It's a Super Special Baby-Sitters Club episode! We were thrilled to be joined by special guest, author Lakita Wilson (Be Real, Mercy Weaver, Sparkle, Pretty Girl County) for this episode. She's a BSC super fan and we have so much to say about Stacey. We're tackling two books, The Truth About Stacey and Stacey and the Fashion Victim. 

We are discussing whether Stacey's diabetes (diabeetus?) is just a stand-in for bigger issues in the 80s, her very weird parents and their truly terrible parenting decisions, and sleepover antics. We're also discussing the truly disturbing events at the heart of Stacey's mystery at the fashion show. Will Stacey become the Fresh Princess of Bellair's or will she have a tragic rooftop accident? Were the gang wars between the BSC and The Agency justified and did they need to involve wearing sandwich boards? We also have thoughts on Watson and his weird relationship with cigars and whether rompers are truly workwear. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via #TheseBooksMadeMe on socials, follow us on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or reach out by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. 

For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Crivens! We're tackling the first installment of the Tiffany Aching series, The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett. Tiffany is a pragmatic and precocious 9-year-old witch, whose brother has been taken by the Queen of the Fairies. She must rely on the help of tiny blue men, the Nac Mac Feegles, to navigate Fairyland to get him back. Gifted by First Sight and Second Thoughts, Tiffany uses her wit and compassion as she journeys into a world unknown to her. Full of wonder, heart and bravery, The Wee Free Men is a wonderful entryway into fantasy for any young (or old) reader! 

In this episode, we hear Hannah's deep connection to Pratchett and his Discworld series, you find out our Nac Mac Feegle names and we talk wax poetic about Pratchett's ability to write a full-fleshed female character (the bar may be a little low for male authors). We hope our fondness for the book and the main character, Tiffany, comes through in our discussion. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via #TheseBooksMadeMe on socials, follow us on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or reach out by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. 

For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Today we are rereleasing our episode on Persepolis to commemorate the life of Marjane Satrapi, the acclaimed Iranian-French writer, artist, filmmaker, and human rights advocate whose work transformed personal memory into a powerful act of witness. Satrapi died on June 4, 2026, at the age of 56, leaving behind a body of work that helped readers around the world better understand Iran, exile, identity, and the enduring importance of freedom.

Born in Iran in 1969, Satrapi rose to international prominence with Persepolis, her groundbreaking graphic memoir about growing up during the Iranian Revolution and its aftermath. Told through stark black-and-white illustrations and an unforgettable narrative voice, Persepolis brought history to life through the eyes of a child and later a young woman navigating political upheaval, cultural displacement, and the search for self. The book became a global bestseller and was later adapted into an award-winning animated film that Satrapi co-directed.

Throughout her career, Satrapi remained a fearless advocate for artistic expression, women's rights, and democratic values. "The real issue for me is human rights, it's the freedom of expression," Satrapi said in an interview. Satrapi's final book, Woman, Life, Freedom (2024) continued her life's work of amplifying issues and voices others wished to silence. Her family attributed her death to sadness over the loss of her husband a year prior. 

For a debut novel, Brown Girl, Brownstones by Paule Marshall sure is a tour de force. Our protagonist, Selina Boyce is caught between her hopeless dreamer father, Deighton, and resilient yet hard-edged mother, Silla, as she navigates adolescence. With the fraught tension between her parents as a backdrop, Selina struggles with feeling unlovable, the complicated feelings of hating and admiring her mother and how best to carve out a space for herself.  

In this episode, we learn that sadly…Hawa did not finish this book BUT she promises to finish it in the indeterminate future. We’ll hold her to it. Heather lets us know her feelings about Deighton (spoiler: he’s worthless). And Heather and Hannah get sucked into the possible local connections to the cult Marshall took inspiration from for the novel. Be on the look out for that deep dive! 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via #TheseBooksMadeMe on socials, follow us on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or reach out by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. 

For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We try to do a game or quiz that relates to the book in every episode, but for The Egypt Game, the game was pretty elaborate. Hawa, Heather, Hannah, and Darlene are attempting to play Timothy Kendall's 70's spin on the ancient Egyptian Game Senet. This game challenged us in ways we weren't expecting, from a 60 some-odd page rule book to a missing throwing stick and perhaps most crucially a typeface so small we literally needed a magnifying glass. We made it work though and now you can enjoy all the highs and lows of Passing Through the Netherworld with us. Is the game cursed? Will Hawa and Hannah ever escape the House of Waters? Will Darlene ever stop rolling? Are throwing sticks the latest greatest ASMR props? Find out as we explore the funerary fun of a very curious game.  

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via #TheseBooksMadeMe on socials, follow us on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or reach out by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. 

For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Were you obsessed with antiquity, myths, and homemade costumes when you were a child? If so, have we got the book for you! This episode we revisit an oldie but a goodie: Zilpha Keatley Snyder's classic children's book, The Egypt Game. We love the nuanced characters, genuinely exciting and surprising plot twists, and relate to Melanie and April's love of imagination games. Hannah relates to being "the keeper of the lashes" even though we all bemoan the health and safety concerns of continuously recycled fake lashes. We enjoyed the hijinks of our core group of five "Egyptians" (plus Security the octopus) and are thrilled by the depiction of a good librarian. We talk about the blending of pretty dark topics (parental abandonment, an actual murder of a child) with the delight of childhood imagination, friendships, and accepting others for who they are and the importance of feeling understood. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via #TheseBooksMadeMe on socials, follow us on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or reach out by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. 

For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

In this episode, we take a sip from the spring of eternal life—or at least from Natalie Babbitt’s Tuck Everlasting—and things get delightfully complicated. We are capping off season 5 with a children's book that is not afraid to take on deep philosophical topics. This is our second episode in a row diving into books centering on immortality, but there are no sparkly vampires with disturbingly ambiguous ethics here, just an immortal toad, an unexpected murder, a disturbing music box (is that Mae Tuck's music?!?), and a little girl who engineers a jail break. Join us as we chat about the Tuck family’s accidental immortality, side-eye the Man in the Yellow Suit’s villainous mustache-twirling, and ponder whether living forever is truly a blessing or just being cursed to a job that you can never retire from. In this episode we learn that Hawa processes human speech that is too fast to be decipherable to anyone else, worry about Jesse's semi-romantic overtures to a ten year old, and discuss the heavy burden of keeping secrets. We’re diving into the magic, the mayhem, and the moral quandaries of a children’s classic that still hits surprisingly hard.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We're back with a continuation of our discussion around Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. In this episode, we explore the toxicity of Bella and Edward's relationship, the problematic depictions of Indigenous peoples and the influence of the Twilight movies. We also take a Buzzfeed quiz to find out which Twilight character we are (spoiler: none of us were quite happy with our results). 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

This episode feels like what we've worked toward for the past few seasons. How can we have a library podcast and not do the pop culture juggernaut that was Twilight? Twilight by Stephenie Meyer (yep she spells Stephanie that way) follows Isabella "Bella" Swan on her move from sunny and warm Phoenix, AZ to the cold, rainy and wet Forks, WA. She stands out as the new girl. But it's not just corny 17-year-olds boys paying Bella special attention. She's also caught the eye of possibly the oldest high schooler, the moody and broody Edward Cullen. If Bella isn't "like the other girls" then the Cullens are not like the other quasi adopted families out there. The siblings date each other ("they're like together, together"), they don't talk to anyone, and well..they're undead. What follows is a romance for the ages, perfectly situated in 2005 when we couldn't quite pick up on the massive red flags behind our side-swept bangs. 

In hindsight, someone should've stopped those of us who read it as teens. But, what doesn't kill you makes you... a vampire? We've grown up and learned a few lessons. Now we can deliver this conversation from a more healed place. In this episode we question Bella's survival instincts, Edward's stalker tendencies and the family dynamics at play in this book. And while people argue whether Breaking Dawn should've been 2 movies (it shouldn't have been...), we hope listeners understand why this episode had to be a two-parter. We just had so much to say!

