Diary of a Word Nerd

Awesome Young Adult Books/Book reviews/Recommended kid lit

Why you must read All the Bright Places

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Julia Tomiak / 3 Comments

Theodore Finch constantly contemplates ways to die. Yet, after he finds Violet Markey perched on the edge on the bell tower of his high school, he spends the next several months encouraging her to live. Will Finch convince Violet that life is worth living? More importantly, will he convince himself?

All the Bright Places is an older YA contemporary that won the Goodreads Choice Award in 2015. However, as we are still in the throes of the pandemic, and still reckoning with an increased awareness of mental health needs, All the Bright Places is an important read for our time. It explores depression and anxiety in compassionate yet real terms. If you are feeling depressed, you might want to hold off on this book. However, if you know someone who might struggle with depression, anxiety, or bipolar disorder, I consider it a must read.

The Premise

Theodore Finch’s classmates call him a freak. He’s prone to outbursts of anger and disappearing for long stretches of time. Finch is tired of everyone thinking he’s weird. He’s also tired of the strange forgetfulness and fatigue that sometimes overtakes him. He’s pretty much given up on life, until he meets Violet Markey.

Violet used to hang out with the popular kids and date the most coveted boy at school. She also used to have an older sister. But ever since a deadly car accident that took her sister away, Violet hasn’t felt normal, and she’s not sure she ever will.

After Finch stops Violet from throwing herself off the school bell tower, he won’t leave her alone. He seeks her out on Facebook and chooses her for his partner for a geography class project. Together, they embark on “wonderings” around the state of Indiana, looking for the remarkable in the every day. And slowly, but surely, Finch works his way into Violet’s life. But how long can he stay there?

What I liked

All the Bright Places thoughtfully explores depression, anxiety, the social challenges of high school, and first love. It’s characters are complicated and believable, and I came to adore Finch and his very strange ways. Bright Places does a good job of portraying depression both from the point of view of one struggling with this mental health challenge as well as someone trying to help. I’ve experienced mild depression, and I developed a greater understanding of more severe symptoms. The book also does a good job of depicting different levels of anxiety and depression. Violet’s symptoms are situational or reactive; Finch’s are chemical and much more serious.

What I didn’t like

At first, I didn’t like Finch. I found him a little strange and off putting. I think Jennifer Niven, the author of All the Bright Places, wanted it that way. As I got to know Finch, I gained greater appreciation for him, and I think that’s one of the powerful themes of the book – the value of making time to truly know the people around us, whether they are in our classes or in our own families.

Recommendation

If you are interested in reading/ learning more about depression and anxiety, I highly recommend this book. Warning: the Goodreads blurb for All the Bright Places describes it as heart-wrenching and compares it to The Fault in Our Stars. With good reason.

Have you read All the Bright Places? What did you think? Can you recommend other good books that explore mental health issues? I can also suggest Mosquitoland and Turtles All the Way Down.

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!

Who I Am

Get hope and inspiration at Immersive Van Gogh

Posted on August 27, 2021 by Julia Tomiak / 4 Comments

I’ve kept a positive mindset during most of the pandemic. However, with the recent news from Afghanistan, the rise in COVID cases, and the sobering warnings from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, discouragement had started to cloud my thoughts. So much bad news at once left me feeling overwhelmed and helpless.

Thank goodness I made the time to travel to Charlotte, N.C. to indulge in the Immersive Van Gogh exhibit! The colors, music, and imagination lifted my soul when I really needed it. And I got to take the trip with my daughter who was home from college. Another definite bonus. 🙂

Set in creativity

Just the location of the exhibit made me smile. It’s the perfect example of innovation turning old into exciting. Immersive Van Gogh is set in the Ford Building at historic CAMP North End in Charlotte, a 76 acre adaptive reuse project. The Ford Company built Model T and A cars there in the 1920s. Then, during World War II, the Army built massive warehouses in the area for uniform distribution and typewriter repairs. During The Cold War, the site returned to an industrial focus: missile production. (CAMP stands for Charlotte Area Missile Plant).

