Author Archives: rosinskynatalie

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

Crushes Now and Then

Posted on February 1, 2019

Heartthrob or heartache? Sudden attraction or slow connection? With Valentine’s Day approaching, and its card exchanges popular even in some pre-schools, the recent publication of Svetlana Chmakova’s Crush (2018) was aptly timed. This continuation of the author/illustrator’s award-winning Berrybrook Middle … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels, story collection | Tagged 1960s, Awkward, Beach Boys, Beatles, Berrybrook Middle School series, Brave, bullying, Crush, crushes, friends, I Am Young, M. Dean, middle school, music, Pet Sounds, Svetlana Chmakova, teenagers, tweens, Valentine's Day, young love | Leave a comment

Timely Questions

Posted on January 1, 2019

At the start of a new year, in our sometimes Kafkaesque world, it is good to realize that not all tales from the inner city are bad. What exactly do I mean by that remark? I hope you will be … Continue reading →

Posted in graphic novels, picture books | Tagged animals, animals in cities, bureaucracy, canine history, cats, creativity, dogs, Franz Kafka, graphic adaptation, human imagination, humans and animals, In the Penal Colony, judicial system, justice, Kafkaesque: Fourteen Stories, legal system, New Year, Peter Kuper, Shaun Tan, Tales from Outer Suburbia, Tales from the Inner City, The Hunger Artist, The Metamorphosis, Trumpesque | Leave a comment