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

The Poet X was Elizabeth Acevedo's breakout novel, winning the Printz and Pura Belpre awards and becoming the target of many challenges and even a lawsuit attempting to keep it off of school shelves. We are standing firmly behind this book, even if it reduced Heather and Darlene to tears and maybe hasn't aged as well as it could have when it comes to Drake. We adore Xiomara's strength and resilience as she confronts family troubles, experiences a crisis of faith, weathers harassment at school, and navigates first love. We're discussing the ubiquity of harassment as a teen girl, the impacts of our parents' baggage, and whether Twin's going to have the kind of happy ending we are optimistic about for Xiomara. We're also taking a pretty strange quiz to find out what kind of poets we'd be, but really, we'd all probably just prefer to be really fab slam poets like Xiomara. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson follows Melinda Sordino as she navigates the aftermath of her sexual assault at a high school party. Unable to speak about what happened to her, Melinda also has to deal with losing her friends, being ostracized by her peers, and having parents who can't seem to parent. Some small beacons of light in her life are her newfound friend, David, who stands up for his beliefs and encourages Melinda to do the same and her art teacher Mr. Freeman, who definitely knows something is up with Melinda and encourages her to speak through her art. In this episode, we discuss the concept of problem novels ("misery porn"), the portrayal of teachers in YA novels and Maria drops some Fairmount High School lore. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We are back with special-expert-guest-on-all-things-BSC Kelsey for Part 2. We're still talking about how arson isn't the answer; because really, arson isn't the answer and perhaps that wasn't addressed strongly enough in the books. In this continuation of our exploration of all things Mary Anne, we're figuring out foreshadowing that doesn't pay off, the prevalence of babysitting 101 classes, single-parent stigma, and why Mary Anne cares so much about her shoe falling off. Fashion is a really big deal in these books and we identified the primary fashion types: New York, quirky, Steve Jobs as a 12 year old with a visor. In part 2 we're trying to figure out where our fashion choices land us as BSC girls with a helpful Buzzfeed quiz. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We are back with more Baby-Sitters Club books, y'all and one of these is all about banned books (and arson) so you know we couldn't keep it to just one episode. We're dissecting the poorly named Mary Anne Saves the Day, the aptly named Logan Likes Mary Anne, and the really burying the lede title, Mary Anne and the Library Mystery. We've got Kelsey back with us discussing everything from the OG covers to Mary Anne's creepy controlling father and yet again, Stacey's diabetes. There's really a lot going on in these three little books and we have feelings about all of them. We have questions too. Why does poor Logan have to audition for the BSC but Dawn doesn't? How many dances can one middle school have? Why oh why did the audiobook narrator make Logan sound like Foghorn Leghorn? Also, why is Mrs. Kishi so wound up about the We Love Book Banning group when she won't even stock Nancy Drews? We are desperately looking for answers to these questions and more in this trip down memory lane with Mary Anne Spier. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

2 brothers, 1 girl, 0 chance we're onboard with this love triangle. In The Summer I Turned Pretty, we follow Isabel "Belly" Conklin, who hasn't had much luck with boys finding her attractive, especially the one boy she's been pining over for forever, Conrad Fisher. That all changes the summer she turns 16, where not only does she catch Conrad's attention, but also the attention of his younger brother, Jeremiah. Add in a third love interest, Cam Cameron, and what follows is a messy summer for Belly where she's navigating her feelings, her newfound attractiveness, and her insecurities. 

In this episode, we talk about pretty privilege, the damaging effects of the broody guy trope and the depiction of female friendships. Heather clocks Jennie Han's age as a fellow Xennial (she's really not 60, guys), Hannah tells us about the Westermarck effect and we find out Hawa really doesn't read our group chat. We may not be onboard with this brother love triangle but the book gave us a lot to talk about. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Wow. Truly, we are so glad we took a detour to the affluent and completely bananas town of Sweet Valley, California to meet Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield. These books have everything: an evil twin, a greaser who carjacks people and takes them to dive bars, an art teacher named Stuart who has no boundaries, and a lie detector test that measures your pulse with a thimble. In this episode we dive into books 1 and 57 of the enormous Sweet Valley High series, Double Love and Teacher Crush. Who knew books about high school sororities (?!?) and mandatory electives could be so compelling? In this episode of TBMM, we play the vintage SVH board game, learn about Hawa's twinness, hear about Hannah's faux twinness, and Hawa implies that Heather is 60. These books are really struggling to pass the Bechdel test, but we kind of love them. There are no deep themes, beautiful writing, or well developed characters here, folks, just teen soap opera nonsense that you can't put down. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Music during the author bio is Neon Waves by Starfall. 

In a TBMM first, we read a book with substantially different editions! That's right, we all came to the podcasting table calling the main character by different names. We got that sorted out (and we're defaulting to the most current edition) and dove right in to this lovely book, The Birchbark House, by Louise Erdrich. This book made us laugh and cry and everything in between as we follow Omakakiins and her family through the seasons. This week we discuss whether Old Tallow is a feminist legend, whether a baby can be reincarnated as a bird, and the pretty disturbing origins of the smallpox vaccine. We compare and contrast today's title with the Little House books and examine femininity and our central characters' relationships with their environment. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

While Canada has Anne of Green Gables about a girl growing up in the late 19th century, America has the Little House on the Prairie series. This episode we look at 2 books from the Prairie series, Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie by author Laura Ingalls Wilder. These semi-autobiographical books follow Laura, her parents (Charles and Caroline) and her sisters (Mary and Carrie) from their quiet life in woods of Wisconsin to their perilous journey out to the prairie in the Kansas. Given the time period, Wilder and the Prairie series are not without controversy. We discuss women's roles during the time period, Charles's hasty and ill-advised decisions, and the overt racist depictions of Native Americans. We recognize these books' place in the children's literature canon but we also discuss what space they occupy in our present day. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We love a little 90s nostalgia and The Hate U Give delivers on that front. It also delivers on the well drawn characters and hard hitting plot elements front. Angie Thomas took us on an emotional roller coaster with Starr in this book and we laughed, cried, and loved right along with her. We loved the Tupac references and Maverick's take on Harry Potter and cheered for Starr when she grabbed that megaphone. We are discussing all sorts of big issues in this book from microaggressions, code switching, police brutality, and interracial relationships. As always we learned something about ourselves and each other along the way. We narrowly avoid a tragic Vanilla Ice moment and debate whether being known as the Fresh Princess is cute or cringe. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

We're back post-merge and our Mattel and Pleasant tribes are now the Pattel tribe. Will there be friction in the now combined tribe? Who will be the first member of the jury? Will any of the immunity idols come into play? We're debating personality traits, just how far Katniss's Rue guilt will go, whether Kirsten even needs the money given her dead man's chest of treasure back home, and much more in this, our final TBMM tribal council. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

Have you ever wished your favorite characters from different books could meet each other? Have you ever wished they could fight each other for food, resources, and prizes while sleeping in the sand in Fiji? No? Well we have. In this very special season ending edition of TBMM, we bring back a special guest host, Survivor Superfan Kelsey, to Jeff Probst us through a battle between some of our favorite heroines from past TBMM episodes. Will Katniss quietly dominate with her skills from the arena? Will Kirsten accidentally burn down the camp? Is Turtle going to kick her teammates if they lose a challenge or will she Russell Hantz her way to immunity idol glory? And what exactly is a pastry bar and will it be enough to keep Claudia playing? We contemplate these questions and more as we decide which of our girls will outwit, outplay, and outlast. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

We're back with part 2 of Gabi, a Girl in Pieces because we needed more than one episode to sing its praises. What can we say, Gabi, a Girl in Pieces just does so much right. Gabi is a complex and interesting character, who doesn't dim her light for any man. The book accurately captured the vibes of border towns, like Tijuana, and the realities of meth addiction. It even managed to be a much better depiction of teen sexuality than Planned Parenthood Pamphlet, Forever by Judy Blume (the bar is super low, we know...). 

Honestly, Gabi's only fault is she leaves us hanging on whether the wings she had to sign a waiver for at Pepe's House of Wings were truly that hot. The Hot Ones fans in us want to know. And for our quiz, we found the answer to, "Which Romantic Poet Are you" and spoiler, someone did not like her results. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

We've reached the final book of the season and boy was it a good one! So good in fact, we're splitting it up into two parts. In Gabi, a Girl in Pieces by Isabel Quintero, our central character, Gabi, is smart, opinionated and shockingly self-aware. It's that self-awareness that helps her craft inspiring and thought-provoking poetry that tackles sexism, anti-fat rhetoric and personal family dynamics. 

