Episode # 71: Changing Our Minds
Hello! Welcome back to another episode of Book Friends Forever. Grace and Alvina are talking about times in their lives where they have changed their minds. This was inspired by an Instagram post that Grace saw from The Tutu Teacher!
It was in reference to being able to normalize changing your opinion on something after learning new information. Grace felt this was particulary important in times of the pandemic and an upcoming election.
As usual, the book friends discuss what’s been going on in their lives first. Alvina has been busy with work but took a nice three-day weekend to celebrate the 4th of July. She had some friends over on her back deck and also began a new Edward Gorey cat puzzle.
Grace has been feeling good about the Book Reviewers Club that she is starting with her Kids Ask Authors podcast. The goal is to highlight black authors with upcoming books. She had almost 200 applicants! It’s overwhelming but exciting. Now she has to figure out some of the details in times of the pandemic.
Changing Our Minds:
What are some things that Grace and Alvina have changed their minds on? Generally speaking they mention things like food and music. Alvina never liked mushrooms growing up and now she loves them. She didn’t care for country music either but now she has more of an appreciation for it. Grace never liked salad until one day her brother-in-law introduced her to salad with candied walnuts, goat cheese, and all kinds of things! Alvina used to never understand golfing but now she does and she definitely has a different opinion about it.
Grace asks, “What did you change your mind on after learning new information about it?”
Alvina mentions religion and the book, Genome: The autobiography of a Species in 23 Chapters. She was always conflicted on how religious she should be. Then she read this book and realized there is a gene that causes one to be more religious. It occurred to her that she just lacks that gene and then she wasn’t conflicted anymore.
Grace talks about the tough love of being critiqued in art school. She always thought that’s what a great way to teach but then she changed her mind about that. She thinks the people who don’t get as noticed or who aren’t as good should just be nurtured more to make it to the top. You should just be good enough because you’re human, not because you’re struggling so hard to prove that you’re better than anyone else.
“Sometimes changing your mind is like changing your wish.” Grace mentions the desire she once had to learn Chinese. She wanted to because she didn’t want to seem like a fake Asian. She later realized that she didn’t need to learn the language to claim that part of her identity. When she came to terms with that, the wish totally disappeared.
What are you grateful for?
Alvina: She is grateful for childhood memories of catching fire flies! They’re so magical and she remembers this well when she had her friends over for a BBQ and the kids were running around chasing them.
Grace has a serious grateful and a light-hearted one: First, she is grateful for the fact that she made a career out of her art and realized it is not because she had all that tough love in art school, but probably in spite of all that. Her less-serious grateful us that one of their two new chickens laid their very first brown egg.
Book Reviews with Alison Morris!
Alison is trying something new this week! In her efforts to promote upcoming books by black authors, she wanted to throw out a list of 6 new books to keep your eyes on! Here they are!
Becoming Muhammad Ali by James Patterson and Kwame Alexander
Punching the Air by Ibi Zoboi and Yusef Salaam
Dear Justyce by Nic Stone
Class Act by Jerry Craft
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds
Before Ever After by Jaqueline Woodson
Alison Morris is a nationally recognized children's book buyer with an infectious enthusiasm for reading and 20 years' experience matching books to readers. As the Senior Director of Title Selection for nonprofit First Book, she oversees the curation of children’s and young adult books on the First Book Marketplace, hand-selecting a diverse range of titles that speak to and address the needs of kids in underserved communities, with a keen eye to inclusion, authenticity, and kid-appeal. She previously served as Senior Editor at Scholastic Book Clubs, Children's Book Buyer for Wellesley Booksmith and The Dartmouth Bookstore, and was the founding blogger of the ShelfTalker children’s book blog for Publishers Weekly. She'll be joining us from her home near Washington, DC where she spends LOTS of time discussing books with her husband, illustrator and graphic novelist Gareth Hinds.
