Click here for a Word version of this news release.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MIC MAC PUBLISHING
P.O. Box 483
Carnelian Bay, CA 96140
Mark McLaughlin is an award-winning and nationally published author and
weather historian. His newest book, The Donner Party: Weathering the Storm, is now available at California & Nevada bookstores and other retail outlets.
This engagingly written and well-illustrated book is a fresh look at this
classic western tale of the struggle for survival as powerful snowstorms during the winter of 1847 trapped 81 California-bound pioneers in the High Sierra. Unique, dramatic and insightful, Weathering the Storm
chronicles weather conditions and storm events in northern California as they impacted the snowbound emigrants and the heroic men who risked their lives to save them.
Using diaries, ship logs, eyewitness accounts, memoirs, books, letters,
newspaper articles and military journals, McLaughlin weaves early weather records and contemporary accounts into a compelling narrative that not only tells the story of the Donner Party and its rescue, but helps us
understand how the extreme weather that winter affected people and events during the Mexican-American War. This book also includes chapters on recent archaeology and forensic discoveries, tree ring climate
reconstruction and an illustrated history of rare San Francisco snowstorms.
"Mark McLaughlin has written an outstanding book about the Donner Party. I enjoyed the way he interspersed the Donner story with other
weather and historical events happening in California such as the Bear Flag Rebellion and the Mexican-American War. Great job!" — Steve Beck, Archivist Sutter's Fort State Historic Park, Sacramento
"This book is very, very good! I was impressed by the quality and extent of the research, written with a very engaging style. It is an
excellent and much-needed addition to the Donner Party literature. I highly recommend it!" — Gary Noy, Director of the Center for Sierra Nevada Studies, Sierra College
TITLE: The Donner Party: Weathering the Storm
CLASSIFICATION: Non-Fiction: American West History
AUTHOR: Mark McLaughlin
RETAIL PRICE: $18.95
PUBLISHER: Mic Mac Publishing
DIMENSIONS: 6" X 9" — Softcover — 192 pages
BACK MATTER: Bibliography & Sierra snowfall graph
ILLUSTRATIONS: 102 b/w photographs, images and maps
About the Author
Weather historian Mark McLaughlin is an award-winning, nationally published author and
photographer with five books and more than 500 articles in print. Mark was educated as an historian and cultural geographer at the University of Nevada, Reno, and his work
appears regularly in California and Nevada media; he has received the Nevada State Press award five times. Mark frequently writes historical articles for such magazines as Sierra Heritage, Wild West, Nevada, and Weatherwise. His work has also been
published in the Reno News & Review, Issues in Science & Technology, and the Grolier Educational Science Annual encyclopedia.
A professional and popular lecturer who has lived at North Lake Tahoe since 1978,
McLaughlin teaches Sierra Nevada history using dramatic stories, slide shows and field trips. He is also a frequent guest on National Public Radio and has twice consulted for The History Channel.
McLaughlin's first two books, Sierra Stories: True Tales of Tahoe, Volumes 1 & 2 are
regional bestsellers, and his entertaining publication, Western Train Adventures: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly, won the Silver Award at the 2003 Sacramento Publishers & Authors annual awards gala.
Mark McLaughlin's entertaining and educational history books are available at local
bookstores or at www.MicMacMedia.com. The website also contains free stories, articles, and photographs, as well as plenty of fascinating weather and snowfall facts for the Lake
Tahoe and Donner Pass region of the Sierra Nevada.
Books by Mark McLaughlin:
The Donner Party: Weathering the Storm
Sierra Stories: True Tales of Tahoe — Volumes 1 & 2
Western Train Adventures: The Good, the Bad & the Ugly
Turning the Corner: Energy Solutions for the 21st Century


Lee Conmigo! was born from the heartfelt dreams of two teachers from the public Montessori system in Puerto Rico. Juan Carlos Acevedo and Gianlee Márquez, both deeply passionate about promoting reading to children and furthering access to children's literature, realized through their work in the public school system the need that exists on the Island and the few access points that children and their families have to children's literature. Recognizing the urgency of making books accessible to kids and knowing about its benefits in the development of children, they sought to create spaces to provide this access to their students, so they began to invite them to read as a family on weekends at their school.
The need was so great that families began to invite more people to these activities and that initial space was soon too small for them. For this reason and in order to continue making reading accessible to families, they decided to incorporate what began as a community initiative as a Non-Profit Organization in May 2019, thus ¡Lee Conmigo! Inc. was born.
In Puerto Rico there is an urgent need for recreational, social, and safe spaces where families can enjoy the benefits of a community that provides diverse experiences for their children, and this was a need that ¡Lee Conmigo! had the capacity to fill. From the outset, the main focus of ¡Lee Conmigo! has been to promote a love for reading from an early age. In the beginning, they did it through reading encounters, these being held in recreational spaces that they created in parks, bookstores, and other locales; free of charge, they designed a space full of art, socialization, teamwork, family time, and above all reading which was promoted as a pleasant and fun activity.
With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021, face-to-face meetings could not be held, so the need arose to take the readings to a virtual platform through their Facebook page, in which weekly activities were carried out in which a sign language interpreter was included in each transmission. This platform led them to reach families in many more towns in Puerto Rico, but also in countries like the United States, Mexico, Peru, Chile, Spain, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and Germany.
In 2020 Lee Conmigo! also had the opportunity to participate in the EnterPRize small business competition held by the Guayacán Foundation, and they were also the winners of the Sembrando Futuro award, which seeks to reward the team whose work has the greatest impact for the Puerto Rico of the future that we all long for.
The work and commitment to make children's literature accessible is a never ending task, and on October 30, 2022 they managed to inaugurate their first physical space, the ¡Lee Conmigo! Children's Library located on the ground floor of the San Patricio Plaza shopping center. The 2,200-square-foot space is made up of a large reading room, art area, puppets, a baby library, and more than 1,000 Children's Literature books. The ¡Lee Conmigo! Children's Library is the first library which specializes in early childhood in Puerto Rico, and from there families have access to books, they can borrow books through memberships, enjoy read aloud activities, birthday celebrations, educational workshops, and more.
Lee Conmigo! is a non-profit organization that seeks to cultivate a reading culture in Puerto Rico through wonderful and fun reading experiences for the whole family.


Welcome to Michigan Rural Task Force (RTF) Education Resources, the educational resource hub for the Michigan RTF Program Advisory Board.
In 2016, sweeping changes were introduced to the RTF fund distribution process. While there was some learning required, all members involved in the Michigan RTF Program Advisory Board believe these changes helped to alleviate frustration and lack of transparency in the process.
Michigan RTF Education Resources will be here to guide you through all the recent and any future changes coming to the RTF fund distribution process with training resources, webinars, videos and more.
A collaboration of:


The year is 2010. Lady Gaga is wearing a meat dress, “Airplanes” by B.o.B is playing on loop on the radio, and my tiny 10- year-old heart knows no deeper emotional investment than the book series “Percy Jackson and the Olympians.” An American “Harry Potter,” the books had a pure, timeless and childlike quality that still evokes nostalgia to this day. They were absolutely beloved by a generation of young readers. Reading about the new adaptation suddenly takes me back to childhood, my obsession with this series, and how it completely captured my young heart and mind.
As many other people my age know, there was no heartbreak like seeing the book’s completely unfaithful original live-action adaptation. The 2010 movie “Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief” bastardized the source material for the sake of appealing to a wider audience. The Hollywood version of the children’s story aged up the protagonists by several years. An essential feature of the books is their target audience being children. The hero is 12-years-old in the first book which translates into “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” serving as a classic bildungsroman. It teaches children that what makes them different makes them powerful — through relatable, distinctly pre-teen characters. Their age inspires the unique tone and subject matter of the books, appropriate for children aged 9-12. The only thing the film might teach children is that at age seventeen, they should look like 12-year-old Alexandra Daddario. The plot was also chopped up to make senseless compromises due to logistics and budgeting. Aging the characters from the start meant that the franchise was never going to make it to the fifth installment. They were only ever going to make two movies, the second of which was even worse than the original.
The adaption represents the epitome of Hollywood, the worst and most commercial that the film industry has to offer: watered down, sexed-up, and taking a popular name for the sole use of profit at the expense of any artistic integrity. In a medium that balances art and entertainment, the 2010 movie is purely the latter.
If fans are frustrated, it’s hard to imagine how author Rick Riordan truly felt when he read the first script. The writer has been open on his personal website about his complete disappointment with the films. He emailed the producers in 2009, “When I first read the script I’ll admit I was plunged into despair at just how bad it was. If I were intentionally trying to sabotage this project, I doubt I could have done a better job than this script.” He sold the rights to a film adaption as part of a publishing deal after the first book came out. It gave him enough money to quit his job and focus on writing, but zero rights to creative control when the film was eventually produced. His main concern was the age of the protagonists. Rick Riordan was inspired to write the story by his son, who has ADHD and dyslexia, traits that became Percy’s strengths as a hero. He has a touching sense of loyalty to the young fans of the series, for whom he wrote the books. He was incredibly heartbroken to see the film produced in the way it was.
A decade later, there is justice. A television series by Disney+ was announced in May of 2020, with Riordan on board as a writer and producer. Twelve years has widened Hollywood’s scope of what makes successful viewing content. A TV series is the perfect form with which to adapt the novels. The characters and ideas have time to be well-rounded and complete. A cinematic adaptation of any novel requires many compromises; it’s just a different medium. With a book series of this nature, with such an involved fanbase, maybe a film could never do it justice. True to ancient Greek myth, the first book tells of the character’s long odyssey, with many stops and encounters along the way. Every small detail is important, a setup for a more complete narrative spanning five books. A TV series will allow the adaption to be true to the source material and to the author’s wishes. It is also certain to be successful. The first book came out seventeen years ago, so the series will be watched by children and adults alike who read the novels.
20th Century Fox and Disney+ have distinct modus operandi (although both are owned by Disney). Fox is a traditional movie studio. Its only goal is to profit, with widely appealing, digestible blockbusters that will sell as much as possible to moviegoers. They have made some of the most generic and commercially successful films of all time, with the same consumable quality that made the original PJO movies so horrible. The advent of streaming seen in the last decade has opened the door for more niche interests to be actualized on the small screen. It’s easy to see how a better adaptation may come to fruition after the release of the “Mandalorian,” “Eternals,” and other successful, elaborate fantasy series from Disney+.
Finally, on April 11, Riordan announced the casting of 13-year-old Walker Scobell to play the series’ hero. “Walker is also a super-fan of the books, having read everything through ‘The Trials of Apollo.’ He already owns a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt… The shirt was just him repping his love for the series, and that look of surprise is totally genuine.” This wholesome message alone made up for the original movie. Original fans of the series are incredibly excited to see young Scobell and the rest of the ensemble cast, soon to be announced, age with the characters, in a live-action series written by Riordan and true to the heart of the original books.
Production begins this summer on “Percy Jackson and the Olympians” and it will be streaming on Disney+ in late 2022 or early 2023.