Despite the novel being released 10 years ago, Gabi, a Girl in Pieces still feels fresh and relevant. It's partly helped by not relying on phones or social media, which seems intentional as it follows in the footsteps of another piece of YA media that also forewent the use of cellphones -- Juno (which is referenced in the novel). But the other part is how strongly is captures the teenage experience. It even got Heather to recall her own mortifying experience (we all sympathize, Heather!). 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe, on Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

Who doesn't love a book steeped in myth, legend, and local culture? Well, we certainly love them and are leaning into our fangirling over Akata Witch by Nnedi Okorafor.  Sunny is tearing up the football pitch at the Zuma games, getting in touch with her spirit face, and finding her place in her coven. We do have some questions though. For example, can Darlene make it through the author bio without laughing about Dr. Okorafor's cats? Is Anatov the best teacher we've encountered in a book we've covered for the pod even if he frequently almost gets his students killed? Are all of the spirit faces in Sugar Cream's office waiting for a new leopard person to be born or is it more like a Hall of Fame of great spirit faces? If we get really brave we may just ask the author on twitter. We're diving deep into bodily humors and archetypes, depictions of multilingual communities, and summoning masquerades. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

Special acknowledgement of music by Alexander Nakarada in this episode. 

Oh, for Pete’s sake, we can’t fathom why this book was ever banned! While it didn’t live up to Hawa’s spicy expectations, we thoroughly enjoyed the first book in the Anastasia Krupnik series by Lois Lowry. Our charming protagonist may just be the president of the Precocious Children’s Club. 

In this episode we discuss the Krupniks’ parenting, the devastating effect of Alzheimer’s and our theories about what the heck is on Washburn Cummings’ T-shirt. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

It's a special 4th of July episode! What's more American than relying on child labor to fix a failing healthcare system? That sounds grim, but we continue to enjoy our time with the girls of BSC. We return to our discussion of Claudia with a leisurely tour of what is possibly the saddest book in the Baby-sitters Club canon, Claudia and the Sad Goodbye. We stray a bit from the beaten path in this episode as we discuss neighborhood grandmas, a Funfetti catastrophe, Darlene crying at work, and whether the real cause of Mimi's surprising responses to blood transfusions might be caused by a vampire in Stoneybrook. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We are diving back into The Baby-Sitters Club and we've brought a special friend along for the ride. Kelsey proves to be the non-diabetic Stacey of the podcast because she goes away but she always comes back. While Kelsey might be Stacey, we kind of all wanted to be Claudia at some point with her junk food stash, illicit Nancy Drews, love of boys with soap opera names, and "New York" clothes. In this episode, we cover the first two Claudia installments of the BSC and debate whether Janine was really the "mean" one after all and are horribly disappointed in the resolution to The Phantom Phone Calls.  We're exploring IQ tests, spilled jello incidents, diabetes (again!), and the sad state of affairs at the Stoneybrook public library.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles and videos about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

History of Diabetes: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/317484#modern-treatment

Updating the Baby-sitters Club: https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/the-baby-sitters-club-was-always-progressive-now-netflixs-version-is-empowering-a-new-generation/2020/06/30/6ec83810-b63d-11ea-aca5-ebb63d27e1ff_story.html

Is it a memoir? Is it fiction? Who can say when your author and main character are both wunderkind business people. This episode takes us to the Calivista Motel, a charming motel operating on the backs of children and horribly exploited immigrants.  When you are an 10 year old front desk clerk, you're responsible for a lot - checking people in, locking bad guys out, making keys, your English and Math homework, and chasing down conmen car thieves. In Front Desk by Kelly Yang, Mia Tang (see what she did with the name there -Mia/Me...never mind) does all of this while fending off the affections of a sparkly pencil thief and becoming baby Howard Johnson.  We talk English language learning, terrible teachers, and just how feasible a motel owning co-op really is. In a first for the pod, our expert is also our guest host and does Yesenia ever have some stories to tell about interesting guests and toilet catastrophes.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Instagram @TheseBooksMadeMe, Twitter @PGCMLS, with #TheseBooksMadeMe on any social platform or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some books and articles as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Chinese immigration in the 90s in a circa 1990 article:
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-01-15-ss-95-story.html

An overview of Taiwanese immigrants in the US:
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/taiwanese-immigrants-united-states-2008

Ever felt overshadowed by a sibling or struggled to find your own identity? Katherine Paterson's "Jacob Have I Loved" brings these raw emotions to the surface, and we're peeling back the layers. Join us as we navigate Sarah Louise's turbulent journey, from her envy-ridden youth on the Chesapeake Bay to her quest for self-recognition as a nurse midwife (or alternatively, her journey from maybe a 5 in Maryland to a 10 in a small Appalachian Mountains town). 

Our conversation takes some unexpected turns as we tackle themes like teenage crushes, emotional abuse, and the generational dynamics that steer Sarah Louise's path. We get hung up on the romantic relationships in this book and Hannah reveals she has a very forgiving nature. In this exploration of "Jacob Have I Loved," we promise a journey through the complex waters of sibling rivalry, with a touch of humor and a crab-related quiz to boot (because Chesapeake Bay, duh!).

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Instagram @thesebooksmademe or on Twitter @PGCMLS,  with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Forever was a real headscratcher for us. We *think* Judy Blume was trying to disseminate information about teen sexual health in an easily digestible way but we wanted to check in with an expert. In this frank conversation, we untangle the complex dynamics of the book's central relationship and contrast the sexual health services of the past with the ways teen access health services today.  Our expert thinks this book may be a miss for the teens of today but sees a role for podcasts (!) in sexual health education in 2024. Join us for a deep dive into consent, STI prevention, healthy relationships, and responsible authorship. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Instagram @thesebooksmademe or on Twitter @PGCMLS,  with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Oh Judy Blume, you are officially our most frequently covered author on TBMM and oh my, have you ever given us some wild rides. We weren't sure what to expect when we revisited Forever, one of the most frequently challenged books of all time, but it wasn't Ralph. The first rule of the Judy Blume fan club is you do NOT talk about Ralph. Unfortunately for us, we kind of had to talk about Ralph since the whole book is about him, which might be  problematic from a feminist perspective. We struggle to reconcile this book with the rest of Judy Blume's oeuvre, struggle to understand why anyone would possibly like Michael, struggle to get through a paragraph without laughing... struggle with the overuse of ellipses in the book... we just generally struggle. We discuss whether the book could have just been an educational pamphlet, dissect Michael and Kath's deeply weird relationship, and try to determine what the take home was supposed to be about Sybil. Hawa makes a shocking disclosure and Hannah is slinging zingers.  It's an IUD ad, it's a teen soap opera, it'll ruin the name Ralph for you. It's Forever by Judy Blume.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Instagram @thesebooksmademe or on Twitter @PGCMLS,  with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

How many times have you read The Bluest Eye by the legendary Toni Morrison, and why is it never enough times? In this episode, we all revisit this literary classic and realize there are several interpretations and layers we missed in previous readings. Like, did you ever consider that Pecola is Jesus and the prostitutes (*ahem* China, Poland and Miss Marie) are the 3 archangels? Neither did we until Heather talked through her religious interpretation. Whether you agree or not, one thing is undeniable, Morrison was an expert writer, deftly weaving in her narrative topics such as community, beauty standards, sexuality, trauma and prejudice in her perfectly lyrical tone. Her works beg to be sat with, processed and dissected. And sometimes it's dissected in all the wrong ways, as it's one of the most commonly banned books. But no worries, we'll always have silent rebels like our guest, Tiana Davis, who read it for the first time in 9th grade despite her school's efforts to ban it. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

With a May 8th birthday, Katniss Everdeen is a Taurus not a Sagittarius (Latin for 'archer') but we challenge you to name a more iconic wielder of bow and arrows in pop culture. It seemed therefore essential that we seek out an expert to talk to us about the venerable art of archery. We connected with Hannah, an analyst who works for the federal government and enjoys both archery and young adult books in her spare time. Not only did we learn about different types of archery, bows, and the difficulty of making arrows but the logistics of pulling from a quiver and just moving with the presence of a long curved 'stick' over your shoulder . You'll never think about running with a bow the same way again. Come for the ranged weapon discussion, stay for the thoughtful discussion of young adult literature and Katniss as character.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Much like Katniss Everdeen, in this episode we are faced with some very tough choices. Four librarians enter the podcasting studio, only one will leave! Actually no librarian podcasters had to fight to the death during the making of this episode, though we did learn that Darlene would simply opt out of the Hunger Games, so I think we can safely assume she's not library Mockingjay. That's right, we're taking a trip down horrible child fatality memory lane this episode with Suzanne Collins's YA blockbuster, The Hunger Games. We learned a lot about weapons, wound care, and wingmen ('sup, Thresh) as we returned to Panem. We dissect the ambiguous morality of the citizens of the Capitol, rue the author's real struggle with names, and briefly debate Team Peeta vs. Team Gale (or in possibly Heather's worst hot take ever, Team Haymitch).

