Sorry, I'm booked

The podcast is hosted by Mrs. Brown, the Barclays Librarian, who shares about some good books. The first book is "Poet X" about a high school girl finding her voice. The second book is "Laferia" about a soccer player with secrets. The third book is "A Long Way Down" about a boy dealing with his brother's death. The fourth book is "Before the Ever Afters" about a boy whose father is changing. Lastly, Mrs. Brown interviews her son about "The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes," a prequel to the Hunger Games series. They recommend reading it and other books by Rick Riordan. Welcome to Sorry I'm Booked, a podcast hosted by me, Mrs. Brown, Barclays Librarian. This is podcast number one, recorded on Thursday, December 7th, 2023 in Baltimore, Maryland. Whenever I'm into a really good book, putting it down is not an option, at least not a pleasant one. I'm convinced that with the right book in hand, anyone can come to love books so much that they won't want to put it down. This podcast is meant to spread the news about some really good books in hopes that you too may find yourself booked. Today, I will focus on the four most recent One Book Baltimore books, all of which are available in our library, all of which I have read and loved. Then I'll finish up with an interview with my son about the latest Hunger Games book and movie, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Like some of you, he's a seventh grade Baltimore City student. The first book is titled Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. In this book, a high school girl struggles to find her way and her voice in her Harlem City zone school and within her own family. She keeps her thoughts, opinions, and even her boyfriend hidden from everyone until everything comes out in her own writing as Poet X. As a poet, the narrator writes in verse like the book Crossover that many of you eighth graders read during quarter one. Verse allows the narrator to really speak to her audience in an emotional and musical way. Take a listen to a page from the book. The next day and the one after that, I spent every class writing in my journal. Miss Galliano sends me to the guidance counselor, but I refuse to talk to her either until she threatens to call home. So I make up an excuse about cramps and stress. Hiding in my journal is the only way I know not to cry. My house is a tomb. Even twin has stopped speaking to me as if he's afraid a single word will crack my facade to will cause my facade to crack. I hear mommy on the phone making plans to send me to D.R. for the summer. The ultimate consequence. Let the good old island living fix me. Next up is a book called Laferia written by Yamil Said Mendez. Laferia is a ferocious soccer football player growing up in Argentina. She has a bright future ahead of her with the possibility of attending college in the United States on a soccer scholarship or even playing professional soccer. However, she has to keep her soccer endeavors to herself as well as her budding relationship with a young, hot professional soccer player and close family friend. What will she do when she needs her parents' permission to compete in the tournament that will launch her dreams? Right from the start, the audience is aware of her secrets and the tension within her family. You're hiding something and it worries me, Camila's mother said. My heart softened. I've been hiding that something for an entire year since Coach Alicia had discovered Roxana and me playing in a night league and recruited us to her team. Pobre mama. I wish I could share my secret with her, but in spite of what my parents believed, I had learned my lessons. When I was 12, my dad found me playing football in the neighborhood Portrero with a bunch of boys. I'd been having the time of my life until he started bellowing at me in front of the whole barrio that he wasn't raising a mari macho, that football was for men. I took it all in silence, ready to cry at my mom's feet. But she sided with him. I hadn't talked to her about football since. Third up is a book called A Long Way Down, written by Jason Reynolds. Dealing with his brother's death within the first 24 hours of losing him, Will sets out on a destructive path. A Long Way Down is also written in verse as the protagonist contemplates his life choices and family obligations now that his entire world has come to an abrupt and tragic end. The entire narrative takes place as the narrator descends in an elevator within his apartment building, heading out to commit an act that will lock in his destiny. From the book. Then the elevator came to a stop. I had half a second to get a grip, grab the grip, tuck the gun, turn around, ignore a book, catch my breath, stand up straight, act normal, act natural, act like the only rules that matter are the ones from the elevator. A few pages later, in another couple poems, a girl enters the elevator and says, I didn't know smoking was allowed in elevators, she said, her small talk smacking with sarcasm. But I was too shook to notice. You can see that? I replied, all goofy, my game no good around ghosts. I wonder if she thought it was me lighting up before she got on, since she couldn't see Buck in the corner puffing out, making faces like, get on with it. Of course, it's everywhere, she said, pinching back a cough. She fanned smoke from her face, thumb to Buck, who shook his head and blew vanishing halos. She could see him. She could see him? She could see him. Then she turned to me and added, I didn't know guns were allowed in elevators either. Last up is the book called, Before the Ever Afters. This year's one book Baltimore book, written by Jacqueline Woodson. It's a third book written in verse, where the narrative explores the emotions of a 12-year-old narrator, ZJ, as he deals with losing his father. His father is alive and physically well, but after experiencing one too many concussions playing professional football, ZJ is losing his father in all other ways. His dad is not the same person he was before, and living with him is becoming impossible and possibly even dangerous. Here's an excerpt. I used to be a tight end, my daddy says, laughing. What I really wanted to be was a wide receiver. Now I'm just wide. The first time he said it, we all laughed, even mama, and she usually just smiles when something is funny. The second time he said it, I said, it was funny the first time, dad. The third time he said it, I said, you always say that. No, I don't. This is my first time, he said. Stop messing with me, daddy. No, you, my daddy said. Stop messing with me. My daddy never shouts, but he was shouting. My daddy never cried, but he started crying then. That was just a taste of the four most recent One Book Baltimore books. Next up is The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, both a book and a movie that my son and I both watched and read. So for this last segment, I'm going to interview my son, JJ. JJ, why would you recommend reading The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes? Who do you think would be interested in reading it? I think that anybody from the ages from fourth grade up would be really interested in reading it because it's really nice to follow up on the characters and see the background and why snow is like this in the future and it shows his past. What was the most interesting part to you? The most interesting part was definitely seeing snow before he was a peacekeeper and after he was a peacekeeper because through that time, he really changed as a person and kind of got a little more on the crazy side. If you didn't watch the movie, why read the book? You should read the book because it's easier to visualize and it gives more details. The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is a prequel, meaning it comes before all the other Hunger Games books chronologically and it gives a backstory for 60 years prior than the rest of the books. Is it absolutely necessary, in your opinion, to read the other Hunger Games books first? Or what order would you recommend? The order that I would recommend is starting with book one, then going to book two, then three, and then reading the prequel. So basically, the order in which they were written and then produced as well. Yes. All right. I would agree you'd have to read book one first, but then after that, I think you could read the prequel or any of the other ones. It would just be up to a matter of your own preference. JJ, in closing, your love for reading started with the Harry Potter series. What have you read since then? What books would you recommend? Books that I would recommend is Wings of Fire by Tui T. Sutherland. Another book is Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Another book written by the same author is The Heroes of Olympus. The same author also wrote The Trials of Apollo. And the same author as the Hunger Games wrote this book called Gregor and the Overlander. You clearly like books written by Rick Riordan, but of all the books you read, what has been your favorite? My favorite has definitely been Gregor and the Overlander, book five. And that was, as you mentioned before, also written by the same author as Hunger Games, but lesser known perhaps than the Hunger Games because we haven't seen movies of it yet. But definitely a recommended read from JJ Brown. If any of these books appealed to you, come visit the library and check out a copy. I'd love to keep talking about books, but for now, sorry, I'm booked. Thank you.