Open Your Eyes

A blog for stuff that inspires me, makes me think, or just makes me smile

[mo-mode]

This is all I got from episode 5 actually

[justchangingtheworld]

Zoë’s Children Book Recommendations

I strongly encourage everyone to buy books from your local independent bookstore. If that’s not possible for you, Bookshop is a pretty fantastic alternative, since it donates a percentage of every sale to independent bookstores. Independent bookstores are really struggling due to covid, especially now that we’re in the holiday season, so I really want to do my part to help support them!

Early Chapter Books (Ages 5-8)

The Princess in Black, by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale

These full color illustrated books, co-written by Shannon Hale, one of my favorite authors, and her husband Dean Hale, are a great choice for young readers of any gender who are transitioning into reading chapter books.

https://www.princessinblack.com/

https://bookshop.org/books/the-princess-in-black-three-smashing-adventures/9780763697778

Lower Middle Grade (Ages 7-10)

Amelia Fang, by Laura Ellen Anderson

The Amelia Fang books, written and illustrated by Laura Ellen Anderson, are a perfect gift for kids who like things creepy… but not too creepy. Readers get to join vampire Amelia Fang and her monstrous friends and family on their fun and often silly adventures in the land of Nocturnia.

http://lauraellenanderson.co.uk/AMELIA-FANG

https://bookshop.org/books/amelia-fang-and-the-barbaric-ball/9781984848390

Middle Grade (Ages 8-12)

Sal and Gabi Break the Universe, by Carlos Hernandez

This laugh-out-loud book by Carlos Hernandez is an absolute must read. I loved it so much my first time reading it  that I ended up “rereading” it by audiobook only weeks later. I can’t recommend this book highly enough.

https://www.readriordan.com/book/sal-and-gabi-break-the-universe/

https://bookshop.org/books/sal-and-gabi-break-the-universe/9781368023627

Nevermoor, by Jessica Townsend

Nevermoor, written by Australian author Jessica Townsend, is another new favorite of mine. I don’t know that I can do this book justice by trying to describe it, but I can at least say that the world of Nevermoor is just so beautifully built out and the characters so much fun, that the more than 500 pages fly right by.

https://bookshop.org/books/nevermoor-the-trials-of-morrigan-crow-9780316508889/9780316508896

A Pinch of Magic, by Michelle Harrison

This charming book about three sisters working together to break their family curse is a beautiful read filled with magical adventure and sisterly love.

https://www.michelleharrisonbooks.com/book/a-pinch-of-magic/

https://bookshop.org/books/a-pinch-of-magic-9780358446293/9780358193319

Frostheart, by Jamie Littler

Frostheart is a beautiful book— beautiful not only due to its exciting and atmospheric story of adventure and found family, but also due to its gorgeous illustrations author and illustrator Jamie Littler sprinkles throughout the story.

https://jamielittler.co.uk/Frostheart

https://bookshop.org/books/voyage-of-the-frostheart/9780451481344

The Bookwanderers, by Anna James

The Bookwanderers, a story about a girl named Tilly who lives in her family’s bookstore and finds out that she can travel inside the books she loves so much, is the perfect gift for anyone who knows that there is no place more magical than a library or bookstore. Anna James does a fantastic job of getting the personalities of classic characters like Anne from Anne of Green Gables and Alice from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland so right that it really does feel like Tilly is meeting the authentic characters.

https://bookshop.org/books/pages-co-the-bookwanderers/9781984837141

The Language of Ghosts, by Heather Fawcett

The Language of Ghosts is a book about magic, a fight to win back a stolen kingdom, and most importantly, the bond between three siblings. I love the characters in this book, each with their own quirky personalities, and I love the unusual magic, like the fact that most of the story takes place on a magically moving island that can be sailed like a ship.

https://www.heatherfawcettbooks.com/

https://bookshop.org/books/the-language-of-ghosts/9780062854544

Chirp, by Kate Messner

Chirp might be the only contemporary book on this list. I rarely read contemporary, but I decided to pick this one up after reading about it in a NYT book review, and ended up loving it. In Chirp, Kate Messner does a masterful job of combining a fun story about friendship and entrepreneurship with the heavy topic of sexual abuse.