Today, the site houses everything from restaurants to art dealers to a motorcycle parts plant. I loved seeing warehouses transformed into fun, creative spaces to gather and explore. Bistro lights hung from metal rafters, and brightly painted sunflowers decorated the speed bumps. Our lunch was delicious too: yummy grain bowls from Bleu Barn. CAMP North End exuded positive vibes and inspiration.

Animating Van Gogh’s art

The walk inside the Ford Building to the exhibit featured giant sunflower sculptures and a wall of car tires painted yellow and decorated with silk sunflowers. What a clever way to blend industry and art!

Note the hubcap in the middle of this sunflower!

A clever combination of the building history (car manufacturing) with the art exhibit.

The exhibit, or performance, took place in a giant room with socially distanced seating. (Benches and chairs for two were spaced out and outlined with circles on the floor.) Before the show started, variations of “Starry Night” covered the display screens. The show opened with humming music and Van Gogh’s sketches of cicadas flying across the walls. Several of Van Gogh’s paintings were featured during the show, set to music and disassembled and reassembled to highlight different aspects. For example, for “The Potato Eaters”, the scene opened showing only a single light. Then the table beneath it. Then, one by one, the faces of a family emerged.

The social distancing circles were projected on the floor.

My daughter and I agreed Immersive Van Gogh did a great job of combining different art forms- music, digital animation, light- to bring Van Gogh’s paintings to life. It is a good option for someone who needs a little more motion and sound to appreciate art (um, like the males in our family.)

I must admit, Van Gogh is one of my favorite artists, so I’m biased. I’ve followed his work to The National Gallery of Art in D.C. and have several Vincent prints hanging in my house. But I really enjoyed the displays of bright colors and flowers and loved how the creators made something new out of something old. My favorite part? The giant Van Gogh quotes painted on the walls near the exhibit.

Even if you aren’t a huge Vincent fan, check out Immersive Van Gogh for some much needed positive inspiration.

Have you seen Immersive Van Gogh? What else is inspiring you these days?

Thanks for getting artistic with me!

Improving vocabulary

Why do we call the US a “First World” country?

Posted on August 6, 2021 by Julia Tomiak / 1 Comment

During a summer evening discussion on the porch, my family pondered the status of vaccinations around the world. The term “First World Countries” came up, which prompted all of us to wonder, why do we call some countries “First World” and others “Third World”? And what about the “Second World” countries?

The “three worlds” model of geopolitics

Back in the 1950s, during the Cold War, French demographer Alfred Sauvy described the world in terms of three factions. In the article “Three Worlds, One Planet” which appeared in L’Observateur, Sauvy described “First World Countries” as the United States and its allies in The Cold War. That included most of Western Europe, Japan, and Australia. Second world countries were the Soviet Union, its Eastern European satellites, and other communist nations. Third World countries were those not allied with either side, including most of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Those countries also frequently were former colonies of Europe and were poor.

As time went on, The Cold War alliances were forgotten, and “First World Countries” described wealthy, developed countries. The term “Third World Countries” characterized poor, developing nations. We don’t hear anyone talk about “Second World Countries” any more because the term died with the Soviet Union.

Problems with labeling countries

Since the terms “First World” and “Third World” started during The Cold War, many academics dismiss them as outdated. People studying or writing about poor nations use “developing countries” or “low and middle income countries” more often.

Some people like the “developing” descriptor. It suggests opportunity and potential for improvement. Others criticize the term for the underlying message of hierarchy. “Developed countries” suggests superiority, even though many “developed countries” have serious social issues, including pockets of severe poverty.

The World Health Organization categories countries based on statistics about Gross Domestic Product. This system classifies countries as low, middle, or high income. However, this label is problematic because its hard to get accurate data from all countries.

I found an interesting alternative to the 1-2-3 classification: Majority World. This term reminds us that the West is but a small fraction of the globe. I was shocked to learn that about 80% of the world lives on less than $10 a day. Yikes. I live in the global minority indeed.

