Dear Kristen Chenoweth,

Dear Kristen Chenoweth,
   I heart you. Years and years ago I saw you on the Rosie O'Donnell show singing the Girl in 14 G and couldn't believe all those parts, Opera, Jazz and Pop song were coming out of one person. As a theater geek, I was enchanted by Wicked, although I only knew your version by soundtrack. By Pushing Daisies and Glee, I was telling Bill, "Oh Kristen Chenoweth, I love her." But now hearing your story and your principles and, just from your writing, seeing what a good, kind person can accomplish, I adore you even more. Your story should be told every time Paris Hilton is on the screen to combat the negative ideals out there for women to absorb. I hope young girls can read your story and see you don't have to do awful terrible things to succeed. You can be yourself and have your faith and still come out on top.
   When I first started reading this memoir, I had some trouble with the flow. I found myself rereading parts to try and get the voice from the story. Then I saw an episode of Pushing Daisies with you talking. From there, I was all set. As long as I could hear that tone of your voice, and how little side comments are said, then the story came alive. I love hearing a real voice in writing, especially since I spend forever trying to get my students to do that in their writing. By the story itself is so wonderful. From down home beginnings to Tony awards, it feels like an "aw-shucks, just little ol' me" tone that you don't hear in most memoirs. I love that. I love that everything is laid out on the table, good and bad. I love that there aren't excuses and no sugar coating. I love the little recipes that make this feel like a conversation. More than anything, I love that happiness, believing in yourself and not giving up in anything, especially your faith take center stage.I was expecting more of a This Is When I Did This Wonderful Thing, and This Is When I Did That Wonderful Thing, story with gory details of Wicked and other shows. I thought I would connect to this story as a theater person, but now I can say anyone can connect to this story just by being a human being.
 That being said, I do have a strong connection to the theater aspect of this story.  I love the theater. I love seeing live shows, but more than anything I love being in live shows. Theater geeks will understand, there is something intoxicating about performing in front of others. The process of putting the show together, watching it build and come together and finally seeing it from start to finish, I and many other performers, have such a sense of pride and accomplishment. I have been in a good amount of shows, nothing too exciting but when I moved to Florida, Aimee introduced me to the Emma Parish theater in Titusville. We did Camelot together first, which was fun but included a whole lot of sitting and waiting backstage. It's a fun costume show and was a great way to introduce myself to the Titusville crew. The next show I did with them was Ragtime. Ragtime was magically. Ragtime was unlike anything I had ever done and most of us felt that way. I remember one music rehearsal, before we did any blocking, we were practicing a song, I think it was Til We Reach that Day, and when we finally sang it all the way through and finished, everyone just sat in silence. It was unbelievable. No one could believe that that noise that come from us. The whole show was like that. Everything was amazing and the music we created was unreal. I was really sad to see it end but so so so grateful for the experience. I did Pirates of Penzance in Cocoa Beach after that. It was such a fantastic cast in a funny, don't take yourself serious experience. That crew was so warm and welcoming that even showing up knowing no one, and having no support, I still felt like a part of something so great. I really needed that in that time in my life and the theater was able to give it to me.
  So with my tiny, insignificant experience in theater, I can't imagine what it was like to be on Broadway and how unbelievable that must feel. I watch the Tonys and drool over the new shows (Doesn't Book of Mormon look UNBELIEVABLE??) and dream of what that could possibly be like. But I know that I am a Central Florida Community Theater Chorus Member through and through. It doesn't mean I love it any less and since moving I miss it very much. I look often to see if there are any shows around here but so far nothing. Someday I know I will get back into it because the theater doesn't leave you. You always want to be part of it whether you just watch it or you get into it. This story makes me want to go back in. If and when I get the opportunity, I will keep the lessons of this book, working hard, putting everything into it, having fun, trying new things, and go out there and give it my all.


Sincerely,
KT


A Little Bit Wicked: Life, Love, and Faith in Stages

Dear JK Rowling,

Dear JK Rowling,
   I cannot imagine a world without Harry Potter and I'm glad I don't have to. How amazing is it that an entire universe came from a single story written by an unemployed Mom in a coffee shop? Harry and his friends are living, breathing parts of our imagination that are to real to most of us as people we see every day. Not only did this story turn on hundreds of thousands students to reading, it revolutionized how the world sees children's and young adult fiction. Harry Potter is more than a story, it's a piece of our lives that will never die.
   I love these stories. I love that Harry is not perfect and he deals with things my students and my friends (and me) deal with. Bullies like Draco, family like the Durseys, terrible teachers like Snape, these are things we all have had or have now. So even though Harry flies on his broom and concocts magic potions, he is still accessable.
      Yet, sometime all we want to do is disappear into a whole new time and place that is nothing like our everyday lives. Leave this world and these troubles to some place that time can be moved and everything changes with a flick of your wand.  When you read these stories you can see yourself in a castle fighting dragons and dancing by floating candle light. Sometimes losing yourself in this world makes your world a little better and easier to deal with. We have all had times in our lives when everything is awful and it doesn't matter if you're in 3rd grade or 13 years in the work force, it still can be awful. To me, books are an escape that I learned early on but is lost on the students of today. Sure video games can take you away, but not like a book can, at least that is my opinion. Harry Potter showed that to many people who I know will be forever grateful. Just look at all those fan sites if you don't believe me.
  What I appreciate most about these stories is the magic. I miss believing in magic and feeling like there is something more to what you see. I am lucky enough to live close and visited the Harry Potter World at Universal multiple times. Most times, theme parks disappoint me in their theming. Let me explain, I love movies and have all my life. I always wanted to be in the movie; not an actress playing a part but to actually be in that moment in the story. Now, don't get me wrong I am a Disney girl thru and thru but Universal does an excellent job putting me in the scenes of the movie. I was giddy at 13 going there for the first time and actually seeing the town from Jaws, the deloran from Back to the Future, the bikes from ET. Well years later, it just hasn't been the same until Harry Potter World. They have done an amazing job on this place. If you haven't been, you are in Hogsmead, you are in the town's stores, you are in the castle and seeing the world you read about. The magic is there in front of you and if only for a moment, you get that feeling again; that maybe, just maybe, there is something else out there that you can't see and that can make anything happen.
  As an educator,  I will always appreciate stories that get students excited, but if I can enjoy that story as well, that's what I really love. Sure the Goosebump stories and Captain Underpants are great, but they're not on the top of my To Read list. Harry Potter books were not just children's stories, they are great novels with interesting, attention keeping, character investing, plots that everyone wants to read. Kid's books don't have to be dumb, watered down same old same old that teachers have to force their students to read. They don't have to focus on "those darn kids" archetypes or Nancy Drew good girls who don't have any character flaws and wrap everything up neatly with a bow. They don't have to be all boogers and fart jokes either. They can deal with terrible things like death and facing insurmountable obstacles and still be enjoyable. That's what the Harry Potter books have done and continue to do for children's lit. It can be exciting and epic and wonderful and reach so many people at so many points in their life. And if I can pass that message to my students, that there are good worthy stories out there that are worth your time, than that's the kind of teacher I'm trying to be.
   Thank you for these stories. They will live on long past any of us and Harry Potter will always be the boy who lives on.

