A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

This amazing graphic memoir by Dan Santat is out in the world today and if you teach middle school especially, you need this book for your classroom library.

I read this book on my flight back home from NCTE back in November and I have been impatiently waiting to share this book with readers, but no more!

The premise of this book is that the summer before high school, Dan is presented with an opportunity to travel to Europe with a school group for 3 weeks, but he is initially ambivalent. He wants to experience new things, but he's not sure he wants to do it with some of his classmates. But as the trip goes on, he realizes how much bigger the world grows for him as he tries new and forbidden things for the first time (beer, cigarettes, coffee, and even steals a bike... this was the 80s... we were all feral in the 80s ), has his first summer romance, and he sees what the world has to offer beyond his small hometown.

I read this book on my flight home from NCTE and it was the perfect book to read on a plane. My experience living in Europe was in my 20s but I saw so much of my own experience in this book and how the world became so much bigger for me. I loved the way the story was structured, I love how it ended in a way that it felt like you were watching a movie, oh, and I also love that I understood most of the German throughout the book and laughed so hard when Dan was baring his soul to Helga, his Austrian host mother whom he lived with for a week and she said "Es tut mir leid, dass ich nicht verstehe was du sagt." This book has so much heart and is relatable in so many ways, whether that's the travel angle, the "middle school was torture" angle or the pining away for a summer romance angle. So many readers will devour this book and I'm so glad it's finally out in the world for more readers to love.

A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat

Published: February 28, 2023

Publisher: First Second

Pages: 320

Genre: Graphic Memoir

Audience: Older middle grade/younger YA

Disclosure: ARC received at NCTE 2022

Purchasing the book from the above Bookshop affiliate link supports independent bookstores and gives me a small percentage of the sale. 

In the Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain by Tom Vitale

When Anthony Bourdain died by suicide in June of 2018, the devastation was immediate and lasting for so many, including me. It felt like a good friend died, even though I'd never met him.

Someone who did know Anthony Bourdain was author of In the Weeds, Tom Vitale. Having worked with Anthony Bourdain for over 15 years as a producer/director on No Reservations, The Layover, and Parts Unknown, Tom Vitale knew Tony better than almost anybody. In the Weeds is Vitale's story of working with such a complicated, mythical figure as Anthony Bourdain.

When I started reading In the Weeds, it was initially slow-going because it felt like Vitale was telling Tony's story from his backseat/behind-the-camera view. But as the story progressed and when the book started to feel the most engaging, was when Vitale became more confident in asserting his own story of traveling around the world rather than just describing Tony's reaction to everything. Some of my favorite moments in the narrative are when Tony isn't even present, like when Vitale went scouting locations for the Jamaica shoot of Parts Unknown and he and producer Josh Ferrell made all manner of absurd proposals just to spite the new line producer who was slashing costs left and right and forced their team to get pre-approval on any cost over $200 despite the fact that they were never extravagant with money. I also really appreciated his story of having dinner with Asia Argento in Rome after Tony's death because he did a something that I don't think Laurie Woolever's oral biography did, which was to take care not to come off as blaming Argento for Tony's death. One thing that has bothered me in the collateral damage of Bourdain's death is the misogynistic hot takes that have plagued Argento, essentially saying that she is the one responsible for his death by suicide. While Vitale does not absolve Argento, going so far as to say to her, "Everyone thinks he killed himself because of you," he also allows readers to come to their own conclusions and even manages to give her some grace. And finally, I found his telling of the behind-the-scenes chaos, drama, and choreography that was required to pull off that one short scene with President Obama in Vietnam in 2016.

Die-hard Bourdain fans will be initially be drawn to this book for untold Tony stories, but they will ultimately stay for Vitale's own gifted storytelling.

In the Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain by Tom Vitale*
Published: October 5, 2021
Publisher: Hachette Books
Genre: Memoir
Audience: Adults/Travel lovers
Disclosure: Library copy

*Purchasing the book from the above Bookshop affiliate link supports independent bookstores and gives me a small percentage of the sale. 

What I've Been Up To (Besides Reading)

It's been a while since I've done any posts that revolve around food or travel. I think about those things all the time, but I haven't written about them in a while.

My body is continuing to heal from all the digestive/IBS issues that have exacerbated the past few years and I finally found a solution with the Low FODMAP diet. I feel like going through that 6 week elimination two summers ago was my body's way of purging all the toxins that were causing my digestive system to overreact to almost everything I ate. I can't say that I can eat now with reckless abandon, but I have been able to add some foods back into my diet that were causing me problems before.

What else have I been up to? Well, I won't be writing about any big trips this year because my husband and I elected not to take a big summer vacation this year like we always do. Why is that? Well, because we just moved to Ann Arbor.

A horrible, sweaty picture of my husband and me post-run in front of our new house

I have always loved this town. This is both a physically, culturally, and politically active community, and as such, I have felt more motivated to get out of the house and get moving. I can now walk and ride my bike to places, whereas before, our neighborhood was not conducive to walking or bike riding. 

