What Are You Reading?

Literacy, Every Day -- Testing Website

2010-08-10T03:07:00.000-07:00

The Literacy Coalition of Greater New Haven is testing a new website, still in raw form at:

http://www.literacyeveryday.org

Comments, including suggestions about additional organizations in the region that might be represented on the site (which ultimately will include a Spanish-language version), are invited:

info@literacyeveryday.org

Summer Reading, Kids Choose

2010-08-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

Two recent New York Times columns refer to research by University of Tennessee scholars on the value of allowing children in Florida to select their own books for summer reading.

Tara Parker-Pope:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/08/02/summer-must-read-for-kids-any-book/

David Brooks:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E0DEFD81E39F93AA35754C0A9669D8B63&ref=davidbrooks

Citing also work from Jacob Vigdor and Helen Ladd at Duke's Sanford School of Public Policy on the negative correlation between North Carolina middle-schoolers' high-speed Internet access and math and reading scores, David Brooks proceeds to contrast the Internet with "the literary world."

Brooks argues the latter "is still better at helping you become cultivated, mastering significant things of lasting import. To learn these sorts of things, you have to defer to greater minds than your own. You have to take the time to immerse yourself in a great writer's world. You have to respect the authority of the teacher. Right now, the literary world is better at encouraging this kind of identity. The Internet culture may produce better conversationalists, but the literary culture still produces better students. It's better at distinguishing the important from the unimportant, and making the important more prestigious. Perhaps that will change. Already, more 'old-fashioned' outposts are opening up across the Web. It could be that the real debate will not be books versus the Internet but how to build an Internet counterculture that will better attract people to serious learning."

One example of the kind of "old-fashioned outposts" Brooks envisions on the Web is the New Haven Review, mentioned in posts to this blog on January 3 and May 5 of this year.

School Supplies, August 24 Event

2010-07-21T03:29:00.000-07:00

An April 25 post to this blog had mentioned that New Haven Police Lt. Rebecca Sweeney and other members of the NHPD were launching a campaign to provide books and promote reading across city neighborhoods. This effort is in collaboration with New Haven Reads.

Now Lt. Sweeney is leading the latest installment of an annual event giving away backpacks and school supplies in Newhallville on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 4:30 p.m. at 4 Science Park.

To participate in receiving supplies, please register at (203) 946-7827.

To donate a backpack or school supplies, please e-mail rsweeney@newhavenct.net or drop off items at the police substation at 165 Church Street (City Hall) or the Literacy Resource Center at 4 Science Park.

Financial contributions may be made to the Literacy Center with a notation indicating the backpack event.

Concepts for Adaptive Learning, July 16 Event

2010-07-05T03:33:00.001-07:00

Concepts for Adaptive Learning (CfAL), which was mentioned most recently in a June 1 post to this blog, will hold a Friday, July 16 event from 11 a.m. to 12 noon to dedicate the computer training room at the new Literacy Resource Center at 4 Science Park.

RSVP to Michele Moore, CfAL Board Vice Chair, at 203-605-7007 or mmoore705@gmail.com.

Summer Reading at Library, and Books Donated

2010-06-27T19:26:00.000-07:00

A June 24 New Haven Register article reports on a project related to Read to Grow, which has been featured in earlier posts to this blog:

"In an effort to help children develop a love of reading, R.J. Julia Book Sellers of Madison this week donated books to more than 16,000 kids in elementary and middle schools in New Haven. The main event took place at King-Robinson School, where about 500 students gathered for an assembly about reading. Four students read short essays they wrote about why they love reading and why it is so important.... A number of publishers donated 40,000 age-appropriate books. Originally, [R.J. Julia owner Roxanne] Coady had asked for about 20,000 books and the publishers doubled the amount. There were more than 20,000 extra books after the event. Boxes of them were left at the school and the excess will be available to librarians, teachers and day care centers.... More than 100 people volunteered time to organize and disperse books to the 38 schools. Coady in 1997 founded Read To Grow, a nonprofit organization that provides books for families of newborns in New Haven.... Her goal is to pique the kids’ interest by showing them that reading is 'something cool' and encouraging them to get involved with it."

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/06/24/news/aa3rjjuliadonates062410.txt
. . .

Here's news of a summer reading challenge from the New Haven Public Library:

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/summer_reading_challenge_charges_up/

New Haven Reads, June 27 Fundraiser

2010-06-17T04:30:00.000-07:00

New Haven Reads will hold a fund-raising event on Sunday, June 27.