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some books and articles as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Suzanne Collins revisits the Games: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/18/books/suzanne-collins-talks-about-the-hunger-games-the-books-and-the-movies.html

Feminism and The Hunger Games (note, this is a thesis and long but intriguing!): https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1126&context=etds

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we're revisiting some of our favorite episodes! To close out HHM, here's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez. If you missed this episode the first time around, it's back with some bonus recommendations for readalikes.

This episode we dive into Julia Alvarez's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, the 1991 reverse chronology story of four sisters who flee to the United States from the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic. As we look through Yolanda's eyes at the world of New York City and the Dominican Republic in the 60s, 70s, and 80s,  we dissect Alvarez's depiction of class, race, acculturation, and machismo.  We delve into the dynamics of sisterhood, boyfriends with ludicrous names, the ubiquity of certain aspects of adolescence, and  complicated families. We also learn that some of us are Sandies but some of us are Lauras. Finally, we are taking it to the streets, er... stacks, with our new Person in the Stacks segment and asking what tastes like home. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we're revisiting some of our favorite episodes! First up is The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. If you missed this episode the first time around, it's back with some bonus recommendations for readalikes. 

In this episode, we're spending time with Esperanza Cordero, her family, friends, and neighbors from 1984's groundbreaking novel, The House on Mango Street. This paragon of the Chicano/a literary canon challenges us to define it - is it a novel, a novella, an epic poem - and has itself been the subject of frequent challenges for its unflinching look at the lives and loves of its characters. We discuss scary nuns, high heels, uncles who just want to dance (or uncles who don't want Hawa to dance), and the hardships and joys of womanhood as we explore this classic work by Sandra Cisneros. We also chat with Professor Randy Ontiveros about the importance of the book to Chicano/a literature.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

We had such a good experience with Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. that we decided to go back to the Judy Blume well as a palate cleanser of sorts post-Sisterhood. Well, you know how it's really gross when you drink orange juice when you were expecting milk? That was sort of how using Blubber as a palate cleanser went. This book was just not what we remembered or what we were expecting. We explored the bullying hellscape that is Ms. Minnish's 5th grade classroom as we tried to suss out the message of the book. We talk about the Blume to horror pipeline, learn about Hawa's hatred of celery and mint, and share our own childhood memories but nothing quite compares to the nightmare that is poor Linda's life in this book.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles and videos about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Diet fads over time: https://www.harpersbazaar.com/beauty/diet-fitness/g15893190/popular-diet-the-year-you-were-born/

Judy Blume on censorship: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jul/11/judy-blume-interview-forever-writer-children-young-adults

We couldn't decide what genre A Wrinkle in Time was but we definitely considered science fiction. To further explore our genre-confusion, we decided to talk to an expert about the actual math and science in A Wrinkle in Time. Is it fuzzy math? Is it fantasy? Is breathing flowers in an oxygen starved atmosphere really just a 1960s fever dream? We find out when we talk to Dr. Mike Duncan, an optical physicist with decades of experience and a personal connection to our book.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.  

We're no strangers to books with religious overtones or stories meant to impart a moral lesson, but this episode's journey to Camazotz with Madeleine L'Engle's classic work A Wrinkle in Time is definitely the most overtly religious book we've tackled.  Jesus, Charles Wallace... or Jesus= Charles Wallace? We're not entirely sure. We're also not entirely sure if our extreme irritation with a 5 year old makes us terrible people. This book is a straight up romp where plot is concerned, but we lose the signal a bit with what the author is saying about gender roles, the nature of evil, faith, physics, and the world. We're discussing all things Who, Which and Whatsit, tesseracts, pulsating brains, and soft fluffy beasts to try to figure it out though!

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles and videos about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

The enduring impact of the book: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/remarkable-influence-wrinkle-in-time-180967509/

A remarkable journey: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2007/09/rereading-madeleine-l-engle.html

Sci-fi or no?: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/66705/how-wrinkle-time-changed-sci-fi-forever

This is now officially an Ann M. Martin stan podcast. Ok, maybe not since our loyalties are divided between the many great authors we've revisited, but we are firmly team Ann. This episode we embark on our long-awaited journey into The Baby-Sitters Club. We are beginning at the only possible starting point: Kristy Thomas. We are tackling Kristy's Great Idea and Kristy's Big Day. Are you a Claudia or a Mary Anne? Maybe we were all just Claudia all along. These books explore feminism, demonstrate the value of a solid business plan, and offer some really weird takes on juvenile diabetes. We learn how many adults it takes to make an appetizer, discuss deadbeat dads and decorum, and unexpectedly uncover a potential bombshell about the CEO of a hot cocoa conglomerate during our Person in the Stacks segments.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles and videos about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Feminism in the BSC:  https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-feminist-legacy-of-the-baby-sitters-club

Representation in the BSC: https://bookriot.com/queer-history-of-the-baby-sitters-club/

All those original covers: https://the-niche.blog/2020/09/09/all-131-baby-sitters-club-book-covers-ranked-by-gayness/

These Books Made Me... kind of upset to be honest. This week we're tackling local-at-one-point author Ann Brashares and her homage to pretty much everything that was wrong about the late 90s, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. This episode has everything: a book with casual racism in the second paragraph, really dodgy hygiene practices, flirting with your stepbrother, a love story that takes place internationally because it would have been illegal in the US, a heartbreaking cancer death, and more body image issues than Seventeen magazine.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some books and articles as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

It was tough having a body in the late 90s!
https://annehelen.substack.com/p/the-millennial-vernacular-of-fatphobia

The OG Traveling Pants:
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/04/the-worlds-oldest-pants-are-a-3000-year-old-engineering-marvel/

Please wash your pants (especially jeans you share with your friends for a whole summer)!
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pg5b3n/how-many-days-can-you-wear-the-same-pair-of-underwear

We're back with part 2 of Anne of Green Gables, because we, like Anne, can talk the hind leg off a mule. Anne's a capital R Romantic and obsessed with beauty. She sees it everywhere from the Lake of Shining Waters to the fashion of the day. Speaking of the fashion a la mode, we delve a little deeper into the trends and beauty standards of Anne's (and Lucy Maud Montgomery's) time. Once again we ponder whether the 1985 Sullivan rendition might have improved the story a bit by abandoning the bank failure storyline and having (spoiler) Matthew die in the harness as it were. We're all a little traumatized by film Matthew's death and at least one of us is still heartbroken over Jonathan Crombie's death. All of us are quite torn about which adult in Anne's life would make the best adoptive parent and we chat with some library users about their own adventures with runaway imaginations. We learn which character from the book we each are too. Will this quiz be a perfect graveyard of buried hopes?

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some books and articles as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Don't internalize beauty norms, Anne!  https://misfortuneofknowing.wordpress.com/2014/02/27/dear-anne-shirley-redheads-can-wear-pink-2/

She's always a woman to me... https://scholarworks.bgsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1000&context=gsw_pub

Passing that Bechdel test with flying colors: https://digitalrepository.trincoll.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1522&context=theses

This podcast crew has so much in common with the heroine of Lucy Maud Montgomery's classic, Anne of Green Gables. We too prattle on incessantly, have ill-advised adventures in hair dyeing, and we're big in Japan... one might say we're kindred spirits. In this episode we take a turn down the White Way of Delight and visit Avonlea as we return to a book that's an absolute mashed potatoes of a book for some of us. We discuss place as character, try to decipher Rachel Lynde's interesting brand of feminism, rhapsodize over the magic of childhood, and delve into the stigma faced by both orphans and redheads in the 19th century. We adore LMM's vivid landscape descriptions and economical writing, but we wonder if the 1985 Sullivan adaptation didn't improve Anne's puffed sleeve dress a bit by making it blue instead of... brown?!?

