Little Women, Big Thoughts

Today I had new food to feed my appetite for Little Women (the story by Louisa May Alcott, not tiny little ladies).  . .wait, I've used that joke before.  .  .

I had the day off from work, and my wonderful husband also arranged to take a day off, so we planned a little date. We drove all the way to Methuen, MA because that's the only theater we could find that was showing the new modern adaptation of the book. I had to see it on opening day because I'm a little obsessed with this story, and I've been waiting over a year now. I liked the PBS mini-series, but it left me hungry for more.

Of course, no film rendition will ever take the place of the 1994 one starring Winona Ryder and Christian Bale because that's the movie I saw in the theater when I was in middle school, shortly after I read the book.

So without further adieu, let's dive right in-

                                              **********SPOILERS AHEAD**********

I was very relieved to see that although this new movie is a modernized version, that everything was tastefully updated. For example, Meg wouldn't attend a "coming out" debutante party in 2018, but she would attend a prom. It would have been easy to steep the sisters in modern technology, but that would have cheapened it. I was glad to see that Jo was writing in a paper journal, instead of blogging or vlogging. And I really loved the camera shots that captured Beth's love of playing the piano; it wouldn't have had the same effect if she was a DJ or singing songs with an acoustic guitar in a coffee shop.

My husband has never read the book, but he has seen the 1994 movie more times than he ever thought he would, and offered the insight that this new movie not only honors the tent-poles of the text, but also seems to pay homage to the previous generation's film. It makes perfect sense, because women my age saw the 1994 movie when we were young, and now we are the age where we would be accompanying our own children to see a film based on a beloved story. For example, the part where Jo accidentally scorches Meg's hair is in the text, and is a pretty funny part in the 1994 movie. The modern film-maker could have chosen to have Jo coloring Meg's hair, and the attempt goes horribly wrong, but the scene still revolved around a regular old curling iron, and it played much like the 1994 one. 

Similarly, when Meg is at the prom and feels self-conscious after drinking and kissing a boy she barely knows, she wipes her lipstick off with her fingers, much like the part in the 1994 movie where Meg (played wonderfully by Trini Alvarado) carefully uses the lace edge of her handkerchief to remove the lip color she allowed the other girls to put on her. And the girl who plays young Amy bears a striking resemblance to little Kirsten Dunst.

Obviously, some things had to be updated in order to make the story believable in a modern setting. Beth doesn't get scarlet fever, she is diagnosed with leukemia. Jo doesn't go to New York to be a governess, she enters the writing program at Columbia University.

The actors who portrayed Brooke and Freddy Bhaer (as they are called) were very pleasant to look at, but the actor who played Laurie annoyed me. Although the character of Laurie is playful and kind of a show-off, this actor came off as flamboyant and hipster. I think Christian Bale has more charm in his pinky finger than this other guy has in his whole screen presence.

In case you're wondering about the Mad Woman in the Attic, she's alive and well.  .  .

No, not that one, the one created by Sandra Gilbert and Susan Gubar, circa 1979. Gilbert and Gubar wrote that 19th century literature contains only two types of women: the madwoman in the attic (a la Bertha Mason in Jane Eyre) and the angel of the household (a la Beth in Little Women). In Alcott's text, Beth is the only sister that does not marry, or have any romantic prospects at all. While Meg is married and having children, Jo is striking out on her own in New York, meeting the man she wil eventually marry and Amy is traipsing around France with her longtime childhood crush Laurie, whom she will eventually marry. In this modern version, I could not help but notice that Beth is almost always dressed in blue, and even the light in her hospital room is blue-ish. Light blue is the color of the Mother Mary, and so Beth continues to be shrouded in the image of a Virgin.

She's even wearing a little gold cross necklace

So despite Jo's fiery red Converse sneakers, and the short dresses, this story continues to exemplify a second generation feminist interpretation of a 19th century story!

It's pretty funny, because just this week I was talking about Little Women with the 8th graders I teach. This week is Banned Books week, so I was telling them about how Little Women was first published, some people thought it was too radical (a woman writer? Meg burning the jelly?! what the what?!) but now it is sometimes criticized for not being feminist enough (even rebellious Jo eventually settles down and marries and has children).

I know I am picking apart the movie, but overall I did enjoy it. I think I would like to own this version, and I could even see it in the theater again. I might have to see it in the theater again because I have to wait over a year until the next Little Women film comes out (supposedly it has Meryl Streep, Emma Watson and Bob Odenkirk in it).

I guess for now, I'll have to rely on my trusty DVD's and collection of Little Women books to get me through. As I watch the 1994 movie, I'll rest my teacup on my side table and reread my thoughts on Transcendentalism in the March marriages.  .  .

I guess I really am obsessed.  .  .

Year of the Unicorn

Just a quick update from the New Job Home Front:

Open House went well. I saw alot of students (even some of the 8th graders) come in and show off the library to their parents. Also, this happened:

Today was  PJ Day. I paid $1 to wear my new unicorn pj pants  and my new unicorn TIE DYE shirt:

Today I got locked in the staff bathroom at work. The handle fell off inside, so first I tried to turn the little bolt/screw thingy to see if I could undo the lock. That didn't work, so instead I had to bang on the door as loudly as possible until one of the 1st grade teachers down the hall came to rescue me. I went to the office to let them know, went back to the library to make a warning sign for the door, and as I approached it, I heard someone else banging on it and shouting "Let me out!" At least it wasn't just me.