See http://www.newhavenreads.org

Books by and about Geoffrey Canada

2010-06-10T19:51:00.001-07:00

Last year, an August 31 post to this blog cited a book by Paul Tough, Whatever It Takes, that features Geoffrey Canada and the Harlem Children's Zone.

Paul Tough had visited New Haven in May 2009 to benefit All Our Kin. His book illuminates the promise, lessons, costs, and context of Geoffrey Canada's ambitious social and educational venture.

Among the researchers Tough discusses is Joseph K. Torgesen, whose findings on the value of early intervention with struggling readers merit wider attention. Some information on Torgesen's work appears here:
*http://www.fcrr.org/science/sciencePublicationsTorgesen.htm
*http://www.readingrockets.org/article/225

Years earlier, Canada himself wrote Fist Stick Knife Gun (1995), about his own youth and how it has shaped his efforts as an educator, nonprofit leader, and policy advocate.

Fist Stick Knife Gun includes the following passages in which Geoffrey Canada emphasizes the importance of reading in his own development, as well as the social pressures that led him -- outside of school -- to downplay his academic interests:

"I kept my rich school life and my love of books to myself. While others might know I was in the 'smart' class, they also knew that I didn't act like it (p. 34).... The year was 1964 and I was in the sixth grade at P.S. 99. I had learned my lessons well both in school and on the streets. I found school, though, to be the lesser challenge. I loved reading, and my mother, who read voraciously too, allowed me to have her novels after she finished them. My strong reading background meant an easy time of it in most of my classes. The streets were a different matter. I had fought enough to have gotten a reputation as one of the smart kids you'd better not mess with (p. 70)."

Nonprofit Leader Curtis Hill a Finalist for Award

2010-06-01T23:42:00.000-07:00

Curtis Hill, founding volunteer executive director of Concepts for Adaptive Learning, is a finalist for an award recognizing those "who go above and beyond for their community."

He is one of three finalists to represent the New York Yankees in Major League Baseball's and People Magazine's "All Stars Among Us" competition, with voting ending June 20:

http://www.mlb.com/peopleallstarsamongus/#

To vote for Curtis Hill, click on the Yankees, even if you are a Red Sox or Mets fan. You may return to vote more than once.

Concepts for Adaptive Learning aims to use technology "to help prepare today’s children for tomorrow" through free, refurbished computer equipment and training for parents and teachers. For information on this nonprofit organization and its founder Curtis Hill, see:

“Editorial: Digital Divide Closes in New Haven”
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/06/15/opinion/doc4a32d870abcbd604355598.txt

“950 Families Close Digital Divide”
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/06/this_mom_said_s.php

http://www.eachchildlearns.org

Family Literacy Club, PTO at New Haven School

2010-05-28T04:43:00.000-07:00

The PTO at New Haven's Augusta Lewis Troup School, with support also from Title I, will be sponsoring a Family Literacy Club workshop on Thursday, June 3 from 3 to 5 p.m. A light dinner will be served and materials provided.

Conducting the workshop will be Susan Monroe, who teaches writing at Southern Connecticut State University and Housatonic Community College.

The Title I Family Literacy Club aims to encourage parents and students to address issues related to their literacy, as well as that of others in their families and communities. The workshop will provide parents and students with the opportunity to enjoy literacy while building basic learning skills including, but not limited to:

1. Basic study skills and personal practices that promote academic success.
2. Ideas for creating a home environment conducive to learning.
3. Learning opportunities outside of the classroom.

AUGUSTA LEWIS TROUP SCHOOL, 259 EDGEWOOD AVENUE
RSVP: Troup.pto@new-haven.k12.ct.us or 203-691-3092

Wednesday, May 19 Events

2010-05-12T04:48:00.000-07:00

Next Wednesday evening, May 19, two local education organizations will be holding fund-raising events:

Concepts for Adaptive Learning will have its benefit at 6 p.m. at Anthony’s Ocean View, 450 Lighthouse Road in New Haven.
http://www.eachchildlearns.org

Junta for Progressive Action will screen the documentary film "La Americana" at 6:30 p.m. at Criterion Cinema, 86 Temple Street.
http://www.juntainc.org/en

Tuesday Reading Series

2010-05-05T04:35:00.000-07:00

A January 3 post to this blog called attention to the New Haven Review:
http://www.newhavenreview.com

Now, here's word about a Tuesday evening reading series in which the New Haven Review (including publisher Bennett Lovett-Graff) is involved. Below is a slightly edited excerpt of a message from him.