https://bookshop.org/books/chirp-9781547605705/9781547602810

Upper Middle Grade (Ages 13-17)

Akata Witch, by Nnedi Okorafor

Nnedi Okorafor’s Akata Witch is a dark and captivating story about an albino Nigerian girl named Sunny who is introduced to the magical world of Leopard People. The unique magic in this book is fascinating and deeply intertwined in Nigerian culture.

http://nnedi.com/books/akata.html

https://bookshop.org/books/akata-witch/9780142420911

The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale

The Goose Girl is an enchanting story that follows a princess with the power to speak the language of birds. The book’s author, Shannon Hale, just has a way of turning words and stories into magic, and that skill is on full display in this remarkable story.

https://shannonhale.com/books/bayern

https://bookshop.org/books/the-goose-girl/9781681193168

[justchangingtheworld]

Learning How to Learn

Back when I was in elementary school, my mom spent hours studying with me every evening. This must have taken infinite patience on her part, because I very clearly had (unmedicated) ADHD. She spent so much time working with me because she wanted me to see myself as someone who could do well, that my difficulties focusing didn't mean I'd couldn't succeed. Other parents thought she was unreasonable. They told her that I would become so dependent on her that I'd never be able to study on my own. But she had seen the way kids who learned differently often fell through the cracks; those kids learned early that they weren't expected to succeed, and took those expectations to heart. She didn't want that to happen to me.

A few years later, I started high school. Suddenly, I acquired my own drive to succeed in school, one strong enough to motivate me to study for hours on my own. This was a big relief to my mom, not because she was tired of studying with me— my mom loves teaching, and has since built up a very successful neighborhood tutoring business with my dad— but rather because she'd secretly worried that the other parents' criticisms might actually be right, that by studying with me for years she might be condemning me to never learn independence.

High school is actually when I started taking medication for my ADHD. Now that I had acquired this newfound motivation to study on my own, my difficulty focusing became much more apparent to me. I would study material I knew I was capable of understanding (a confidence I doubt I would have had if not for years of support from my mom), but I just couldn't manage to focus on learning the new information without spending hours of time just forcing myself to stay focused. I was still doing pretty well in my classes, but it was exhausting. (And yes, many people take past success as an indicator that someone doesn't actually have ADHD. Let me just say that that is nonsense.) So I finally started taking ADHD meds, and for me they really helped. 

Skip forward a few years, to when I was a undergraduate at MIT. I was very unprepared for how quickly MIT classes move. I spent my first two years in a constant struggle just to pass my classes, typically ending up dropping at least one class per semester just to leave myself enough time to pass the others. I remember thinking to myself that I was sure I was capable of learning the material, but that I just couldn't imagine having enough time to do it. It was very frustrating; I was in a situation that I knew was likely due largely to my ADHD, but I didn't know how to fix it. I worked with my doctor to make sure I was on the right dosage of medication, and that did help some, but not enough. The main point of being in school is to actually learn, and I was spending so much energy on just trying to pass my classes that I rarely had a chance to develop a solid understanding of the material I was supposed to be learning. 

It wasn't until summer break after my second year of school that I came up with a plan. I decided to choose one of my classes for the upcoming semester that was known to be taught largely from material in a textbook or from notes available online, and would make time during my vacation to learn all that material before the semester even began. And it worked. It worked so well that I went from constantly worrying about passing my classes to actually doing well in every single one. It worked so well that my friends came up to me and asked what had happened, because the difference was so noticable. I honestly don't know exactly what motivated me to spend all that time studying over a vacation, but I can say that the studying I did over that break and every summer and winter break for the rest of my time at MIT, was some of the most enjoyable studying I did in my entire time in college. I really do enjoy learning, and it was such a relief to be able to learn at my own pace for once, without having to worry about being tested on material before I had enough time to fully grasp it.

I've never been self conscious of the fact that my brain works somewhat differently than most, but that doesn't mean it's always been easy. I'm lucky to have a fantastic support network though, and so far I seem to eventually always figure out what works for me.