Sincerely,

KT
Harry Potter Paperback Box Set (Books 1-7)

Side note

Meet Mia. The reason for no blog posts. Our adorable new kitten is way more fun than a computer. She joins our other baby

Bella. Blog posts will come soon, but in the meanwhile I've got some flurry friends to play with.

Sincerely,

KT

Dear Diana Abu-Jaber,

Dear Diana Abu-Jaber,
    This book is amazing. Spellbinding, memorizing, haunting, unbelievable. I cannot say enough about this story. It's probably been eight years since I first read this story and I've read it from cover to cover at least eight times since then. My copy's tattered cover shows my love for this story. As you can see, I sing the praises of this story and want the world to know about this incredible book.
   When I got to Westfield State, I found as an Elementary Education major, you needed to pick a minor. In hindsight, I should have picked Reading as it would probably help me in my career now. But I was originally an English major and a part of me didn't want to let that go. So I choose a Liberal Arts Minor with a concentrate in English Lit (nice and simple huh?).  I love reading, I love talking about books and I love finding new stories that come with English majors. I love writing opinion pieces and comparative essays. I love arguing a point in class. And yes, I see how much of a nerd this makes me, but what can I do, I love books.  I'm pretty sure it was my Junior year, possibly my Sophomore year, I was taking a series of combination English Lit and Women Studies classes (I can see the feminazi comments forming in your brain. I was one and proud of it).  These were awesome classes that focused on women writers and their women heroines. Now, like most English majors and probably college students in general, in the beginning of the semester I was on top of my reading assignments. Went home, did the reading, wrote the comments, had notes ready for class, no problem. Now by say, two or three months in, I'm in my car in between classes just starting the pages due in about an hour. Excuses aside, it just became a fact of life. I had already read two great books Housekeeping and The Hundred Secret Senses and really enjoyed both of them. So when it came time to read Crescent, I was sitting in my car on a rainy day and all I had to do was read Chapter 1 and 2 for class. I don't know why I remember where I was and what I was like when I first read this story, but I do. Maybe it's because this book is so beautiful. I remember finishing Chapter 2 and I couldn't wait to go on, but I had to go to class. This book I read not like an assignment, but something I was actually going to read to enjoy.
    This book is a beautiful flow of prose. It's intoxicating. When you read about Sirine and Han in the pool, under the stars with a glowing party reception around them, it's like reading about casting magic spells or putting people under trances. Every part of the story feels like there is a magical undertone in our everyday life around us. The fantasy story that her Uncle weaves into the story just adds to the mysticism. But the strongest connection to magic is Sirine and her food. As if she can bewitch people with her cooking, the stories about how people react to her cooking feel like realistic fiction and fantasy at the same time. I do feel that sometimes you can feel something in someones cooking. If they cook with love, you can taste it. If they cook in pain, you can taste that too, as the characters do in this story as well. I'd say it is something like the movie Simply Irresistible, but that's not a very good movie and this is a fantastic book.
    There is a strong middle eastern element to this story that if you are of that heritage I'm sure you connect to, but as someone who isn't, I connected to it just as well. It was very interesting to see how Iraq is portrayed in this story in comparison to what we see of it today. It is almost a character on how it pulls people back and the history it holds, but it's not held up on a pedestal. It is realistic with how fighting destroys families and what it is like to try and live in a place constantly being bombed. It is a very important part of the story, but nothing something that drags it down or makes it a story that tries to preach anti-war sentiments. Its adds a sadness to the story that balances out the happiness and love. Like adding salt to your dessert recipes, it just makes it better without taking over completely.
  When I first read this story, I was in college and a completely different person than I am now. I have read this story through different phases in my life and find it enchanting in every light. Yes, in a way, it is a romance story, but it's not the insepid, vapid, grocery store Fabio stories we associate with that genre. It's more like a story of a women and a man, sadness, pain, the past, food, friends and what it means to be who you really are. Sometimes I wish I could really visit these characters at Um-Nadia's cafe and to me that is the showing of a really, really great story.

Sincerely,
KT

Crescent: A Novel