Listen Here! Short Story Reading Series: 10th Week
Tuesday, May 11, 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Lulu, A European Coffeehouse (49 Cottage Street)

Listen Here! features local actors reading classic short stories by noted writers, past and present, in coffee houses throughout New Haven. Arrive at 6:30 p.m. to order coffee and food ahead of time.

Tuesday, May 11 presents short stories by Edgar Allan Poe and Annie Proulx. This program is courtesy of the New Haven Review, the literary journal of the Elm City, in collaboration with the New Haven Theater Company and the Arts Council of Greater New Haven.

The Long Read! will be at Bar (254 Crown Street) on Sunday, June 6, from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. What will be read? You can help decide by picking the stories yourself. Go to the New Haven Theater Company's website:
http://newhaventheatercompany.com/vote

Reading Events with the NHPD, Anna Quindlen

2010-04-25T18:58:00.000-07:00

This Thursday, April 29 from 4-5 p.m. at the Literacy Center, 4 Science Park, New Haven Police Lt. Rebecca Sweeney and other members of the NHPD will launch a campaign to provide books and promote reading across city neighborhoods. This effort is in collaboration with New Haven Reads.

Each participating child will receive a free book. Residents are invited to register for the event by contacting Lieutenant Sweeney at 203-946-7827. She is also seeking donations to support this cause.
. . .

Today's New Haven Register previews another event -- benefiting Read to Grow and mentioned in an April 6 post to this blog -- to be held tomorrow at Long Wharf Theatre with Anna Quindlen:
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/04/25/news/00425_anna042510.txt

That earlier, April 6 post also cited a Literacy Volunteers Scrabble benefit that has now been held (April 21), as well as a Concepts for Adaptive Learning event approaching on May 19.

Tax Day, Financial Literacy

2010-04-15T03:50:00.000-07:00

With April 15 Tax Day, here are resources related to financial literacy;

http://www.mymoney.gov

http://www.challenge.treas.gov/educator_info.htm

http://www.jumpstart.org

http://www.360financialliteracy.org

http://www.nfte.com

http://www.ja.org

http://www.newlifecorp.org

According to Angela Carter's New Haven Register article yesterday:
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/04/14/business/ee1taxes0414041410.txt

"Individuals or families who earned less than $49,000 last year still can get their returns prepared at no cost at three area Volunteer Income Tax Assistance centers coordinated by New Life Corp. and the Coalition For Working Families. The VITA locations are open through Thursday at Columbus Family Academy, 255 Blatchley Ave., and Truman School, 114 Truman St., both in New Haven; and West Haven Community House at 227 Elm St., West Haven. Volunteer tax preparers are available from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Ariel Martinez, executive director of New Life, said more than 2,500 filers were helped by the VITA program last year. 'Our mission is to work with individuals and families in increasing their economic security,' Martinez said of the nonprofit association’s work."

Week of the Young Child

2010-04-12T03:29:00.001-07:00

Nationally, this is the "week of the young child," with the theme of early learning. http://www.naeyc.org/woyc

Locally, numerous related resources include:

William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund
http://wcgmf.org/documents/doc_12.pdf

Community Foundation for Greater New Haven
http://www.cfgnh.org

United Way, Success by Six
http://www.uwgnh.org/education/success-6

New Haven Early Childhood Education
http://www.nhps.net/node/495

All Our Kin
http://www.allourkin.org

Connecticut Children's Museum
http://www.childrensbuilding.org/

Read to Grow
http://www.readtogrow.org

and many more. . .

Raising Funds for Literacy

2010-04-06T19:58:00.000-07:00

Three of the organizations that participate in the Greater New Haven Literacy Coalition have fund-raising events in the coming weeks:

*April 21: Literacy Volunteers' annual Scrabble tournament at the Knights of Columbus building in downtown New Haven http://www.lvagnh.org

*April 26: Read to Grow's evening with Anna Quindlen at Long Wharf Theatre http://www.readtogrow.org

*May 19: Concepts for Adaptive Learning's annual wine-tasting and raffle at Anthony's Ocean View near Lighthouse Point http://www.eachchildlearns.org

Adult literacy, early childhood, technology as a tool for families' educational and economic advancement -- together these three organizations represent many of the ways that members of the region's literacy community are working to strengthen reading skills and opportunities for people of all ages.