The recipient of the WOW! Educator of the Month for the month of September was Marcia Hershiser, librarian from Sunset Hill Elementary. Marcia has been the librarian at Sunset Hill for several years and has become an essential part of the school. Her colleagues constantly turn to her for creative/innovative ideas to keep their students engaged in their lessons. She continues to refine her craft every year and has even been called on by the school district to offer her expertise. She works behind the scenes with remedial and enrichment groups that help students of all ages. She has hosted authors in the school and has collaborated with all grade levels on project based learning opportunities. It’s not uncommon for students to ask to go to the library to spend time with Marcia. Her genuine love for the students has had a lasting effect on many of these students and she has become a favorite of many of them She also organizes school wide activities, bringing students and staff together to increase the community feel within Sunset Hill.
For winning Teacher of the Month for September Marcia received a $100 gift card from Meritrust as well as a pizza party for a class courtesy of Minsky’s Pizza. Marcia now has a chance to be selected “Teacher of the Year”, win a cash prize for herself as well as her school, and win a free car for a year courtesy of Crown Automotive.


One of the world’s most distinguished international publishers, Penguin Random House, has published a new book with a collection of Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s 16 speeches — many of which have been made since the beginning of the full-scale war. Part of the proceeds from the book’s sales will go towards rebuilding Ukraine, via the UNITED24 fundraising platform.
A Message from Ukraine is out now around the world in hardcover, audiobook and ebook formats. The book includes 16 speeches made between 2019 and now. Each of them will help readers better understand Ukraine and Ukrainians, and their aspirations, principles, and values.
Rowan Borchers, Editorial Director at Hutchinson Heinemann, said:
“Over the last nine months, President Zelenskyy’s speeches have become a rallying cry for everyone who cares about the future of democracy. It is the honour of a lifetime to help him share his message with the world.”
Penguin was founded in 1935 by Allen Lane. Today, Penguin Random House is the world’s leading publishing house, the publisher of books written by more than 50 Nobel Prize laureates, and over 100 Pulitzer Prize winners.
UNITED24 is President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s initiative to collect donations in support of Ukraine. All funds are transferred to the official accounts of the National Bank of Ukraine and allocated by government ministries to cover their most pressing needs. During the first 7 months of operation, UNITED24 collected more than 237 million dollars from citizens of 110 countries worldwide. Among UNITED24 ambassadors are famous athletes Andriy Shevchenko, Elina Svitolina and Oleksandr Usyk, creative director of “Balenciaga” Demna, American actors Liev Schreiber and Mark Hamill, the music band “Imagine Dragons”, singer and actress – Barbra Streisand, astronaut – Scott Kelly, and historian – Timothy Snyder.


Designed for the general reader, it provides authoritative, essential information in easy-to-understand language. Contains 400 essays on a variety of topics, including substances of abuse, treatment and addiction overviews, and much more. Magill's Medical Guide also available. In-library use only.
Provided by Owatonna Public Library (OPL)
Full text articles from more than 180 international journals on complementary, holistic, and integrated approaches to health care and wellness.
Provided by Electronic Library for Minnesota (ELM)
Consumer Health Complete is designed to support the information needs of patients and to foster an overall understanding of health-related topics from mainstream medicine to the many perspectives of complementary, holistic, and integrated medicine.
Provided by ELM
The Magill's Medical Guide covers the following issues in an A to Z format, with sidebars addressing recent developments in medicine and concise information boxes for all diseases and disorders: Anatomy, Biology, Diseases, Disorders, Procedures, Specialties, Treatments, In-library use only.
Provided by OPL


Frequently asked questions
What are Killer T and Arctic Zoo?
Killer T and Arctic Zoo are standalone stories, published in 2018 and 2019.
Will Robert be writing more books after Arctic Zoo?
The first book in Robert’s new Robin Hood series will be released in early 2020.
Robert Muchamore’s Robin Hood is a brand new series of books. Set in the 2020s, it tells the story of twelve-year-old Robin as he escapes into Sherwood Forest and battles the evil Sheriff of Nottingham.
But isn’t Robin Hood like, eight hundred years ago, with people in feathered hats with bows and arrows?
Nobody knows the origins of the Robin Hood legend, though most people agree that he wasn’t a real person.
The earliest known mentions of Robin Hood are in 12th century poems. Since then Robin’s story has been re-imagined by hundreds of writers and filmmakers.
Many versions stick close to the original medieval stories, but there have been more radical versions. Robert Muchamore’s favorite version is Robin and the Seven Hoods, in which Robin is a gangster in 1920s Chicago!
Robert Muchamore’s Robin Hood is set in a modern world of computer hackers, asylum seekers and greedy billionaires!
How many books and when will they be released?
The first book Hacking, Heists and Flaming Arrows will be released in the UK in April 2020. Three more Robin Hood Books will be released in 2021 and 2022 and there may be more after that.
What about graphic novels, movies, TV series and publication in other languages?
Robert completed the first Robin Hood book in late 2018 and publication was announced in February 2019. At this early stage, there is no information on translations or other versions, but we’ll let you know as soon as we do!
Who are the books aimed for?
After writing his two giant standalone teen books, Arctic Zoo and Killer T, Robin Hood is aimed at the same kind of audience as CHERUB.
What order do the CHERUB books go in?
|1. The Recruit||9. The Sleepwalker|
|2. Class A||10. The General|
|3. Maximum Security||11. Brigands M.C.|
|4. The Killing||12. Shadow Wave|
|5. Divine Madness||13. People's Republic|
|6. Man vs Beast||14. Guardian Angel|
|7. The Fall||15. Black Friday|
|8. Mad Dogs||16. Lone Wolf|
|8.5 Dark Sun (Mini Book)||17. New Guard|
Why did you stop writing CHERUB?
I wrote seventeen CHERUB books. That's 6,500 pages and over a million words!
I’m proud these books are so successful and have so many fans around the world. But I was going nuts trying to create fresh CHERUB stories. It was time to move on and write something different.
What is CHERUB: Dark Sun?
Dark Sun was a 118 page limited-edition CHERUB story released in March 2008 to celebrate World Book Day. It is now available as a special edition 'Dark Sun and Other Stories,' which unsurprisingly contains Dark Sun, and some other stories.
What are CHERUB: The Mission and CHERUB: The Dealer?
Both are alternative titles for CHERUB: Class A. The Mission was used for a UK book club. The Dealer is used in the USA.
Will there be more graphic novels?
The first two CHERUB books were published as graphic novels in English and French. My French publisher plans to continue the series with the third book, but sales have not been strong enough for more English editions.
Where can I get a CHERUB T-shirt?
For full details of how to buy CHERUB T-shirts please visit the shop on this website.
For Film & TV questions see HERE
What is the order of the Henderson’s Boys books?
|1. The Escape||5. The Prisoner|
|2. Eagle Day||6. Secret Army|
|3. Secret Army||7. One Shot Kill|
|4. Grey Wolves|
What is Henderson's Boys?
Henderson's Boys is a seven book CHERUB spin-off series. It tells the story of Charles Henderson and the beginning of the CHERUB organization.
The first title, The Escape, was published in March 2009, and the 7th and final title Scorched Earth, came out in early 2013
Will there ever be another Henderson's Boys book?
No. Henderson's Boys is a seven-book series. The story runs from the invasion of France in 1940, through to the liberation of Paris in summer 1944.
Can we expect a Henderson's Boys movie or TV series?
At present we're focusing on a CHERUB TV series.
What is Rock War?
Rock War is four-book series published between 2014 and 2017.
It tells the story of five groups of teenagers as they form bands, and enter a TV talent show. Some are destined for stardom, while others will vanish back into obscurity!
To celebrate the launch of the series, there was also a mini World Book Day book, called The Audition.
What is the order of the Rock War books
1. Rock War
1.5 The Audition (Mini Book)
2. Boot Camp
3. Gone Wild
4. Crash Landing
Can we expect a Rock War movie or TV series?
It could happen some day, but nothing has happened yet.
Why do some of your books have a ‘Not suitable for younger readers,' logo and what does it mean?
The logo was added at the request of a UK supermarket. Unlike dedicated book stores, supermarkets don't have enough space to make separate sections for older children. The logo is designed to prevent the books being accidentally bought for very young children.
What age range are your books meant for?
I am very reluctant to put specific ages on my books, because young people vary so much, in terms of reading ability and their taste for the naughty/violent bits…
My books are primarily aimed at kids aged 11+ and most of my readers are aged between 12 & 15.
The Robin Hood series (published 2020) is also suitable for slightly younger readers.
What kind of content can I expect to find in a Robert Muchamore book?
These are the guidelines I try to follow when writing my books:
1. There are no sexual swear words. Each book has roughly the same number of mild swear words in it (Yes, we count them!).
2. Some characters have sex and issues such as contraception, masturbation and sexually transmitted diseases are occasionally touched on. There is no explicit depiction of sexual acts beyond kissing and non-genital touching.
3. Other controversial subjects such as drug abuse, human slavery, brainwashing etc are depicted in the books. Although individual characters may espouse this behavior in specific scenes, the overall message of the story is always that these forms of behavior are unacceptable.
4. The Robin Hood series contains only extremely mild swearing and less sexual content.
TV & FILM
Have any Robert Muchamore books been made into a film or TV series?
Not so far!
Are there plans for a film or TV series based on any of your work?
In mid-2017 KOMIXX (Link) optioned the CHERUB series and to make a TV series based on the books.
In April 2018, Sony Pictures Television joined the project, aiming to produce a series.
The project is still in the development stages. Check out my social media and the news section on this website for updates.
When will the CHERUB TV series be released?
The most optimistic schedule is that a series or could begin shooting in late 2019 and be released in late 2020. However, it might take longer, or even not happen at all!
How can I audition for a CHERUB TV show?
There are currently no fixed dates. Casting of child characters is unlikely to take place until the show is ready to start shooting (We could cast someone as James now and find that he's got a beard by the time the movie is ready to be made!).
If there is an open casting, I'll try and put the information on my Twitter and in the news section of this website.
Do you really answer all your fan e-mails?
I reply to everyone who contacts me by e-mail. Check out the guidelines on the CONTACT page to see how to get in touch.
How come my friend got a reply almost the same as me?
I read and reply to all the e-mails I get. However, there are questions I get asked a lot, so I paste standard answers rather than type the same thing ten times a week!
Do you visit schools?
Sometimes, check out the CONTACT page on this website.
Are you rich?
Obviously, the more books you sell the more money you make. I'm not in the JK Rowling or Bill Gates league, but I do earn a very good income as a writer.
Are you married and do you have kids?
No and no.
Do you have pets?
I have a rhino called Dave...
Actually, that's lie.
He's called Steve.
Do you have brothers and sisters?
I've got a big brother Del, who is an IT teacher, and two older sisters.
Where are you from?
I grew up in Tufnell Park in North London and now live a few miles away in Crouch End.
Where did you go to school?
My primary school was St Johns Upper Holloway and my secondary school was called Acland Burghley.
Where do you get your ideas from?
I get asked this question all the time. It drives me nuts, because I don't really know the answer!
I usually start by picking a topic for a book - like cocaine dealing for CHERUB: Class A - and the ideas slowly come together as I learn about the subject.
What was your inspiration to write books?
I've always read loads, but when I was about 11/12 I got fed up with all the kids' books, but I was still a bit young to get into adult books. I'd always wanted to be a writer and my idea for CHERUB was to try and write the book I was searching for when I was thirteen-years-old.
What is your favorite vegetable?
How long does it take you to write each book?
Typically 3-4 months from starting my research to finishing the first draft. Killer T is longer than my other books and took seven months.
What is your favorite book?
I love Catch 22 by Joseph Heller. I've read it about ten times and it still cracks me up.
My other favorite is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote.
What books do you really hate?
Great Expectations by Charles Dickens. I read this for my English GCSE. By the time I'd spent four months reading, re-reading and writing essays on it I wanted to travel back in time and kick Charles Dickens in the nuts.
What books do you recommend for your fans?
It's tough to predict what young readers will like. So, these are not really recommendations, just a few of my personal favorite YA books:
Noughts and Crosses – Malorie Blackman
The Bunker Diary – Kevin Brooks
Junk – Melvin Burgess
Girl Missing – Sophie McKenzie
The Hate U Give – Angie Thomas


