The Miami Herald reports
that some teachers have had good success getting reluctant readers to read by using graphic novels.

Before anybody explodes about kids reading comic books when they’re supposed to be doing quadratic equations or studying Shakespeare, know that comic books have changed, and so has reading.
Under the spiffier label of “graphic novels,” these bound books feature every stripe of hero and story. “The themes and genres can range from science to biography, and from memoirs to yes, superheroes,” said John Shableski of Diamond Book Distributors, which specializes in comics. “Every subject is available in the format.”‘



These are not your father’s comic books. Superman and Wonder Woman, yes; but also graphic novel editions of the works of Shakespeare, and many classics — The Red Badge of Courage, Beowulf, Greek myths, the Adventures of Robin Hood, even Canterbury Tales.



Last year, the Printz Award, an American Library Association honor for the most distinguished book for teens, went to American Born Chinese,a graphic novel by Gene Luen Yang. Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney was an original online comic about a beleagueruddy middle-schooler before the hard-cover edition propelled it and its sequel to The New York Times bestseller list. Bone, about a marshmallow-y type creature’s adventures, was self-published by Jeff Smith before Scholastic bought it, colorized it and split it into nine volumes. A million copies of the first installment, Out From Boneville, have been sold. Scholastic brought the series to the classroom by producing a teacher-friendly guide.



Comics are infiltrating the schoolhouse like never before because they are reaching that most elusive of creatures — the reluctant reader. Faced with a generation raised in a visual environment dominated by television, the Internet and electronic games, teachers and librarians have found comics will lure readers — especially boys — who have a limited interest in books.

If graphic novels get kids to read, then graphic novels it shall be. That’s our opinion, anyway. Once you get someone really hooked on reading, it becomes a lifelong habit.



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British author Sebastian Horsley has been denied entry into the United States on the grounds of moral turpitude, which has to be some kind of first — at minimum in this decade. An author who is too immoral to enter the country? Horsley, who calls himself a “dandy”, was here for a book tour to promote his memoir called
Dandy in the Underworld, which is described as “an account of a life dedicated to sex, drugs and finely tailoruddy clothes.”

“They knew more about me than I did,” Horsley said Thursday from his London home. “They said, ‘We know you’re a heroin addict, we know you’re a crack addict, we know you’re involved in prostitution.’ ”
Lucille Cirillo, a spokeswoman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, confirmed Horsley had been refused entry.
“We interviewed the individual extensively and the CBP officers decided he was not admissible under the visa waiver program” which entitles citizens of some countries - mostly in the European Union - to enter the counattempt for business or leisure without applying for a visa.



Travellers can be refused enattempt if they admit on a customs form to being convicted of a crime or to being addicted to narcotics, Cirillo said. She declined to specify what responses Horsley listed on the form.
Horsley’s book - billed as an “unauthorized autobiography” - vividly recounts years of heavy drug use and frequent visits to prostitutes. He says he has been drug-free for three years.
He said his only conviction stemmed from an arrest 25 years ago for possession of amphetamine sulfate, for which he was given a conditional discharge. He said he has visited the U.S. seven or eight times without incident.



“Dandy in the Underworld” was released in Britain last year to good reviews. The Independent newspaper said the book “entertains as much as it revolts, is as tender as it is shocking.”
Carrie Kania, of the book’s U.S. publisher Harper Perennial, said the book was “a cautionary tale of a life lived vividly.”
“It is unfortunate that his voice, in person, is being stifled. But the book will live on,” Kania said.



Horsley achieved his greatest notoriety in 2000 when he had himself crucified in the Philippines as part of an art project.
His agent’s website calls Horsley an “English eccentric” in the tradition of Lord Byron and Oscar Wilde. He thinks U.S. attitudes to eccentricity may have hardened since Wilde went there on a triumphant lecture tour in 1882, famously telling customs officials he had “nothing to declare but my genius.”
“I was dressed flamboyantly - top hat, long velvet coat, gloves,” Horsley said. “My one concession to American sensibilities was to remove my nail polish. I thought that would get me through.”