Once again, we have an example of why labels fall short in describing the complexity of a situation or group of people. The articles I read suggested if you are talking about a country or group of countries, just use their names to describe them. Sounds like good advice to me, for lots of situations.

If you’d like to learn more about the three worlds model, check out these articles:

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!

Words and Technology

What you should know about haptics

Posted on July 30, 2021 by Julia Tomiak / 0 Comment

We are watching entirely too much TV these days. It’s summer! We should be outside. But by 8:30 on most nights, I’m toast. I try to encourage game and puzzle nights, even “let’s read together on the porch” nights, but frequently my son and husband opt for TV. Their latest find, a show on Apple TV called Mythic Quest. It’s about the creative team behind a video game called Mythic Quest and the struggle to keep it popular. It’s basically The Office, except the characters are selling a game, not paper. In a recent episode, the engineer character mentioned haptics.

Haptics? My ears perked up. When I got my new iPhone SE 2020, I had to choose a “Home Button Haptic”. I really couldn’t tell a difference between the three options, but went with #3. I’ve also noticed my iPhone vibrates or pops when certain things happen, like I hold down on a picture or successfully upload a check for mobile deposits. That, my Word Nerd friends, is haptics.

Etymology

Haptic comes from the Greek haptesthai, meaning “to touch”. It entered English in the late 19th century as a medical synonym for “tactile.” According to Merriam-Webster, in the 20th Century it gained popularity as a psychological term to describe people whose perception depended primarily on touch rather than sight. Currently, Merriam-Webster defines haptic as:

relating to or based on the sense of touch

2, characterized by a predilection for the sense of touch

Even better info on haptics

This article on Ultraleap, a website about making digital worlds more human, gives even better information about haptic feedback, or haptics for short. It explains that haptics is a method of giving feedback or communicating more so than a specific technology.

Many digital / tech devices communicate with us primarily through sound and video. Haptic feedback provides information and interaction via touch. Different types of vibrations, usually felt by our hands, are the most predominant type of haptics used today. Consumers experience them with smart phones, game controllers, and even their cars. (My steering wheel vibrates when my car detects I’ve moved out of my lane.)

I guess it’s good that devices are incorporating other methods of communication besides visual and audio stimuli. However, this sentence in the article made me a little nervous:

Not only can you touch a computer or other device, but the computer can touch you back.
Robert Blenkinsopp, Ultraleap

So, now that you know what haptics are, or maybe you already did, can you share other examples of haptic feedback? Also, are there any other tech terms you’re curious about?

Here’s another article explaining more about haptics: Haptic Touch vs. 3D Touch: What’s the Difference?

Thanks for getting nerdy with me!

Favorite Characters

Why I Love Ted Lasso

Posted on July 23, 2021 by Julia Tomiak / 4 Comments

The new season of Ted Lasso releases today, and my family can’t wait to indulge. I’m a late comer to the Ted Lasso craze. Although I’d heard talk about Ted Lasso in podcasts, I didn’t take much interest. The show runs on Apple TV, a streaming platform I don’t normally use. Besides, how compelling can a show about a guy named Ted be?

Very.

A friend who loves the show shared it with me, and we binged the entire first season in two nights. Then my oldest son, a former soccer player and forever soccer fan, watched it in about the same time. I couldn’t wait to share it with my husband and youngest son. You know a show is good when youngest son, who is at the age when everything is just “OK”, literally smiles for the entire 30 minutes of running time.

So, what’s all the hype about and do you need to be a soccer fan to enjoy?

Ted Lasso is a show with complex characters who have faults and learn from them. It’s so refreshing to watch a dramedy that challenges stereotypes and champions optimism, respect, and accountability. I wouldn’t call it a family show- the language is quite “fruity”- but it has great things to say.