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some books and articles as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Make it Fashion! (Anne edition) https://fashionhistory.fitnyc.edu/1880-1889/

You're sick? How Romantic! https://hms.harvard.edu/magazine/handed-down/fever-dreams

The Edwardian era: https://www.anneofgreengables.com/blog-posts/the-edwardian-era-and-anne-of-green-gables

Barnardo's Boys:
https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2015/06/19/a-timeline-of-barnardos-and-other-child-emigration-programs.html

We discussed at length about Jane Austen's most famous novel, "Pride & Prejudice" (in 2 parts!). But in case you still had a taste for more Jane Austen content, we've included an expert interview with Ingrid Satelmajer, a professor at the University of Maryland, who has taught a class called titled, "Jane Austen: Her World, Our Obsession".  She discusses Austen's enduring legacy, what makes Elizabeth such a compelling protagonist, and how her students have engaged with Austen in a more modern setting.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.  

We're back with part the second of our journey to Netherfield and Pemberley with the Bennet family. We delve into Lizzie as a character, whether Mr. Darcy really was in want of a wife, and who really got the short end of the stick in the Lydia and Wickham union. We discuss the long reach of Austen's works and marvel at her incredible skill for writing snappy dialogue. Most of us are hoisted with our own petard when all the shade we threw at Mr. Bennet comes back to bite us in a truly tragic quiz. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit out blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

This episode we are taking a leisurely stroll through the gentle hills of Hertfordshire and the genteel romances of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice.  We're talking classics, love-hate relationships, £5,000 bachelors, loveless marriages, Mr. Bennet's zingers, and the cost of living index in Regency period England.  Our most subplot-laden book yet produces our most complicated plot summary and we marvel at how Jane Austen kept all of these threads together without major editorial help. We have so much to say about Lizzie and Darcy and this very important book that we are breaking this episode into two parts. Just as you can love both Colin Firth and Matthew MacFayden's Mr. Darcy, so too can you love episodes 1 and 2 of our very chatty dance with Pride and Prejudice.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit out blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode. If you'd like to learn more about some of the topics we touch on, here's some links you might enjoy:

The crunchiest economic explanation of money in Pride and Prejudice we could find! https://jasna.org/publications-2/persuasions-online/vol36no1/toran/

The complicated Cassandra Austen: https://lithub.com/cassandra-austen-literary-arsonist-or-a-heroine-in-her-own-right/

This episode finds us in the ambiguously located town of River Heights with teen sleuth, Nancy Drew. The Nancy series has mega intergenerational nostalgia vibes for a lot of us —that row of yellow spines on a shelf transports many of us straight back to childhood. But revisiting our Nancy-love by starting with book 1, The Secret of the Old Clock, produces some mixed emotions. Where are Bess and George? Why is Nancy blonde, wasn't she Titian-haired? While we may have been fuzzy on some of the details, Nancy's escapades are still a pretty wild romp. She's saving babies with massive head injuries, chasing a violent gang of thieves, helping little old ladies, and benefitting from all sorts of violations of attorney-client privilege. This book has everything... missing wills, two tragic boating accidents, a ripped evening gown, and a Euclidean lever. This episode has everything too... more sound effects, The Stratemeyer Syndicate, legal opinions, and a major spoiler for our next episode.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit out blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Midred Benson: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/adventurous-writer-who-brought-Nancy-Drew-to-life-180969479/

Changes from the 30s to the 50s revision: https://library.csun.edu/SCA/Peek-in-the-Stacks/nancy-drew

If the foundation is a lie, is anything real? This episode we look at identity, trust, and family as we dive into Angela Johnson's award winning book, Heaven. Marley's world is turned upside down when she learns that nothing is what it seems and her (spoiler alert) uncle is really her dad and the people who raised her are really her aunt and uncle.  All in all, it's a real doozy of a revelation for anyone, much less a child. In this episode we try to figure out what the heck is going on with Shuggy Maple and bemoan some pretty poor editing when it comes to Shuggy's mom's name. We are perplexed by Uncle Jack and wonder whether he has taken hobocore a little too far. We ponder why on earth a 14 year old girl is allowed to go daytripping with a 20 year old man and try to figure out a seemingly dodgy child support situation. We also really wish people still wrote love letters —the pen and paper kind, not the slide into my DMs kind.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles and videos about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Kinship adoptions: https://adoptioncouncil.org/publications/the-hidden-hurdles-and-benefits-of-kinship-care-and-adoption/

Angela Johnson interview: https://www.ohiochannel.org/video/an-interview-with-ohio-author-angela-johnson

We are traipsing through the land of Kyria this week on our unnecessarily teeny tiny feet as we revisit Gail Carson Levine's Newbery Honor book Ella Enchanted. Poor Ella of Frell has been cursed with the "gift" of obedience in this reimagining of the Cinderella story. We try to decipher the moral of the story, debate the rules and regulations of "small magic," and rue that Ella is really lacking in wokeness. Teresa laments the Shrekification of Ella Enchanted in the movie adaptation of the book, and we explore the not-like-other-girls trope, which leads to a startling not-like-other-girls declaration from Marisa.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit out blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here's a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Gail Carson Levine talks to Cynthia Leitich Smith: https://cynthialeitichsmith.com/lit-resources/read/authors/interviews/gailcarsonlevine/

Issues in adaptation: https://screenrant.com/ella-enchanted-film-book-comparison/

Fairytale retellings: https://bookriot.com/fairytale-retellings/

Neil Gaiman gave us a children's fantasy horror book for the ages with Coraline,  which follows its titular character through a dark adventure like no other complete with performing mice, human-like creatures with buttons for eyes, a talking cat and a humanoid arachnid soul-stealing witch.  In this episode we discuss Gaiman's penchant for borrowing from classic children's literature, his quotability and his deft ability at sneaking in life lessons (dad-isms) without having his work feel moralizing. One of our hosts also makes the ultimate faux pas ('It's Coraline, not Caroline. Coraline.').

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Neil Gaiman on libraries: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/oct/15/neil-gaiman-future-libraries-reading-daydreaming

Neil Gaiman on fear and scary stories: https://www.themarginalian.org/2014/03/20/neil-gaiman-ghost-stories/

We are back for season 3 with a coming of age story told in reverse. This episode we dive into Julia Alvarez's How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, the 1991 reverse chronology story of four sisters who flee to the United States from the Trujillo regime in the Dominican Republic. As we look through Yolanda's eyes at the world of New York City and the Dominican Republic in the 60s, 70s, and 80s,  we dissect Alvarez's depiction of class, race, acculturation, and machismo.  We delve into the dynamics of sisterhood, boyfriends with ludicrous names, the ubiquity of certain aspects of adolescence, and  complicated families. We also learn that some of us are Sandies but some of us are Lauras. Finally, we are taking it to the streets, er... stacks, with our new Person in the Stacks segment and asking what tastes like home.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Rafael Trujillo: https://www.biography.com/dictator/rafael-trujillo

The Parsley Massacre: https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/10/07/555871670/80-years-on-dominicans-and-haitians-revisit-painful-memories-of-parsley-massacre

Which Garcia Girl are you?  https://www.buzzfeed.com/thesebooksmademe/which-garcia-girl-are-you-78z2e2u4rp

The Westing Game gave young readers a layered and complex mystery to solve and gave Ellen Raskin a Newbery medal. In this episode we discuss our heroine, Turtle Wexler, and her 15 fellow players in the Westing Game, and appreciate how richly drawn the characters are (except for Theo) in a book that is jam packed with main characters. We examine the themes of personal growth, being true to yourself, and found family. We try to decipher the true message of the book and debate whether the book is a paean to capitalism or low key progressive.  And, in a These Books Made Me first, we give plaudits for excellence in editorial work after being impressed by the tightly written and totally cohesive puzzle that is Sam Westing's game.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some articles and websites as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Capitalist or no? https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/the-westing-game-a-tribute-to-labor-that-became-a-dark-comedy-of-american-capitalism

The Westing Game online exhibit: https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu/the-westing-game-manuscript/

The Cover Art of Ellen Raskin: https://www.flickr.com/photos/crossettlibrary/albums/72157624916884152

