M-W's Word of the Year

Merriam Webster has released its 2020 Word of the Year, and it will probably not surprise you that it is  pandemic. What might surprise you, though, are the other words on the list, including kraken and malarkey. I recommend following Merriam Webster on social media--they are extraordinary at commenting on daily events through vocabulary!

Honoring Our Veterans

This organization features interviews with current and former members of the Armed Services. Hear their experiences in their own words, and in their own voices. 

Today's The Day!

 

Hallowe'en During a Pandemic (No, not this one)

What did Hallowe'en look like during the 1918 influenza outbreak? Hint: Jollification was frowned upon. Read more about it here.

Read, Then Vote!

The New York Public Library has released a reading list for teens to help prepare you for the upcoming election.  There are also lists for kids and adults. Each list can be filtered by topic of interest. 

National Book Festival

The annual National Book Festival starts tomorrow, and this year it is completely virtual, giving you an opportunity, without leaving your couch,  to hear from authors like Leigh Bardugo, Jason Reynolds, Ibram X. Kendi, Saeed Jones, Bill and Melinda Gates, and many more. For all events and livestreams, go to www.loc.gov/bookfest. 

Constitution Day 2020

 On September 17, 1787, the delegates to the Constitutional Convention met in Philadelphia for the last time to sign and ratify the Constitution for the United States of America. (Notice the British spelling of defence.)  New York had one representative--Alexander Hamilton. Here are the famous words of the preamble:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

September 11, 2020

Normally on September 11,  I would have a book display in the library for Eastchester students and staff to peruse, remember, and reflect. But as we know, this is not a normal time, and book displays are out of the question for now. So instead, here is a link to the September 11 Digital Archive and a link to the New York Times Topics page. 

 Welcome back, Eagles! I'm smiling behind my mask!

Recommended Summer Reading for EHS Students

The books on this list are not required summer reading,  but some that your teachers and librarians have enjoyed this year. We hope you like them!

Reading During Quarantine

Even a pandemic can't stop Eastchester Eagles from grabbing a good book! Look at us go!

Juneteenth, Yesterday and Today

Happy Juneteenth! You may be hearing more about Juneteenth this year than you have in the past, but the significance of the date has been noted for some time.  Look at this website for more details about the history and the event that it commemorates. 

Capital B for Black

You may have noticed that Black, in describing ethnicity, has been capitalized lately. This is a recent change in newsrooms and publishing houses, and here is an article that explains the rationale. 

Another Dictionary Blog Post

I know, I know. But I can't help it. Dictionaries are a window not only into language, but into societal norms and attitudes. See, for example, this story about Kennedy Mitchum, a young Drake University graduate who petitioned Merriam-Webster to update their definition of racism. 

Are you comfortable yet?

The New York Times recently polled several hundred epidemiologists to see when these experts in disease transmission would be comfortable resuming everyday activities like getting haircuts, flying somewhere, or going to a concert. Their answers may surprise you. 

YA Authors Rally for Black Lives

Update: If you missed watching this live, here's the link.

Some of your favorite authors including Jason Reynolds, Kwame Alexander,  and Jacqueline Woodson will be participating in this virtual rally tomorrow. See below for more information. 

Two Books for Blackout Tuesday

What Now?

After the events of last week, and the subsequent social unrest across the country, many of us are reflecting on our attitudes, our prejudices, and our desire to do better. Here are some resources that may help:

• 
  
• Project Implicit
• 
  
• Anti-Racism Project
• 
  
• NAACP
• 
  
• Zinn Education Project’s Teaching Materials

Can You Draw An Ickabog?

J.K. Rowling has literally dug a book out of her attic. The Ickabog slumbered in a dusty box for ten years, and has now been awakened! A children's book, it is being released online a chapter at a time on the official Ickabog website.  Children ages between the ages of 7 and 12 are invited to submit illustrations that may eventually find their way into the print edition, scheduled for release in November.

Here's Your Virtual Parade

I know that this is a unique Memorial Day, with no beach, no barbecue with extended family and friends, no professional baseball, and definitely no parades. I can't give you everything, but I can give you this fabulous parade from The Music Man! Enjoy!

What Did Hemingway Read?

In 1919, Shakespeare & Co. opened in Paris as a bookstore and lending library. Books in English were expensive to buy, so  famous American expatriate writers, including Ernest Hemingway, borrowed books instead. According to this article in The Guardian, Hemingway borrowed more than 90 books, from P.T. Barnum’s autobiography to Lady Chatterley’s Lover, which he checked out for eight days in September 1929 – the year D.H. Lawrence’s novel first appeared in France, 30 years before it was published in the U.S. 

If Hemingway was late returning his books, he would receive this card with an image of exasperated Shakespeare himself.

What do Shakespeare and Captain Picard Have in Common?

Actor Patrick Stewart, who trained at the Royal Shakespeare Company (here he is as Oberon in Midsummer Night's Dream)  and then went on to play Captain Picard and Professor X, has returned to his Shakespearean roots with a reading of a sonnet every day. 

Sonnet 59 proved to be too much even for him, so he announced that he was just going to jump to 60. Here's the text of Sonnet 59, in case any of you feel like giving him some acting notes. 

The readings can be found on Instagram and YouTube. 

Patrick Stewart as Jean-Luc Picard

May the Odds Be Ever in Your Favor

Today's the day, Tributes! Today is the official release day of The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, the prequel to The Hunger Games. The book takes place 64 years before the events of The Hunger Games, and at least one familiar character will be prominently featured. Happy summer reading!

Dracula's Birthday

On this day in 1897, Bram Stoker's Dracula was published. The book has been enormously influential ever since, and has inspired everything from movies to Broadway plays to the Twilight series and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. 