You do not have to be a soccer fan to enjoy Ted Lasso. In fact, oldest son thinks there isn’t ENOUGH soccer in the show. He’s hoping this season will include more of the game as a vehicle for inspiring interest and understanding of the sport we Tomiaks love. We’ll see.

The Premise

Ted Lasso is a division two American football coach who brought his unknown Kansas college team from the bottom of the rankings to a national title in one season. He gets hired by a disgruntled football club owner in the UK who has recently divorced her husband and is trying to destroy the only thing he ever truly loved – his soccer club. She thinks choosing Ted, a coach with zero soccer experience, to lead the team she has recently acquired from her ex-husband will bring it to ruins. Little does she know the affect Ted will have on her team… or her.

What I love

The dialogue is quick and witty. The relationship between Ted and his assistant, Coach Beard, is fun and endearing. At a time when most rhetoric in our society seems focused on tearing people down, Ted Lasso is a character hell bent on building people up. Even arrogant, obnoxious super stars. Even bitter, spiteful divorcees.

One of my favorite characters is Keely Jones, a crass, at times superficial actress/model who I would probably never aspire to befriend- until I realized how insightful and strong she actually is.

What I don’t like

The language is rough, and I could do without some of the sexual innuendo. But, true to the show’s themes, you can’t judge Ted Lasso solely on appearance and/or fruity language.

Some of my favorite lines

Sometimes you’re so busy thinking you are one in a million, you forget that you’re one of eleven.
He’s like a raven haired golden retriever
Be curious. Not judgmental.
All right, fellas, you gotta remember, your body is like day-old rice. If it ain’t warmed up properly, something real bad could happen.
When it comes to locker rooms, I like ’em just like my mother’s bathing suits. I only wanna see ’em in one piece.

How about you? Have you watched Ted Lasso and are you excited for the second season? What are some of your favorite parts of the show?

For those who are already fans of “The Lasso Way”, here’s a fun article ranking the characters by intelligence.

Thanks for getting positive with me!

Book reviews/Favorite Authors

Why I love Ten Thousand Tries

Posted on July 13, 2021 by Julia Tomiak / 5 Comments

My friend Amy’s latest book, Ten Thousand Tries, launches today! It’s a lovely middle grade contemporary about Golden Maroni. He’s striving to emulate his soccer idol, Lionel Messi, and lead his middle school team to the championship. At the same time, he needs to come to terms with the fact that ALS is stealing his father’s ability to walk, eat, and worst, coach soccer.

Amy and I met years ago via our blogs, and I’m so glad I found her. Amy has four kids; I have four kids. Amy loves running; I love running. Amy loves and coaches soccer; I love and have coached soccer. Amy dabbles in art; I dabble in art. Amy loves to write… you get it.

We check in every Monday to encourage our writing habits as well as commiserate and consult about parenting, middle age, faith, and staying positive. I’m so thankful for this friendship. We’ve never met in person, but one day I hope to do a book promotion tour with her. Until then, let me tell you about her latest book. She’s given me some thoughtful insight into the characters and story of Ten Thousand Tries.

Cover of Ten Thousand Tries — I LOVE this cover!

My review of Ten Thousand Tries

Warm and witty, Ten Thousand Tries tackles difficult subjects- ALS, loss, middle school- with just the right blend of humor, silliness, and sentiment. It’s a great book for helping middle grade readers of all ages think about how to handle disappointment and that annoying kid on your soccer team who always kicks your ball away.

Golden, the main character, is funny and realistic. He has a great voice, makes some big mistakes, and learns from them. I could relate to him on many levels, but especially because when I was Golden’s age, my mother was in a wheelchair too. The struggles Golden’s family tackles as it manages an ALS diagnosis are presented accurately and thoughtfully. If you like books about friendship, family, soccer/sports, and the challenges of growing up, you will love TEN THOUSAND TRIES.

Interview with the author, Amy Makechnie

Me: In your acknowledgements, you say Golden is inspired by your son, Nelson, who was obsessed with Messi in middle school. (And rightly so!) How much of you is in Golden’s mom?