[la-laborista-republiko]

[cryptiboy]

what if public libraries were open late every night so that:

- children and teens who cant get home until a later time have a safe, warm, well lit, populated area to socialize, charge devices, rest, etc

- children and teens have a safe place to go to stay away from danger

- people who have jobs that take up most of the day would still have time ANY DAY OF THE WEEK to go use the libraries facilities (printing, computers, etc)

[raptorkin]

This is exactly what public libraries are trying to achieve - public libraries as a third place is a whole thing - it’s just that the funding isn’t there (yet).

[captaindibbzy]

Libraries need and deserve so much funding

[entamewitchlulu]

I’m going to apologize if this post comes off as sounding very aggressive, but having just been through one of the most stressful experiences of my entire career in libraries: 

if you want this, you need to be at your local community government meetings. you need to be talking to your representatives.  you need to be out there Lobbying.

Just a few weeks ago, my library, me, my coworkers, we had to write letters, send emails, make phone calls, speak at council meetings, just to beg our aldermen to give us our usual funding. Which they didn’t even give to us last year.  Losing last year’s funding forced us to cut staff, hours, and all of our databases.  If we’d lost this year’s funding? two positions would have been gone and we would have likely had to close on Saturdays.  On Saturdays.  The day of the week most of y’all working M-F jobs actually have time to go to the fucking library.

And do you want to know how much money we were asking? We were asking for an increase of approximately 13 cents a person.

13.

Fucking.

Cents.

ACROSS AN ENTIRE YEAR.

No one seems to understand how libraries are funded.  It’s not just Free Stuff.  It’s your tax dollars being paid back into your community.  It’s crowdfunding.  The highest cost anyone in my community pays for the library a year is approximately $250.  Divide that up.  That’s just $4 a week.  That’s less than a coffee.  It’s the equivalent of purchasing about 10 hardcover books a year.  For that price, you could have access to every book that has ever been written, a place to go that’s not a bar, programs for kids, teens, and adults, educated staff that can help you find the answers to your questions, and so much more.

You want these late-night libraries?  You want all this stuff?  Start fighting for it.  Start showing up.  Start making phone calls.  It’s not going to come out of thin air.  Start fighting to erase the idea that taxes = evil.  Start fighting to spread the understanding that taxes are what help us build a better society.

Make sure the people who represent you know that you want this.  That this is where you want your tax dollars to go.  That this is what you want them to support.  That you are willing to see your tax bill go up a few more dollars for this.

Because otherwise?  None of this is going to happen.  Libraries are going to keep cutting their opening hours.  Keep cutting staff.  Keep cutting programs and databases and collections.

We NEED your support, and we need more than just a post on Tumblr.  We need to see people show up and speak out. 

[justchangingtheworld]

Growing Up

Back when I was a child, I was in no rush to grow up. I was perfectly satisfied to just enjoy existing without having to deal with the inconveniences of the responsibilities and expectations that come with adulthood. My friends disagreed with me on this; most of them couldn't wait to grow up.

I'm not sure why I felt so differently about this than most. Maybe it was just because I was a very happy child, and therefore felt no particular pull to change something that already seemed pretty great. Maybe it was because my parents gave me more autonomy than most— I was always a rule follower, but my mom likes to say that the fewer rules you give kids, the fewer rules there are for them to break. (We did have some rules, but they were generally very reasonable, and were never pushed on us with because-I-said-sos.) Whatever the reason was, I'm pretty sure the sentiment that "youth is wasted on the young" did not apply to me.

Now that I am an adult, though, (and yes, I've gotten to the point where it no longer feels strange to say that), it turns out I actually enjoy adulthood as well. Child-me was definitely right that adulthood means more responsibilities, but lo and behold, I'm actually managing them fairly well so far (with help from my parents, friends, and community in general!)

I did go through a period of some anxiety during my time between graduating college and starting my first full time job. I felt like I needed to figure out what I wanted the adult version of myself to be like, and was afraid of accidently becoming someone who still acts like a child (and not in a good way) even far into adulthood. But it turns out I actually quite like the person I'm becoming. I am still very much myself, but a continually growing version of myself (no, not my height— I'm pretty sure I'm done growing in that regard). I'm still someone I love spending time with and love getting to know.

