2012 Banned Books Week Proclamation

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is essential to our democracy, and reading is among our greatest freedoms; and

WHEREAS, privacy is essential to the exercise of that freedom, and the right to privacy is the right to open inquiry without having the subject of one's interest examined or scrutinized by others; and

WHEREAS, the freedom to read is protected by our Constitution; and

WHEREAS some individuals, groups, and public authorities work to remove or limit access to reading materials, to censor content in schools, to label "controversial" views, to distribute lists of "objectionable" books or authors, and to purge libraries of materials reflecting the diversity of society; and

WHEREAS, both governmental intimidation and the fear of censorship cause authors who seek to avoid controversy to practice self-censorship, thus limiting our access to new ideas; and

WHEREAS, every silencing of a heresy, every enforcement of an orthodoxy, diminishes the toughness and resilience of American society and leaves it less able to deal with controversy and difference; and

WHEREAS, Americans still favor free enterprise in ideas and expression, and can be trusted to exercise critical judgment, to recognize propaganda and misinformation, and to make their own decisions about what they read and believe, and to exercise the responsibilities that accompany this freedom; and

WHEREAS, intellectual freedom is essential to the preservation of a free society and a creative culture; and

WHEREAS, conformity limits the range and variety of inquiry and expression on which our democracy and our culture depend; and

WHEREAS, the American Library Association's Banned Books Week: Celebrating the Freedom to Read is observed during the last week of September each year as a reminder to Americans not to take their precious freedom for granted; and

WHEREAS, Banned Books Week celebrates the freedom to choose or the freedom to express one's opinion even if that opinion might be considered unorthodox or unpopular and stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of those unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints to all who wish to read them; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that MAD Hoydenish celebrates the American Library Association's Banned Books Week, September 30 - October 6, 2012, and be it further

RESOLVED, that MAD Hoydenish encourages all libraries and bookstores to acquire and make available materials representative of all the people in our society; and be it further

RESOLVED, that MAD Hoydenish encourages free people to read freely, now and forever.

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Adopted by MAD Hoydenish 

September 30, 2012
Out in the Yard, USA

 

 

 

Don't forget! "Call the Midwife" Premieres Tonight on PBS [Preview]

 

Don't forget! Set your alarm clock, Tivo, DVR!

Tell a friend!

 

For more information on Call the Midwife, adapted for television from the best-selling memoirs of the late Jennifer Worth, visit PBS.

Let me know what you think of it.
 

‘The Chaperone,’ by Laura Moriarty to be Optioned



The Chaperone is "a captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922, and the summer that would change them both." - Penguin.com

 

 

I listened to the audio version of The Chaperone, narrated by Elizabeth McGovern (Ragtime, Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey) during my weekly walks. McGovern does a great job. I highly recommend it!

During an interview on CBS This Morning | Saturday [video above], Laura Moriarty revealed that Elizabeth McGovern has decided to option the film rights to The Chaperone. How exciting!

We may see a movie version in a few years. Who would you cast in the main roles for the movie?

DON'T FORGET TO: 

• Enter THE CHAPERONE Giveaway.
• Check out my pin collage inspired by the book.

THE CHAPERONE Giveaway

"The New York Times bestseller and the USA Today #1 Hot Fiction Pick for the summer, The Chaperone is a captivating novel about the woman who chaperoned an irreverent Louise Brooks to New York City in 1922 and the summer that would change them both." - Penguin.com

 

 

I won a free hardcover copy of The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty in a Twitter giveaway from Penguin Books. However, I decided to get the audiobook when I found that Elizabeth McGovern (Ragtime, Masterpiece Classic: Downton Abbey) was the narrator. So rather than let the hardcover sit on my shelf, I am giving it away using Rafflecopter.

Giveaway Deets

There is one (1) hardcover copy of The Chaperone by Laura Moriarty available.

• Use the Rafflecopter form below to enter
• Open to United States addresses only
• Giveaway ends October 19, 2012

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Here's the description from the hardcover:

"In 1922, only a few years before she will become a famous silent-film star and an icon of her generation, a fifteen-year-old Louise Brooks leaves Wichita, Kansas, to study with the prestigious Denishawn School of Dancing in New York. Much to her annoyance, she is accompanied by a thirty-six-year-old chaperone. Cora Carlisle is neither mother nor friend, just a respectable neighbor whom Louise's parents have hired for propiety's sake. But upstandinding, tradional Cora has her own private reasons for making the trip."

"Of course Cora has no idea what she’s in for: young Louise, already stunningly beautiful and sporting her famous black bob, is known for her arrogance and her lack of respect for convention, and her keen inteligence. By the time their train pulls into Grand Central, Cora fears that supervising Louise will be at best exhausting and, at worst, impossible. Ultimately, the five weeks they spend together will be the most important of her life forever.

For Cora, New York holds the promise of discovery that might answer the question at the center of her being, and even as she does her best to watch over Louise in this strange and bustling place she embarks on  her own  mission. And while what she finds isn’t what she anticipated, she is liberated in a way she could not have imagined. Over the course of  the summer, Cora’s eyes are opened to the promise of the twentieth century and a new understanding of the possibilities for being fully alive."


Dig into the novel's details on Penguin.com:

Read an Excerpt

Author Interview

Notes on the Text

Reading Group Guide

Check out my pin collage inspired by the book.

The Anatomy of a Rafflecopter Giveaway [Infographic]

I have a few books that I would like to give away.
I am going give Rafflecopter a try.
Do you like the service?

Courtesy of: Rafflecopter

CALL THE MIDWIFE -- Coming to PBS beginning Sept. 30 | Preview

I still haven't managed to get my hands on a copy of Call the Midwife. Yet that's not gonna stop me from checking out the United States premiere of the BBC television adaptation of Jennifer Worth's novels - the midwife trilogy (Call the Midwife, Shadows of the Workhouse, and Farewell to the East End) and In the Midst of Life.

The "new"series premieres on PBS on Sunday, September 30, at 9 pm (ET). Starring Jessica Raine, Pam Ferris, and Vanessa Redgrave (narrating as main character, the mature Jenny Lee), Call the Midwife follows a group of midwives based in East London in the 1950s.

Let me know what you think of it.

 

 

Call the Midwife: Season One (DVD) will be released on 11/06/2012 (you can pre-order now via Amazon).

 

 

View more on the book, Call the Midwife.

View more on the series.

Q&A with Sheryl WuDunn on Goodreads on October 1, 2012

Huzzah! I joined the Goodreads Featured Group: Ask Sheryl WuDunn - October 1, 2012 and entered to win a signed copy.

 

Have you?

"Join [Goodreads] on Monday, October 1, 2012 for a special discussion with the author of Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, and now a PBS special! Sheryl will be discussing her work, including her most recent book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide!"

• Follow Sheryl WuDunn on Twitter: @WuDunn
• Follow Goodreads on Twitter: @goodreads
• Follow the Half the Sky Movement on Twitter: @Half

Goodreads Book Giveaway For Half the Sky: "Enter to win a copy of Half the Sky, signed by Urmi Basu, an agent-of-change featured in the Half the Sky documentary!"