Booktalk, 2006 Sep 11 : Neither floods…

By Dominique Garde Torres (Nikki)

Among the things I love about the booktalk is the fact that neither floods nor national holidays nor the possibility of terrorism have ever caused us to cancel one. Thus, on February 13, the day before Valentine’s, we had our biggest turn out ever – this was when Lara Saguisag was our guest speaker. I didn’t think that we would get many people, considering how seriously Filipinos prepare for Valentine’s but I was obviously wrong. And on September 11, a day of infamy, a day where all the security guards of the world are warned to be extra vigilant, we had another booktalk.

Aside from Beaulah and myself, three old friends came – Steve Lupton who taught English to Korean students, Nikki Dy-Liaco, recent National Book Awardee for best Children’s Book and Patrice Hill, a teacher at the International School. All three had attended their very first booktalk in February – Lara’s day. So as they joined us at our table, the conversation went to “Oh, were you there as well?” and “I was seated against the wall, where were you?”

As always, it took a tiny bit of effort to pull ourselves out of our schmoozing and chitchat mode and into the business of talking about the books we had brought. Getting to know each other is really as much fun as getting to know our books.

I went first. The book I had with me was William Pene Duboi’s THE TWENTY ONE BALLOONS. First published in 1947, it received a Newberry Award at that time. My mother bought this book for me and I loved it. Now, several decades later, I bought book for my daughter and she loves it. Sigh…the power of words and how a good story really transcends generations.

In any case, I gave a very brief and I must say disorganized description of what the book was about. It was really about a little bit of everything – a bit about travel, a bit about volcanos (it talked of the explosion of Krakatoa), a bit about science (lots of wierd inventions) and quite a bit about government (the island was run by a “restaurant” government). The illustrations were wonderful – Beaulah the visual artist noted several technical details that set them off from simple run of the mill drawings. We entered into a brief discussion of 1947 – the post war years simply because the rather utopic government described in the book could have been a reaction to the times.

In the end, we all agreed, it was an excellent book and Patrice promised herself she would buy the tome.

Patrice came next. She had Jerry Spinelli’s STARGIRL. This was a coming of age novel, about a young girl in a typical American High School. An extraordinary young woman (high school students would probably use the word “wierd”), Stargirl never quite fit in with the “in” crowd. Nevertheless, she had enough charm of her own and in the end, won the admiration of the narrator of the story, a young man from the same high school. This book dealt with the issues of conformity and non-conformity for adolescents. It is unique in that it showed not just the female side of the issue, but the boy’s side as well.

As with many stories brought to the booktalk, this one spawned a conversation which was not necessarilyu just about the book.

We wondered if children read what their parents read. We spoke about the influence of American publishers – after all, they get to choose what books are put out in the market. Finally, we asked ourselves if computers and TV are a threat to reading. For answers to these and other queries – attend the next booktalk. Or rather, if you wish to air your opinions on these very provocative topics, join us next time – we would love to hear your two cents.

Steve Lupton, poet and teacher was up next. His book was THE HUMOROUS VERSES OF LEWIS CAROLL. As a poet, Steve loved this book because the poems told the story in verse. And they managed to do this while keeping a distinct rythm. Beaulah noted that a publisher had said that “if you’re going to submit, don;t submit in rhyme.” Steve had already realised this, and in fact had written a poem entitled “Poetry Doesn’t Sell.” Not to be discouraged, Steve told us that a publisher had already accepted five of his poems and was asking for more. OK Steve, we look forward to seeing your published works someday – perhaps you can share them with us at a booktalk in the not too distant future!

Beaulah, the hardworking RA took the floor. She shared what was actually a set of 26 books published by the United Kingdom’s National Literacy Association. These books, one for every letter in the alphabet, was designed for volunteers to read aloud to young children. It is designed to go with UK’s school curriculum. The first part of each book is simple. As you turn the pages, the story gets more ivolved and the spelling gets more complicated. From letter A to letter Z, the same progression shows. Some of the characters are similar in each book.

In the discussion, we agreed that these books would also be excellent for ESL (English as a Second Language) students. It was also noted that when we think of children’s literature, we tend to think in terms of fiction when in fact, the bigger market is in non-fiction.

If this evening had a featured artist it would most definitely have been Nikki Dy-Liaco. (From hereon, she will be referred to as Nikki D. since she and I have the same nickname). Nikki’s first book, THE YELLOW PAPERCLIP WITH THE BRIGHT PURPLE SPOTS won the 2005 PBBY-Salangga Prize. A few weeks ago, it was the recipient of the Manila Critics’ Circle Award for Best Children’s Book. As Patrice said, “What a success story!” On our request, this was the book that Nikki D. shared.

A very simple story, the book tells of the adventure of a yellow paperclip with purple spots. This small piece of metal had travelled far and wide and held much more than a simple bunch of papers together.

Nikki shared stories on “how this book was made” with great candor. Apparently, she a former boyfriend in college at the Ateneo made it a habit to speculate on where various paper clips had been. They made up stories about these simplest of tools and even had a jar where they deposited their precious chidlren, I mean paper clips. The happy ending to this story is that her ex stood at her side during the Book Awards and they finally closed their own story happily.

When the time came for her to write a story for submission to the Salangga awards, she turned to Becca, the daughter of a friend. She just started floating ideas to Becca who rejected each one. Until they came to the paperclip. Together, they put together an entire story of where a paperclip had been. It was also Becca who, in the end, gave the paperclip her color.

Naturally, Becca is a major character in the book and her ex-boyfriend Glenn is acknowledged for his contribution to the story.

This was a rather heartwarming end to another satisfying evening. On the side, I think Patrice has contracted Nikki to speak before her students. Nothing like a real live succesful author to inspire young people!

See you at the next booktalk! Second Monday as usual, October 9.

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