The Teaching Librarian

An article that I wrote is in the newest edition of Teaching Librarian magazine:

http://www.accessola.com/osla/site/showPage.cgi?page=about/magazine.htm

I had completely forgotten that I wrote it! I think I wrote it last spring. They’ve layed it out beautifully, with a photo of me and also the covers of many of my books and also some children’s art of my stories.

This article is called Hate Mail and is about my awful experiences when my picture book Enough came out in 2000 and I received hate mail and death threats. Enough is set during the famine in 1930s Ukraine which was instigated by Stalin and his henchmen to liquidate Ukrainians. It succeeded to the tune of 10 million people. My picture book (illustrated by Michael Martchenko) is about one girl and her father and how they trick the dictator and save one village from famine. Here’s my webpage on the book:

http://www.calla.com/enough.html

I was gobsmacked once the book was out to realize that there are people still alive who think that Stalin was a hero and they were offended by my book, which portrayed him as a bit of a buffoon. There were also people who thought that if Stalin killed 10 million Ukrainians, then they must have “done something to deserve it.” Sigh.

Thank goodness that as each year goes by, more Stalin myths fall to the wayside and people realize he was as evil — or more evil — than Hitler. What we forget, we’re bound to repeat.

Author: Marsha

I write historical fiction, mostly from the perspective of young people who are thrust in the midst of war.

8 thoughts on “The Teaching Librarian”

  2. Congrats on the article on an important subject. I think you’d bring a unique perspective to it, as well, from both the author and the librarian point of view.

    Eric was interested to see that web-page, as well. I’m passing on your librarian references to him; he’s soaking them up!

    Julie

      1. Eric’s got another year and a half to go – he’s taking the library technician course at Red River College. He starts his first-term exams tomorrow morning, and they go until next week – and then he’s off until January 3rd.

        He’s doing a great job so far – I’m really proud of him!

        JK

          1. When they accepted Eric in to the program, they mentioned they are always looking for more men in libraries, and that they thought he’d have an excellent chance of employment after school because of the need for male reader-mentors.

            Out of his class of 30 people there are only three or four men enrolled this year

            Julie

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