1. Just read Sara Zarr's ONCE WAS LOST (finally, finally, finally) and it has struck me now what it is exactly that Sara does so remarkably well: she writes about families. There have been many articles and blog posts (some recent) about the "absent parent" in MG & YA literature. It's the Disney Syndrome - Mom or Dad has to be dead for a Disney movie to be made (literally). It doesn't bother me when a parent is missing or even when they are largely absent from the plot (I grew up on Nancy Drew after all) but Sara excels at writing about teens and parents and how complicated and convoluted and wonderful (or not) those relationships can be. She writes about family as a significant thing, which it is. Good or bad, who you come from will stay with you (one way or another) until the day you die. She gets that so well and truly is a writer of amazing depth.

Loved the book.

2. One of the more heartbreaking aspects of polar exploration is the torturous final days of the dogs (and a few ponies) who were used (and almost always eaten - as planned) by the explorers. There's a nice little memorial of sorts being given to them now in Antarctica. Navigation points ("waypoints") used by pilots will now go by a series of tags named for several of the animals. As the NYT reported a couple of days ago, this is largely due to the efforts of one USAF colonel who took the time to track down actual animals so the names would be right. It's a small thing but with all those geographical points named for everyone and their cousin who touched down there (not to mention royalty and folks who put up money for expeditions), it's nice to see the animals who gave it their all finally getting their due. The NYT also has a follow-up editorial as well.

3. Peter Geye has posted his soundtrack to SAFE FROM THE SEA at Largehearted Boy. (Man, do I ever love this book.) Here's a bit:

"The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" Gordon Lightfoot

What kind of a liar would I be if this song didn't make the cut? I suspect that the only thing most people know about Great Lakes shipwrecks come from this song. It tells the story of the most famous maritime disaster in Lake Superior history. The Edmund Fitzgerald is consciously absent from Safe from the Sea because it casts such a large shadow, but her story is in every line of the book. And the song is just fantastic. Listen to the lyrics—if you can get past the dirge—they're poetry.

4. Gwenda linked to author Kate Elliott's must read post on immigration the other day. Here's a bit:

When I grew up, we were taught that the USA was built from those who had the courage to leave the safety of the known to build a better life elsewhere. Taking into account, of course, those who had no choice but to come, shackled by the slave trade, and those who were already here, although of course the original peoples who colonized the Americas were also people courageous enough to seek a new land, a new home. In other words, part of the mythology of America is that the brave and the bold and the desperate and the ambitious come here to make a better life because America is the land of opportunity.

Go. Read. You won't be sorry. (And I just added Kate's book COLD MAGIC to my wishlist. More steampunk goodness - I can't get enough of it.)