I also recently left my social media coordinator position with NCTE due to some reorganization they've been doing, but no worries because I accepted a full time position at my school next year. I will be teaching my regular 8th grade English classes, but then I will also be the K-8 librarian! To say I'm excited would be an understatement.

Since things seem to be falling into place, I'm hoping to start writing more regular posts here on the blog, especially food and book-related posts. Travel? Those posts will likely continue to be few and far between unfortunately.

Celebrate National Parks Week with National Geographic Kids! (+ GIVEAWAY!)

April 16th marks the beginning of National Parks Week and 2016 marks the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service! All week long you can get into any National Park for free! National Geographic hopes this will inspire you to plan your own National Parks Adventure:  




If that video doesn't inspire you and your family, here are some books from National Geographic Kids to get them to want to add the National Parks to their bucket lists. Book descriptions are from Goodreads.

National Parks Guide U.S.A

More than two hundred million people visited our national parks in 2009. National parks are some of America's most treasured places, and the National Geographic Kids National Parks Guide U.S.A. is the perfect way to bring the fun and amazement of these majestic places to kids. Divided by region, (Northeast & Southeast, Midwest, Southwest, and West), this guide is both accessible and tons of fun. NG Kids color treatments, full-color photographs, and layering of information make information jump off the page. Features include tips on exploration, information about animals, sidebars, checklists, fun facts, maps, cool things to do, and much more. Conservation information, a find out more section, glossary, and index add ample back matter to round out this book.


Funny Fill-In: My National Parks Adventure

Mad Libs, National Parks style

Junior Ranger Activity Book

Calling all explorers and nature-lovers! From Acadia to Zion, discover all 59 of the United States' amazing National Parks in this jam-packed book of games, trivia, jokes, fun facts, and so much more, all inspired by the National Parks outdoor-based Junior Ranger Program. Great for generating pre-trip excitement, long car rides, poking around historical sites, or general learning, these fun and sometimes silly activities will entertain while they draw kids into the majestic and historic importance of America's national parks. Check out the most amazing park habitats, plus awesome sights and animals you might see, from birds to bears. Fun facts are jam-packed onto every page, so kids learn something amazing about each cool park. 

Buddy Bison's Yellowstone Adventure by Ilona E. Holland

Butterflies flutter, birds soar, and geysers burst into the sky. Join Buddy Bison and his two new friends as they explore the majestic Yellowstone National Park. Breathtaking photographs of Yellowstone serve as the backdrop for the wacky adventures of a curious pair of twins, Elena and Christopher, who are spending the summer with their aunt Rosa, a park ranger.

Instead of waiting patiently when their aunt gets an emergency call, Christopher wanders off. That's when Buddy Bison, the adorable plush toy clipped to Elena's backpack comes to life and to her aid. The unlikely pair heads out on a wild adventure through Yellowstone to search for her brother. As soon as Buddy leads Elena safely to her twin, her new oversized pal disappears. What happened to Buddy Bison? Did Elena imagine him or did he really come to life? This charming tale is sprinkled with helpful tidbits about the park, weird-but-true facts about the animals, and more fun facts kids adore. A comprehensive afterword offers a short history of the park and ways kids can get involved in parks preservation.


Here are some more links to inspire your National Parks wanderlust
NatGeo's online guide to the National Parks

Find Your Park, Love Your Park

The Greatest American Road Trip
Former NatGeo staffer Jonathan Irish travels the country, visiting all 59 National Parks in 52 weeks.



GIVEAWAY!
I'm giving away all four of the National Geographic Kids books mentioned above.

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Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle: Author Interview

Back in April, I had the pleasure of interviewing Margarita Engle for her new picture book The Sky Painter. It was also around this time that I was lucky enough to get my hands on an ARC of her upcoming memoir in verse, Enchanted Air. I was completely touched and blown away by this sensitive, thoughtful look inside the conflicted experience of growing up as a Cuban-American during the beginning of the Cold War. Engle's memories of Cuba are beautiful and longing and they truly embody the concept of wanderlust. While fans of Jacqueline Woodson's Brown Girl Dreaming can immediately draw comparisons to Enchanted Air, I think Engle's memoir differs slightly in that it also focuses on travel as part of one's identity, certainly a theme I am happy to celebrate here on this blog. :)

Thank you so much Margarita for coming back to the blog to talk about Enchanted Air. Your body of work celebrates the accomplishments of many well-known as well as little-known Cubans. What made you decide to write a memoir of your own experience as a Cuban-American?

I wrote Enchanted Air as a plea for peace and family reconciliation. The decision to write a memoir truly surprised me, even though it was my own decision! I never thought I would willingly bring my emotions back to the surface. That’s why I chose to focus on travel, a truly joyous aspect of my childhood. One reason for writing a memoir was to tell the story of a family torn apart by the Cold War firsthand. I’m often horrified when I read narratives written by people who have never been to Cuba, especially younger authors who didn’t experience the era, and tend to romanticize events that caused so much personal suffering.