The thing that made my day was a hug from a student. He likes science and science fiction, so last class when we talked about A Wrinkle in Time and tesseracts, he was loving it. I'm really glad that I found a way to connect with him, but it also is a reminder to me to incorporate more STEM STEAM STREAM books and activities into my library lessons.

I guess between both these pics, it's fair to call this year the Year of the Unicorn.

Strongheart: Wonder Dog of the Silver Screen

I just read the best historical fiction novel! I have always loved historical fiction, but I also love film history. And I also love dogs, because what kind of person doesn't love dogs?

Candace Fleming's account of Strongheart, the dog film star of the 1920's, reads quickly and easily.

The story is told mostly through text, but the pencil drawings by Eric Rohmann are evocative, and really tug at the heartstrings. Furthermore, the sequences of black and white illustrations that do not have any text in them makes the reader feel like she is watching a silent movie.

Like many film stars, past and present, his career was not without scandal. A couple claimed that he attacked and "tried to eat" their daughter; they had orchestrated the whole event in order to sue the film studio. Strongheart's name was cleared, and he went on to make more films.

Because he was such a celebrity, his name and visage became a brand, marketing to dog owners and film-goers alike. His name appeared on dog food, dog training schools, even household groceries like lettuce:

He even had a famous romance, with another dog. Jule, a female German Shepherd, was discovered in a nationwide search to find a 'leading lady' for America's four-legged film star. They did have puppies together, and the family bloodline is still in tact today.

In 1929, Strongheart accidentally came into contact with a hot studio light while filming and was badly burned. He never fully recovered, and he died a few months afterwards.

Sadly, only one film of Strongheart's remains now; the others have all been lost. There is a version of The Return of Boston Blackie available for free on Youtube, if you're interested:

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves dog stories, or is interested in film, or anyone who enjoys novels with illustrations that assist in telling the story.

Little Update

I'm exhausted. My new job is certainly keeping me busy. I get into school around 6:30 in the morning, and I'm usually there until about 5:00. From 7:55-1:30 I am teaching, and whenever I am not teaching a class, I am cataloging new books, weeding the old books, grading, planning lessons, emailing various staff members and a million other things. I never knew how much work librarians do.

But this is not a complaining post.

Because I have really been enjoying most parts of the new job. This morning I began a unit on Banned Books and Censorship Issues with the 8th graders, and they got really into it. They were asking questions, and enjoying the trivia game I put together.

I got a hug from a 2nd grade boy the other day.

I have 'potions' on display in the Harry Potter reading area, and one of the 3rd grade boys asked me the other day "How do I get girls to like me?" and it melted my heart.

The 5th graders got really into the Titanic, and when I brought up the ideas of recovering artifacts from the wreck vs. treating the wreck as a burial ground, one of the boys said "We should have a debate about this next week"

So it's ALOT of work, but it seems to be going well so far.

Castle Magic

I haven't been writing as much because my new job has been keeping me BUSY BUSY BUSY. When I get home on the weekdays, it's just a countdown until I can climb into bed.

Luckily, I have a very supportive husband. He surprised me with some flowers one day, and told me how proud he is of how hard I'm working:

Nina the cat inspecting my bouquet

I'll have more pictures from the new library to share in an upcoming post. This post is about the project we started this weekend beccause, ya know, it wouldn't be a proper weekend around out house if we didn't bust out the spray paint cans and work on some kind of dollhouse. I bought this handmade wooden castle from a former co-worker years ago, but I never had the chance to work on it. We finally decided to get going on it because our son has discovered our stash of vintage He-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and other action figures. He's also really into Ghostbusters, Star Wars and superheroes now, so we figured he needed a 'house' for all his "guys." The castle was white with Pokemon characters painted on it. 

We wanted to make it look more like a castle, so we started by spray painting it gray. 

After the gray paint was dried, we used the textured spray paint over it to make the castle look like stone. The photo below shows the textured paint better:

So that was our little project this weekend. I haven't had much time to work on my own dollhouses, but I'm happy to make something that allows my son to expand his imagination.

I'll try to have another library-related post soon.

Peachy Keen and Little Guys Who're Green

After years of hearing about and forgetting to go, I finally made it to the annual Exeter UFO Festival.

It was a fun afternoon. We made our own spaceships out of recyclable materials, which inspired me to start planning a fun Makerspace activity for the library. We also walked around town looking at the shops' displays and enjoyed the mild weather.

The festival is a fundraising event for the Kiwanis club. It celebrates the anniversary each year of the Exeter incident, which was a highly publicized UFO sighting that occurred in 1965.

And that's not the only UFO encounter that has a place in NH history; Betty and Barney Hill encountered a UFO near Lincoln, NH in 1961. A couple years ago, we visited the 'museum' (it's actually a gas station) that commemorates that event.

That night I made a peach crisp out of the peaches we picked that morning at McKenzie's Farm. Not a bad way to spend Labor Day weekend.