This one's about a librarian who gets a job in a haunted museum. She has her own struggles with mental health, and after she finds outs that the building was once an asylum, some strange things begin happening. . .it seems the ghost of a girl who was committed there is reaching out to her for help. Anyone who knows me probably thinks this book is a little on the nose (librarian, history, ghosts, asylums, etc.) but it was created by two librarians, so maybe one day I will find my tribe. Since I read in just one night, I checked it in the next morning. Before I got to put it away, a 7th grader saw it an asked about it. When I described it to him, he wanted to read it too.
A couple years ago, I read Walliams' book Demon Dentist, and I loved it. Walliams has been receiving praise for his Roald Dahl-esque stories about children triumphing over adults. In Demon Dentist, Alfie dreads going to the dentist, and has an addiction to sweets. When children all over town wake up to find slugs and spiders under their pillows, instead of money from the Tooth Fairy, Alfie is positive that Miss Root, the scary new dentist in town must be to blame. Similarly, in The Midnight Gang, there is a matron of a children's ward in a hospital cast as the villain. The children in the ward form a gang to solidify their bond, and they make it their mission to help each other realize dreams and goals, all while avoiding the sinister gaze of the matron.
I didn't realize how long this book had been in publication; I'm a little surprised that I hadn't read it before. I love re-imagined fairy tale stories. The first story is a retelling of Bluebeard, which I enjoyed because rather than have the young bride saved by her older brothers, it is her mother who comes to her rescue, which adds a maternal and feminist perspective. All of the stories have aspects of feminism and/or gender theory involved, and there are two retellings of Beauty and the Beast, so I was a happy reader.
This book isn't 'fun' to read like the others, but the way that modern medicine and doctors treat women has been an interest of mine for years now, and I wanted to learn more about it. I have my own experiences of being dismissed, shamed or talked down to, and the more I talk to my friends about their experiences (especially when it comes to pregnancy and birth), the more upset I get. Maya Dusenberry explores the complex history of women in medicine, and women AND medicine. For centuries, women were midwives and healers, and their knowledge was respected. But when healing became medicine, and it became an industry instead of a pastime, the population of 'experts' in this field shifted to men. Dusenberry writes that the sexism involved in the practice of medicine is so embedded in the history of it, that correcting it will require a major overhaul of the entire industry: how medical schools accept candidates, which specialties students are encouraged to explore, increasing the number of women doctors (particularly surgeons), and reviewing our attitudes towards women's bodies and the physical complaints that are most common among female patients. The reading is a bit dry, so if someone picks this book up, it's because they are intensely interested in the topic at hand.
Okay, so I watched this movie last year. I didn't know it was based on a book at first, and even after I found out, I didn't feel a strong urge to read it. I'm not against reading Christian fiction; I'm not against reading anything, really. One story I really enjoyed is Love Comes Softly, which is the first book in a series by author Janette Oke, a writer of inspirational fiction. But I found myself thinking about the story behind The Shack over and over again, and trying to reconcile the story's themes of healing and forgiveness with the grief I have felt, and my own struggles to believe in anything divine. The action occurs quickly, which makes the story move right along.
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