, a Girl in Pieces just does so much right. Gabi is a complex and interesting character, who doesn't dim her light for any man. The book accurately captured the vibes of border towns, like Tijuana, and the realities of meth addiction. It even managed to be a much better depiction of teen sexuality than Planned Parenthood Pamphlet, Forever by Judy Blume (the bar is super low, we know...). 

Honestly, Gabi's only fault is she leaves us hanging on whether the wings she had to sign a waiver for at Pepe's House of Wings were truly that hot. The Hot Ones fans in us want to know. And for our quiz, we found the answer to, "Which Romantic Poet Are you" and spoiler, someone did not like her results. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

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We've reached the final book of the season and boy was it a good one! So good in fact, we're splitting it up into two parts. In Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero, our central character, Gabi, is smart, opinionated and shockingly self-aware. It's that self-awareness that helps her craft inspiring and thought-provoking poetry that tackles sexism, anti-fat rhetoric and personal family dynamics. 

Despite the novel being released 10 years ago, Gabi, a Girl in Pieces still feels fresh and relevant. It's partly helped by not relying on phones or social media, which seems intentional as it follows in the footsteps of another piece of YA media that also forewent the use of cellphones -- Juno (which is referenced in the novel). But the other part is how strongly is captures the teenage experience. It even got Heather to recall her own mortifying experience (we all sympathize, Heather!). 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

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Who doesn't love a book steeped in myth, legend, and local culture? Well, we certainly love them and are leaning into our fangirling over Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor.  Sunny is tearing up the football pitch at the Zuma games, getting in touch with her spirit face, and finding her place in her coven. We do have some questions though. For example, can Darlene make it through the author bio without laughing about Dr. Okorafor's cats? Is Anatov the best teacher we've encountered in a book we've covered for the pod even if he frequently almost gets his students killed? Are all of the spirit faces in Sugar Cream's office waiting for a new leopard person to be born or is it more like a Hall of Fame of great spirit faces? If we get really brave we may just ask the author on twitter. We're diving deep into bodily humors and archetypes, depictions of multilingual communities, and summoning masquerades. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

Special acknowledgement of music by Alexander Nakarada in this episode. 

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Oh, for Pete’s sake, we can’t fathom why this book was ever banned! While it didn’t live up to Hawa’s spicy expectations, we thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the Anastasia Krupnik series by Lois Lowry. Our charming protagonist may just be the president of the Precocious Children’s Club. 

In this episode we discuss the Krupniks’ parenting, the devastating effect of Alzheimer’s and our theories about what the heck is on Washburn Cummings’ T-shirt. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

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It's a special 4th of July episode! What's more American than relying on child labor to fix a failing healthcare system? That sounds grim, but we continue to enjoy our time with the girls of BSC. We return to our discussion of Claudia with a leisurely tour of what is possibly the saddest book in the Baby-sitters Club canon, Claudia and the Sad Goodbye. We stray a bit from the beaten path in this episode as we discuss neighborhood grandmas, a Funfetti catastrophe, Darlene crying at work, and whether the real cause of Mimi's surprising responses to blood transfusions might be caused by a vampire in Stoneybrook. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

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We are diving back into The Baby-Sitters Club and we've brought a special friend along for the ride. Kelsey proves to be the non-diabetic Stacey of the podcast because she goes away but she always comes back. While Kelsey might be Stacey, we kind of all wanted to be Claudia at some point with her junk food stash, illicit Nancy Drews, love of boys with soap opera names, and "New York" clothes. In this episode, we cover the first two Claudia installments of the BSC and debate whether Janine was really the "mean" one after all and are horribly disappointed in the resolution to The Phantom Phone Calls.  We're exploring IQ tests, spilled jello incidents, diabetes (again!), and the sad state of affairs at the Stoneybrook public library.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles and videos about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

History of Diabetes: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317484#modern-treatment

Updating the Baby-sitters Club: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-baby-sitters-club-was-always-progressive-now-netflixs-version-is-empowering-a-new-generation/2020/06/30/6ec83810-b63d-11ea-aca5-ebb63d27e1ff_story.html

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Is it a memoir? Is it fiction? Who can say when your author and main character are both wunderkind business people. This episode takes us to the Calivista Motel, a charming motel operating on the backs of children and horribly exploited immigrants.  When you are an 10 year old front desk clerk, you're responsible for a lot - checking people in, locking bad guys out, making keys, your English and Math homework, and chasing down conmen car thieves. In Front Desk by Kelly Yang, Mia Tang (see what she did with the name there -Mia/Me...never mind) does all of this while fending off the affections of a sparkly pencil thief and becoming baby Howard Johnson.  We talk English language learning, terrible teachers, and just how feasible a motel owning co-op really is. In a first for the pod, our expert is also our guest host and does Yesenia ever have some stories to tell about interesting guests and toilet catastrophes.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe, Twitter @PGCMLS, with #TheseBooksMadeMe on any social platform or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some books and articles as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Chinese immigration in the 90s in a circa 1990 article:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-15-ss-95-story.html

An overview of Taiwanese immigrants in the US:
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/taiwanese-immigrants-united-states-2008

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Ever felt overshadowed by a sibling or struggled to find your own identity? Katherine Paterson's "Jacob Have I Loved" brings these raw emotions to the surface, and we're peeling back the layers. Join us as we navigate Sarah Louise's turbulent journey, from her envy-ridden youth on the Chesapeake Bay to her quest for self-recognition as a nurse midwife (or alternatively, her journey from maybe a 5 in Maryland to a 10 in a small Appalachian Mountains town). 

Our conversation takes some unexpected turns as we tackle themes like teenage crushes, emotional abuse, and the generational dynamics that steer Sarah Louise's path. We get hung up on the romantic relationships in this book and Hannah reveals she has a very forgiving nature. In this exploration of "Jacob Have I Loved," we promise a journey through the complex waters of sibling rivalry, with a touch of humor and a crab-related quiz to boot (because Chesapeake Bay, duh!).

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Instagram @thesebooksmademe or on Twitter @PGCMLS,  with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at [email protected]. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.