Nobody Bothers to Ban a Book Unless It's Really Good
The Lavender Librarian on "A Day With No Words" by Tiffany Hammond
On the Pod This Week:
Talking to librarians is always a special experience for me, but talking to this particular one was extra-specially magical.
Kate Reynolds, best known as The Lavender Librarian, is a late diagnosed Autistic children's librarian, patient advocate, and singer. She's also the creator of Storytime Solidarity, an organization that helps support library and education workers in presenting inclusive storytimes that welcome every child.
Today, Kate introduced me to "A Day With No Words" by Tiffany Hammond, a book about a non-speaking autistic boy, and his adventures navigating the world with his loving mama. It's a beautifully illustrated, life- and love-filled book that gave us space to talk about autism in our own communities and led us to talk about all forms of representation in what we read.
Librarians make the world a better place, don't you think?
Show Notes:
A Day with No Words by Tiffany Hammond
Je suis une Pizza by Charlotte Diamond
And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell
Julie’s Current Read:
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
You already know about this book, because everyone knows about this book, and right now you are probably saying to yourself, why is Julie pushing this book we all already know about?
I avoided reading it because I hate the cover.
I know, we are not supposed to judge books by their cover. I know, I know, I know!
But this is a safe space, and I am trusting you with my truth: I do it all the time. I will snap up a pretty cover even if it’s not what I want to read, and I’ll ignore a good book because the cover doesn’t spark any damn joy.
I am mostly very deep and also sometimes extremely shallow.
This bad attitude clouded my better judgment despite the fact that when it was initially released, the Barnes & Noble near my house had a huge display with handwritten signs that said, “This book is so much better than the cover!” “It’s not a rom-com!” “It’s SO much smarter than it looks!”
Now, don’t get me wrong. I love all things rom and most things com, and I most especially loved them when they are combined into a rom-com.
Fake relationships? Yes, please.
Stupid jock and math nerd in love? You had me at hello.
Only one bed left in the hotel? And the whole town is snowed in? And she’s with her arrogant billionaire boss with six-pack abs whose wife just left him so he wants to have revenge sex but then he falls in love because she’s a Jane Austen fan who teaches krav maga in her spare time? Inject it into my veins.
But these cartoony covers on rom-coms and women’s fiction books, particularly on this one, rarely excite me. So I avoided “Lessons in Chemistry,” despite nearly everyone I know telling me how much I would love it.
Then I came across this movie trailer.
The plaintive Harry Styles song. The glossy mid-century chic. The steeliness in Brie Larson’s jaw? “Your mother needs a moment to herself”? Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!
I grabbed my copy of the book and devoured it in two days. It was divine. I laughed; I cried; I immediately texted everyone and insisted they read it right this minute!
DIVINE!
Y’all. Please read this book so we can talk about it.
[PS: I just typed the following sentence: “Take the dust jacket off if it embarrasses you.”
And then I realized it has literally never once occurred to me to take off the dust jacket of a book. That very simple action would solve a truly ridiculous reading problem.
Every day is an education, my friends.]
Julie’s Current Obsession:
Sharon Mrozinski’s Main Home, featured on Cup of Jo
I have wanderlust something fierce these days.
Which is not unusual, but when it gets really intense, my flavor of wanderlust evolves from let’s take a weekend trip! into let’s just burn this whole house down and go live somewhere else.
Usually when I start obsessing about chucking everything and moving somewhere new, I focus on somewhere brightly colored and busy. New York City, for example, or Valparaiso, or Morocco. But this lovely beachside home in Maine caught my eye, and now I can’t stop thinking about the soothing whites and blues, collections of driftwood, natural fabrics, and serenity. It occurs to me that what I’m looking for might not necessarily be change, but instead peace.