If they could give Amy Winehouse a visa to perform at the Grammys (albeit too late for her to actually make the flight to L.A.), surely they could spare a visa for a reformed dandy? Perhaps they think he hasn’t reformed at all. Although they certainly didn’t find any drugs on him or he’d be in jail, rather than back in London. Still, we haven’t read the book. Perhaps it so shocks the conscience that the average reader must be protected from it at all costs.



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As a very good bestseller, by now you have probably heard about The Secret by Rhonda Byrne. Either you heard it from a friend, your wife, or even your parents. You read the book or watched the movie. Everyone is talking about it, and a lot are talking about the fact that it WORKS! But, what really is the Secret? And, is it good?

The Secret is a book which shows you, explains you, and teaches you the law of attraction. The Law of Attraction is a simple concept; it is about how everything that happens to you, you attract it yourself. The car crash, a new house, money, it all depends on your thoughts; whatever your thoughts are, that is what you will attract. Doesn’t sound too believable, right?

Well, The Secret provides you many genuine situations in which the Law of Attraction has been put into effect and worked. For example, a woman was diagnosed with cancer…in 45 days it was out of her system, and that was without chemotherapy; or the story of a father who realized that he got the house he always wanted by applying the force of attraction. The book goes over how you can change your financial situation, your health, relationship problems, etc.

I will be honest, I don’t believe in this. I don’t think there are any scientific explanations which make sense. Even though the book does make some sense, I actually think it is more of a psychological concept. In order for the law of attraction to work you need to keep on thinking on the same thought, and project it. In my opinion, if you keep thinking about the same thought, eventually you are going to find a solution. For example, let’s say you are jobless and are looking for a good job. If you keep thinking about it, you are going to keep on trying and keep on trying. You are going to look for every possible way to get it. Therefore, eventually you will find that awesome job. Makes sense doesn’t it?

In addition, there are also a few instances where the law of attraction doesn’t make sense. What if you want it to be raining, but other people want it to be a sunny day. Aren’t you supposed to get what you want, but what about the other people? Or what if two people want the same position for a job, but obviously one can only have it. What happens then? I find those are the reasons to disbelief this “law.”

What about religion, too. If you can shape your life, then what is God for? Well, in the book it is explained that if you inquire a physicist about energy or a priest about God they will both answer the same…cannot be destroyed or created, has always been will always be, etc. This part is true, and has some credibility.

But, don’t get discouraged! It is a awesome book, it really is. Maybe it doesn’t work for me, but for other people it might. It is about how far you will go with your faith. It is like religion, you can’t see God, but you still believe in it. Personally from me…it is extremely interesting, worth a read (or watch).

A scarce first edition of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien has sold
at auction for $120,000.

A scarce 1937 first issue of the first edition of the childrens’ classic was sold at Bonhams earlier today, going for twice its pre-sale estimate. The copy, inscribed by the author with a message of thanks to his friend Elaine Griffiths, who helped the author see the work into print, went to an anonymous telephone bidder. The £60,000 price tag sets a new world record for signed copies of the book, which remains Tolkien’s bestselling work, having sold over 100m copies since its first publication.



Also included in the sale was the first foreign language edition of The Hobbit, also inscribed to Elaine Griffiths. The Swedish version, dating from 1947, went for £1,560, almost four times its estimated sale price.



The last known photograph of Tolkien, taken by his grandson Michael on August 9 1973, was also included in the auction. The photograph shows the author in the Botanical Gardens of Oxford, where Tolkien taught Anglo-Saxon language and literature, leaning against his favourite tree, the Black Pine he named Laocoon after the mythical Trojan prophet. The photograph was a gift to Elaine Griffiths from Tolkien’s daughter Priscilla, who wrote on the back “For Elaine with love from Priscilla”.

One always wonders who these “anonymous bidders” are. The last major anonymous bidder for a literary treasure was Amazon.com, which purchased one of the handwritten copies of the The Tales of Beedle the Bard by J.K. Rowling.



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