Slice of Life: Dear Library Patron, Sorry to Make You Wait a Bit Longer!

Today I join my fellow bloggers in "serving up a slice" 

to the Tuesday Slice of Life (SOL) community.

Thanks to Stacey, Betsy, Beth, Kathleen, Deb, Melanie, and Lanny

 for hosting this meeting place each Tuesday and nurturing our writing lives.

I had the best of intentions. Truly I did. I checked my library account to see which books were due. I tucked all the books into my book bag. Except for one title which I placed on the front seat to remind me that it needed to be read before I returned it.

After a movie and lunch with friends, an appointment, and a haircut, I would swing by the library to return my books that were due. But first, somewhere in this busy day, I needed to find the time to read this book that had sat in my picture book basket for almost a month, unread. 

And that time came when I pulled up to the library. I sat in the car to read it. Are you wondering why I didn't go in the library? It was certainly warmer in there. However for a bibliophile like me, the library contains too many distractions. So I sat in the car, book in hand, and read Martin Rising:  Requiem For A King by Andrea Davis Pinkney with paintings by Brian Pinkney.

And somewhere during this stunning poetic presentation of Martin Luther King, Jr's life, I knew that my resolve to return the book was weakening. I would pay the fine and keep it for at least one more day so I could share it with the students tomorrow at our after school book club. 

I just checked to see how many holds are on the book. As it turns out, there are two other people waiting on the book. I tried once again to renew the book and was rewarded with a renewal! I'm not sure why that wasn't possible yesterday, but I'm not complaining about a one day fine and the chance to share this book with a few more people before it's due back at the library. 

Be sure to read the Author's Reflections and the Artist's Reflections at the end of the book. Andrea explains how to use selected poems along with the "Now Is the Time" history to tell Martin Luther King, Jr's story. This final paragraph from this section captures the power of her words:  "When we vote, we rise. When we march, we rise. When we speak out, seek peace, teach the truth, we all rise to a better tomorrow And the time is now."

If you haven't read this book yet, the time is now. Request it from your library or head to your local indie bookstore for this look at the final months of MLK's life brought to life by Andrea Davis and Brian Pinkney.