Marjane Satrapi's groundbreaking graphic memoir Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood chronicles the life of a young girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In this episode we discuss the experience of reading graphic novels, the impact of Satrapi's illustration style, and the importance of this work in establishing non-serialized graphics as a legitimate genre of literature. We look at class, religion, and cultural memory through the eyes of Marji and wonder about Marjane's intended audience and how well the book resonates for readers who don't have pre-existing knowledge of Iranian history and culture (spoiler - it hits!). We consult with an Iranian-American millennial about the impact of the book in that community and we play a round of "name that tune" with some of the songs of Marji's childhood.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Emma Watson interviews Marjane Satrapi: https://www.vogue.com/article/emma-watson-interviews-marjane-satrapi

Women and the Islamic Revolution: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/article/reconstructed-lives-women-and-irans-islamic-revolution

Satrapi interview about the film version of the book: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2008/mar/29/biography

This episode finds us in the brutal halls of middle school with Maleeka Madison, a 12 year old girl struggling with self-esteem, peer pressure, and grief in Sharon Flake's The Skin I'm In. Flake's almost 25 year old award winning book takes a hard look at colorism, the burden of low expectations, and the importance of teachers who want to be in their classrooms and in their school communities. We discuss how casually cruel middle schoolers can be to each other, skewed power dynamics in friendships, and cycles of grief and trauma. We also try to figure out just how meta the message about the power of stories and the written word is in this book. Special guest Alicia D. Williams joins us to discuss her own writing about colorism and we use a game of MASH to predict Maleeka's future.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Notes from the field - non-traditional route to classroom experiences: https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2013/09/i-quit-teach-for-america/279724/

Talking colorism with kids:
https://colorismhealing.com/brief-introduction-colorism-children-young-adults/

E.L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler has endured on library shelves as many older Newbery books often do. In this episode we talk about whether the 1967 mystery cum adventure story still earns that spot on the shelf. We discuss Claudia Kincaid as a role model and possible queer feminist icon and also have a lot of feelings about the Met's admission policies. We look at epistolary writing style, parentless child tropes, and discuss whether inflation and technology have ruined madcap children's adventures. We also consult an expert who has served on the Newbery Award committee and Audrey and Kelsey fight over a Face Vase.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some books and articles as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

The Met's not free anymore: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/arts/design/met-museum-admissions.html
Great garage sale finds: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/618643/amazing-yard-sale-finds
What happened to automats?: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/automat-history

In this episode we are diving into one of the books in the comprehensive Alice series (25 books!) by children's literature paragon Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. Alice in April covers one very dramatic month in the life of Alice McKinley. Journey with us and Alice through the awkwardness of middle school, complete with inappropriate nicknaming and sick burns about genitalia. We discuss some of the tough topics contained in this book, including death of a parent, child abuse, and suicide. While there are some heavy topics in the book, we also explore some lighter subjects and find out that one of our hosts retained virtually nothing from social studies class and another has a history of wearing lingerie over her clothes instead of under. We consult an expert on the state of Wyoming to find out why being named Wyoming might be a real compliment.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover some tough topics in this episode and in lieu of links to articles, we'd like to share some resources for anyone who needs them:

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ 1-800-273-8255

Childhelp Hotline: https://childhelphotline.org/   1-800-422-4453

National Runaway Safeline: https://www.1800runaway.org/ 1-800-RUNAWAY

Beverly Cleary's many books for young readers have endured the decades with her boisterous heroine Ramona Quimby remaining a perennial favorite for both parents and children. In this episode we examine the original bookends of the Ramona books, beginning with Beezus and Ramona and ending with Ramona Forever. We discuss being the eldest child, the most beautiful doll names, the perils of returning damaged library books, and dead cats.  We also tackle the topic of sibling dynamics by consulting some true experts, our own siblings. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some books and articles as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Historical pregnancy weight gain recommendations: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK235249/

Beverly Cleary:
https://www.readingrockets.org/books/interviews/cleary

Birth order theory:
https://www.webmd.com/parenting/what-to-know-about-birth-order#:~:text=A%20researcher%20named%20Alfred%20Adler,in%20shaping%20a%20child's%20personality.

Many of us vividly remembered Their Eyes Were Watching God as the book where a person gets rabies and is shot. Tea Cake's demise left us with so many questions so Hannah consulted experts Bill Wasik and Monica Murphy, the authors of Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus. They gave us such a fascinating interview that we couldn't bear to cut any of it to fit it into the main episode. We present the interview in its entirety here for your listening pleasure (or discomfort depending on how you feel about rabies). 

Zora Neale Hurston may have been unappreciated as an author during her lifetime, but Their Eyes Were Watching God was eventually rediscovered and has endured as a classic for the past several decades. We explore the life and loves of Janie Crawford and her impact as a heroine. Our hosts discuss gender roles, the complex nature of romantic love, and unfortunate decisions during natural disasters. We delve into the rather polarizing use of dialect in the book and everyone learns which TEWWG character they are. We are also privileged to speak with an expert interpreter of Janie's story, songstress Tamara Wellons.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We cover a lot of ground in this episode. If you'd like to learn more about some of the topics we touch on, here's some links you might enjoy:
Voices of African American Female Authors: https://www.pbs.org/speak/seatosea/powerprose/hurston/#9

Tamara Wellons sings Songs for Janie:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QofU4KDIIaA&feature=emb_title

Dialect in TEWWG:
https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/their-eyes-were-watching-god-folk-speech-and-figurative-language

Judy Blume didn't intend to write one of the most frequently challenged and banned books of all time when she penned Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. She just wanted to write a book that captured the trials and tribulations of adolescence, complete with girl talk about bras, periods, and boys. We wonder why the pretty tame discussion of puberty, and a storyline about an agnostic 12 year old figuring out her relationship with God, organized religion, and her family, continues to scandalize Americans who just keep challenging the book into the ALA Most Frequently Challenged lists every decade. We deconstruct whether the book holds up 50 years later and try to figure out just why feminine hygiene products still give some folks the vapors. We learn about some pervasive myths about periods, play historical women's health trivia, and chat with a Peer Educator about the importance of quality sexual education for adolescents.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some books and articles as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

• Judy Blume as accidental Censorship Fighting Firebrand: https://jwa.org/thisweek/feb/12/1938/this-week-in-history-author-and-anti-censorship-advocate-judy-blume-is-born 
• Updated depiction of feminine hygiene products in the book: https://rewirenewsgroup.com/article/2007/08/16/honoring-teens-sexual-reality-judy-blume/ 
• Feminine products over the years: https://www.si.edu/spotlight/health-hygiene-and-beauty/feminine-hygiene-products

We're spending time with Esperanza Cordero, her family, friends, and neighbors from 1984's groundbreaking novel, The House on Mango Street. This paragon of the Chicano/a literary canon challenges us to define it - is it a novel, a novella, an epic poem - and has itself been the subject of frequent challenges for its unflinching look at the lives and loves of its characters. We discuss scary nuns, high heels, uncles who just want to dance (or uncles who don't want Hawa to dance), and the hardships and joys of womanhood as we explore this classic work by Sandra Cisneros. We also chat with Professor Randy Ontiveros about the importance of the book to Chicano/a literature.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles about some of them if you want to do your own further research:

The Chicano Literary Movement:
https://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/entries/chicano-literary-renaissance

Intersectional Feminism:
https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/stories/2020/6/explainer-intersectional-feminism-what-it-means-and-why-it-matters

Noted Sagittarius and author Tamora Pierce brought us the groundbreaking, gender norm defying Alanna: The First Adventure in 1983. The book ended up being a formative text and gateway sword-and-sorcery fantasy work for many of us. Alanna was a Strong Female Protagonist for young adults before the Strong Female Protagonist conversation was a thing. Headstrong, improbably purple-eyed Alanna is determined to be a knight although girl knights are not allowed are in the Kingdom of Tortall, and nothing will stand in her way, not the rigors of knighthood training ( which involves far more homework than you'd expect), not a steady stream of bullies & villains, and not even puberty, the greatest villain of them all. 

We discuss Alanna's internalized misogyny, magic swords, and the Tortellian class structures that went over our heads as young readers as we revisit (or visit for the first time in Kelsey's case) the technicolor, Errol Flynn-esque world of the first installment in the Song of Lioness Quartet.