What happens to students between the moment they decide to go to college and the moment they need to submit paperwork, get advised, and enroll to their first college class? What happens to that high school graduate who at the end of the Spring term decided to go to college in the Fall but after being accepted, he doesn't end up going? I posed myself questions like these as I started to think about my research. It turns out that the literature defines this as the Summer Melt. This speaks to the various challenges that students face at the pre-enrollment stage. My research aims to look at how the Summer Melt affect low-income students. In doing the research around this topic, I have found a number of different articles and resources available that explain this complex issue. Furthermore, the literature on this topic appears to be robust and well-documented. Most of the literature points to what high school institutions can do to address this issue but a few good articles point to how colleges in general can respond by integrating and engaging students on campus in effective ways.
In sum, my research hopes to inform about possible areas that are common triggers for Summer Melt to occur such as lack of counseling or financial aid support. Finally, I hope to identify possible effective approaches to implement among minority students. Here are ten resources I've found thus far.
Arnold, K., Fleming, S., DeAnda, M., Castleman, B. & Lynk Wartman, K. (2009). The Summer Flood: The Invisible Gap Among Low-Income Students in Thought & Action. (Fall 2009, pp. 29-34).
This article talks about the bigger picture and how Summer Melt is normally overlooked and unnoticed. It offers key points of understanding to better approach the Summer Melt and support students from low-income backgrounds.
Castleman, B., Page, L., Schooley, K. (2014). The Forgotten Summer: Does the Offer of College Counseling After High School Mitigate Summer Melt Among College-Intending, Low-Income High School Graduates? Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 33(2), 320-344.
Similar to a previous article presented by these same authors, this piece offers insights about the importance of counseling after high school graduation. The article looks particularly at how policymakers have overlooked the importance of counseling and how detrimental it can be for students who choose to go to college upon graduation but end up not going in the months prior to enrolling in classes.
Castleman, B., & Page, L. (2014). Summer Melt: Supporting Low-Income Students Through the Transition to College. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press.
In this book, the authors explain the concept of Summer Melt and how it is understood in the literature. Also, the authors focus on strategies and approaches designed to help a particular student population stay in college. In particular, they explain the use of technology in the form of ‘nudges’ to push students towards staying in college. Lastly, the authors speak about the challenges students in this particular group face and how the institution can respond to these.
Castleman, B., Arnold, K., & Lynk Wartman, K. (2012) Stemming the Tide of Summer Melt: An Experimental Study of the Effects of Post-High School Summer Intervention on Low-Income Students’ College Enrollment, Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 5:1, 1-17, DOI: 10.1080/19345747.2011.618214
In this study, the authors explained the impact that counseling has over during the summer after High School graduation and before college enrollment. The study found that students in the treatment group who received targeted counseling were more likely to persist in their intentions of attending college. The current study can provide sound explanations and a rationale to further explore in this area.
Castleman, B., & Page, L. (2015). Summer nudging: Can personalized text messages and peer mentor outreach increase college going among low-income high school graduates? Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 115, 144-160.
In this article, the authors speak about two particular behavioral approaches to addressing the Summer Melt—the use of a text messaging system and a peer mentoring intervention. The authors speak about the financial aspect when implementing initiatives aimed at addressing the Summer Melt and offer suggestions about how to best approach this with cost-effective strategies. This can be an important addition to the research and development of best practices that institutions can put into place when addressing this larger issue.
Center for Education Policy Research. (2013). SDP Summer Melt Handbook: A Guide to Investigating and Responding to Summer Melt. Boston, MA: Benjamin L. Castleman Lindsay C. Page Ashley L. Snowdon
In this handbook, the authors explain the complexities of the Summer Melt and how it unfolds. Additionally, this handbook is particularly interesting because it offers 5 case studies that provide a rationale for approaching this issue among students.
Daugherty, L. (2012). Summer Link: A Counseling Intervention to Address the Transition from High School to College in a Large Urban District. Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management.
This study builds off from previous research findings about counseling interventions as a way to address the Summer Melt. It is particularly interesting because the intervention is made at a large urban setting in the Southwest. Additionally, the study looks at students who’ve applied to four-year institutions which may impact the general understanding about why students make a choice of attending a community college versus a four-year institution and how this affects Summer Melt.
Mellow, G. O., & Heelan, C. M. (2015). Minding the dream: the process and practice of the American Community College (2nd ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.
The authors inform a lot about my current research topic. Particular chapters that can provide both context and understanding to how Summer Melt unfolds are the ones on developmental studies and on a changed pedagogy. Overall, the authors provide a critical eye to how Community Colleges should educate students as well as the challenges these institutions face when opening the doors. The authors’ approaches can help better understand who the students are and why the Summer Melt originates as well as how it can be addressed.
Page, L. & Gehlbach, H. (2017). How an Artificially Intelligent Virtual Assistant Helps Students Navigate the Road to College. AERA Open, 3(4), 1-12.
This particular study looks at the use of technology and the ways in which this can serve students effectively and help them stay on track by enrolling on time and meeting key pre-enrollment requirements. This study adds an important layer of discussion about the use of technology and the cost implications for institutions. The study takes place at Georgia State University and resulted in 3.3 percentage points more likely for enrolling on time for students who were assigned to the treatment group.
Winkle-Wagner, R., & Locks, A. M. (2013). Diversity and Inclusion on Campus: Supporting Racially and Ethnically Underrepresented Students. Routledge.
The authors here point out critical issues when engaging and welcoming students from minority populations into college campuses. More particularly, it offers theoretical frameworks to better understand effective student engagement. These theories can inform how students enter college and can inform some of the reasons why the Summer Melt can be addressed once students register for their first semester in college.