Amy: Ha! You are totally on to me. Coach/Mom aka “the Hulk” was definitely a character inspired by my experiences coaching the 7th and 8th grade middle school team where all four of my children have now played on. It was very easy to get into Coach’s head on the field and in the car and on those long bus rides (yippee!). It was harder as the wife of a man living with ALS. I could only imagine – and write from what I had witnessed as a friend.

Me: Your depictions of living with ALS felt very real. When I was young, my mother had a different progressive neurological disease, but I experienced a lot of the same emotions that Golden does. How did you create such an accurate depiction of living with chronic debilitating disease? What are you hoping readers will take away from this book?

Amy: My good friend Eric was diagnosed with ALS when our children were in middle school together. I once asked Eric’s wife, Heide, if there were any silver linings to such a terrible disease. She immediately said, “Oh, yes!” I knew what she meant because Eric and Heide didn’t shy away from the world after the diagnosis. They opened up their home and let their friends and family into a very intimate and painful situation – like teaching us how to feed Eric through his stomach after he couldn’t drink through a straw. The end result was a closeness that could not have been experienced any other way. I hope readers walk away feeling that life is precious and in the end, it is their relationships and faith that gets them through this life. I don’t know a better way.

Me: A lot of the names in this book are different and silly – Golden, Lucy Littlehouse, Jaimes (how do you pronounce that, by the way?). Where did you get ideas for these names?

Amy: I’m always on the lookout for a great name. I heard the name “Golden” somewhere and scribbled it down knowing I would HAVE to use it somewhere – what better place than a fictional middle school where you’ll be attacked for such a thing? Jaimes is pronounced “James” like the name typically given to boys; one of my soccer girls was named “Jaimes” and I liked it. “Littlehouse” was also just something I heard once and loved the alliteration! The character Slick? Well, it just suited him! If you’ve got any good ones, send them my way.

Me: I was glad that Golden’s dad’s death wasn’t a big scene in the book. Golden just talks about “Dad’s last day”. Why did you choose to keep Dad’s death small?

Amy: I struggled with this one, but usually it just lands better to say a lot with a little. The reader didn’t need to see it or read it – they knew it was coming. What I wanted to focus on was the time Golden had with his dad, esp the happy, funny, poignant moments.

Me: Ten Thousand Tries deals with a heavy subject – ALS and loss- yet the book has a lot of humor and doesn’t feel depressing. How did you find that balance?

Amy: I’m glad to hear that! I absolutely did NOT want to write a depressing story. Here’s what I know about kids: they deal with a lot but they’re also my favorite humans to be around. They’re funny, hopeful, resilient, and always make me laugh. Middle school is hard on so many levels, but I guess I’m like Golden – an optimist. Everything tends to work out okay.

Don’t you love Amy’s outlook? If so, I think you will also love this book. Give Ten Thousand Tries a try. 😉

What you need to know about Ten Thousand Tries

“A heart-tugging and uplifting story about never giving up—on the soccer field, on loved ones, and on life.”
– Kirkus Reviews – starred review, June 2021

“A touching tale about family, love, and grief….Whether or not they are a fan of soccer, this title is sure to make readers laugh and cry. An excellent read-alike for Gary D. Schmidt’s Pay Attention, Carter Jones, 2019.”
Booklist – starred review, June 1, 2021

“A warm-hearted sports story about a kid learning to accept the painful limitations and also unexpected glories of passionate determination.”
Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, July 2021

Named a “Best Book of the Month” on Amazon, July 2021

Find more info on Ten Thousand Tries and purchase a copy here

Learn more about Amy here: Newsletter l Website l Instagram l Twitter

(P.S. Amy’s Insta feed is really fun).

Giveaway!

I will give a copy of Ten Thousand Tries to one person who comments here or on my social media profiles. Let me know if you plan to read this awesome book!

Have you read Amy’s other book, The Unforgettable Guinevere St. Claire? Can you recommend other great middle grade fiction?

Thanks for letting me gush about this book!