Reading, Culture, and 'Quality Time' at Home

2010-04-05T19:57:00.000-07:00

The New Haven Independent published this account of last week's Family Literacy Forum, which was conducted in both Spanish and English:

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/family_literacy_forum_reading_culture_and_quality_time_at_home/

Family Literacy Forum, Mañana

2010-03-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow -- Wednesday, March 31, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. -- there will be a Family Literacy Forum at the Fair Haven branch of the New Haven Public Library, 182 Grand Avenue.

The featured speaker is Joyleen Albarracin, home-based manager for Windham Head Start. Her title: ¿Dónde está mi abuelita? (Where is my grandmother?)

Junta for Progressive Action and the Greater New Haven Literacy Coalition, in partnership with the New Haven Free Public Library, invite you to attend.

RSVP: info@gnhliteracy.org

St. Patrick's Day for Literacy

2010-03-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

According to Thomas Cahill's New York Times opinion piece today, "Turning Green With Literacy":

"Patrick's converts . . . put down their weapons and took up their pens. They copied out the great Greco-Roman books, many of which they didn't really understand, thus saving in its purest form most of the classical library. The Irish fanned out across Europe, salvaging books wherever they could, making copies, reassembling libraries and teaching the newly settled barbarians of the continent to read and write."

Cahill asks, "Why celebrate the Irish? Because they saved Western civilization's books."

Happy St. Patrick's Day.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/17/opinion/17cahill.html?emc=eta1

Lucille Clifton, 1936-2010

2010-02-17T16:00:00.000-08:00

I want to alert readers to the passing this week of poet Lucille Clifton. I don't get a chance to read much poetry these days, but as soon as I have the time I will be revisiting Blessing the Boats: New and Selected Poems and Quilting Poems, my favorite Clifton collections. Lucille Clifton was born in New York, but spent a great deal of time in Baltimore, Maryland, my hometown. I think of her as a Maryland poet; indeed, she was poet laureate of Maryland for several years. I highly recommend seeking out one of her collections.

--Susan Monroe
. . .

Another New Havener, Elizabeth Alexander, had these reflections about Lucille Clifton's passing in the New Yorker:

"I do not think there is an American poet as beloved as Clifton, or one whose influence radiated as widely."

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/02/remembering-lucille-clifton.html

Campaign for the American, and New Haven, Reader

2010-01-25T04:31:00.000-08:00

Nationally, the Campaign for the American Reader is worth a look:
http://americareads.blogspot.com/

Locally, the New Haven Independent ran a recent story by Thomas MacMillan about "1555 Books":
http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/picture_books_headed_for_city_preschools/

According to this article about "the third annual book bag packing party, an event put on by the New Haven Early Childhood Council," the books in Spanish and English "were purchased with money given by the Board of Aldermen and the mayor’s office. Every preschool and infant/toddler classroom in the city will receive a bag of seven or 10 books respectively, [Sandy] Malmquist said. The bag-packing volunteers included a number of women who work in the classrooms that will receive the books."

Literacy 2010

2010-01-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

Happy new year! As 2010 begins, here are two resources -- one national, one local -- recommended to readers and advocates of reading anywhere:

*Literacy Powerline, with which the Greater New Haven Literacy Coalition is affiliated http://www.literacypowerline.com/

*the New Haven Review http://www.newhavenreview.com/

Issue 5 of the New Haven Review made for eclectically absorbing reading on the London to New Delhi leg of a trip to India over the holidays. From fiction to poetry to a physicist's account of how http://arxiv.org/ has revolutionized his field, this still-new publication is well worth a subscription.

Junta for Progressive Action, Adult Education

2009-12-12T06:18:00.000-08:00

A recent Yale Daily News article treated adult education for immigrants in New Haven, including GED classes offered in Spanish through a partnership between New Haven's Adult and Continuing Education program and Junta for Progressive Action.

Junta and its executive director, Sandra Trevino, participate in the Greater New Haven Literacy Coalition.

http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/city-news/2009/12/04/junta-supports-spanish-geds/

http://www.juntainc.org/

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/11/literacy_coalit_1.php

The Greater New Haven Literacy Coalition recently held a Literacy Forum at the new Literacy Resource Center at 4 Science Park in Newhallville.

Read to Grow with Edward M. Kennedy Jr.

2009-11-17T04:28:00.000-08:00

Read to Grow, whose executive director Susanne Santangelo is a Greater New Haven Literacy Coalition board member, held its annual luncheon on November 13. This year's event featured Edward M. Kennedy Jr.