Introduction to ROS
If you are completely new to ROS, there are a few resources we can personally recommend. First of all, the official ROS documentation features an extensive tutorial for both Python and C++. If you are looking for a good lecture on ROS, the five lectures available on the website of the Robotic Systems Lab at ETH will have you covered on all basic ROS functionalities and feature structured exercises with prepared packages and code (solutions are spread all over Github). Additionally, the ros_best_pratices package can serve as a template for further projects.
Most packages are running locally on the robot, in order to start them, you'll need to connect to the robots wifi and connect over SSH with
which will setup everything you need to start the communication between ROS on the robot and on your computer. After that you can simply start the current demonstration by running
roslaunch rbd_controller rbd_controller.launch
which will start all necessary ROS nodes. Furthermore you'll need to start the gesture recognition program on the Ubuntu VM with the command
python3 /path/to/gestrec.py #change path to the actual path
Now you are all set up to run the current demonstration.
To launch individual nodes you can use the steps mentioned before to get to the right folder. By running the command
roslaunch package_name node.launch


Scope of this contribution is providing inputs in this direction by discussing the recently concluded ECI “A price on carbon to fight climate change”
The phenomenon of transnational activism in the European Union is attracting increasing attention in literature and in the respective political debate. Often, the transversal relevance of the relevant campaigns unite individuals, organizations and political parties of diverse backgrounds and worldviews. Relevant transnational, transversal and trans-party political initiatives can be therefore associated with the notion of transversal politics. Developed in the feminist stream of political studies, the notion of transversal politics is alternative to that of identity politics for it recognizes the inherent epistemological pluralism of “coalition politics in which the differential positionings of the individuals and collectives involved will be recognized, as well as the value systems which underly their struggles.” (Yuval-Davis, 1999).
Such inherent pluralism, its recognition from the side of those involved in coalition politics, and the resulting transition from identity to transversal politics are the conceptual lenses through which this contribution discusses the “single-issue-based coalitions” constituted by the European Citizens Initiatives (ECIs). Established in 2009 in response to the democratic deficit of the European Union in the framework of the Treaty of Lisbon, the ECIs constitute the participatory instrument by means of which European citizens can convert transnational political goals into a set of policy proposals to the European Parliament and the European Commission. However, the capacities required to complete the long journey from the formulation to the actual admission of such proposals to the parliamentary debate make the ECI a scarcely known and challenging to use instrument. Improving the relevant institutional design by drawing on the ‘lessons learnt’ from the multiple ECIs initiated in the past years is therefore essential for closing the gap between what seems an increasingly active and transversal European citizenry on the one hand, and the effective representativity of the European policy-making process on the other.
Scope of this contribution is providing inputs in this direction by discussing the recently concluded ECI “A price on carbon to fight climate change”. Launched in 2019 by the pan-European movement EUmans, the ECI was audited at the end of 2021 by the European Parliament Petition Committee. The aim of this study is distilling some ‘lessons learnt’ from the relevant journey that may inform future reform of this important, but still underexploited instrument of participation of European citizens in their supranational policy-making process. Our conclusions provide recommendations on how to articulate future ECIs in ways conducive to a successful outcome. Further recommendations address the European Commission in regard to improving the accessibility of the ECI instrument from the side of European citizens.
About the author
Claudia BASTA (1976) is a Scientist at the Dutch national institute for the living environment and Research Fellow at the department of Geosciences of the University of Utrecht, where she teaches theory and methodology of environmental and spatial planning evaluation. She has obtained her PhD in risk governance from Delft University of Technology with a thesis on comparative risk assessment practices in the European Union, and a post-doc in the ethics of technology from the 4TU Centre of Excellence for Ethics and Technology of the same university. Her broad-based research interests revolve around transdisciplinarity questions in the social-environmental sciences. As a volunteer for the international association Science for Democracy, she works on the theme of Open Science on questions of equitable access to scientific research from the side of disadvantaged researchers. Corresponding Author. Utrecht University, Department of Geosciences, Human Geography and Spatial Planning Group; Science for Democracy, Steering Committee.
Marco PERDUCA, Science for Democracy, Founder
Virginia FIUME, EUmans, Campaigns Director
Marco CAPPATO, EUmans, Founder
#Transnationalactivism #transversalpolitics #Europeandemocraticdeficit #EuropeanCitizensInitiatives #EuropeanCitizensAssemblies


What do the confessions of Nat Turner and those of Jeffrey Dahmer have in common? Paul Outlaw answers this provocative question in Berserker, a hilariously unsettling look into America's “heart of darkness” - our national obsessions with race, sex and violence. This homoerotic stew of physical theater combines excerpts from The Confessions of Nat Turner and transcripts of statements made by the infamous Milwaukee serial killer; prose and poetry by maverick African American authors Essex Hemphill and Samuel Delany; and Outlaw’s reflections on his family, his coming-of-age in New York and his experiences as an African-American in Germany.
“Outlaw’s performance is raw, riveting, often perverse, and decidedly unsettling.”
- Gene Price, San Francisco Bay Times
“His performance holds up as a provocative trip through racial rage, murder, and lust, to that still point where it's possible even for an outcast like him to feel human—and American—again.”
- Michael Scott Moore, SF Weekly


The Marriage of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle
My first reference to Sovereignty was found in the Tale of the Marriage of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle, in the Arthurian Grail Legend. In brief, King Arthur is cornered in the forest by an armed knight who threatens King Arthur’s life. The knight tells the king that he must return in a year’s time with the answer to the following question, What is it that women most desire?, and if he fails to give a satisfactory answer he will cut off the king’s head.
King Arthur returns to his castle distraught. His nephew Sir Gawain suggests they both go out riding into the country separately looking for answers to this question. With some hopelessness, King Arthur returns to the forest for inspiration and he meets an old hag who tells him that she will give him the answer if Sir Gawain marries her. The king returns to the castle and Sir Gawain agrees to the marriage. Arthur returns to the forest, meets the hag, and once she hears that Sir Gawain has accepted her terms, she reveals that what women desire most is sovereignty, the ability to choose for themselves.
The Goddess of Sovereignty and the Mabinogion
I next encountered sovereignty was through the Mabinogion, the first written collection of Welsh-Celtic-Gaelic Mythos. Celtic mythology is filled with powerful, and mysterious queens, both mortal and divine. Most of the names of the legendary queens and goddess translate to a form of Great Queen. Regardless of the specific narrative, the roles of these great queens remained consistent. They personified power, authority, and strength; and the Lady of the Land, and only through union with them could a king legitimately rule.
To the Celts, sovereignty was not about the right to rule over a clan or country; sovereignty was a divine power granted by the goddess of the land. The goddess and the land were one and the same. By union with the goddess, the king became connected to the land and the people. The fate of the land became intertwined with his. Any blemish or unworthy deed of his would be felt by the land and any mistreatment of the land would cause him to lose his kingdom. The gift of sovereignty was NOT shared; instead it was bestowed upon the king by the goddess, and he acted as her representative.
The right to choose, as we saw in the The Marriage of Sir Gawain and Dame Ragnelle, is reflected in all of the Great Queen mythos. The goddess maintains the right to choose her lovers and confer sovereignty on a mate she deems most worthy. She acts in the best interest of the land.


We were joined by Bee Rowlatt, author of In search of Mary, to learn all about the mother of feminism Mary Wollstonecraft. So much interesting ground was covered, but here’s a recap of some of the key things we learned about the inspiring and radical Mary Wollstonecraft:
- She wrote the Vindication of the Rights of Man before she wrote Vindication of the Rights of Woman, arguing for human rights, not just women’s rights. Enlightenment theory of perfectibility was central to her argument – that humanity was worth fighting for and that we should always be seeking to improve.
- She campaigned for women’s access to education, set up a school for girls and wrote a book titled Thoughts on the education of daughters.
- She was tragically erased from the history books. Her legacy was tarnished after details of her life that were deemed unacceptable at the time (having a child out of wedlock, attempting suicide, writing with her tone…) were exposed after her death. You can learn about Bee’s campaign to right this wrong and to memorialise Mary Wollstonecraft here.
Despite the advances that have been made since Vindication of the rights of woman was published we’re still fighting for the gender pay gap and women having control of their own bodies – some of the issues that Wollstonecraft originally argued for. There’s certainly scope to return to some of her writing in the current political climate.
If you’d like to learn more about Mary Wollstonecraft or read more of Bee’s witty (and hilarious) book you can order a copy here (through Hive, which is cheaper and much better for authors than Amazon).


