Published in July and August 2024

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Here is a roundup of my articles that published in July and August. I wrote more than you see here, but publishing slows down a bit in a summer and there’s a backlog of things that have yet to see the light of day. In the meantime, I hope you find something to enjoy.

ParentMap

Is Homework Finished?

Why It’s Important for Teens to ‘Hang Out’

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Seattle Times

In ‘VietGone’ Seattle theaters tell immigrant story with rap and ninjas

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Reading Down a Crooked Road

I read 16 books in July and August, filling two lines on the SPL Summer Reading bingo card.

I’ve done better in past years, but this summer I got to go to New Zealand. I read a bunch of ‘popcorn’ books on the plane (thirty-plus hour travel days there and back) that didn’t fill any squares. I have no regrets.

Even with all the ‘beach reads,’ I still got through a few books that others might find interesting. “Monkey” is an unusual translation of “Journey to the West.” The original book is thousands of pages long, and most translations are abridged. But this one chose to cut out the boring chapters and long sections of poetry instead of the more common approach of including shortened versions of every chapter.

I discovered Harriet Arnow’s “The Dollmaker” through one of those 100 Books to Read Before You Die type lists, and I’m so glad I did, and not only because it filled my One Big Book bingo square. Although so much less famous – as women’s books often are – it reminded me very much of “The Grapes of Wrath” and in my opinion it was every bit as good. If you know how I feel about Steinbeck, then you know that means a great deal.

And finally, I always try to read a book from the country I am visiting when I travel. For New Zealand, I read “Prizes: The Selected Stories of Janet Frame.” Although I had not heard of her before, Frame is apparently one of New Zealand’s most celebrated 20th century authors, and this collection spanning most of her career was a perfect window into the straightlaced society of a nation that in her day still clung to its colonial English past.

And that’s my summer in the books.