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In a TBMM first, we read a book with substantially different editions! That's right, we all came to the podcasting table calling the main character by different names. We got that sorted out (and we're defaulting to the most current edition) and dove right in to this lovely book, The Birchbark House, by Louise Erdrich. This book made us laugh and cry and everything in between as we follow Omakakiins and her family through the seasons. This week we discuss whether Old Tallow is a feminist legend, whether a baby can be reincarnated as a bird, and the pretty disturbing origins of the smallpox vaccine. We compare and contrast today's title with the Little House books and examine femininity and our central characters' relationships with their environment.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

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While Canada has Anne of Green Gables about a girl growing up in the late 19th century, America has the Little House on the Prairie series. This episode we look at 2 books from the Prairie series, Little House in the Big Woods and Little House on the Prairie by author Laura Ingalls Wilder. These semi-autobiographical books follow Laura, her parents (Charles and Caroline) and her sisters (Mary and Carrie) from their quiet life in woods of Wisconsin to their perilous journey out to the prairie in the Kansas. Given the time period, Wilder and the Prairie series are not without controversy. We discuss women's roles during the time period, Charles's hasty and ill-advised decisions, and the overt racist depictions of Native Americans. We recognize these books' place in the children's literature canon but we also discuss what space they occupy in our present day.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.

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We love a little 90s nostalgia and The Hate U Give delivers on that front. It also delivers on the well drawn characters and hard hitting plot elements front. Angie Thomas took us on an emotional roller coaster with Starr in this book and we laughed, cried, and loved right along with her. We loved the Tupac references and Maverick's take on Harry Potter and cheered for Starr when she grabbed that megaphone. We are discussing all sorts of big issues in this book from microaggressions, code switching, police brutality, and interracial relationships. As always we learned something about ourselves and each other along the way. We narrowly avoid a tragic Vanilla Ice moment and debate whether being known as the Fresh Princess is cute or cringe.

These Books Made Me is a podcast about the literary heroines who shaped us and is a product of the Prince George's County Memorial Library System podcast network. Stay in touch with us via Twitter @PGCMLS with #TheseBooksMadeMe or by email at TheseBooksMadeMe@pgcmls.info. For recommended readalikes and deep dives into topics related to each episode, visit our blog at https://pgcmls.medium.com/.