What struck me the most as I was reading Enchanted Air was how tranquil you describe life in Cuba at the beginning of your memoir. How much of that Cuba do you still carry with you? What is that conflict like for you today, to carry those beautiful memories inside your heart along with the longing you feel for the Cuba that you had to leave behind for survival and political reasons?

Photo courtesy of Margarita Engle

Ah, well, I was a child, and that is why life seemed tranquil to me. Now, as an adult, I realize that it was an illusion. At the time, I was not aware that many of the relatives I was visiting had suffered unimaginable horrors both before and after the Revolution. However, because I experienced a child’s closeness to family, curiosity about nature, and spirit of adventure, those are the aspects that return to me as joyous memories. There are painful memories too, but the joy is more enduring, more indestructible. So I do still carry a certain tranquility, along with the conflict and turmoil.


What is your fondest childhood memory of Cuba?

This is actually quite embarrassing. I took people for granted, and regarded farm animals as special. Looking back, I treasure the time I spent with my grandmother, great-grandmother, aunts, uncles, and cousins, but at the time, all I wanted was a chance to ride horses and milk cows. I believe that is because during the school year, I was a city kid in Los Angeles. Summer in Cuba meant the small town of Trinidad, and the family farm, a dream come true for any nature-loving child.


What would you like Americans to know about Cuba that we likely don’t, due to our decades-long strained political relationship?

Cuba is unique. There is no place else on earth with such a highly educated population living in such extreme isolation and poverty. Americans tend to equate poverty with lack of education, but in Cuba the waiters and taxi drivers are doctors and college professors who earn $20 per month, eat strictly rationed food, and are trying to make ends meet by earning tips. American tourists need to approach Cubans with respect and a spirit of friendship, treating them as equals, not servants.


Since travel memories in Cuba are the centerpiece of Enchanted Air, I fully admit that your memoir has lit a fire in me to want to travel to Cuba someday. Now that travel restrictions to Cuba seem to be slowly lifting, what advice would you give to Americans like me who would like to travel to Cuba someday?

Suspend your disbelief. Accept surrealism as reality. Don’t talk politics. Travel to small towns, rural areas, and natural areas, not just the glitzy tourist extravaganzas at fancy hotels in Havana.


I firmly believe that our family memories are often steeped in the food we eat and meals we share. What is a dish that you make in your own kitchen that can immediately take you back to Cuba?

Sadly, I’m not a skilled cook, but I’ve never lost my childhood enthusiasm for sweets, and tropical fruits are definitely high on my list of favorites! I love a good batido de mamey. This is basically a smoothie. Mamey is a Caribbean fruit that is impossible to find fresh in California. I don’t live near any Cuban grocery stores, so I can only obtain it when I’m visiting Los Angeles, where it can be bought frozen. Mixed with milk and sugar in a blender, mamey resembles a thick, rich Indian mango lassi in texture, but the flavor is distinctly Cuban.



Thank you so much for stopping by the blog today Margarita! I hope everyone goes out and buys Enchanted Air, in stores August 4th.


Giveaway!

Thank you to Simon & Schuster who have provided two finished copies of Enchanted Air for readers of this blog.


Terms and conditions:
Must be 13 or older to enter and have a U.S. mailing address
Two winners will be selected
Use the Rafflecopter widget to enter
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Note: This giveaway has ended.


Book info:
Enchanted Air by Margarita Engle
Publication Date: August 4, 2015
Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Pages: 208
Genre: Memoir in Verse
Audience: Middle Grade

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Lucy Knisley fangirling

I have gradually become obsessed with the writing and artwork of Lucy Knisley. It started back in 2009 when I read French Milk, a rough-around-the-edges travelogue of her 5-week trip to Paris with her mother at the end of 2006/beginning of 2007. Even though there was a messiness to her writing and artwork, that in a way enhanced the experience because it really emphasized the journal-writing quality of the narrative.

Then two years ago I read and reviewed Knisley's more traditional graphic memoir Relish and became an instant fangirl. So when I discovered that Knisley had recently published two new travelogues, I stopped what I was currently reading and picked up An Age of License and Displacement.

These two travelogues cover life's spectrum it seems. In An Age of License, Knisley writes with both the spirit of youthful exuberance and a brooding, restless heart. This narrative is meant to celebrate youth and the ability to just pick up and go at a moment's notice.

The French have a saying for the time when you're young and experimenting with your lives and careers. They call it: L' Age License. As in: License to experience, mess up, license to fail, license to do... whatever, before you're settled.

An Age of License is Knisley's time to be carefree and uninhibited. She doesn't have to think or worry about whether or not to get up and go -- even though she does. Whereas, Displacement is a much different narrative, which Knisley even explicitly acknowledges when she compares the two trips:

That trip [in An Age of License] was about independence, sex, youth, and adventure. This trip is about patience, care, mortality, respect, sympathy, and love.