I’m uncertain what to make of this book, especially since so many critics have compared it to Homer and Melville. I’d read the Odyssey, and found the pace and twists in the plot fairly readable. I’d felt compelled to read McCarthy often, but the heavy themes and tough characters in most of the film adaptions of his work (The Road, No Country, All the pretty, The Counsellor) don’t entice me to invest time and effort to read a five hundred page opus chronicling American history, identity and politics.
Blood Meridian is short and surprising easy to read, that is apart from the metaphorical prose and archaic language, diverges into strange parables about god and death.
I’d read the novel after reading appalling reviews of the latest film The Counsellor (directed by Ridley Scott), which was written directly for the screen and was not adapted from a novel. It was said that the great Hollywood director (known for Gladiator, Blade Runner, Alien, Black Hawk Down and Thelma & Louise) had wanted to adapt Blood Meridian into a film, but I could imagine the difficulties of bringing such a diverse and controversial anti-Western to the big screen; problematic due to the inherent racism, the historical scenes of genocide and atrocities committed against the native Americans, and not least due to the episodic structure of the narrative and the lack of an obvious central hero with any redeeming qualities.
For me, moments seem to recollect or pay some homage to films with similar themes, notably Apocalypse Now, Ride With The Devil, Little Big Man, Cold Mountain, Heaven’s Gate and Lonesome Dove. Essentially, the plot resembles a blend of the two epic sagas Apocalypse Now and Heaven’s Gate, if you will, where the narrative occurs through the lost eyes of ‘The Kid’. The young and aimless (and violent) adolescent who arrives on the scene similar to Ismael in Moby Dick, or Joaquin Phoenix in The Master, and follows his journey on a series of adventures and battles for the enterprise of the mystical and grotesque leader Glanton and his henchman ‘The Judge’.
The chapters are short and novel itself is only 340 pages, and I’m glad that McCarthy chose to narrate it from the position of a single character to show the shifts in the story. I’m not sure would’ve enjoyed it was much if I knew the length would’ve continued to the duration of Moby Dick or Paradise Lost. I think what makes this novel so good is that it feels like a film, it constantly reminded me of films I’d enjoyed, and you could easily imagine Philip Seymour Hoffman, Michael Fassbender, Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins and Daniel Day Lewis slipping into the skins of the characters.
The fact that the book is based on true events taken from the allegedly fictionalized biography of Samuel Chamberlian from his experiences with Glanton in the 1849 range wars is equally disturbing and astonishing. I would like to compare this account with Blood Meridian, but I think it would deflate some of the lurid imagination of the novel. There’s something about engrossing about the style and content of this novel, it’s morbid themes seems to make it comparable to other novels presenting political and historical events, such as Primo Levo If This Is a Man, Bret Easton Elllis’s American Psycho, Joseph Heller’s Catch 22, Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet On The Western Front or the documentaries I’d seen about the Chernobyl disaster. Disturbingly, these tragic tales of war and genocide become like a playground for a Dionysus type destruction of the self and an emergence for free will, redemption and a deeper knowledge of the soul, which McCarthy acknowledges as ‘War is God’.


Terrace of Endless Spring
- Protectors of the Endless – When the Sha of Fear invaded the Terrace of Endless Spring, three venerated jinyu protectors were corrupted, and they betrayed the other mortal sentinels, slaying them all. The twisted guardians have now turned their attention to any intruders who might interrupt the sha's attack on the area's last defenses.
- Tsulong – Legends speak of a spiraling, golden serpent that can sometimes be seen high in the sky, basking in the sunlight above the clouds. The few who claim to have observed it themselves say the creature is fiercely protective of the terrace.
- Lei Shi – For countless years, this friendly water spirit frolicked in the Fountains of Endless Spring with childlike wonder and glee. When fighting suddenly broke out in this peaceful place, Lei Shi saw the crystal-clear water turn cloudy and murky, and terror fell over her mind.
- Sha of Fear – The Sha of Fear is the physical manifestation of terror in Pandaria. Imprisoned by the legendary pandaren emperor Shaohao long ago, the entity has been newly strengthened by rising conflict across the island.
- Chi-Ji, The Red Crane – The trial of Chi-Ji is a test of hope. Uncertain of the future of his people, Emperor Shaohao sought out the great Red Crane. The Great Crane challenged Shaohao to find the hope within himself, and cast off his uncertainty. Once the Sha of Doubt was vanquished, the Emperor became a beacon of hope for his people. To pass the trial of the Crane, warriors must believe in hope, even in the darkest of days.
- Yu'lon, The Jade Serpent – The trial of Yu'lon is a test of wisdom and faith. With omens of a bleak future floating through his mind, Emperor Shaohao climbed to the summit of Mount Neverest to seek the council of the Jade Serpent. Yu'lon urged Shaohao to cast off the dark emotions that plagued him, and through his trials, Emperor Shaohao would become one with the land. To pass the trial of the Serpent, warriors must be wise in their choices.
- Niuzao, The Black Ox – The trial of Niuzao is a test of bravery and fortitude. When Emperor Shaohao was overcome with fear, the Black Ox counseled him to face his fears directly. After a protracted battle with the Sha of Fear, the Emperor emerged victorious. To pass the trial of the Ox, warriors must be resolute in the face of overwhelming danger.
- Xuen, The White Tiger – The trial of Xuen is simultaneously a test of strength and a test of restraint. When Xuen gave Emperor Shaohao a 10-foot-pole and asked him to strike one of Xuen's warriors, the Emperor could not land a blow. For without restraint, anger and hatred run wild. To pass the trial of the Tiger, warriors must harness their power, while burying their thoughts of violence.
- Ordos, Fire-God of the Yaungol – Ordos was once a shaman of the Yaungol who sacrificed himself to the flame, following the promises of the Fire Lords, in order to become a demigod. His flesh is eternally seared with fires, putting him in endless agony. Yaungol Fire-Keepers ritualistically set themselves ablaze to emulate the ascension of Ordos, and cast enchantments and prayers to ease his pain.


The TAET Library was born out of necessity after several of our parents expressed frustration at wanting to trial or loan equipment to see if they would be appropriate for their little ones.
Previous to our library being set up, parents would have to purchase or receive a grant for therapy equipment items, and if they weren’t suitable, or if they outgrew them, then they were no longer needed, and in most instances not able to be sold on.
We found a similar library that is thriving in another town, and with their very helpful guidance, worked out a way to provide a way of loaning equipment so that families could access a variety of equipment and might mitigate the need to spend money (or funding) on therapy items.
Our families have been very generous in starting our library off with frames and seating systems, and we hope to secure funds to eventually stock a variety of useful therapy toys and equipment.
We have an advisory committee consisting of Therapists, Teachers and Parents to whom we consult as to what items should be sought after.
Families, schools, Government and Non-Government organisations, Therapists and individuals are welcome to loan from our library, however they must obtain the relevant financial membership to do so. More information on membership can be found on our membership page .
How TAET works
Families wishing to loan most of the equipment will need the recommendation/approval of a local therapist before they can access items.
Person’s wishing to loan equipment must be financial members, and must complete a Loan Agreement outlining the terms of the loan.
The period of time a piece of equipment/toy to be loaned can be negotiated, but typically toys are available for a month, and equipment 1-3 months (or longer if required).
Items are to be collected and delivered back to our Library at a negotiated time and date.


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About the Journal
The Akhlaqul Karimah Journal (JAK) is a journal that publishes articles or research results and critical analysis studies related to Islamic Education Sciences which include Aqidah and Akhlaks, Fiqh, Islamic Cultural History, and Qur’an and Hadith Sciences. Journal of Akhlaqul Karimah (JAK) is published by Samodra Ilmu (Institute for Research, Publishing, and Scientific Journals) Yogyakarta. Published twice a year (March and September). The mission of the Akhlaqul Karimah Journal (JAK) is to disseminate and discuss the results of research and scientific papers on the Science of Aqidah and Akhlaks, Fiqh, History of Islamic Culture, and the Science of the Qur’an and Hadith. This journal is intended as a medium of socialization and communication for researchers , lecturers, teachers, and people who have an interest in Islamic Education, which includes the Science of Aqidah and Akhlaks, Fiqh, History of Islamic Culture, and the Science of the Qur’an and Hadith.
CALL FOR PAPER
JURNAL AKHLAQUL KARIMAH: Jurnal Pendidikan Agama Islam menerima tulisan artikel Pendidikan Agama Islam berbasis riset, kepustakaan, lapangan, maupun action research. Terbit dua kali setahun di bulan April dan oktober.
Volume 2 No 1.
- Maksimal submit 28 Februari 2023
- Terbit 30 April 2023
Volume 2 No 2
- Maksimal submit 30 Agustus 2023
- Terbit 30 Oktober 2023
Mau submit? kunjungi Akhlaqul Karimah


So if you missed the swim last week or had to run after the swim (literally or figuratively), you missed Laura Young’s book launch of her book “Solo, yet never alone: Swimming the Great Lakes.” It was great for everyone to meet Laura and ask her questions about her experience writing the book and talking to all the amazing swimmers that she interviewed for the book. Quite an amazing collection of very impressive swimmers were on hand and lots of mutual book signings took place too!
Thanks Laura and good luck with the book! If you are interested in buying a copy from Laura you can get her at: firstname.lastname@example.org or 705-522-3977.
Also, here is the story from the Oakville Beaver about the launch!
Jul 08, 2014
Members of the Oakville-based Lake Ontario Swim Team (LOST) will have particular interest in Laura Young’s first published book.
The Sudbury author was at the Central branch of the Oakville Public Library Saturday for a launch promoting Solo, Yet Never Alone: Swimming the Great Lakes, a book that describes swimmers who have swum across the large lakes in southern Ontario.
Featured in the book are LOST swimmers Rob Kent, Madhu Nagaraja and Melanie Price, who all have their own individual chapters. Price successfully crossed Lake Ontario from Port Dalhousie to Oakville in 2011, and Kent and Nagaraja followed suit the next year.
Among the other subjects interviewed for the book are Marilyn Bell (the first person to swim across Lake Ontario, 60 years ago) and Vicki Keith (the first to swim across all five Great Lakes, doing so in a two-month period).
Many LOST swimmers attended Saturday’s launch after their regular two-hour swim in Lake Ontario. The launch included a panel discussion and an audience question-and-answer period about the challenges of swimming the Great Lakes.
Rebekah Boscariol, 19, also attended the launch. Boscariol crossed Lake Ontario from Niagara-On-The-Lake to Toronto in 2011 and will attempt another crossing later this summer.


Willie Dixon , I am the Blues
Playing a selection of songs from one of the most prolific blues songwriters of our time, Willie Dixon.
Willie Dixon’s songs have been recorded by countless musicians in many genres as well as by various ensembles in which he participated. A short list of his most famous compositions includes “Hoochie Coochie Man“,”I Just Want to Make Love to You“, “Little Red Rooster“, “My Babe“, “Spoonful. These songs were written during the peak years of Chess Records, from 1950 to 1965, and were performed by Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter, and Bo Diddley; they influenced a generation of musicians worldwide.


