Author Archives: linabranter

Miss Representation: A round table discussion with our girls

On Thursday night, J and I took our girls (along with a couple of friends and their daughters) to a screening at McGill of the film Miss Representation, a documentary about how women are portrayed in the media. It was hosted by Media@McGill and the Institute for Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies and it costContinue reading “Miss Representation: A round table discussion with our girls”

On having a daughter who just turned 13

I forgot to post last week. Well, I didn’t forget to post, I just didn’t. I wanted to write a pithy post perhaps peppered with wisdom about having an official teenager. (I will not apologize for my propensity for alliteration. I will not)  But I have nothing. No wisdom. No advice. Nothing to say. JustContinue reading “On having a daughter who just turned 13”

Thoughts on a Complicated Kindness and the Bone Cage

I managed to polish two more books off this week in my quest for just the right book to present to my school reads committee. The first one I’d been meaning to read  for a while, the second I thought would be a good fit due to its subject matter. A Complicated Kindness by MiriamContinue reading “Thoughts on a Complicated Kindness and the Bone Cage”

How I loved How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff

I am in the middle of a massive Young Adult fiction marathon.  The selection process of our 2012 school community reads is in full swing and this time I am obsessed with pushing the best possible books to my committee. Not that I wasn’t before. It is just that the winners for the last coupleContinue reading “How I loved How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff”

Are we corrupting our children? The debate about raunchy lyrics (yes there is one)

When I was ten, my favourite tape (yes, I am that old. I was buying tapes well into late teens. I still regret the unfortunate advent of CDs- stupid technology) was the soundtrack of Grease. In fact, I remember going directly from the soundtrack of the movie Annie, full of funny and moving songs aboutContinue reading “Are we corrupting our children? The debate about raunchy lyrics (yes there is one)”

The Complicated Need for an Intellectual Father Figure: Thoughts on Reading Donna Tartt’s The Secret History

The Secret History by Donna Tartt This books has been staring at me in the Ts of my Fiction section for quite a while now, so I thought I would delay all the other, newer books on my extensive reading list and pick it up for Christmas. Like The Magician King, the book made meContinue reading “The Complicated Need for an Intellectual Father Figure: Thoughts on Reading Donna Tartt’s The Secret History”

Post-Book Completion Grieving: A Review of Grossman’s The Magician King

Does this ever happen to you? You’re reading a book and it is holding your interest, but nothing too mind shattering. Until you get deeper into it and you feel something in yourself slowly changing. Call it a metamorphosis. Or a door opening. Or a blooming in a hitherto unfruitful garden in the mind. ImagineContinue reading “Post-Book Completion Grieving: A Review of Grossman’s The Magician King”

A Trio of Books for Youth

Due to the fact that it takes me a couple of weeks to put together the behemoth monthly book posts, I have decided to break it up a little. Since my last post, I’ve read three good books for youth which, conveniently enough, provide me with a modicum of a theme for my first assay.Continue reading “A Trio of Books for Youth”

Manage your Expectations Shmexpectations

We have been avidly going through the TV series Breaking Bad these days, a show about an overqualified, and underpaid high school chem teacher who turns to making crystal meth in order to provide for his family when he is dead. One of the main characters gets shot and affects the nerves in his legs.Continue reading “Manage your Expectations Shmexpectations”