On this trip, Knisely, accompanies her grandparents, who are failing in health and mental faculties, on a Caribbean cruise. It is a sensitive, earnest, fatalistic look at family and mortality, yet also done somehow with a lighthearted touch. There was so much about both of these books that really resonated with me. I love the reflective duality between the two narratives, which is clearly not lost on Knisley. As I see my own parents age and I wrestle with my familial relationships, Displacement really hit home for me, especially the very last line of the book:

Good or bad, it's important to feel connected sometimes. Even if that connection can be painful.

Overall, I love seeing how Knisley's career is evolving. Because most of her books are travelogues, they have a confessional quality to them, which makes them all the more provocative to read. There are moments of deep reflection, as noted in the snippets above, but then there are also really funny, lighthearted scenes, such as this adorable moment in An Age of License where Knisley is driving in France with a croissant hanging out of her mouth.
 
At first, this looks like a page for the reader to just breeze by. A full-page panel with minimal text to give the reader's eyes a break. But the more you stop and think about it, there really is a lot to say about what is happening in the narrative and in her life. In this one illustration Knisley is commenting on her own age of license. She's alone, she can pick up and go as she pleases, and is choosing to indulge in the things that will give her happiness and pleasure. Every time I read a book by Knisley, my wanderlust only intensifies. 





If you buy any of these books through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

The World on a Plate: 40 Cuisines, 100 Recipes, and the Stories Behind Them by Mina Holland

When we eat, we travel. 

And with that, Mina Holland lays out the thesis for The World on a Plate in the very first sentence. It's like beginning a piece of music on a crescendo. Unexpected and somewhat jarring, but certainly attention-grabbing. And every single chapter begins with these attention-grabbing statements that compel you to keep reading.

While not a cookbook in the strict sense of the word, The World on a Plate contains enough recipes to be considered a cookbook. But it is so much more than a cookbook. It's filled with history, culture, personal stories, and most importantly, decadent food writing.

I learned so much from reading The World on a Plate, most importantly, how to make a decent pomodoro sauce. Every time I make tomato sauce, it ends up tasting too acidic and raw, no matter how long I cook it or how much garlic and herbs I add to it. But Mina Holland teaches you the trick to the perfect tomato sauce with only three ingredients. She shares Marcella Hazan's recipe from the book The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking:

The Ultimate Tomato Sauce

Serves 4

2 yellow or white onions, halved
2 x 14 oz cans plum tomatoes
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
salt to taste

Lay onions cut-side down in a big saucepan. Pour tomatoes over the top, throw in the butter, cover and cook on low for 45 minutes. Stir occasionally, blending in melted butter and gently crushing the whole tomatoes to a pulp. About 20 minutes into the cooking process you will begin to smell the flavors melding. 

I ended up using an immersion blender because I like a smooth tomato sauce, and I found this sauce to be a bit too chunky for my taste, so I think the next time I make this, I will true using canned crushed tomatoes instead of whole tomatoes. I also added oregano because I like my pasta sauce to have so Italian herbs in it. However you choose to doctor this up, just know that the richness from the butter and the sweetness from the onion is what makes the flavors come together.

Overall, The World on a Plate is a perfect read for someone like me who loves food and loves to travel. As Holland says in the introduction, food is a common language and it shapes our memory. It's hard to imagine talking about a culture without talking about its food. This is one book where I felt like I learned a lot and also enjoyed the beautiful writing. As evidenced by the myriad post-it flags, I will definitely be referring to this book for recipes, food information, and also a mentor text for really great writing.


The World on a Plate: 40 Cuisines, 100 Recipes, and the Stories Behind Them by Mina Holland
Publisher: Penguin
Published: May 26, 2015
Pages: 367
Genre: Nonfiction/Cookery
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Review copy provided by publisher

If you buy this book or any book through Amazon, it is my hope that you also regularly patronize independent bookstores, which are important centerpieces of thriving communities. While I am an Amazon Affiliate, that by no means implies that I only buy my books through their website. Please make sure you are still helping small, independent bookstores thrive in your community. To locate an independent bookstore near you, visit IndieBound. 

Working on seeing the world... in my own home state

One of the side-effects of having a traveler's heart, is often we miss what's right under our noses. In an effort to see the world, we ignore what's in our own backyard. That certainly is the case with me.

I live in Michigan, one of the most beautiful states in the country. We have the second longest coastline in the United States, behind only Alaska. Natural beauty abounds on our miles and miles of lakeshore. But being surrounded by so much water, you'd be shocked to discover I haven't seen much of it.

So my husband and I are working to correct that. Last weekend we traveled to one of the most beautiful areas of Michigan, Traverse City and the Leelenau Peninsula. Mario Batali, who has a summer home in the area, says it is one of the most beautiful places in the world.

We explored Sleeping Bear Dunes and experienced the local food scene, but more importantly, we got in touch with the beauty of our state, something we plan to spend more time doing in the near future.

It was my husband's idea to climb a sand dune. #exhausting

Working on seeing the beauty of our own home state. Sleeping Bear Dunes is beautiful!

