May 2026 – On the Children's Shelf

Young World

“The School for Good and Evil” by Soman Chainani is one of my most recommended series. I could not put that series down so when I received an ARC of Chaimani’s newest book “Young World,” I couldn’t wait to start reading. I saved it for a cross-country flight, opened the book and read until I finished it. I’ll be honest I wondered, could it live up to School for Good & Evil? I was worried, especially since it was so different, but sometimes very different can be just as good and this book did not disappoint. “Young World,” was just as captivating.

Could a teenager’s rant on social media go viral and change the world? In Young World, Benton Young impulsively uploads a video to impress a girl, calling for people to disrupt the presidential election and vote for him. The video goes viral, not viral like 500K young people see it. Viral as in it starts a national movement, people want a change, and they are willing to vote for a teenager for president. Young, not old enough to vote for himself, doesn’t just disrupt the election, he wins, and sparks a change around the world. Other young people around the world, follow Young’s lead. They want to be the change for their country, and it turns out people around the world are just as unhappy with their leadership and are willing to vote for a teenager. All these young people take over the world, what could possibly go wrong?

Young leaders, a world summit, drilling in the arctic, a video game that might overlap with reality, a murder, complete mayhem, unrequited love. This book has it all. It’s a page turner and I couldn’t predict what would happen next (which I love in a book).

The book is pretty too. Chainani uses images, maps, cartoons, political posters to further tell his story. He draws from graphic novels and at times reminds me a bit of Brian Selznick’s combination of words and images to tell a story. I know it sounds strange to describe a book as pretty, but it is so much more than words on a page. It is an experience taking in this combination of images that tell the story in different ways.

The book is funny, smart, unforgettable, and one you (or your teenager) won’t be able to put down. The thought of a teenage president might sound crazy, but maybe the world needs to be turned upside down to straighten itself out sometimes. Definitely check out this book!

a vintage Electrolux vacuum

“This book, more than any other that I have written, belongs to my mother. It belongs to her, in part, because of the vacuum cleaner. My mother had a tank Electrolux that she loved. And in the last year of her life, she worried (aloud and often) about what would happen to the vacuum cleaner after she was gone. I told her (again and again. And again) that I would take the vacuum cleaner, that it would be safe with me. But still, it worried her. She wanted the Electrolux to be loved, appreciated. And so I wrote a story, this story, in which a truly exceptional vacuum cleaner does a truly miraculous thing (i.e., the vacuum cleaner transforms an ordinary squirrel into a superhero).” – Kate DiCamillo, Newbery Medal Acceptance Speech

This past weekend, my husband found this amazing vintage Electrolux vacuum. Knowing I love old things, he knew I would think this is fabulous, but he didn’t expect me to start talking nonstop about a book. He showed me the vacuum and my response was “It’s a Flora & Ulysses vacuum!!!!” He was perplexed. It is an Electrolux vacuum. An old vacuum with those shiny letters spelling out Electrolux, and while it was cool because it is shiny and old and has a bit of a space ship feel, for me, it was a magical machine that connected me to a book.

While he saw a cool vacuum, I heard Kate DiCamillo in my mind sharing the story she shared at a recent book talk, the same one in the quote above from her Newberry Medal acceptance speech. Her mom loved her Electrolux vacuum so much that she was worried about what would happen to that vacuum when she was no longer here. And Kate DiCamillo did what she does best, she appreciated the vacuum by giving it life in Flora & Ulysses. The truly exceptional vacuum in her story transformed an ordinary squirrel into a superhero. What Kate DiCamillo’s mom may never have imagined is that not only Kate appreciated that vacuum but fans all over the world who love that book, who love Flora and Ulysses, secretly wonder if their vacuum is as magical. Once you read Flora & Ulysses you will never looked at an Electrolux vacuum or a squirrel without wondering if each vacuum might have the potential to turn a squirrel into a superhero and each squirrel might have the potential to be one.