From New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author Marian Tee
Calys Adelardi, the princess also known as "the human monster", may only be alpha if she can find a strong, kind warrior to champion her cause. She's determined to marry for the good of her pack, but meeting a playboy werewolf prince makes Calys think twice about her noble priorities.
His name is Alejandro Moretti. He's the strongest shifter she's ever met, but he seems prouder of his skills in bed than in battle. When he tells her he'd be her Cavaliere, Calys is overjoyed... until she finds out his offer comes with a price. For every instance he does his duty, Alejandro expects Calys to pay it in his bed, whenever and wherever he wants.
Obviously that last part doesn't sound at all terrible, but if you're a serious girl who knows the difference between a fuck buddy and a tumble in bed with a lover, you'd want his price to be a little deeper as well, right?
So.... I'm back in the craziness of Marian's books and-
Seriously, when will she have her own soap opera series?
The feels of these romances, man.
Soooo I loved this book! I haven't read any of her books in almost a year (HOLY SHIT THAT'S SCARY) but I'm pretty sure it's because one of her last books made me cry to the point of not wanting to read anymore just so my friends wouldn't think I was a psychotic nut who randomly cried at flashbacks of heart pains. I tried the social life and it's a little judging towards bookworms but annyywayyyysssss-
If you've read The Werewolf Prince and I series, this book takes place after the first one. Just a little FYI.
Calys is this adorably frightening human who was adopted- along with her sister -into a pack of panthers. She may look delicate and innocent, but aside from being one of the greatest fighters in The Den, a darker side of her is infamously repressed, dangerously awaiting the next time something idiotic comes along to harm Calys, someone she loves or something she stands for. Her title "The Human Monster" comes from the blackouts she has whenever some unfortunate SOB decides to do something very naughty. From the age of seven, people would turn up missing or dead, and it didn't take long before other packs began to realize that she was the cause of it. It didn't exactly endear others to her, but it saved her human hide the trouble of having to fight off bullies who thought that her given status was nothing more than a title among the shifter world. However, it won't help her when her father must pass down the title of Alpha, and so she searches for the perfect shifter to take her side above her pack.
Enter The Den: an underground secret fighting arena beneath the grounds of Florida, a place where the best fighters come for blood and glory. Calys goes under the pretense of a young boy in order to fight whilst looking for a Cavaliere, but when her aching breasts from her last match get the best of her, she quickly gets found out by The Masked Wolf. Deemed a superhero, this ultimate fighter is the best of the best, and she is his #1 fan. It's also duly noted that he is a #1 fan of her breasts, the very ones that she tried to rid the aches from and the reason for her identity being found out lol
It's lust at first sight, and not only is The Masked Wolf- aka Alejandro Moretti -intrigued by her lovely parts, he's also in awe of the fact that Leatherface is a human girl. It's actually a real turn on for him. And speaking of Alejandro-
haha I had to do it (and if you don't understand, I feel sorry for you... blessed be!). But back to what I was saying, Alejandro is very much interested in this girl, and that says something, considering that the only time he thinks with his dick is when he's getting back at the men who humiliate his big brother, Domenico (his story, btw. holy shit is what I say--> The Werewolf Prince and I). In case you didn't know, Alejandro is a twin, and neither take lightly to their big bro Domenico being humiliated and called a dog because of the issues he's having with his human love. Alessandro, his twin, takes out his anger with old fashion knuckles and blood. Alejandro takes the more subtle approach- with the bullies' lovers, and he makes no effort in hiding the fact that it was him who made them scream.
He's a bit of a sneaky one, isn't he? But it is because of his way of revenge for his brother that he gets deemed a playboy, and when he starts to act like it himself, he gets into HUGE trouble when he meets Calys. Why? Because she's not looking for a careless fuck-and-duck with him. It's either all or nothing, and when he doesn't take her seriously, he breaks her heart.
Ugh, can I just-
Now, she wasn't completely devastated, but she did tell him that he couldn't touch her if he wasn't going to be her consort (husband) as well as her Cavaliere. He ignored her words and had fun with her anyway, and because of it, the next morning is beyond awkward. It'd be easier for her if she just dumped him, but even though he hurt her, he is the only one to make her actually see the opposite sex, and he's the only one who's made any sort of progress with her 'darker side'. Alejandro plays the asshole, though, and Calys even tries to ignore him as she takes on another offer as her consort, but her plans to get back at him a little backfire when her proposer- fucking Pasquale -calls him a dog and she fails to correct his rudeness. It ends with Alejandro thinking she really does think of him as a Moretti dog, and so to get back at her, he tells her that while he will be a dutiful Cavaliere to her in public, in private, she will be his dutiful sex slave.
Aha, get it girl!!!! Right???
Again, that's not really so much of a bad thing, but he really thinks that she has no respect for him, and that sucks for her. She can't believe the mistake she made, but she'll just have to roll with it or something.
This story is unbelievably hot with a capital EROTIC but adorable and just so- awww haha. I love that Marian always has something special with her characters. In Calys' case, it's believing in superheroes and using superhero movie quotes on Alejandro and the others. XD This was still too short for my taste, though. I wish it was a little longer. XD
My favorite part would have to be where they first met- his aggression is fucking hot! Sweet baby Jesus.
*Forgive me, Father*
The setup was nice and the story line was short and to the point. Calys has a bit of Marian's other girls in her, but her status and darker side makes her a little more mature, somehow. idk. Maybe I just haven't read her work in a while XD Aside from that sad fact, I loved Wolf Fight and I'm already reading the next one. It was hilarious, hot, and dosed with the good-good drama that Tee masterfully brings on.
Happy Reading =^~^=


Copacul cu ochii verzi – Vasilica Grigoraş: Sensibilitate, creativitate, împlinire (The tree with green eyes – Vasilica Grigoraş: Sensitivity, creativity, fulfilment)
(Editura Scripta manent Ltd, Napier, NZ, 2021, ISBN: 978-0-473-57591-5) is an anniversary collection dedicated to Vasilica Grigoraş, poet, writer, book reviewer, essayist on the occasion of her 70th birthday.
Vasilica Grigoraş, born on May 30, 1951 in Robeasca village, Buzău county, Romania, is an associate member of the Canadian Association of Romanian Writers (ACSR) and the Association of Romanian Writers in North America (ASRAN), as well as a member of the Union of Professional Journalists in Romania (UZPR).
She has published 22 books to date, excelling in a variety of literary genres and species from philosophical reflections, travel journals, children’s poetry and stories, essays, book reviews, to haiku, tanka and senryu.
This anniversary collection, initiated and coordinated by Valentina Teclici, Vasilica’ s lifelong friend, was created in collaboration with members of Vasilica’ s family and 20 friends – poets and writers – from Vaslui, Bârlad, Huşi, Iaşi, Buzău, Galaţi, Constanţa, Oneşti, Sfântu Gheorghe, Bucureşti (Bucharest), Timişoara, Athens (Greece), Melborne (Australia), Napier (New Zealand). The book consists of articles with appreciation about the work and human qualities of the celebrated person, memories, poems and drawings dedicated to her, photos (family, from her professional activity, from her travels, of the covers of some of her published books, of some of the many diplomas she received over the years, from meetings with friends and readers), images with selected flowers from the Internet, but especially, the love, admiration and feelings of appreciation from the contributors to this collection.
The book cover is designed by Radu Ticu Grigoraş, Vasilica’s son, who also designed the covers of his mother’s books in the last 5-6 years.
Vasilica Grigoraş, who in one of her poems compared herself to “a tree with many rings”, began her professional career in Vaslui (where she still lives), as a social science teacher, then worked for almost 30 years at the “Nicolae Milescu Spătaru” County Library in Vaslui and, in the last ten years, after retirement, as a full-time writer. Two former librarian colleagues increased the value of the content and the aesthetic
aspect of the anniversary book through their talent, dedication and expertise: Luminiţa Ludmila Zuran, who did the book’s DTP & Layout and Nicoleta Marinescu, the editorial advisor.
Sincere thanks to all the contributors to this collection and to those who will have the curiosity and desire to browse it or read from cover to cover.


