Reason #627 Why I Love Librarians.

About a week ago I attended a Championship Tailgate event... at my library! It's an annual event hosted by Katie Jane Morris of Hoover Library in which she speed-book-talks her favorite titles from the previous year.

I immediately put on request about twenty titles I hadn't already read, and also shared with Katie Jane some additional titles that made my list. And then yesterday, when I opened one of the books, CATCHING A STORYFISH by Janice N. Harrington (WordSong, 2016), this is what I found:

Note says: I hope you love this one! Katie Jane

Isn't that awesome? And. I love the book! It's about a girl who loves her grandfather and talktalktalks... until she moves to a new place and kids tease her about her (Alabama) accent. It's a book of friendship and family and love and fishing and finding our power through story. And it's all poems. Yay! It reminds me of WORD WITH WINGS by Nikki Grimes and GONE FISHING:A NOVEL IN VERSE by Tamara Will Wissinger.

Here is a poem from the book I am happy to share with you:

FISHING LESSON #7
by Janice N. Harrington, from CATCHING A STORYFISH

Bait your hook with patience,
if you want to catch a fish.

Bait your hook with be still,
be quiet, be slow.

Bait your hook with mosquito-buzzing,
with dragonfly-darts and frog-plops.

Bait your hook with shadows,
with a crow's awk-awk and with sunlight.

Bait your hook with enough wind
to cool the heat but not too much.

Bait your hook with your grandpa's
steady breath and the way he smiles at you.

But mostly, bait your hook with listening, with waiting,
with low waves bumping against the bank.