The Book Charmer

Whenever I read a book and think that it's good enough to blog about, I never get around to it. It's intimidating. What do I know about evaluating books?

But I finished a book last night in a sleepy-yet-determined haze and felt like I needed to speak up about it. I first noticed the spine of National Book Award Winner Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine in Edison's new books section. I felt really unsure about a book featuring a 10-year-old girl with Asperger's, grappling with the loss of her older brother after a school shooting. I don't read about death or "difficult issues" very often. A dramatic break-up or called-off engagement is usually as difficult as it gets in my household. But after reading a chapter or two, I realized that I was sucked in and checked it out.

I would recommend Mockingbird to anyone dealing with the loss of a loved one, of course. But there are plenty of other lessons to learn from this book, such as having tact, being respectful, and learning empathy. Caitlin's classmates think she's weird or autistic because they don't understand her. Caitlin's P.E. teacher makes an inappropriate comment about autistic kids, and some of the girls take him to task. Learning to be mindful of all of our differences is really important for kids to learn early on. As an adult, you forget how cruel young people can be...

The biggest lesson I took away from Mockingbird was seeing the world from other people's points of view. Halfway through the story, Caitlin finally understands the weight on her dad's shoulders and how much the entire community is hurting - and that's a lot to handle. But her brother, Devon, had always taught her to "keep working at it." Every day, she works to understand people, emotions, situations. She doesn't always get it right, but slowly, she begins to get it.

It's time for me to learn how to get it again. As an introvert who often works alone in front of a computer, I tend to forget my interpersonal skills sometimes. I've felt a bit of anxiety over this ever since I've become more serious about librarianship. I want to be around people and help them, but I've been criticized in the past for acting condescending to strangers. (My first customer service job was as an area desk assistant in a residence hall.) In a way, I'm a lot like Caitlin. I can be too honest, and I also don't understand how my language may sound. And yes, I have my arrogant moments. Trying to mask my opinions, I've struggled throughout college with being two people. I don't think I can do that in my professional life too. So somehow, I need to figure out how to be more innately kind.

How do I treat every person's problem as a valuable one? How can I teach someone how to do something like navigate the Internet without talking down to them? How do I act more welcoming?

Where can I learn these skills?!