A Ten Year Anniversary

Ten years ago on this very day, my husband and I got on a plane and moved back home. We had just spent the past three years living in Germany and traveling through Europe and now it was time to say goodbye.

At the time I was elated. I went through somewhat of a depression during this time. I was severely homesick and found it difficult to fully embrace the experience of living abroad.

I loved the travel though. Visiting so many different countries over the course of three years helped to open my eyes to the fact that I had been closed off to so many different ideas and learning experiences from living in my American bubble. It is why Wanderlust is a part of the theme of this blog. Because even though I wish I hadn't gone through that difficulty of being depressed and homesick, I also know that I would be a completely different person if I hadn't been granted the amazing opportunity of living and traveling in Europe. 

The world is such a beautiful and complex place. I seek the wisdom and opportunity to be able to see new places and learn from new people in order to understand it better. 

Ten years seems like such a long time ago. And also like no time at all.

A Year in Japan by Kate T. Williamson

Rather than writing and illustrating a general summary of Japanese culture from her American perspective, Kate T. Williamson hones in on the lesser-known, smaller perplexities and observations of the place she called home for a year. Things like heated rugs and other creative devices used to warm homes with no central heating, the fleeting beauty of cherry blossoms, and sumo wrestlers dressed in kimono using the ATM, are but a few of the small but fascinating moments that Williamson chronicles in this travelogue of her year living in Japan.  

While there are illustrations on almost every page, this is more of a travel journal than the paneled, sequential art you think of when you think of a graphic novel. Whatever you call it though, it is certainly unique and intriguing. Illustrations and text are done in a minimalist style that complement the sacred, zen-like aura of the city of Kyoto where Williamson lived during her time in Japan. If she had lived in Tokyo, I have a feeling her art might be more frenetic and colorful. I get the sense, however, that Williamson uses the frequent white space in this book very strategically. The text is handwritten in a small but breezy style, and the watercolor illustrations are both bold and minimal at the same time. Anyone looking to soak up the culture of Japan will appreciate the small, detailed observations that Williamson chronicles in A Year in Japan. Better yet, her work might even inspire readers to go out and observe and chronicle the small nuances in their own culture. 


A Year in Japan by Kate T. Williamson
Published: Feburary 2, 2006
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Pages: 192
Genre: Travelogue
Audience: Adults
Disclosure: Library Copy

Author guest post: Rebecca Behrens

I am thrilled to have debut author Rebecca Behrens here on the blog for a guest post about her new middle grade book, When Audrey Met Alice.

First Daughter Audrey Rhodes is convinced that living in the White House is like being permanently grounded. Except with better security. What good is having your own bowling alley if you don’t have anyone to play with?

After the Secret Service cancels the party she'd spent forever planning, Audrey is ready to give up and spend the next four years totally friendless--until she discovers Alice Roosevelt’s hidden diary. Alice was a White House wild child, and her diary tells all about her outrageous turn-of-the-century exploits, like shocking State visitors with her pet snake and racking up speeding tickets in her runabout. Audrey starts asking herself: What Would Alice Do? The former First Daughter’s outrageous antics give Audrey a ton of ideas for having fun . . . and get her into more trouble than she can handle!

Rebecca is here today to talk about the audacious Alice Roosevelt, the inspiration for When Audrey Met Alice. I asked Rebecca, since this is a food and travel blog as well as a book blog, if Alice were First Daughter today, what would be some of her favorite Washington, D.C. haunts? 

Take it away Rebecca!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Alice Roosevelt—both the real person and the character in my book, When Audrey Met Alice—was “simply mad for travel,” as the fictional Alice wrote in a diary entry on setting sail for Cuba. Adventurous Alice had a great time on that trip: going to parties and teas, visiting schools, betting on jai alai games, and stuffing herself with Cuban delicacies. Later in the book, she gets excited about a chance to visit New Orleans and stay Avery Island, the famous home of Tabasco sauce. However, Alice found plenty of ways to have adventures at home in turn-of-the-century Washington, DC, too. She’d have even more fun today in DC—and these would be some of her favorite places and activities:

Driving: Alice loved to zip around in her red runabout, racking up speeding tickets galore. Today she could cruise along the Rock Creek Parkway for a spin in town (I imagine she’d toot her horn as she passed under the Theodore Roosevelt Bridge), but rush-hour traffic might make it hard for Alice to drive as fast as she liked. Perhaps she’d avoid Beltway traffic altogether by taking a daytrip to the Skyline Drive, a National Scenic Byway that runs through the beautiful Shenandoah Valley. It would be a great escape during election season, when the drive shows off stunning fall foliage. Of course, the speed limit is 35 miles per hour. We can only hope that Alice would heed that.

