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Friday, November 14, 2014

Reach Out to the Hurting

This photo is from an incident that occurred in my city today. This young man was going to jump from an overpass in a suicide attempt. Concerned citizens came together and talked him out of his decision and hopefully he is now getting the help he needs.

Why am I talking about this tonight?

Because first of all it didn't have to come to this for this young man. If you feel this hopeless, please reach out to someone. If you feel like you can't reach out to someone close to you please call a help line or call 911. There is no shame is asking for help.

Secondly, this is an amazing example of the power you hold. These people had no obligation to stop for this hurting man. They did so out of the goodness of their hearts. Out of compassion and caring. And in doing so they saved a life.

If you think someone is standing on the edge please reach out to them. You never know if you may be saving a life.

This is our whole focus this Movember. Please spread the word. Help us break the stigma that having a Mental Illness holds as well as the stigma that asking for help carries.

And if you can, please support my husbands Movember Fundraising, or simply pass along his efforts and message. There is a giveaway for all donors.

GIVEAWAY


Monday, November 10, 2014

UPCOMING READATHON!

  
Library of the Seen is proud to announce that this December we will be holding a month long readathon. Starting Midnight December 1st and ending Midnight January 1st we are asking participants to read as much as they can AND to find sponsors for their reading. Whether it is a nickle a page or a couple dollars for each book you read in the month of December, it's up to you and your sponsors. 

We aren't concerned with what you are reading. It can be textbooks, novels, novellas, graphic novels, manga, comic books, cook books, picture books or magazines!All we care about is that you are reading throughout the month. 

But why are we asking you to get sponsors? We are asking you to get sponsors for your reading to raise money for a great program that promotes literacy. Last year it was Sesame Street Workshop. We are still deciding who will be getting the money we raise this year and we would love to hear your suggestions!

What's in it for you? We will be holding giveaways throughout the month as an incentive to our readathon readers. We want you to be rewarded for your efforts!

How do you participate? There is no age requirement to participate. This is a great way to talk to your kids about the importance and joys of both reading and giving back to the community. Read together every night and that counts towards your reading for the month! Join as an individual or as a family. You can sign up for the event at https://www.facebook.com/events/390080247816056/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming and invite all of your friends and family! Post your reading progress every week and cheer all our readers on!

I Hope That I See A Lot of You Signing Up! 
Lets make this a Kick-Ass Readathon!


Because we are all about those books! Start Reading!

Friday, November 7, 2014

Mustache Seal of Approval!


Three Books with the Mustache

Seal of Approval!

 

 

In honor of Movember I am highlighting books that deal with Young Adult Males and Mental Health.
Here are three picks that I recommend that you check out.
 

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Synopsis: It’s time for eighteen-year-old James Sveck to begin his freshman year at Brown. Instead, he’s surfing the real estate listings, searching for a sanctuary—a nice farmhouse in Kansas, perhaps. Although James lives in twenty-first-century Manhattan, he’s more at home in the faraway worlds of Eric Rohmer or Anthony Trollope—or his favorite writer, the obscure and tragic Denton Welch. James’s sense of dislocation is exacerbated by his willfully self-absorbed parents, a disdainful sister, his Teutonically cryptic shrink, and an increasingly vague, D-list celebrity grandmother. Compounding matters is James’s growing infatuation with a handsome male colleague at the art gallery his mother owns, where James supposedly works at his summer job but where he actually plots his escape to the prairie.

In the tradition of The Catcher in the Rye and The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Booklist has hailed Cameron as “one of the best writers about middle-class youth since Salinger”), Peter Cameron paints an indelible portrait of a teenage hero holding out for a better grownup world.


Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You is a 2008 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
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Synopsis: Since his debut in 1951 as The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield has been synonymous with "cynical adolescent." Holden narrates the story of a couple of days in his sixteen-year-old life, just after he's been expelled from prep school, in a slang that sounds edgy even today and keeps this novel on banned book lists. It begins,
"If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth. In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them."

His constant wry observations about what he encounters, from teachers to phonies (the two of course are not mutually exclusive) capture the essence of the eternal teenage experience of alienation.
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Synopsis: Charlie is a freshman.

And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it.

Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Kicking off Movember!

It's MOVEMBER!

What is Movember?

Movember is when men donate their face to raising awareness for men's health. It began with focusing on testicular and prostate cancer and has grown to also raise awareness of men's mental health. 

Men who participate shave their face at the beginning of November and spend the month growing an awesome 'stache and raise money for mens health programs.

  

   How will Library of the Seen Be Involved?                

Here at  Library of the Seen we will be focusing on books that deal with the issue of Mental Health and YA males. There are so many books out there that talk about females with mental health issues but I feel like there aren't as many books out there about males dealing with these issues.

I will also be having guest posts from men and some women about living with mental illness and hopefully some about living with testicular or prostate cancer as well.

It is time that we shed the light on mental health and help erase the stigma that having a mental illness or seeking help somehow makes you less macho or manly.

From now on whenever you see this image
It will signify that the book I am reviewing deals with mental health issues.

                                        
 

 GIVEAWAY

I want you to participate in Movember as well! So to reward you I will be hosting an awesome Movember themed giveaway! 

(Please do not cheat. I check all the entries. If you cheat you will either be disqualified or have that entry removed at my discretion.)