Some links for additional reading:
https://www.themarysue.com/tamora-pierce-alanna-gender-fluid/

https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/tamora-pierce-interview

https://ejournal.unesa.ac.id/index.php/litera-kultura/article/view/28658/26235

We are back with part 2 of our foray into the world of Sailor Moon. In this episode we will discuss romanticism, Usagi's leadership style, the male gaze in Sailor Moon, and how much of a downer it would be to outlive everyone you love. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       

Moon prism power, make up! This week we have both new and familiar voices transporting us to the world of Usagi Tsukino as we dive into manga for the first time with Sailor Moon. The iconic series by Naoko Takeuchi is perhaps the most widely beloved example of shojo manga and both the print and anime versions are standards in the 90's  Girl Power canon. In this episode we talk about everything from the magical girl trope, those outfits, censorship, and moon rabbits.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       
                                       
We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Shojo manga: https://www.jappleng.com/culture/articles/anime-manga/117/what-is-shoujo-shojo-genre-anime
Magical Girl genre: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalGirl
Moon rabbits: https://www.bokksu.com/blogs/news/japanese-folktale-rabbit-on-the-moon
Beautiful Fighting Girls: http://www.jstor.org/stable/26401943

It's a store! It's a bistro for dolls! It's a rose-colored fever dream! It's our field trip to the American Girl Cafe at Tysons Corner! Journey with us through the strange world of the American Girl Cafe. Only in the AG  Cafe can you simultaneously feel like a small child and also incredibly old. We explore a plethora of dolls and accessories, ask just what it means to be an American Girl, and contemplate the viability of taking a date to the American Girl Cafe. While we all pined for the AG x Stoney Clover Lane swag, we were a little concerned by coffin cases, dolls trapped in glass, and a game that heckled us. It's the American Girl Cafe where there are surprises (and mozzarella sticks) around every corner!

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Earlier this season we discussed the Roald Dahl classic “Matilda.” The episode’s expert interview, Maggie Peterson from the College of Education at the University of Maryland, was too delightful not to be heard in full. Dr. Peterson speaks on her experience as an educator, impressions of Matilda, schoolyard tropes, and what makes great literature. Enjoy the extended cut of this insightful interview!

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

These Books Made Me... scared? This week's bonus episode explores the scary side of literature. From Goosebumps to fairy tales to straight up horror, we take a look at the books that haunt us. We discuss horror as a genre and try to identify why it often appeals to women not only as readers, but also as writers. We reminisce about our own creepy encounters with books and get some listeners to chime in with their favorite scary stories. Jelan even created a spooky remix of the theme song!

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

This episode marks our final foray into the American Girliverse and our season 1 finale. We delve into the world of Josefina Montoya,  our most introverted girl to date, but possibly the most resourceful. There is a piano disaster (and subsequent miraculous piano healing), a rattlesnake attack (and subsequent semi-miraculous healing), a deceased parent, a deceased goat, and a kind of squicky wedding. We discuss the great blanket gambit of 1824 and decide we may need to rebrand as a Tia Dolores stan account. Josefina introduces us to Florecita, truly the GOAT goat, whose passing we mourn to this day. We reminisce about our own families and traditions as we examine some of the Mexican roots of this series, from language to food to enigmatic musical fathers. We are also joined by a very special expert, Professor Tey Diana Rebolledo, who served on the AG advisory committee and has fascinating insights into the creation and legacy of Josefina.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       
                                       
We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:
Curanderismo: https://www.calhealthreport.org/2013/05/15/curanderismo-is-alive-and-well-in-america/
History of fiber arts and textiles in New Mexico: https://www.newmexico.org/blog/post/the-colorful-history-of-fiber-arts-in-new-mexico/
Rio Grande blankets and weaving history:
http://www.chimayoweavers.com/HIST.html
https://jamescomptongallery.com/rio-grande-blankets/
Yucca, not yuca (don't eat this kind): https://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=YUEL

On we trek through the American Girls canon as we journey through Addy Walker's world. We explore the formation of the Addy advisory committee, Connie Porter's writing style, and the way the series presents slavery and the Civil War time period to children. We discuss how this Harriet also might be a sociopath and how colorism is depicted in the text and in the illustrations, with a sidebar about the controversy surrounding the Addy illustrators and their work. All of us want to wear Addy's Christmas dress, reminisce about double dutch, and wish we could give poor Sarah (who deserved a spinoff!) a hug. Once again we have some real questions about AG chronologies and the economy of spool puppets. We also talk about the impact of Addy and just how revolutionary the Addy doll's textured hair was. Sadly, we also discover that none of us are all that great at spelling bees. We are joined by a very special guest who is foundational to the creation of Addy Walker and her story.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       
                                       
We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Links:
The Creation of Addy Walker: https://slate.com/culture/2016/09/the-making-of-addy-walker-american-girls-first-black-doll.html
Connie Porter: https://iridescentwomen.com/2020/02/28/connie-porter-on-writing-the-american-girl-collection-series-addy/
Addy's Hair: https://www.salon.com/2021/05/15/we-were-american-girls-what-addy-taught-me-about-black-hair-freedom-and-myself/
Spelling bee words:https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/08/us/spelling-bee-words.html

We are diving back into the American Girl canon with Felicity Merriman. Felicity was a second wave American Girl and infamous horse thief. We learn about the author of the original six Felicity books (as well as several of our previous AG books), Valerie Tripp, and wonder whether the gender roles focus in the Felicity books is particularly successful or just kind of confusing. In this episode, we tackle some big issues with the framing of slavery and plantation life in both the fiction and non-fiction parts of the book. We also learn that Kelsey doesn't believe in animal best friends and that Hannah has some grave concerns about what happened to Posey the lamb. We debate whether Ben really has what it takes to make it as a soldier, Ella explores Felicity's historically inaccurate hair and suggests some improvements, and everyone learns that nobody's getting jiggy with it in debtor's prison. We'll also horse around with our community expert, Tara Roberts, who has some insights about that Felicity and Penny relationship.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       

We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:
Isaac and the Role of Black Soldiers in the Revolutionary War
https://www.army.mil/article/97705/black_soldiers_in_the_revolutionary_war
Debtors' Prisons
https://www.thegazette.co.uk/all-notices/content/100938
Notable Housewives
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/women-in-colonial-virginia/
Horses in Felicity
https://www.polygon.com/2020/11/23/21583105/real-horseback-riding-books-american-girl-meet-felicity
The Many Faces of Felicity
https://dandridgehousedolls.com/2019/06/27/felicity-through-the-years/

We take a break from the American Girls (in more ways than one!) this week to discuss a British childhood classic of both page and screen, Roald Dahl's "Matilda". Matilda is a quintessential bookworm who uses her unmatched smarts and special powers to triumph over her less than ideal surroundings dominated by neglectful and at times abusive adults. In this episode, Hannah, Kelsey, and special guest/Matilda enthusiast Sarah discuss the eternal art vs. the artist debate, examine the various tropes of womanhood present, and *gasp* - consider whether the movie might be better than the book?! We also talk to Dr. Margaret Peterson from the College of Education at the University of Maryland about the depiction of teachers in children's literature. 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       
                                       
We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Roald Dahl Family Apology for Anti-Semitic comments: https://www.roalddahl.com/global/rdsc-and-family-notice
Analysis of anti-semitism in Roald Dahl's works and personal life: https://time.com/5937507/roald-dahl-anti-semitism/
Racism in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: https://www.processhistory.org/yacovone-dahl-racism/4/
Roald Dahl's life: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/wales/articles/the-story-of-roald-dahl/
Nell Stevens article that Kelsey cites re: at vs. artist debate: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/sep/10/should-we-stop-reading-authors-lives-books-vs-naipaul?CMP=twt_books_b-gdnbooks
Vox article about art and artists: https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/10/11/17933686/me-too-separating-artist-art-johnny-depp-woody-allen-michael-jackson-louis-ck
Arguing that kids SHOULD read things that scare them: https://www.booktrust.org.uk/news-and-features/features/2019/february/fear-with-a-safety-net-why-children-should-read-scary-books/
Some things actually just straight up go over kids heads. https://www.bustle.com/articles/177023-why-matilda-was-more-messed-up-than-your-childhood-self-realized
But not everything, which is why parent’s discretion is always suggested. 