Restaurants: Alice was an early foodie, so she’d love the dining DC offers today. From chili and fries at Ben’s Chili Bowl to Ethiopian injera and honey wine at Lalibela, there would be something for her every craving. Alice would have no trouble finding the food of her travels back at home, too. For more Cuban food, she could head to Mi Cuba Café in Columbia Heights for ropa vieja and a guava shake. In 1905, Alice Roosevelt accompanied Taft’s diplomatic trip to Asia, visiting Hawaii, the Philippines, China, Japan, and Korea. (She had a great time and did not disappoint with her own antics, which included watching a Sumo match, wearing a kimono—and jumping into a ship’s swimming pool fully clothed.) I think she’d be very happy with her options for Asian cuisine in DC today; in particular, she’d love the show at a "hibachi-style" Teppanyaki restaurant. Alice probably would try to get the chef to teach her the impressive knife skills on display; after all, she did cut her own wedding cake with a sword.

Dancing: Alice loved to dance, particularly the hootchy-kootchy, which was an early Western-coined name for belly dance. She’d enjoy checking out dance performances at the Kennedy Center today, and I also think she’d love to participate in some of the public dance programs available in DC, like Dance in the Circle, a dance festival sometimes held right in the middle of Dupont Circle. I can imagine Alice sneaking out of the White House to attend incognito—and stealing the show with her moves.

The Smithsonian: Alice wasn’t just hungry for experiences but for information, too. The Smithsonian Institute existed well before her time (the famous Castle building was constructed in the mid-1800s), but Alice would still love exploring all that the Institute’s museums have to offer today. In particular, I think she’d be fascinated by the National Air and Space Museum. After all, it was while Alice was living in the White House (in 1903) that the Wright Brothers achieved the first flight. And of course Alice would visit the National Zoo, considering the menagerie that lived with her in the Roosevelt White House. She’d be a huge fan of Bao Bao the baby panda (and probably would scheme about ways to get a panda cub back to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue).

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Audrey Met Alice hits bookstores on February 4th from Sourcebooks Jabberwocky.
Pre-order your copy today.
Read my review of When Audrey Met Alice.

Favorite travel memories of 2013

Last year was the first year I did a recap of my favorite travel memories so I thought I would continue with that tradition this year. I feel so blessed that I have been able to see so much of the world. My husband and I don't really buy each other Christmas gifts. We always prefer to save that money and use it to have experiences rather than things. These are my favorite experiences of 2013.

1. Virtually no crowds greeted us in Iceland

 As much as I love to travel and see popular tourist attractions, I also hate crowds. Iceland gave us the best of both worlds. We were able to see popular travel destinations, but since so few people travel to this remote country, crowds were virtually nonexistent. I talk more about the lack of crowds in my Thoughts from Places video.


2. The Blue Lagoon

By far Iceland's most touristed destination, I worried that it would be little more than a tourist trap and nothing else. Turns out it was a wonderful experience. Despite being in Iceland near the summer solstice, it was unseasonably cold while we were there and relaxing in the milky blue geothermal waters was the warmest I felt the entire seven days were were in Iceland.


3. ALA and the Newbery/Caldecott Banquet in Chicago

Attending the Newbery/Caldecott banquet was a highlight of my life. Not THE highlight of my life,  but definitely A highlight. And being able to celebrate that evening with so many Nerdy Book Club friends made it even more special. 


4. The Comedy Museum AKA Art Institute of Chicago

My husband and I traveled to New York and Chicago with our friends from Germany this summer. I am here to tell you we never had so much fun at an art museum as we did at the Art Institute of Chicago, which our friend Matthias nicknamed The Comedy Museum due to the ridiculousness of some of the art we saw in the modern art wing. One of our favorites was the one above where my husband and Matthias are saying, "Wo ist das Bild?" (Where is the picture?)


5. NCTE/ALAN in Boston 

OK, so I didn't actually get to see any of Boston while I was at NCTE, but I did get to meet and hang out with some iconic authors: Judy Blume, Jack Gantos, and Laurie Halse Anderson just to name a few. Plus this is the first year I attended convention as a staff member AND was able to present at a session with some amazing teachers and one of my favorite authors (pictured above: Jen Vincent, Kellee Moye, Audrey Vernick, and me). So yeah, this was definitely a favorite travel memory. 


6. Getting to see Van Gogh's Starry Night for the first time 

Back in 2004 when my husband and I lived in Germany, we took a trip to Amsterdam. I thought for sure my favorite painting, Starry Night would be at The Van Gogh Musem since it's his most famous painting. Turns out it wasn't. And that was the beginning of an almost ten-year-long journey to see this painting that finally culminated this summer in New York.


7. 9/11 Memorial

It was really difficult to keep it together during my time exploring the 9/11 Memorial. I think I was in a perpetual state of tears the entire time. The emotion just overwhelms you.