|I must confess to being a
I just love books and have been a reader since I was around 3 years old. I normally read 50 books a
year and enjoy mostly fiction but also some nonfiction occasionally as well. In 2006 when I was
diagnosed with ovarian cancer I think that was the first year I read less than 50 books in a long time.
I did find some helpful books, with the books on water by Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj being one of the
most important books I feel I have ever read. (Don't worry, there won't be a test on that name
spelling!) But also I have read a lot of novels that were just plain excellent books.
Reading can definitely take you away from your troubles and transport you to another world, so I am
taking the time to list below some of the important and informative books I have found, and also some
of the best novels I have read. I hope you too will enjoy them.
|I ran across this book by Dr. Fereydoon Batmanghelidj after I finished chemo, and I wish
I had found it many years ago. I think this is an extremely important
book for everyone, and not just cancer patients. I believe the information to be
invaluable, and you should read this and give as a gift to everyone you know. My last copy was
just taken by a visiting relative, and I am ordering more myself. I just can't stress how
important it is to drink the right amount of water for your weight. Dehydration causes
many many illnesses and diseases (including cancer), and it is so simple to alleviate. I
never drank water before, not to any extent, and I just wonder how many health problems
I could have avoided if I had read this book earlier. Since reading this book I have been
drinking the amount of water my body needs and I have noticed, in addition to just feeling
overall much better, my allergies I had been suffering with for YEARS have totally cleared
|I truly believe this is one of the major steps you can take to be proactive and, if
you have had a diagnosis of cancer (or even any other disease such as MS, diabetes, high blood
pressure, etc), keep it from returning.
Do read it, I feel this book is worth its weight in gold.
|My friend, wonderful person that
she is, ran out and bought me some books as soon as she found out I had to have chemo. This was one
of the first ones I read, and its lighthearted look at a serious subject was a great escape. I
definitely recommend this book, I'd Rather Do Chemo Then Clean Out The Garage, by Fran Di Giaccomo, if you are needing a
||Well my friend was at it again!
In addition to the book above, this was one of the other books she brought over for me. While this
is not as lighthearted and amusing as the other book, it is optimistic, and also really informative
and invaluable as well as it does give lots of good info about how chemotherapy and radiation
actually work and what to expect. It also talks about side effects and how to cope with them. I
didn't have radiation but there was still plenty of information to make this a good addition to
|Okay now for some fiction! I just
love novels because they can take you away from your problems of everyday life.
I just finished this book and it was excellent, so I want to include
it here in my recommended books section. I've read others of Greg Iles and have loved them all, but
it's been a while since I've read them. This one keeps you on the edge of your seat throughout the
book, you are kept guessing on what is going to happen next. Great book! One of the best thrillers I've
||Right before I finished Third
Degree (above), I read this book by Audrey Niffenegger. Yes, I know this book has been out a while
and considering I've been a fan of Time Travel for as long as I can remember, plus of course I am a
fan of romance, I find it hard to believe I JUST read this book! Wow, it was so good. I must warn
you that if you don't exactly understand what's happening in the first few chapters, just push
through because it's worth it. It's one of those books that you keep thinking about even after
you're done reading. I plan to read it again but my friend came over and borrowed it from me right
after I got done reading, so I think I may just buy another copy. Excellent book! Really
|Yes this is another oldie but
goodie, but I MUST include this book here because oh, how I love this book! I can't imagine how
many times I have read it. If you are a dog lover, you must do yourself a favor and read it. If
you've never read Dean Koontz you are probably saying, "Isn't he one of those HORROR writers?!"
Some people might say so but he is an awesome writer, and he is a DOG LOVER. Golden retrievers
especially. I truly love this book and I can't really imagine anyone not. His characters are so
engaging, you can't help but cheer for them. Highly highly recommend! And I am not going to list
this one separately but if you have not read Lightning, also by Dean Koontz, oh you just must read
it! I don't even know how many books this guy has written (a lot!), but of them all these two have
always been my favorite. In fact, I think they are my 2 favorite books of all time!
|I've listed The Hard Way here by
Lee Child, but if you have never read any of his books you should start at the beginning with
Killing Floor. Lee Child has created a character named Jack Reacher, and all of his novels feature
this character. You will absolutely fall in love with this guy. Previous to reading Killing Floor,
I maintained that I did NOT like continuing-character books. I felt they just got boring after a
while reading about the same character. I mean, how much stuff can they really rehash over and
over? Well, I was hooked from the first book and I have read all the Jack Reacher novels and I
really hope he never stops writing them! These are all excellent books, GREAT characters
(especially Jack Reacher of course), just great thrillers and plot lines. Great great books.
Definitely give this author a try if you have not. You can start with any book but my
recommendation would be to go to the beginning with Killing Floor.
|I have read MANY of Nora
Roberts's books (and she is a very prolific writer), and these 3 are my favorites by a mile! That
is not to say her other books are not any good, just that I love and adore this trilogy. First of
all, they are set in Ireland, and she is so wonderful and describing a scene. You feel as if you
are there, and when you finish reading you WANT to be there. After reading this series I decided I
wanted to take a trip to Ireland. Haven't made it yet but I still plan to one of these days. These
books are about the Gallaghers: Aidan, Shawn, and Darcy. I cannot imagine anyone being disappointed
in any of these 3 so if you're looking for a really good book pick up Jewels of the Sun (first in
the triology) and I am sure you'll soon be ordering the other two. Happy


Jack Bales has been the Reference and Humanities Librarian at Mary Washington for more than thirty years. His vocation is also his avocation, and his love of research has led to the publication of many articles, essays, and books. He is currently working on a documentary history of the Chicago Cubs baseball team and posts much of his work on his web page, http://WrigleyIvy.com.
Janine Davis, Ph.D. is an assistant professor of Curriculum and Instruction. She teaches courses in instructional design, advanced pedagogy, and educational research and mentors preservice student teachers. Her research investigates preservice teacher persona and identity as developed in various formats, including through memoir, pecha kucha presentations, action research, and social media. In the fall of 2014, she will teach ‘Who Am I This Time? Presenting the Self’ a Freshmen Seminar and relates closely to her research and work with the Domain of One’s Own initiative. For more information see janine-davis.com
Stephen J. Farnsworth, Ph.D., is professor of political science and international affairs at the University of Mary Washington, where he directs the university’s Center for Leadership and Media Studies. Dr. Farnsworth is the author or co-author of five books, most recently “The Global President: International Media and the US Government,” as well as a former Canada-U.S. Fulbright Research Scholar at McGill University. During more than a dozen years at the University of Mary Washington, Dr. Farnsworth has won three campus-wide teaching awards. For more information, see stephenfarnsworth.net.
Susan Fernsebner (@sfern) is Associate Professor of History at the University of Mary Washington, specializing in late imperial and modern China. She is currently working on research related to the history of childhood and play, material culture, and the intersection of colonialism and capitalism in the early 20th century. She teaches an array of courses on Chinese and East Asian history, including advanced classes in Gender in Chinese History, Chinese History through Film, and a Cultural History of Late 20th Century China. This coming fall she will be introducing an Honors First Year Seminar on the topic of “Toys as History.” Among her digital projects, she is editor of Gulou 鼓樓 (a.k.a. “Drum Tower”), a site for East Asia news and resources. For more info, see susanfernsebner.org.
Roberta Gentry is an Assistant Professor in the College of Education at the University of Mary Washington. She teaches courses in special education, action research, and supervises student teachers. Dr. Gentry is currently working on research related to electronic mentoring, the use of simulated learning environments in teacher education, mindful practices in schools, game based learning, and personalized learning/competency based learning. Currently, Dr. Gentry is a Teaching Technology, and Innovations Fellow. Her work in this role focuses on creating a broad-ranging set of approaches to help UMW faculty develop online or hybrid courses. Visit Roberta’s Twitter account.
Shawn Humphrey is the founder of the Two Dollar Challenge, La Ceiba Microfinance, the Month of Microfinance, and the Poverty Action Conference. He is also on the Board of Directors of Students Helping Honduras, a former Clinton Global Initiative University mentor and an Opportunity Collaboration alum. He is currently an Associate Professor of Economics at the University of Mary Washington in the Economics Department, where he has taught since 2005. His blog explores the do’s and don’ts of doing good, gives half-time speeches for those looking to make a dent in the world, and articulates his personal pedagogy of Tribal Teaching. http://shawnhumphrey.com/
Steve Gallik is Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Mary Washington. He teaches Cell Biology, Histology and the Biology and Biochemistry of Proteins. His scholarly work is split between studies of cellular processes and instructional technology. Since 1993, he has worked extensively on the development of digital and web-based tools designed for use in the undergraduate biology teaching lab. His work over the past 20 years has included an initiative that established one of the earliest classroom implementations of a wireless academic network on the UMW Fredericksburg campus and has culminated in the development of two on-line laboratory manuals routinely used in his undergraduate cell biology and histology teaching labs. The recipient of 6 UMW instructional technology grants & fellowships, Professor Gallik is currently transforming his conventionally-taught Biology and Biochemistry of Proteins course into an on-line course. His on-line laboratory manuals can be found at http://stevegallik.org/biologyols_home.html.
Elizabeth Franklin Lewis (aka Betsy, and on twitter @elewisumw) is Professor of Spanish at the University of Mary Washington, where she teaches a wide variety of courses from beginning Spanish language to advanced seminars on Spanish literature. Her research has centered on women’s literature from Spain’s Enlightenment period. Her digital humanities project Women and Charity in Spain 1787-1945 is a digital exhibition that has involved undergraduate research students in data collection, the planning and composition of the exhibit, as well as in the creation of two searchable databases. She has recently developed a new course, Digital Don Quijote, which uses Cervantes’ novel as a springboard for discussion of issues from digital identity, digital libraries, and MOOCs. You can find more about her work on her website http://elizabethfranklinlewis.net and her on blog http://blog.elizabethfranklinlewis.net
Jeff McClurken is Professor and Chair of History and American Studies at the University of Mary Washington. His PhD in American History is from Johns Hopkins University. His research areas include the history of the Civil War, veterans, families, the Pinkertons, mental institutions, the 19th-Century American South, and the digital humanities. He teaches classes on a wide array of US History topics, including Civil War and Reconstruction, American technology and culture, digital history, women’s history, and history & film. His book, Take Care of the Living: Reconstructing the Confederate Veteran Family in Virginia, was published by UVA Press in 2009. Information about his teaching and research can be found at http://mcclurken.org
Warren Rochelle has taught English at the University of Mary Washington since 2000. His primary teaching responsibilities include creative writing and literature, with a special interest in genre fiction. He is a rank beginner as a digital scholar ( and wonders if he has much claim to that title!). With the help of Ryan Brazell he developed a course in fantasy writing that required students to construct a website about their fiction. He has participated in various workshops here about digital scholarship, most recently the workshop on media and film making and the Faculty Domain of One’s Own Initiative. http://warrenrochelle.com
Andréa Livi Smith is an assistant professor and Director of the Center for Historic Preservation at UMW. Smith was awarded the Innovative Digital Pedagogy Fellowship in 2013. Smith’s work is entwined with technology on many levels; she particularly strives to use technology to connect students, encourage development of new skills, and reduce paper-dependency. All of Smith’s courses as well as her professional portfolio are at http://andrealivismith.com. Smith’s classes take advantage of numerous – and varied – digital tools such as WordPress, InDesign, SPSS, twitter, ZenPhoto, and SimCity. Examples and details are available on her site. Smith has been serving as webmistress for the Department and Center for Historic Preservation since 2009 and is also the webmistress for the National Council for Preservation Education. Smith blogs at Digital Bridging, and also keeps an active Tumblr and Twitter.
Zach Whalen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English, Linguistics and Communication at the University of Mary Washington. With Laurie N. Taylor, he is the co-editor of Playing the Past: History and Nostalgia in Video Games, published by Vanderbilt University Press in 2008. Whalen’s teaching focuses on the critical study and practice of digital media including video games, electronic literature, comics, and transmedia. He has published several journal articles and contributed book chapters on video games, including an article in Game Studies: The International Journal of Computer Game Research and book chapters on Silent Hill, Grand Theft Auto, and early game consoles. His current research project focuses on the textual properties of video games. Visit Zach’s website here.