[justchangingtheworld]

Fitting In

I've always been somewhat unusual. That's something I like about myself, but it's also something that has made fitting in more difficult. Given enough time, I always manage to find my place, to find friends who genuinely enjoy and appreciate having me in their lives, but that typically requires a longer than ideal lead up time.

I think the only times I didn't find my place somewhere were in contexts where I only had a month or so to get to know people (or more relevantly, for people to get to know me). The most notable example of this was sleepaway camp. That was a super lonely time for me, (a fact that I apparently didn't mention to my mom until a couple of weeks ago?) I remember wishing that someone would just explain the social rules to me so I would know what rules I was unknowingly breaking.

Even then, though, I don't remember there ever being a time when I felt the reason I was struggling to make friends was because I was unlikable. I always assumed it was just because I was impressively bad at making first impressions, and that once people realized that their first impressions of me were wrong, they would see that I'm actually pretty great. I don't know where this confidence came from, but it fortunately did turn out to be true pretty consistently.

I do think I'm getting better at making positive first impressions. At least, I hope I am. ADHD can make social skills tough sometimes, but I'm pretty stubborn and intend to keep improving. And I have managed to acquire quite a few excellent friends despite my social struggles <3

[justchangingtheworld]

Writing

I want to be someone who writes. I've kind of wanted this for a while. I'm not sure if it's more something I want for me alone or for me to communicate myself to others. Probably the latter. Despite getting along with myself much better than most people seem to get along with their own selves, I still think one of my strongest impulses is the desire to be understood. I rarely feel as desperate as I do when I feel misread by the people around me. I'm not in that desperate kind of situation at the moment though, so I don't know exactly where this current urge to write my thoughts to the world are coming from.

I find it interesting that despite how much I sometimes talk, I struggle when it comes to actually writing those thoughts down. Maybe it's because writing things forces me to recognize how much my thoughts are just stream of consciousness, rather than the intelligent and thoughtful ideas I wish they would be. So what better way to move myself closer to that ideal than to actually force myself to write. things. down.

Honestly, even though I'm not sure most people would have any interest in reading these largely steam of consciousness word jumble, I'm kind of interested in reading them myself. I actually find myself quite interesting (maybe even as interesting as I find my friends) so I, for one, am quite interested in what I'll have to say.

(I feel kind of silly posting this, but I can't think of any good reason not to )

[laskulls-deactivated20250318]

I JUST FOUND A GAY KIDS BOOK ABOUT A PRINCE AND KNIGHT IN LOVE AND IM,,, OBLITERATED

[laskulls-deactivated20250318]

MY JAW IS ON THE FLOOR

[neoyi]

I bought this book and it’s super, duper cute!

[shiraglassman]

speaking of mlm princes!

[otakusapien]

The author co-wrote another book called Maiden & Princess!!

[rae-elizas]

This is also a wonderfully queer children’s book. Spoiler: the prince comes out at the end as trans

[officialmossman-deletedsept9202]

I will be buying ALL of these for my little cousins 6th birthday

[paterklatter]

Another really cute one, by Katie O'Neill one of my favorite childrens graphic novel authors

[autumngracy]

Just fyi, the Prince in The Prince and the Dressmaker actually comes out more as genderqueer than trans, exactly. Here’s an exerpt from an interview with the author:

Orsini: By the end of the story, Prince Sebastian seems to still be splitting his time between dresses and menswear. What does this say about his gender identity?

Wang: To me, Sebastian is someone who identifies with different modes of gender expression and is comfortable alternating between both masculine and feminine. Genderqueer is probably the best descriptor. But I’m also open to readers’ interpretations of how they see the character. If a reader feels that this story is just the first step to Sebastian discovering they’re trans, or if they feel Sebastian is a cis male that likes to dress up I’m happy with all of that!

[mayeshaj]

Happy Pride! 🌈🏳️‍🌈

[hexenoche]

@rattusrattus3 this made me think of you!

[rattusrattus3]

This makes me so happy!

[justchangingtheworld]

[jewishicequeen]

Okay, I wanna talk about Teo for a second.

This guy. Some of you didn't even remember he exist, and I dare to say most of you didn't know him name.

Can we talk about him?