8. Social media allowing for spontaneous meet ups with old friends

One of my favorite things about social media is that it allows me to meet new people and also keep in touch with my friends that I otherwise would have lost touch with. Because I was posting on Facebook and Twitter during our trip to NYC, I was able to meet up with two old friends that I wouldn't have been able to otherwise. They saw my FB and Twitter posts and immediately asked if we could get together. I hadn't seen my friend Jerry since high school and it was so wonderful to be able to spend the afternoon with him and his fiance. It's crazy to see how far we both have come since our high school days. :)


9. Big House Tour - AKA Michigan Stadium

OK, so maybe this isn't technically travel since we live 15 minutes from the Big House, but it's something we did with our friends from Germany so we're going to count it as a travel memory. Germans don't really care that much for American football so this tour was completely selfish on my husband's part, but he at least wanted to take them somewhere cool and to him, cool equated to the biggest capacity sports stadium in the country.


10. Skating in Millennium Park

Last December my husband and I took an impromptu trip to Chicago with some friends to visit the German Christmas market. This year we decided to make it a tradition and go again. This time my friend Kirsten and I remembered to bring our ice skates and we were rewarded with a free jaunt around the Millennium Park ice rink. Heck, even the rink at Campus Martius in Detroit makes you pay to skate even if you bring your own. We were thrilled to discover that all we had to do in Chicago was strap on our skates and glide on by the endless line of people.


What were your favorite travel memories of 2013?

Recipe for Adventure: Paris! by Giada De Laurentiis

Goodreads summary:
When Zia Donatella comes to live with the Bertolizzi family, little do Alfie and his older sister Emilia know what's in store for them. Zia Dontella is determined to show the kids how a home-cooked meal is better than even the best take-out pizza or burrito. And when Zia's plan actually transports Alfie and Emilia to famous food cities around the world, they learn first-hand how food can not only take you places but can also bring you back home. Alfie and Emilia are transported to Paris, where a case of mistaken identity finds them caught up in the behind the scenes drama at a traditional French cooking school. As they explore the beautiful city of light and try to figure out how to get back home, they meet an incredible cast of French characters, as well as sample some of the best pastries and real hot chocolate that Paris has to offer.


This is the second book in the Recipe for Adventure series, the first one being Naples! While I enjoyed the first book despite feeling that it lacked a clear writing voice, Paris! felt way too much like Laurentiis was trying to create a children's version of The Next Food Network Star with this story. I was especially irritated that the kids were at a cooking school in Paris and without any actual cooking instruction, were asked to create a meal for a famous chef. The kids then prepared and talked of their dishes like they had already received their culinary education. In addition, there was too much talking in platitudes that you often hear Laurentiis, Bobby Flay, and Alton Brown spouting on Food Network Star ("You should never tell your guests the hardships you have to endure to prepare their meals.") and it was written too much like an adult story with children as the characters.

As much as I love Giada and the message she wanted to get across with these books (introducing American children to REAL food rather than the processed crap they're most likely eating every day) the delivery felt heavy-handed and inexperienced. A story like this would have never been published without the celebrity name attached to it.

What I DO like about these books is communicating the idea that food can transport you to a place. I wish that had shone through in the story rather than the heavy-handed platitudes. As of now, I doubt I will be continuing with the series.


Paris! by Giada DeLaurentiis
Series: Recipe for Adventure #2
Published: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Grosset and Dunlap
Pages: 144
Genre: Magical Realism
Audience: Middle Grade
Disclosure: Library Copy

Why You Should Travel, Study, and/or Work Abroad

One of my Facebook friends posted this article from the Huffington Post today:

19 Things You'll Only Appreciate if You Studied Abroad

Though my husband and I weren't studying when we lived abroad (he was working) the heart of this article really applies to us, and anyone who has lived abroad for that matter. We have learned way more in our travels than we ever have in any classroom. As homesick as I was when I lived in Germany and as much as I longed to move back home, I find there are many things I miss about living there, especially this time of year, as I love European Christmas traditions.

If I could give young people graduating from high school or college one piece of advice it would be: travel. Get a backpack and a passport and go see countries other than your own. You haven't really completed your education until you leave the walls of the classroom and become a student of the world.

One of my favorite quotes of all time, and one I dole out effusively, is by Mark Twain and feels apt to quote here:

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.”

Remembering 9/11/01

Today is September 11, 2013 -- twelve years removed from that horrible Tuesday in 2001. But those of us who remember that day are still not removed. We will never forget.

This summer I had the privilege of visiting the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. It was sobering and heartbreaking. I found myself having to walk off by myself a few times so I could wipe away my tears. It was a moment where words failed me. It's just something that needed to be felt. It might be a difficult experience, but it's definitely a place you must visit if you're ever in New York City.

 

Starry Night: A Near Ten Year Odyssey

I've never been an artistic person, in the visual arts sense. I can't draw to save my life. So I always dreaded art class in school. During my sophomore year of high school, I had to take an art credit so I took a basic intro to art class. All my friends were taking cool classes like pottery, but I was stuck in remedial art.

That semester I was introduced to the works of Vincent Van Gogh and I was immediately captivated. His Starry Night painting was so expressive and full of swirling emotion that when given the opportunity to complete a post-impressionism crayon-resist painting, I chose Starry Night as my muse.

