The Scoop from the Snake-pit!!
DMS Library Newsletter | Sep 2023
¡Wepa! Este mes honramos nuestra cultura Hispaña. En este boletín encontrará vídeos, libros y lecciones que realzan un patrimonio rico, hermoso y respetado. El año pasado, expliqué mi herencia y por qué es importante para mí abrazar mi herencia latina. Por eso el borrado cultural es tan importante para mí. Cuando no sabes quién eres, hacia dónde vas en la vida se vuelve dos veces más difícil. Si eres joven, habla y ama a tus mayores mientras tengas la oportunidad. ¡Celebre la vida, la cultura y los unos a los otros!
Pilar Ramirez & the Escape from Zafa by Julian Randall
Everything in twelve-year-old Pilar Violeta “Purp” Ramirez’s world is changing, and Pilar doesn’t care for it, not one bit. Her Logan Square neighborhood is gentrifying, her responsibilities at home seem to have doubled since her sister Lorena moved down to the University of Chicago, and to top it all off? Her best friend Celeste just moved to Milwaukee, right before they were going to make “Purp” catch on as a nickname at school.
In fact, it seems like the only thing that isn’t changing is Abuela and Mami’s code of silence around her cousin Natasha—who disappeared in the Dominican Republic fifty years before Pilar was born—and their lives under the Trujillo regime.
So, when Pilar, a budding filmmaker, gets word that there’s a new professor at the University of Chicago who studies disappearances under the Trujillato, she’s off on the train immediately.
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Only when she arrives, the professor is nowhere to be found. While looking around the papers stacked in his office, Pilar finds a folder with her cousin’s name on it. When she opens it, all that’s inside is a single blank sheet of paper. Then, she literally falls into it.
Pilar finds herself on Zafa—an island of Dominican myths and magic; where a girl matching Natasha’s description is imprisoned, alongside many others. Aided by Carmen—a mysterious girl—and four magical sisters, Pilar will have to face the Dominican boogeyman and his many minions if she has any hope of freeing Natasha and getting back home.
Escape into a world where legends are real, an ancient evil stirs, and a new hero will rise. Pilar is fierce, honest, and funny, a heroine readers are sure to love. Action-packed and engaging from start to finish, this is a great next read for fans of Rick Riordan. Click for 5 Reasons Pilar Ramirez is TOTALLY FIERCE!
Be sure to check out Pilar Ramirez & Escape from Zafa NOW!
Top 13 Banned Books of 2022
#1 TOP BANNED BOOK
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
Number of challenges: 151
Challenged for: LGBTQIA+ content, claimed to be sexually explicit
Check out more titles on the list here.
Those who banned books have NEVER been on the right side of history!
“Across the country, students are losing access to age-appropriate books and curriculum materials because extremist groups and radical politicians are appointing themselves judge and jury on what’s appropriate for everyone else’s children,” said Heather Harding Ed.D., COSF Executive Director. “
Join libraries ACROSS THE COUNTRY to read while banned!
Oct. 1st: Spicewood Spring Branch of the Austin Public Library (location: 8637 Spicewood Springs Rd.) will host a SILENT Banned Books reading from 12:00-2:00 pm.
Oct 2nd: Banned Camp Film Fest will show Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. (PG-13, rating) from 5:30-8:00 pm.
Oct. 5th: The Pflugerville Public Library will host a BANNED BOOK WEEK celebration from 5:30-6:30 pm.
DMS Library Hours
The library is open daily from 8:00am-3:30pm. I take "C" lunch from 12:25-12:55, closing briefly for nourishment. Reserving the library can be made here. Please send students with their student ID on, a legitimate pass on their agenda from their classroom instructor (name, date/time of student & staff) and reason for their visit. Students are required to have their IDs on throughout the school day and in the library.
