Wishes
Here’s how to give someone that big, ineffable gift of knowledge, or at least the necessary first steps on that road: Become a tutor at Literacy Austin. Literacy Austin is a nonprofit dedicated to helping adults 17 years or older to read and write by providing one-on-one basic literacy and English as a Second Language instruction. Basic math and computer instruction is also taught, but in a group setting.
Literacy Austin’s curriculum does not follow a traditional classroom or textbook method; students pace themselves and personalize the learning process to meet individual needs. Presently, 150 tutors teach at Literacy Austin; all of them have completed 18 hours of training and have made at least a six-month commitment to the organization. And there are plenty of students waiting to be taught — a majority of Literacy Austin’s students are parents of school-aged children. Literacy Austin is located at 2002 Manor; call 478-7323 for more information about how to volunteer… Why I sometimes wish I worked in a children’s bookstore: so that when pesky people from newspapers call asking what children’s titles are selling well, I could say things like Bunnies in My Head, Squids Will Be Squids, Toot and Puddle, If You Give a Pig a Pancake, and Today I Feel Silly with utmost seriousness in a very declamatory voice. Fortunately, those nice people at Toad Hall didn’t respond that way when I asked them that very question. They say frantic customers from all over the nation have lately been calling looking for this season’s runaway hit among children’s books, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling. That title has a startling rank of 40 among all the books sold via amazon.com, with 45 reviews of the book at the site and an average customer review of five out of five stars. (If you’ve had just about enough Christmas cheer, go to amazon.com and type in “Harry Potter”; in addition to Rowling’s bestseller, you’ll find Hanging in Judgment: Religion and the Death Penalty in England, by Harry Potter. It has a sales rank of 453,859.)… An odd, funny little book has arrived at the Chronicle that would make a perfect stocking stuffer for a young adult on your list; it’s Greek Myths Western Style: Toga Tales With an Attitude, by Barbara McBride-Smith, a library information specialist and storyteller in Stillwater, OK. This, for example, is how she begins the chapter on Theseus: “Theseus is a Greek word that means ‘forgetful.’ OK, so it’s not, but it ought to be. … Now, [Theseus’ father] could have said a lot of things that would have become self-fulfulling prophecies about Theseus. He could have said:
‘This boy is about half a bubble off plumb.’
‘This boy’s elevator don’t go all the way to the top.’
‘He’s a taco short of a combination plate.'”
And so on. Plenty of people think this sort of telling is silly and reductive, but it’s more effective than stodgy old plain re-telling of the myths.
Events and Submissions
Mysteries & More bookstore and St. Edward’s will be co-hosting James Ellroy on February 23; no event time is certain yet but this may be Ellroy’s only Texas visit… Veer, a new Internet magazine from Rancho Loco Press in Dallas, is seeking “radical, risky work” that seeks “to extend, transform, or transcend Marxist, Language, and ‘postmodern’ traditions.” Veer accepts submissions of any length, though they do not accept fiction, book reviews, or work that has previously appeared in either serial or book form. Contact rancho-loco-press@airmail.net or write Rancho Loco Press at 1920 Abrams Parkway, #382, Dallas, TX 75214-3915.
This article appears in December 25 • 1998 and December 25 • 1998 (Cover).