Now to say my version was good would be to laugh in the face of a brilliant artist like Van Gogh, and yet, I was very proud of how "not terrible" it turned out because, up until that point, my artistic endeavors often left me feeling like I wanted to cry due to my absolute lack of talent. So Starry Night has always had a special place in my heart for that reason.

I am not an artist. So I was very proud of my attempt at Van Gogh's Starry Night my sophomore year of high school

Back in 2004 when my husband and I were living in Germany we had the opportunity to travel to Amsterdam and I was excited about getting the chance to visit the Van Gogh Museum to actually see Starry Night in person. So as we're walking around the museum, I'm just waiting any second to turn a corner and have it appear to me, choir of angels and a dreamlike vision where everything is blurred out except for the beautiful painting I've been waiting to see come into focus. Except it never did. We walked through the entire museum and never saw Starry Night. So my husband and I walked up to a docent and were like, "So yeah, where's Starry Night?" 

He looked at us as if to say, "Don't you know anything?" But instead just said. "It's not here."

Ummm... Okay. "So where is it then?"

"The Museum of Modern Art in New York."

You mean to tell me that Van Gogh's most famous painting isn't even in his own museum? Oh the injustice. But fear not! Four years later, my husband and I were going to New York City, so of course a visit to MoMA was a must on the list.

Except for one problem. Starry Night wasn't there.

Guess where it was?

On loan to the freakin' Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam!!!!

Seriously? The universe just didn't want me to see that painting for whatever reason.

But finally, finally this summer after almost ten years of trying to see it, we returned to MoMA and happened upon this thing of wonder and beauty, replete with angel choir and dreamlike tunnel-vision:

Some things are just worth waiting for.

In Iceland "off the beaten path" is everywhere you turn

In my last post, I talked about the most visited tourist destination, in Iceland, The Blue Lagoon and made a case for why you should visit even though a lot of tourists go there.

This post is about the secluded, off the beaten path places we found while we were in Iceland.

As I mentioned in my last post and also in my Thoughts from Places video, even the "crowded" places weren't crowded compared to other popular travel destinations I've been to. So pretty much every place you visit is going to be very laid back without much scrambling to get your perfect picture because there are too many tourists in the way.

The places we discovered where practically no one was there were still a treat for us, the first being a glacial lagoon called Fjallsarlon. As with pretty much all the secluded places, it was down this rickety dirt road the eventually led to this amazing view:

 

The same was true of this stunning gorge known as Fjadragliufur: we drove down a treacherous dirt road, hiked a little ways, and our jaws dropped when we came across this:

In the two hours we hiked in this area, we saw four people the entire time. 

So if you're someone who prefers to travel to places where there aren't hoards of tourists, I highly recommend Iceland. As  I said before, even the crowded places were pretty empty compared to "tourist trap" standards. I told my husband how un-stressed I felt when visiting all of these places because I felt like I didn't have to compete with others for a spot on a viewing platform or to find a place to get a picture where there weren't people in the way. Personal space is abundant and plentiful when traveling in Iceland.

Iceland's Blue Lagoon: a destination for travelers and toursits alike

When my husband and I were planning our recent trip to Iceland, we wanted to make sure that we set aside some time to spend at The Blue Lagoon. Even though it is the most visited tourist destination in Iceland, and from what I read during my trip research, Icelanders don't really go there, it was something we were both dying to experience.

But you know what? Sometimes places that are deemed as tourist traps are still worth your time. And The Blue Lagoon was one of those places. I know that an unwritten rule of calling yourself a world traveler is to avoid the places where all the tourists go, but sometimes you've just gotta follow the crowds. Hey, if Anthony Bourdain, who on his first season of No Reservations said "be a traveler, not a tourist," went to the Blue Lagoon when he was in Iceland, then I think everyone should go there, whether you're a traveler or tourist.

So what exactly is The Blue Lagoon anyway? It's described on their website as a geothermal spa, but what does that mean? Well essentially Iceland is rife with geothermal energy and they decided to harness all that energy by creating power plants that use that energy to power homes and businesses. Since geothermal power is clean energy, the runoff from these power plants is just really hot water. And The Blue Lagoon was the result:

We spent about 3 hours at The Blue Lagoon on a cold, gray day and it was by far one of my favorite moments of our trip, mainly because the water was so warm, and the weather in Iceland during our entire trip was in the low 50s/high 40s and windy. So The Blue Lagoon was the warmest I felt the entire week. And it was during my time there that I realized why I tend not to spend a lot of time in pools: because I'm always cold and the water in pools isn't 102 degrees Fahrenheit, that's why!

So if you ever take a trip to Iceland, ignore what people tell you about skipping The Blue Lagoon because it's a tourist trap. Sometimes you just need to follow the crowd. And honestly, Iceland is still kind of off the tourist radar anyway so tourist trap here does not equate to tourist trap in, say, Italy or France. There are plenty of other opportunities in a country of only 320,000 people to find off the beaten path places (which I'll talk about in another post). You can go to one place where there are a lot of tourists and I promise you won't regret it.