A New Haven Register article appeared the next day:

"Kennedy Recalled at Literacy Group's Annual Luncheon"
http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/11/14/news/new_haven/a3-neread.txt

For more on Read to Grow's early literacy work, see:
http://www.readtogrow.org/

Literacy News

2009-11-09T17:36:00.000-08:00

* Tomas Miranda received a Hispanic Leadership in Education award from the Hispanic Professional Network of Connecticut in September 2009.

* Junta for Progressive Action marked its 40th anniversary at an October 2 event and was featured in a New Haven Register article:

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/10/05/news/new_haven/a1_mon_junta40.txt

* An October 29 Literacy Forum (previewed in an October 18 post to this blog) was described in New Haven Independent and New Haven Register articles below:

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/11/literacy_coalit_1.php

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/10/26/life/announcements/doc4ae5849ac2e15633638488.txt

* Read to Grow and R.J. Julia Booksellers have been selected to receive the Clifford W. Beers "Kids Are Our Business" service award on November 20. Also, Read to Grow will host Ted Kennedy Jr. as speaker at its annual luncheon on November 13.

Thursday, 10/29 Literacy Forum

2009-10-18T14:53:00.000-07:00

Margie Gillis of Haskins Laboratories and Literacy How, Inc. will be the featured speaker at a Literacy Forum on Thursday, October 29.

Her topic:
"Bringing Research into the Classroom, One Teacher at a Time"

coffee 8:00 a.m.
discussion 8:30-10 a.m.

Literacy Resource Center
4 Science Park
New Haven 06511

All are invited; RSVP to:
info@gnhliteracy.org

Amelia Earhart, "Breathe the Sky" novel

2009-10-15T20:28:00.000-07:00

With publicity growing about a Mira Nair movie about Amelia Earhart, I am looking forward to reading a new novel about Earhart by Chandra Prasad. The book is called "Breathe the Sky":

http://www.chandraprasad.com/Breathe_the_Sky.php

Having read a couple of other books Chandra Prasad has written, I'm confident the latest work by this New Haven-area author will appeal to many readers, too.

--Josiah Brown

International Literacy Day, September 8 -- and Local Reading

2009-09-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow is International Literacy Day, as Maureen Wagner reminded Literacy Coalition colleagues. From the UNESCO website:

"This year, International Literacy Day will put the spotlight on the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, citizenship and social development. Literacy and Empowerment is the theme for the 2009-2010 biennium of the United Nations Literacy Decade."
http://www.unesco.org/en/literacy/advocacy/international-literacy-day/

. . .
Here in New Haven, Schools Superintendent Reginald Mayo said in a visit with kindergarteners last week:

“Boys and girls, we want you to be successful. The way that you do that, is ... you have to read, read, and continue reading. . . . You need to turn the TV off and — what? — read, read, read,” he said. “If you read, you will go to college, and you will be successful.”
. . .
Courtesy Melissa Bailey's September 4 article in the New Haven Independent and Elizabeth Benton's September 5 article in the New Haven Register:

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/archives/2009/09/class_of_2026_g.php

http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2009/09/05/news/new_haven/a1_--_kindergarten.txt

August Fiction and Non-Fiction

2009-08-31T03:47:00.000-07:00

On the eve of September, here's an update on recent summer reading, including one work of fiction and two of non-fiction.

Both my wife and I found Jhumpa Lahiri's latest collection of short stories, "Unaccustomed Earth," hard to put down but ultimately less satisfying than her superb earlier collection, "Interpreter of Maladies." (In between, her novel "The Namesake" was also impressive and made into a movie starring Kal Penn.)

Paul Tough's "Whatever It Takes" profiles Geoffrey Canada and his leadership of the Harlem Children's Zone. The author had visited New Haven in May to benefit All Our Kin. He illuminates the promise, lessons, costs, and context of Geoffrey Canada's ambitious social and educational venture.

Among the researchers Tough discusses is Joseph K. Torgesen, whose findings on the value of early intervention with struggling readers merit wider attention. Some information on Torgesen's work appears here:
*http://www.fcrr.org/science/sciencePublicationsTorgesen.htm
*http://www.readingrockets.org/article/225

Richard Nisbett's "Intelligence and How to Get It: Why Schools and Cultures Count" is a compelling counter -- as Derek Bok and William Bowen's "The Shape of the River" had been -- to Charles Murray and Richard Herrnstein's "The Bell Curve." Nisbett's book deserves a broad audience. He distills a considerable review of research into a cogent argument for nurturing child development and student learning.