Currently In Post Production.
Film adaption of the Winner of the 2011 Blue Peter Book of the Year Award, DEAD MAN’S COVE. The first film in a gripping adventure series about eleven-year-old ace detective, Laura Marlin. When orphaned Laura Marlin moves from a children’s home to live with her uncle in Cornwall, she longs for a life of excitement just like the characters in her favourite detective novels. Accompanied by her trusty companion, Skye, a three-legged husky, the dog she’s always wanted, Laura’s adventures begin in this first captivating mystery.


Virtual Worlds on the RadioJune 8, 2007
I’ve read a fair few books on MMORPGs/Virtual Worlds some of which have been very good, like T.L. Taylor’s ‘Between Worlds‘ and Edward Castranova’s ‘Synthetic Worlds‘ (of course), and some of which have been less so. The best books on the subject tend to be the more academic texts because of the depth of research that goes into them. For example T.L. Taylor’s book details her findings from her ethnographic study of Everquest which goes well beyond the usual virtual world cliches and expectations.
Tim Guest’s book seems to be more journalistic in nature which means that some of it comes across as a little sensationalist, (the blurb describes VWs as the ‘latest internet craze’ and uses the term ‘addiction’ rather liberally for my liking) especially the passages on the relationship between cyber-crime and real and virtual warfare.
I also have to admit that generally I can’t stand the tone of voice the readers use on Radio 4 especially the hammy American accents. That aside, from the first of four 15 minute excerpts I listened to it seemed to be coming across as a fairly balanced view of the benefits and negatives of virtual worlds. Then I heard the second excerpt (Tuesday) in which Tim compares virtual worlds with the idealistic worlds envisioned by various social movements through the ages. Then I listened to Wednesday’s excerpt son cyber-crime which was easily the best anti-MMORPG advert I’ve ever heard coming across as something out of a bad American crime drama. I imagine the average Radio 4 reader will have been thoroughly put off even trying one out as it completely fails to mention that the kind of cyber-crime discussed is very, very rare. At this point I realised I was going to hear the same old ‘tabloid headline’ crap we’ve all all come to expect from the media, just in a little more detail.
The thing I feel these excerpts really fail to do is inform the listener about the general day-to-day activities and social aspects of virtual worlds, focusing on the extreme cases (run away kids making a living by stealing virtual goods, husbands hijacking their wives accounts and faking their suicide to influence a real-life court case and so on).This means that Tim makes all kind of statements about virtual worlds that are just plain wrong. he describes VWs as ‘addictive enchantment’ that people are ‘reluctant to come home to their flesh’ and that ‘responsibility is neutralised’ and ‘self is set free’. He then goes on to tie this in to the use of other mediating technologies and the ‘problems of modernity’, that people ‘yearn to leave the real world behind’ that we’re ‘in doubt about our feelings’ that we’re ‘blocking out the world…with books…. medication… anti-depressants’.
Firstly, there has never been an age in which people have been doubtless about their feelings, does Tim really believe that pre-industrial peasants spent their days debating their inner emotions in some pastural idyll? Most virtual world users aren’t looking to escape the world anymore than somebody who reads a book is. Yes, it’s probably true that more people have more leisure time than previous ages, but it is naive to suggest that this represents some sort of crisis of humanity and to implicate virtual worlds in this is verging on the absurd.
Secondly, from what I’ve experienced people who play in virtual worlds are very aware of their RL identities, particularly as most people are involved in communities, like guilds or political or activist groups (a phenomenon the excerpts don’t touch on at all), where behavioural norms are expected and cultivated. Yes virtual worlds are about escapism but they are not so distanced from reality that the real-world becomes meaningless or unimportant.
Maybe these issues are discussed in more detail in the rest of the book, and there’s only one way to found out. I’ll let you know what I think when I’m finished.


A pictorial look at the evolution of style in the 1940s, 50s and 60s
In this series, we’ll be going on a little tour, looking at the radical transformation which took place in women’s fashion from the 40s to the 60s. And of course, what better way to illustrate than through plenty of pictures!
So why this focus? Pure and simple, because within the space of little over 25 years, from the 1940s to the 1950s and through to the 1960s, the transformations in ladies’ fashion were nothing short of amazing. There are few other periods in history we can think of which can lay claim to such dramatic changes in how women dressed in such a short amount of time.
How did it happen? How did fashions go from this in 1941:
and this in 1969:
Let’s take a look now at what was behind this radical change, starting with the 1940s.
Fashion in the 40s: war-time and rationing
For the most part, the somewhat restrained look of the 1940s emerged from the fact that the world was at war. World War II had only just begun in 1939, and to cope, restrictions and rationing on a whole range of items were progressively introduced. Clothes rationing in Britain officially began on the 1st of June 1941 and to help out in the war effort, many countries in the Commonwealth such as Australia, Canada and New Zealand followed suit. Although clothes were never rationed in the United States, severe restrictions were also gradually imposed on all types of clothing. For the ladies, these restrictions covered everything from the length, width and style of dresses (these became shorter with a sleek A line) through to types of fabrics to be used (mostly cotton or rayon), and by 1942, even a prohibition on long sleeves and shawls.
The whole range of restrictions and guidelines imposed is quite a read and if you’d like to find out more about this interesting aspect of the war, Make it do by Sarah Sundin is an excellent article covering this topic in detail.
Thus in order to adapt to the times, women’s clothing became more functional and utilitarian, with an almost uniform look to it. Ladies were encouraged to ‘make-do and mend’, as you can see in this poster from 1942.
You can see the utilitarian, uniform like style to the clothing in the early 40s here. Clothes were designed for all manner of jobs which women now had to step into due to the labour shortages:
Changes in society which saw women pitching into the war effort also reduced fashion restrictions on them. In particular, pants and denim truly arrived as an acceptable fashion choice for women.
We love the this next photo which demonstrates this beautifully side by side.
While in the 1930s women wearing pants was considered scandalous and only a few celebrities like Marlene Dietrich or Katharine Hepburn dared to wear them in public, by the 1940s, the necessities created by the war made pants an acceptable and necessary fashion choice for women of all classes.
Pants became available not just in the form of practical denim dungarees or overalls but also in the sleek, tailored wide leg pants made popular by celebrities such as Katherine Hepburn and Rita Hayworth.
Here are some more examples of that functional, uniform-like style for women. The women in this 1943 Sears catalogue look more than ready to get their hands dirty! It almost looks a little like a communist propaganda ad, doesn’t it?
But not every woman wanted to look prepared to fix a tractor engine at short notice of course. And so the shirtdress, also called the shirtwaist dress arrived, a perfect choice that was both practical and feminine.
Another innovation of the 1940s due to the war, wraparound dresses and skirts became another popular option because of the unavailability of zippers .
The following photo of two women in 1942 London shows some of the other typical features of vintage 40s fashion; square shoulders, narrow hips and hemlines raised to just below the knee.
The 40s skirt
As you would expect given the period, for most of the 1940s, skirts tended to be more plain and functional. During the war and for some years after, they were minimal in detail due to material restrictions as this vintage pattern from 1946 shows.
In the late 40s, pleats and bright colours once again made a comeback.
Post war fashion in the late 1940s
After the war ended restrictions slowly lifted. Rationing slowly ended and psychologically, there was a new sense of freedom in the air. This was also reflected in the fashion where a softness came back into the clothing and women’s fashion in particular. Overall shoulders rounded and hemlines grew longer and soon skirts and dresses went from plain to bright and decorative with the addition of pleats, pockets and frills. They also broke free from the earlier restrictions on width and volume and by the late 1940s, dresses and skirts began to resemble the bright patterns and swing styles we associate with the 1950s.
This shift in look to what we now associate with the 1950s is in large part thanks to one man. In 1947 Christian Dior introduced his first collection now known as the ‘New Look’, a hugely influential style which shaped the future of women’s fashion for the next decade to come. This look was marked by longer length full-skirts, a cinched in waist and extra padding around the hips to give women a more voluptuous silhouette. But rationing of clothing continued in many countries until the late 1940s so these changes took some time to take hold in everyday fashion.
Here are some more gorgeous pictures of Christian Dior’s ‘New Look’ dresses.
You can see Dior’s influence on more everyday fashions here. Notice the longer hemlines, softer shoulders and greater embellishments to the dresses.
Given the turmoil that the world was in at the start of the decade and the restrictions which were placed on what clothing could be produced, it is actually quite remarkable how beautifully women put themselves together in the 1940s, in spite of it all.
It also makes the changes in women’s fashions that followed in the late 40s and then the 50s even more understandable.
In part 2, we look at how women’s fashions transformed throughout the 1950s. And surprisingly, despite the stereotypes, they weren’t just all swing skirts and halter tops!