So many times in this column I mention my desire to climb inside the pages of the books I love. I never imagined the stories climbing out of the pages and into my world but I realized as I looked at this vacuum, that sometimes the worlds overlap. While I can’t officially move into a book, and they can’t officially climb out of the pages into mine, this “truly exceptional vacuum cleaner does a truly miraculous thing”…it brought Flora and Ulysses into my world. While I never knew Kate DiCamillo’s mom, I appreciate that amazing vacuum (and I really appreciate that Kate’s words taught me to see the magic in something simple right in front of me). If my children are reading this and grow up to write like Kate, please please honor my vintage aluminum Christmas tree in a book somehow!

author’s note – This was originally printed in 2018 on Books, Ink HamletHub. While it may have actually been years ago, this book is still a favorite and that vacuum magically brought the book into my world.

Photos and Stories

* author’s note…this was originally printed in August 2017 on Books, Ink of HamletHub. E.B. White’s house is not currently up for sale.

I recently discovered the book “Some Writer!: The Story of E.B. White” by Melissa Sweet. I started reading the section on the writing of “Charlotte’s Web.” After White wrote the book, he spent a year rewriting the opening. He tried beginning with Charlotte the spider, Wilbur the pig, Fern’s dad, and finally settled on Fern asking her father where he was going with that ax. This really struck me because we all struggle with different parts of our writing and to see one of my favorites struggle with a part of one of my favorite books made me feel that facing challenges while writing happens to even the best writers.

I planned to write about this book last week for OTCS, but then the E.B. White house went up for sale (again this was 2017 not today) and I was mentally moving in. Plans change and I needed to write about the house.

After finishing my piece about E.B. White’s house, I returned to “Some Writer!” and kept reading. As I turned the page, I saw the photo of E.B. White swinging on Fern’s rope swing in the barn, the one I was mentally picturing my children swinging on just like Fern. I was immediately drawn to the photo and saw the note that it was taken by Jill Krementz on his farm in Maine. I started flipping through the pages and saw more photos taken by Krementz.

Just as I felt there were so many things calling me to the E.B. White house when I heard it was for sale, now I felt even more drawn to it. I grew up riding horses and when I was about eight, my mom gave me a copy of Jill Krementz’s book “A Very Young Rider.” The book follows a young girl as she cares for her pony and prepares for competitions. Krementz also wrote similar books about a young dancer and a young gymnast. I remember turning the pages of my copy of “A Very Young Rider” and being so drawn into the book. Yes, because it was about horses but there was another reason. That book was the first time I saw a story being told with actual photographs not illustrations and those photos were beautiful. It spoke to me in a way no other book had and at that moment I knew that someday I needed to somehow tell stories with photos.

I didn’t plan to grow up to be a photographer, I don’t think I even knew at that time that being a photographer was something I could do. I just wanted photos to tell stories. Often as I’m holding my camera trying to capture my story, I think of Jill Krementz and “A Very Young Rider.” I think of how those photos spoke to me and how I hope someday mine speak to others. I do secretly want to write a children’s book that combines my photos to tell a story.

This is the amazing thing with children’s books. When you give a child a book, you have no idea how they might identify with it. They might find comfort in the pages. They might learn how they want to (or perhaps ways they don’t want to) handle different situations. They might find a character with whom they identify. They might see that a character is going through the same thing they are and not feel alone. Or like me, they might find a part of themselves they didn’t know existed, a part of them that is inspired to write or take photos or be an illustrator. They might find a whole new world they never imagined.

My mom gave me “A Very Young Rider” because I was a little girl who lived for horses. She thought I would identify with another little girl with horses but because of that book, I learned how photos are a part of storytelling. Thank you Jill Krementz for showing me the power of photographs to tell a story.

Be sure to check out both the Jill Krementz “A Very Young….” books (there are copies in the local library system) and Melissa Sweet’s “Some Writer!” I highly recommend both.