"Listen Up! Podcasting for Schools and Libraries", by Linda W. Braun. Information Today, Inc., 2007.

Can't remember how I found this book. I borrowed it through the Link+ partnership we have with other libraries in California and Nevada. I did enjoy reading it - so much so, that [I'm buying] have bought a copy for Sacramento Public Library.

The author is currently the Vice President/President-Elect of YALSA, a division of the American Library Association. She has written a basic "what is it?" and "how do I do it" guide to creating simple podcasts in school and library settings. It's particularly good at describing the benefits of the technology for boosting the currency of the organizations' relationships with their users, and also for providing some innovative ideas for using podcasts (audio as well as video) for programming, tutorials, marketing, and staff training. The language is readable, non-intimidating, and leaves the reader with the feeling that, "I can actually do this!"

"Color of the Sea", by John Hamamura. New York : Anchor Books, 2007.

In Hawaii and California in the years bracketing the Second World War, Isamu "Sam" Hamada struggles with issues facing Nisei agricultural workers - the prejudice, the hopes and dreams, the broken promises, and the stigma of being "Japs" in America after the bombing of Pearl Harbor and of being sent to internment camp.

Hamamura vividly draws pictures of life during those years, and and skillfully evokes the essence of the time: the feelings, the settings, the loyalties and conflicts experienced by Japanese Americans before and during the war. This is an engaging and readable novel that challenges the reader to acknowledge an alternative viewpoint. It is made more poignant because it parallels the author's own life.

This video interview with Hamamura will bring an added dimension to the reader's understanding of the work. (Click on "03 - American Identity")