The guy's the first time we see a real disable person in the series, other then Zuko(who is our villain still and so is not a good representation at this time of the series). He's paralyzed in both his legs, and uses a wheelchair.

And no one bends an eyelid about it.

I don't know how much able people will understand it, but this is HUGE. Until now, we've seen a world of half-gods and awesome powerful people. We seen some scars, sure, but they're all there to make the characters cooler, no? The only non firebender character we've seen with an injury was Katara, and she healed in the same episode without a mark left. And that's fine. That's what we expect from media.

And then Teo comes up. And he's AMAZING.

The boy's a NON BENDER, in a WHEELCHAIR, and his flying ability masures to AANGS. He's equal to the AVATAR. And no one mentions his wheelchair. Our main characters don't lift an eyebrow. Aang competes with him without thinking twice. Sokka, who is at this point established as completely tactless, only notice the chair's scientific qualities, not the disability. They're surprised the chair is AIRBORN, but not by the chair itself.

During the entire episode, Teo moves and talk and hang out with them and it doesn't come up even once. His father is the only person to bring it up, very brifly. No one dweles on it.

It's just... it means so much to me. You can talk how much you want about representation, but when disable people are in media, there are pretty much two roles for them to fall into- either they're used as kind of a comic relief, or their character arc is about living dispite the ability.

And then ATLA gave us Teo. And it was HUGE. Because able people don't realize it, but we don't want stories about people coming to terms with their disability. We don't want stories about accepting it.

We want, and need, stories about people LIVING with it. Not dispite it, not as some kind of a proof to other people that HEY, I CAN DO THIS, but just as living. They live their life like everyone else. They're as cheerful and happy and great as anyone else. With the disability, not dispite it.

Teo is the begining of a whole theme ATLA led with disable characters. It starts with Teo, an earth kingdom kid with the spirit of an Airbender, who could beat the Avatar himself in a race. It continues with Song(remember her?) that spends her life helping people around her. It goes through Zuko, who pretty much IGNORES his scar during the entire first season. And it comes to Toph, a blind girl who is literally the strongest earth bender in the world, if not the strongest BENDER, and is so independent her friends keep forgetting she cannot read.

It means a lot.

[justchangingtheworld]

[acreaturecalledgreed]

so heres a thing my mother always said to me growing up when i broke something on accident that i think is really important

and i know, from watching my friends and seeing their panic and terror when something broke, that not only were not nearly enough children told this thing, many children were punished in place of being reassured

and thats heartbreaking

so heres the words from my mom that i was always told, and theyre the same words that anyone who never got to hear them should hear now, courtesy of my mom, who has repeated those same words to many a friend of mine and now to you

if i ever broke anything, the first words out of her mouth would always be and have always been, “are you hurt?” 

i would say no

she would say, “thats okay, then”

and i would ask why

and she would say “because it was just a thing- even if its a nice thing, or an old thing, or an expensive thing, its still just a thing. it can be replaced, or we can live without it. there is only one you. there will only ever be one you. you will always be more important than just some thing.” 

[songspinner9]

I lend out a collection to fossils to my school’s 8th grade science teachers annually. I’ve collected since I was a kid, added more as an adult from yard sales and donations. I want kids to be inspired and intrigued. About my 5th year at my school, the teacher came to me with one of her students. The girl looked upset and sort of scared. The teacher explained that the girl’s hand had slipped and a Megaladon Shark’s tooth had broken into two pieces. My first response was to make sure she hadn’t been cut by one of the pieces, and she shook her head, tears in her eyes. I smiled at her and pointed out that she hadn’t dropped it on purpose, that the ridiculously big tooth had been fossilized and survived this long, and it would still be amazing if I had to either keep it in two pieces or superglue it.

It bothered me a lot that the kid was clearly primed by a lot of adults to deal with anger and blame when a simple mistake was made. I offered her a hug, which she accepted and finally laughed.