We delve ever deeper into the OG American Girl canon as we explore the pranktastic world of Molly McIntire. We try to decipher the strange recurring chronologies of American Girl books and discuss the highs and lows of the first six Molly books. In this episode we examine the books' decidedly Midwestern-nice spin on World War II complete with casseroles, Victory Gardens, turnip emojis and never-mentioned Nazis. Ella takes us on a spectacle-ular dive into Molly's (or possibly Chekov's) glasses, we struggle with the take home lessons of Molly's glow up, and we ask some hard questions about the serious liability issues at Camp Gowonagin. Additionally, we take a side trip to discuss the book Molly Takes Flight with women's aviation history expert Lauren Deutsch from the College Park Aviation Museum.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                   

We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles about some of them if you want to do your own further research:   
Hula as culture, not costume:
https://www.teenvogue.com/story/cultural-appropriation-halloween-costume-video
Evacuations of British children during WWII:
https://www.thehistorypress.co.uk/articles/the-evacuation-of-children-during-the-second-world-war/
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/forgotten-wolf-children-world-war-ii
Rationing and victory gardens:
https://www.history.com/news/americas-patriotic-victory-gardens  
    

We continue our journey through the American Girl book series with Samantha Parkington. Samantha was one of the AG OGs and was released as one of the original three characters in the Pleasant Company catalog. We learn a bit about doll manufacturing and discuss Samantha's first six books and their historical and literary merits. In this episode, we will explore how American Girl frames feminism, suffrage, child labor and questionable interior decorating choices. Kelsey makes a startling disclosure of Munchausen's by doll violence and we are flummoxed by mysterious pregnancies and chronological discrepancies in the American Girl books. We'll also chat with a community expert, Laurie Lemieux of Proteus Bicycles and Brews, to get her take on Samantha's bicycling mishaps and the history of women in cycling.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       
                                       
We mentioned a lot of topics in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some informative articles about some of them if you want to do your own further research:
American Girl doll manufacturing information: https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Classic_Mold and https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Pre-Mattel_Dolls
The Manners of the Edwardian Era: https://driehausmuseum.org/blog/view/the-manners-of-the-edwardian-era
What Is the Difference Between Edwardian & Victorian Eras?: https://classroom.synonym.com/difference-between-edwardian-victorian-eras-23230.htm
Child Labor in the United States: https://laborcenter.uiowa.edu/special-projects/child-labor-public-education-project/about-child-labor/child-labor-us-history

We begin our first foray into the world of juvenile chapter series and the American Girls specifically with the young Swedish immigrant Kirsten Larson. Kirsten was one of the original three dolls released by Pleasant Company, the company that first created American Girl, and in this episode we cover all six - yes, that's right six - books in Kirsten's original series. In this episode, our hosts explore the not-so-great representation of indigenous people, expose the great doll conspiracy baked into the books, and ask whether Kirsten was really quite sorry enough for [spoiler alert] BURNING DOWN HER WHOLE HOUSE. And the bees thing. Plus, our community expert, Dr. Amy Klion of the National Institutes of Health, tells us just how accurate the cholera scene that traumatized all of us as children really was.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.                                       
                                       
We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

Minnesota Historical Society, for more information about Minnesota's history: https://www.mnhs.org/
Information about the two tribes who lived on what is now called Minnesota: https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Indigenous_Peoples_of_Minnesota#:~:text=Two%20major%20Native%20American%20tribes,once%20had%20reservation%20land%20there
Information about Swedish immigration to Minnesota:
https://www.mnopedia.org/swedish-immigration-minnesota
More information about Kirsten's bangs: https://americangirl.fandom.com/wiki/Kirsten_Larson and their historical inaccuracy: https://www.vice.com/en/article/qvddqq/a-short-uneven-history-of-bangs

We had such a good conversation with this second community expert for our last episode, we had to release it as a separate episode. Ella (of Ella's Ephemera fame) chats with St. Mark's Church Historian Sandra Johnson about sharecropping and other related topics in Prince George's County African American history that are connected to the book "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" by Mildred Taylor.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

Mildred Taylor originally did not set out to write a children's book when she wrote "Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry," yet it quickly became a children's classic and classroom staple for young readers. We'll reexamine this iconic work that unflinchingly examines racism as the children and their parents find ways to push back against the injustices of the Jim Crow South. Our hosts discuss what actually makes a book a children's book, try to guess how much things actually cost in the 1930s (*insert obligatory "how much could a banana cost, $10?"*) and profess their love for the book's most iconic, very 90s, former cover. Plus, we'll hear from Marsha Quarles, a library associate at our South Bowie Branch, about the lasting impact of this book.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

As a beloved historical fiction novel that tackles a difficult and important aspect of American history and that is often taught in schools, there’s a lot of background research to dive into with this book! Here are a few of the key resources we used.

Two articles about recent challenges to the inclusion of this book in school curriculum:
https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/books/story/2020-11-12/burbank-unified-challenges-books-including-to-kill-a-mockingbird
https://www.newsweek.com/kill-mockingbird-other-books-banned-california-schools-over-racism-concerns-1547241
And here’s the title’s listing in the ALA report of the top 10 banned books from the 2000s: https://bit.ly/2SSgkbi. It was most often cited for use of language.

Notably, Roll of Thunder is actually book 4 in a multi-part series about the Logan family. You can see the full series listing here, including the final addition to the series released in 2020: https://www.goodreads.com/series/54001-logans


If you’re interested in learning more about money and inflation from the early half of the 1900s:
https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/this-is-what-groceries-cost-the-year-you-were-born/ 

For our A Tree Grows in Brooklyn expert segment, we reached out to Prince George's County Councilwoman Deni Taveras to reflect on whether Smith's depiction of New York reflected any of her own experiences growing up in New York. The conversation morphed into a much broader discussion about affordable housing and public education and was simply too good to reduce to one segment. We're happy to offer the entire conversation here as our first bonus episode. 

Betty Smith's "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" was an instant classic with American audiences when it was released in 1943. Drawing on her own life, Smith vividly captures Brooklyn in the 1910s through the eyes of her heroine, Francie Nolan. The novel's poignant depictions of poverty, urbanism, education, immigration, and especially family resonated with wartime America, but does it hold up today? Our hosts ponder whether this book is really for children at all (alcoholism, bigamy, child labor, oh my!) and whether a book so rooted in a historical period can be timeless. We also have a discussion with a local County Councilwoman that unlocked our first ever bonus content! 

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 

We cover a lot of ground in this episode and used some books and articles as jumping off points. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research:

• Jacqueline Woodson on A Tree Grows: https://lithub.com/jacqueline-woodson-on-the-two-books-that-helped-her-grow-as-a-writer/
• Maureen Corrigan's "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn’ was a classic. Does Betty Smith’s follow-up warrant reconsideration?"
• Robert Cornfeld's "The Tree Still Grows in Brooklyn"
• "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and the Jewish Question" by Van Wallach
  
  
  
  

Louise Fitzhugh's beloved 1960s title "Harriet the Spy" captivated young readers for generations as they followed the confident and abruptly honest 11-year-old main character on her spying adventures in New York City. Looking back on it more than 50 years later, the podcast hosts wonder - was Harriet a good role model? Or even a good person? Plus, we'll talk to an expert from the International Spy Museum to find out which spies Harriet should have been looking up to as role models and assess her spying technique.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System Podcast Network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/. 
 
We mentioned a lot of topics and articles in this first episode. Here’s a brief list of some of them if you want to do your own further research: 

• Debbie Reese’s post on her American Indians in Children’s Literature Blog: https://americanindiansinchildrensliterature.blogspot.com/2020/12/not-recommended-harriet-spy-by-louise.html
• More about Harriet the Spy and its queer representation: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/06/harriet-the-spy-helped-me-come-to-terms-with-my-queer-identity
• Excerpt of the book “Sometimes You Have to Lie” by Leslie Brody:
  https://lithub.com/the-hidden-literary-heritage-of-harriet-the-spy/
• Wikipedia article about egg creams:
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_cream
• And for some fun, figure out exactly which cheese YOU are with this Buzzfeed quiz: https://www.buzzfeed.com/kylieb4f1899a33/what-type-of-cheese-are-you-cviclxegzk
• More information about the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C.: https://www.spymuseum.org/