Historical City Maps

Regular readers of this blog know that I am enamored of maps, and especially historical maps. So I was very excited to see that the Library of Congress has a free collection of historical city maps. You can see what Manhattan or San Francisco used to look like a century ago. The image below is a bird's eye view of Washington DC in 1883. You can see the Washington monument and the Capitol Building, but the Jefferson and Lincoln Memorials were not yet built.

Information or Misinformation?

In times of crisis, finding reliable and accurate information is crucial. But as Brian X. Chen of The New York Times reports, misinformation on the web comes in many forms. This makes finding accurate information about the pandemic extra challenging.

Social media sites are a major contributor to the spread of misinformation, because anyone can post something that looks like a legitimate news article but is actually from a bogus source.

Many fake news articles, fortunately, can be easy to spot. Here are some telltale signs:

A shady URL: Fake news sites sometimes use legitimate brand names, but their domain names may end with “.com.co,” “.ma” or “.co.” ABCNews.com.co, now a defunct site, was a famous example.

Grammatical errors: Fake news writers aren't exactly wordsmiths, so one big giveaway is the number of typos and grammatical errors that make it into their stories.

Unverifiable information: If an article’s information were legitimately outrageous, plenty of other news outlets would have written about it, too. When in doubt, do a Google search to check if trustworthy publications have reported the same information. For more information about the spread of disinformation, read this article.  https://teach.kqed.org/misinformation-course-collection/

Words, Words, and More (Dutch) Words

The Dutch are letting their creativity shine in the lexicography of the pandemic. CNN reports that 700 new words have been added to the Coronawoordenboek, including gems like huidhonger (skin hunger: a longing for human contact while in isolation, druppelcontact (spray-contact: the exchange of little droplets when coughing or sneezing), and toogviroloog (blather virologist: one who spreads false or unsubstantiated information about the virus). 

May 2 is a day that lives in the hearts of all Harry Potter fans, and although we missed acknowledging the actual anniversary of The Battle of Hogwarts (we will not make that mistake again), I'm about to make it up to you.  

Spotify is releasing a new chapter of Book 1, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,  every week. Each chapter will be read by a different wizarding world actor, and chapter one is being read by Daniel Radcliffe! The audio version is free on Spotify, and videos will be released on harrypotterathome.com.

Other narrators include Stephen Fry, Eddie Redmayne, with more readers being announced soon. Chapters will be released through mid-summer. 

Stay fly, Eagles, and enjoy escaping to Hogwarts with Harry, Ron, Hermione and the rest of the crew. 

Alice in Wonderland...In Art

This week marks the 155th anniversary of the publication of Alice in Wonderland. Here is a collection of artists' interpretations of the classic work. Stay fly, Eagles!

Pandemics Through History

Authors and historians from the Library of Congress discuss pandemics from the smallpox outbreak in the New World to the current efforts to combat COVID-19. The video runs about a half hour, and there is a transcript attached. 

Answer to yesterday's puzzle: The boy in the picture is a teenage Frank Sinatra! 

1938 Selfie

This photo was taken in a mirror in 1938. It is one of the rarely seen historical photos in this collection. Bonus points if you can identify the boy in the picture.  I'll post the answer tomorrow. 

Etymology Fans, Unite!

Regular readers know that I am a word nerd, so it brings me great pleasure to announce that The Merriam-Webster Dictionary has added 535 new words. Usually adding new words is a process that takes a few years, but sometimes there are extraordinary circumstances where new words quickly become part of our daily discourse. Such is the case now, and so new entries include terms like social distancing, self-isolate, and WFH. You can read more about the new entries here.  Stay fly, Eagles!

                                             

Another Virtual Book Fest

The Everywhere BookFest is happening tomorrow and Saturday, and features author appearances, panel discussions, giveaways and more! Keynote speakers are Gene Yuen Lang (American Born Chinese and Saints and Boxers) and Nic Stone (Dear Martin and Odd One Out). Many of your favorite authors will be dropping in as well. You can see the full schedule here. Stay fly, Eagles!

Free Audio Books

Starting tomorrow, the people at AudioSync are releasing two free audio books each week through July. Stay fly, Eagles!

Lunchtime Flyover

In a salute to frontline COVID responders, the Blue Angels and  Thunderbirds will be doing a flyover of our region today between noon and 12:40 pm. According to the photo below, you should start looking to the skies at around 12:20. Please remember to stay at home and socially distance when you look up. Stay fly, Eagles!

Don't Be A Wallydraigle!

One of my favorite ways to start the day is to check my morning email from the people at the Oxford English Dictionary to see what they've selected as the word of the day. But this is much more than just a definition. When you click on the word, you can see where it has appeared in various writings throughout the centuries. But even that is not my favorite part. What I enjoy the most is clicking on the audio and hearing the words pronounced with both British and American accents. Sometimes, if you're really lucky, they'll throw in a Scottish pronunciation. You can sign up for your own daily OED email by clicking this link.  You wouldn't want to be a wallydraigle, would you?  That would be quite mauvais ton. 

Happy Birthday, Library of Congress

On April 24, 1800, President John Adams approved the appropriation of $5,000 for the purchase of “such books as may be necessary for the use of congress.” The books, the first purchased for the Library of Congress, were ordered from London and arrived in 1801. On January 26, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson approved the first legislation that defined the role and functions of the new institution.


The Library of Congress is the nation’s oldest federal cultural institution and serves as the research arm of Congress. The Library’s mission is to make its resources available and useful to the Congress and the American people, and to sustain and preserve a universal collection of knowledge and creativity for future generations. As of 2018, the vast holdings of the Library number over 168 million items.

© Library of Congress, 2020