Author Archives: rosinskynatalie

Life’s Soundtracks

Posted on August 1, 2019

Which song could be the soundtrack of your life today? This question is posed to the 8th grade characters in Operatic (2019), a wonderful new graphic novel combining music history and biography with smart insights into the complex tween and … Continue reading →

Posted in biographies, graphic novels | Tagged 8th grade, Blinded by the Light, British, Bruce Springsteen, bullying, Byron Eggenschwiler, Canada, friendship, genderfluid, Greetings from Bury Park, homophobia, Kyo Maclear, Maria Callas, Master Class, memoir, middle school, movie, music, music history, opera, Operatic, Pakistani, rock music, Sarfraz Manzoor, soundtrack, teenager, teens, U.S. | Leave a comment

Fireworks or Fizzle?

Posted on July 1, 2019

Anticipating or recalling those 4th of July fireworks? Colorful blasts have been part of “Independence Day” celebrations ever since the U.S. Declaration of Independence supposedly was signed on July 4, 1776. Yet our new country’s continued growth is the exception … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels | Tagged Andy Warner, Arizona Mystery Castle, Auroville, Dean Kamen, Failed Utopias, Fourth of July, gay and lesbian, immigrant, immigrant detention, Intentional Communities, KIng Camp Gillette, Libertatia, Micronations, Nek Chand's Rock Garden, North Dumpling Island, Oneida, pirates, slavery, slaves, Sofie Louise Dam, strange dreams, This Land Is MY Land: A Graphic History of Big Dreams Micronations and Other Self-Made States, This Land Is Your Land song, Visonary Environments, Woody Guthrie | Leave a comment

The Anne Frank Industry

Posted on June 15, 2019

I was ready, site open and fingers poised, to purchase those “hot” on-line tickets, going on sale precisely at noon. One fumble and then . . . success! I had snagged our spots—tickets we would use exactly two months later, … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, graphic novels, memoir, war | Tagged Jeroen De Bruen | Leave a comment

In the Footsteps of Anne Frank

Posted on June 1, 2019

They were the hardest sets of stairs to climb. Last month in Amsterdam, I visited the Anne Frank House , since 1979 a museum commemorating that famous young victim of the Holocaust. Through the diary she left (and its later incarnations as … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, graphic novels, memoir | Tagged Amsterdam, Anne Frank, Anne Frank Fonds, Anne Frank's Diary: The Graphic Adaptation, Anne Frank: The Collected Works, Ari Folman, concentration camps, David Polonsky, Dutch collaborators, Dutch rescuers, Elie Wiesel, Holocaust, Jews, Margot Frank, Nazis, Otto Frank, The Anne Frank House, The Diary of a Young Girl, The Diary of Anne Frank, the Secret Annex, Where is Anne Frank? | Leave a comment

Moments to Remember

Posted on May 1, 2019

Private or public, some moments are seared into memory. I thought of this last month as images of Notre Dame blazed in the news. Its toppling spire also brought New York City’s falling Twin Towers to mind. Those images from … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels | Tagged Archie comics, astronauts, Black kids, cartooning, collective memory, fathers and sons, Jerry Craft, life cycle, memory, NASA, New Kid, New York City, Notre Dame, point of view, private memories, private school, public memories, racism, Riverdale, seventh grade, stereotypes, Through a Life, Tom Haugomat, Washington Heights, wordless books | Leave a comment

Some “Tree-mendous” Books

Posted on April 1, 2019

Every day—not just Earth Day (April 22) or Arbor Day (April 26)–should be “tree-mendous.” I reached this conclusion as world-wide student protests about climate change overlapped last month with my reading of novelist Richard Powers’ The Overstory (2018). Powers’ epic work about the fabulous … Continue reading →

Posted in biographies, Books, graphic novels, picture books | Tagged A Log's Life, Andy Hirsch, Annie Proulx, Arbor Day, Aurelia Fronty, Barkskins, Bob Staake, Branching Out: How Trees are Part of Our World, Cynthia Alonso, David Mitchell, deforestation, Diane Muldrow, Donna Jo Napoli, Earth Day, Elif Shafak, forest ecosystem, Franck Prevot, Future Library, H. Joseph Hopkins, Han Kang, Harriet Birkenshaw, Iris Volant, Jason Howard, Jeanette Winter, Jen Cullerton Johnson, Jill McEllmurry, Joan Marie Galat, Kadir Nelson, Kate Sessions, Kenya, Kevin Byron, Mama Miti: Wangari Maathai and The Trees of Kenya, Margaret Atwood, Monica Russo, Richard Powers, Robin Brickman, San Diego, Seeds of Change: Planting a Path to Peace, Shel Silverstein, Sjon, Sonia Lynn Sadler, The Giving Tree, The Overstory, The Tree Lady: How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever, tree species, Treecology: 30 Activities and Observations for Esploring the World of Trees and and Forests, Trees comic book series, Trees: Kings of the Forest, Under the Canopy: Trees Around the World, Wangari Maathai, Wangari Maathai: The Woman Who Planted Millions of Trees, Warren Ellis, Watari's Trees of Peace: A True Story from Africa, We Planted a Tree, Wendy Pfeffer | Leave a comment

Tweens Spring Forward

Posted on March 1, 2019

Transitions. Whether it is tweens careening towards adolescence or winter blossoming into spring, the change is predictable–even if the pace is not! This is why fickle March seems an apt moment to catch up with two award-winning graphic novels about … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels | Tagged All's Faire in Middle School, award winner, bullying, challenges, elmentary school graphic novels, family relationships, friendship, growing up, humor, Latinx characters, middle school, Newberry Honor book, Renaissance Faire, roller derby, Roller Girl, self-awareness, sports, team relationships, The Great Art Caper, The Great Pet Escape, tween girls, tweens, Victoria Jamieson | Leave a comment