[piggyofoz]

Story time: 

My grandmother owns crystal bowls that have been passed down to her from her grandmother. Being a family with Jewish heritage in Austria, every single piece of family history we own is basically a treasure in itself. I was already an adult when she allowed me to take one of them home with me, of course only after I swore several oaths to keep it safe. I can go months and years without breaking a single dish, but lo and behold, it takes two weeks and a split second of not paying attention, and suddenly that crystal bowl, that’s worth more to my grandmother than the entire rest of her furniture, goes flying and shatters into a million pieces. I swear I watched for what felt like an hour as that thing dropped, turned around itself and finally crashed in a spectacular impact. Anyway, it’s completely beyond repair, and I’m freaking out because my grandmother will murder me. Only, she will not, because even worse, she’s going to be fucking heartbroken and so, so disappointed with me she won’t even find it within herself to murder me. But, you gotta do what you gotta do - not being able to face her while confessing, I call her, in tears, apologizing a hundred times before she finally goes: “Gigi, calm down now, what happened??” “*sobbing* I- I broke your grandma’s bohooohooowl -” And my grandmother, bless that woman, starts laughing hysterically. She’s laughing so much I think, I must have broken her, that’s it, she’s lost her marbles now and it’s my fault, until she wheezes out: “Gigi that bowl survived two world wars and the Nazis but not a month in your kitchen!” and of course I fucking lost it too at that point. That’s how I learned, that in the end, it’s really all about perspective. 

Now I’m a step-mum myself and my go to reaction whenever I hear something break is to shrug and say ‘Well, it had a good run’ and then I go fetch a broom and we’ll clean up because if my grandma could laugh off a 100 year old crystal dish, I can laugh off an IKEA mug lmao

[threezoz]

I’m tearing up

[deadcatwithaflamethrower]

I’m bloody sobbing.

[sosuperawesome]

Canan Esen on Instagram

[walkingnorth]

✨Little Bee Books is running a pre-order campaign for Always Human ✨ https://littlebeebooks.com/pre-order-always-human-today/ There will be lots of cool extras for people who pre-order (including new music and short bonus comics featuring Sunati pre-series and Austen playing Starlight Soldiers!) Unfortunately physical goodies will only be for people who pre-order the hardcover (sorry, international shipping is expensive ; - ; ) but I’m really excited about all of this. And really hoping to reach those group pre-order goals :D If you’d like to pre-order the book and live in the US/Canada, you should be able to pre-order at your local bookstore, or online at one of the retailers listed here: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/ALWAYS-HUMAN/Ari-North/9781499811100 If you live elsewhere I think book depository (and their free international shipping) is probably the best option: https://www.bookdepository.com/search?searchTerm=%22Ari+North%22+%22Always+Human%22+glaad&search=Find+book Aaaand, I think that’s it. Please ask if you have any questions :) P.S. Reblogs are greatly appreciated, thank you very much, have a wonderful weekend <3

[justchangingtheworld]

Just pre-ordered!

[askragtatter]

Triggers are like allergies.

An allergy is an extreme sensitivity to something that might not bother most people.

There are common ones and rare ones

They range from mildly annoying to life threatening, depending on the degree of sensitivity.

Not everyone has them. Some people might have several.

There’s no need to include allergy warnings when your audience is small and well known and you know no one present is allergic to anything you’re bringing.

When your audience is wider or unknown, it’s courteous to include warnings for the more common ones (peanuts, milk). Because better safe than sorry.

If you find out that someone with a rarer one might be present, you should include warnings for things you usually wouldn’t (cayenne pepper, mint).

If you set off an allergic reaction, you apologize even if you didn’t know they had that allergy, you do what you can to help, and you take care not to do it again.

Teasing someone for having one is stupid.

People don’t choose to have them, and those that have them wish they didn’t.

Faking one that you don’t have is bad form.

And if you intentionally expose an allergic person to something you know they are allergic to, you are an ASSHOLE.

[deadmomjokes]

Also, based on personal experiences with both food allergens and triggers:

You don’t get to decide how severe someone’s allergy is, and you don’t get to lie to them about allergen contents with the hope of intentionally exposing them to an allergen because you think they’re faking. Or, less sinister but still a Jerk Move, you don’t get to decide how much of an allergen is “enough” to trigger a reaction or not, you have to let the person with the allergy decide that.

[tilltheendwilliwrite]

[underthenerdhood]

a little girl who grows up thinking all doors are automatic but actually she’s haunted by a really polite ghost

[peterdrabbit]

So chivalry IS dead?!