Best wishes to students and educators for the new academic year. . .

Josiah Brown
for the Greater New Haven Literacy Coalition

Summer Days, Readers and Bloggers to Come

2009-07-28T19:49:00.000-07:00

The Greater New Haven Literacy Coalition is working over the summer to update its website and in the fall will be featuring the reading recommendations and ruminations of area authors, among others.

In the meantime, amid various non-fiction readings, let me suggest the short fiction of William Trevor, several of whose stories I read over the weekend.

Josiah Brown, for the Literacy Coalition

Reading Poetry, Arts and Ideas

2009-06-21T02:46:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow -- Monday, June 22 -- is the deadline to let Literacy Volunteers of Greater New Haven know if you wish to participate in reading a poem this Thursday, June 25 as part of its collaboration with the International Festival of Arts and Ideas. The June 25 event will be at the new Literacy Resource Center at 4 Science Park in New Haven.

This is a local example of the Favorite Poem Project that former U.S. poet laureate Robert Pinsky launched, with related books listed here: http://www.favoritepoem.org/bookAndDvd.html

Contact Literacy Volunteers at 776-5899 or info@lvagnh.org

Welcome to the Literacy Coalition's Book Blog

2009-05-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

The Greater New Haven Literacy Coalition, an all-volunteer organization, is launching this blog as part of its mission to promote, support, and advance literacy in our region. The blog complements Cheryl Manciero's monthly New Haven Register column, Reading Along.

We invite readers to tell us about books they're reading, recommending, delighting in, deploring, learning from, teaching with, laughing about -- whatever may be the case.

To get us started: I most recently read J.M. Coetzee's Diary of a Bad Year, which was disappointing -- inferior to Waiting for the Barbarians and Disgrace, the two other of his novels that I'd read, years before. I would recommend those other two and still plan to explore his fictionalized memoirs about his childhood and youth.

I am currently reading Migrant Imaginaries, by Alicia Schmidt Camacho of the Yale faculty (also a board member at Junta for Progressive Action), and Toward Excellence with Equity, by Ronald Ferguson, who studies achievement gaps. I've just begun the first and have read a few chapters of the second.

In February, I read The Most Famous Man in America, by New Haven's own Debby Applegate, about Henry Ward Beecher. Beyond her treatment of debates over slavery and abolition, the Civil War and Reconstruction, her vivid portrayal of 19th-century media culture, popular religion, commerce, sin, and redemption resonates as the U.S. reckons with the costs and consequences of another, even more gilded age. Beecher's family -- including his sister Harriet Beecher Stowe -- and characters ranging from Lincoln and Victoria Woodhull to Twain and Whitman are part of the book's appeal. Debby Applegate writes, for example, of Beecher and Whitman: "Both men shared a bottomless enthusiasm for New York, with its vast variety and primal energy, and both insisted that love was the only meaningful bond between the heterogeneous human atoms and the great cosmos."

Of local interest, she recounts how Beecher's father, Lyman Beecher, sent young Henry to Amherst College rather than Yale partly because he "regarded[ed] his safety greater in Amherst than in New Haven," where Yale was susceptible to the "Southern influence" of "honor and spirit." This, in the author's words, "often led to dueling, gambling, and other dangerous hobbies that could easily corrupt his impressionable boy." (Amherst tuition also was a relatively inexpensive $40 per semester, with board $1.50 a week.)

In March, the work of another New Haven author -- Jennifer Baszile -- drew me. Her The Black Girl Next Door combines powerful insights about social class, family, and race with sharply witty observations about adolescence and the humorous juxtapositions of life. Hers is such a personal book that any quotation would lack context; do read it for yourself.

Thanks to the New Haven Free Public Library, recently my wife and I have been reading various books to our children, ages three and and one. Among the titles: Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House in the Big Woods and, now, Little House on the Prairie.

That's plenty for this blog's initial post. Now let's invite neighbors of all ages -- anyone who is interested, from the home, school or workplace, the private, public, or nonprofit sectors -- to tell us what you're reading. Later this spring, with the approach of the Arts and Ideas Festival in June, we'll especially encourage discussion of poetry in connection with the "Favorite Poem Project."

Happy reading,

Josiah Brown, for the Greater New Haven Literacy Coalition