These Books Made Me

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Many of us vividly remembered Their Eyes Were Watching God as the book where a person gets rabies and is shot. Tea Cake's demise left us with so many questions so Hannah consulted experts Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy, the authors of Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus. They gave us such a fascinating interview that we couldn't bear to cut any of it to fit it into the main episode. We present the interview in its entirety here for your listening pleasure (or discomfort depending on how you feel about rabies). 

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Zora Neale Hurston may have been unappreciated as an author during her lifetime, but Their Eyes Were Watching God was eventually rediscovered and has endured as a classic for the past several decades. We explore the life and loves of Janie Crawford and her impact as a heroine. Our hosts discuss gender roles, the complex nature of romantic love, and unfortunate decisions during natural disasters. We delve into the rather polarizing use of dialect in the book and everyone learns which TEWWG character they are. We are also privileged to speak with an expert interpreter of Janie's story, songstress Tamara Wellons.

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 cover a lot of ground in this episode. If you'd like to learn more about some of the topics we touch on, here's some links you might enjoy:
Voices of African American Female Authors: https://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/powerprose/hurston/#9

Tamara Wellons sings Songs for Janie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QofU4KDIIaA&feature=emb_title

Dialect in TEWWG:
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/their-eyes-were-watching-god-folk-speech-and-figurative-language

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Judy Blume didn't intend to write one of the most frequently challenged and banned books of all time when she penned Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. She just wanted to write a book that captured the trials and tribulations of adolescence, complete with girl talk about bras, periods, and boys. We wonder why the pretty tame discussion of puberty, and a storyline about an agnostic 12 year old figuring out her relationship with God, organized religion, and her family, continues to scandalize Americans who just keep challenging the book into the ALA Most Frequently Challenged lists every decade. We deconstruct whether the book holds up 50 years later and try to figure out just why feminine hygiene products still give some folks the vapors. We learn about some pervasive myths about periods, play historical women's health trivia, and chat with a Peer Educator about the importance of quality sexual education for adolescents.

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 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:

• Judy Blume as accidental Censorship Fighting Firebrand: https://jwa.org/thisweek/feb/12/1938/this-week-in-history-author-and-anti-censorship-advocate-judy-blume-is-born 
• Updated depiction of feminine hygiene products in the book: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2007/08/16/honoring-teens-sexual-reality-judy-blume/ 
• Feminine products over the years: https://www.si.edu/spotlight/health-hygiene-and-beauty/feminine-hygiene-products

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We're spending time with Esperanza Cordero, her family, friends, and neighbors from 1984's groundbreaking novel, The House on Mango Street. This paragon of the Chicano/a literary canon challenges us to define it - is it a novel, a novella, an epic poem - and has itself been the subject of frequent challenges for its unflinching look at the lives and loves of its characters. We discuss scary nuns, high heels, uncles who just want to dance (or uncles who don't want Hawa to dance), and the hardships and joys of womanhood as we explore this classic work by Sandra Cisneros. We also chat with Professor Randy Ontiveros about the importance of the book to Chicano/a literature.

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 about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

The Chicano Literary Movement:
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/chicano-literary-renaissance

Intersectional Feminism:
https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/6/explainer-intersectional-feminism-what-it-means-and-why-it-matters

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Noted Sagittarius and author Tamora Pierce brought us the groundbreaking, gender norm defying Alanna: The First Adventure in 1983. The book ended up being a formative text and gateway sword-and-sorcery fantasy work for many of us. Alanna was a Strong Female Protagonist for young adults before the Strong Female Protagonist conversation was a thing. Headstrong, improbably purple-eyed Alanna is determined to be a knight although girl knights are not allowed are in the Kingdom of Tortall, and nothing will stand in her way, not the rigors of knighthood training ( which involves far more homework than you'd expect), not a steady stream of bullies & villains, and not even puberty, the greatest villain of them all. 

We discuss Alanna's internalized misogyny, magic swords, and the Tortellian class structures that went over our heads as young readers as we revisit (or visit for the first time in Kelsey's case) the technicolor, Errol Flynn-esque world of the first installment in the Song of Lioness Quartet.

Some links for additional reading:
https://www.themarysue.com/tamora-pierce-alanna-gender-fluid/

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/tamora-pierce-interview

https://ejournal.unesa.ac.id/index.php/litera-kultura/article/view/28658/26235

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We are back with part 2 of our foray into the world of Sailor Moon. In this episode we will discuss romanticism, Usagi's leadership style, the male gaze in Sailor Moon, and how much of a downer it would be to outlive everyone you love. 

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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Moon prism power, make up! This week we have both new and familiar voices transporting us to the world of Usagi Tsukino as we dive into manga for the first time with Sailor Moon. The iconic series by Naoko Takeuchi is perhaps the most widely beloved example of shojo manga and both the print and anime versions are standards in the 90's  Girl Power canon. In this episode we talk about everything from the magical girl trope, those outfits, censorship, and moon rabbits.

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 and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Shojo manga: https://www.jappleng.com/culture/articles/anime-manga/117/what-is-shoujo-shojo-genre-anime
Magical Girl genre: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalGirl
Moon rabbits: https://www.bokksu.com/blogs/news/japanese-folktale-rabbit-on-the-moon
Beautiful Fighting Girls: http://www.jstor.org/stable/26401943

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It's a store! It's a bistro for dolls! It's a rose-colored fever dream! It's our field trip to the American Girl Cafe at Tysons Corner! Journey with us through the strange world of the American Girl Cafe. Only in the AG  Cafe can you simultaneously feel like a small child and also incredibly old. We explore a plethora of dolls and accessories, ask just what it means to be an American Girl, and contemplate the viability of taking a date to the American Girl Cafe. While we all pined for the AG x Stoney Clover Lane swag, we were a little concerned by coffin cases, dolls trapped in glass, and a game that heckled us. It's the American Girl Cafe where there are surprises (and mozzarella sticks) around every corner!

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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Earlier this season we discussed the Roald Dahl classic “Matilda.” The episode’s expert interview, Maggie Peterson from the College of Education at the University of Maryland, was too delightful not to be heard in full. Dr. Peterson speaks on her experience as an educator, impressions of Matilda, schoolyard tropes, and what makes great literature. Enjoy the extended cut of this insightful interview!

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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These Books Made Me... scared? This week's bonus episode explores the scary side of literature. From Goosebumps to fairy tales to straight up horror, we take a look at the books that haunt us. We discuss horror as a genre and try to identify why it often appeals to women not only as readers, but also as writers. We reminisce about our own creepy encounters with books and get some listeners to chime in with their favorite scary stories. Jelan even created a spooky remix of the theme song!

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/.