Star Wars Helps Improve Children's Literacy

What do literacy and Star Wars have in common?  A lot, apparently.

EUCantina.net devotes itself to the expanded universe (EU) of Star Wars.  This summer, EUCantina.net decided to focus on the issue of illiteracy in the United States, because as the site's current tagline says, "44 million adults in the U.S. can't read well enough to read a simple story to a child."

EUCantina teamed with Reading is Fundamental (RIF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving literacy in children across the U.S, to try to generate in children a deeper appreciation, and hopefully a love, of the page and words.  Austin Blankenship, one of EUCantina's administrators, described the impetus for this collaboration.

"When I found RIF, I started looking closely at the startling statistics on children's literacy. I realized that this was an area that desperately needed our help," said Blankenship.  "Children's literacy is a major issue, but I think that it is being overlooked as a real problem. Most people would agree that kids need to be able to read, but they probably don't realize the true impact that literate children will have on a society. I also worry that in general the public doesn't truly understand the poor position that children's literacy is currently in."

And a poor situation it really is.  According to RIF, two-thirds of impoverished U.S. children do not have books at home, and nearly 40 percent of U.S. 4th graders cannot read at the most basic proficiency level (RIF.org).  Blankenship realized EUCantina had a wonderful opportunity to aid in RIF's endeavor because of it was an area that his website could relate to because it reviews Star Wars books and comics.

"A big first step to helping these kids is to get them interested in reading. That's where Star Wars comes in," explained Blankenship.  "So many young girls and boys are fascinated by Star Wars. If we can provide them with an easy-to-read Star Wars book, that will instantly grab their attention."

EUCantina went the extra mile and contacted authors of Star Wars books to see if they would participate, and participate they did.  Readers participating in the program this summer have a chance to win several signed copies of Star Wars books, including The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia which has been signed by all seven of its authors.  Blankenship said that EUCantina had connections with these authors already and he knew that the program would easily appeal to them.

Blankenship said the literacy endeavor has been going well, and he hoped that the program will continue to benefit children throughout their lives.  "They'll start with Star Wars, and realize that reading is something that can be fun and interesting.  It's a great way to make that first step have a lasting impression."

It's not too late to join the Rebels in the fight against illiteracy of Death Star proportions.  Through September 12, you can donate directly to RIF through EUCantina's main page, or you can choose to purchase a wicked Yoda-themed "A Force for Childhood Literacy" tshirt!  The shirts cost about $16 each; $4 from each purchase goes directly to RIF and the rest covers the cost of the shirt (EUCantina makes no profit on them).  

Of course, you can also make a difference by grabbing one of your old Star Wars books and donating it to a young relative or your local shelter, thus perpetuating the love for Star Wars and reading for generations to come.

All photos courtesy of EUCantina.net.

Why We Love Sci-Fi & Fantasy: Part 2

A few weeks ago, I started this post series about the attraction of science fiction and fantasy in popular culture.  The first reason I addressed was the ability for science fiction and fantasy to be all-encompassing; they are easily able to address multiple issues within a single piece of work, hence they are able to reach a broader audience with a wide range of interests.  You can read all of Part 1 here if you missed it.

Many of you left comments on Part 1 when I asked you why you thought science fiction and fantasy were so adored, even by those who don't necessarily call themselves geeks or nerds.  Today, for my 10th post of this blog, I'd like to discuss another reason found in many of these comments: escapism.

'Nuff said.

To be honest, I do not plan to discuss the escapist nature of science fiction and fantasy in great length.  There are hundreds of books, essays, and articles written on this topic, many of which you can just google.  Of course, I'd highly recommend J.R.R. Tolkien's "On Fairy Stories" and C.S. Lewis's "On Science Fiction," which both succinctly yet accurately address escapism in these two genres.  I firmly believe their ideas on this topic are still valid today, no matter how old-fashioned some of their other ones may be.

Essentially, what you need to know about the escapist nature of science fiction and fantasy is this: some people think these books are no more than scribbles on pages to help divert your attention from real-world issues, and other people think these books are helpful specifically because they show you the real world from a new perspective.  My thoughts?  The latter couldn't be more correct.

Sure, there are many of us who do take guilty pleasure in picking up a less-than-Pulitzer-Prize-winning romantic fantasy romp just for the fun of it.  There are also those of us who felt like we could live "normal" lives only within the science fiction worlds we discovered.  However, many of us recognize the implicit nature of science fiction and fantasy to take us outside of ourselves, outside of our limited viewpoints, to illuminate the issues, hypocrisies, and ideas in the world around us that we are not otherwise aware of or may not otherwise have been open to hearing.  Because of this, we are terrified at the concept of an Orwellian-inspired government that uses Newspeak to convince its citizens of its ideas regardless of morality (or are we there already?).  We cheer for Sam and Optimus Prime in their fight to save humanity, because they have shown us that we humans have immeasurable value.  We also ache to see the love and acceptance Harry finds with Ron and Hermoine radiated into our suffering, spiteful Muggle world.  This is why escapism is not just a quick little vacation for our minds; if anything, escapism engages our minds to think even more deeply about our everyday routines, and how the larger forces at work behind those routines may ultimately be driving us towards a life of slavery or a life of freedom.

As these genres start to become more popular and therefore more widely accepted (and more often than not, their fans seen as intuitive instead of "geeky"), people formerly opposed to science fiction and fantasy on the grounds of unreal escapism seem to be questioning their assumptions.  Maybe these "escapist" books really do hold more value than previously suspected.   Maybe there's a real-life, applicable reason four out of the five top-grossing films of all time are science fiction or fantasy.

Maybe science fiction and fantasy can help us escape and then come back to change the world.

Wonder Woman: Bonnie Burton

If any of you geeks out there are at all involved in the deeper levels of Star Wars fandom, then you may know that Bonnie Burton was one of its key components as she was their social media coordinator and blogger for the Official Star Wars blog.  I'm sure many of you shared in my disappointment when you saw Bonnie announce on May 7 on her Twitter account that she was laid off by Lucasfilm after 9 years of employment there.

Seriously, were the Lucasfilm execs under a Sith mind trick while making that decision?

Love the hair.  

Bonnie Burton was one of my role models.  When I first started digging into the Star Wars franchise, I discovered that Miss Burton played a central role, and I immediately tagged her as a role model.  There was a woman holding a real job in the Star Wars company?  What more could an aspiring, geeky female writer want?  (Yes, I realize there are other women involved in the Star Wars franchise, but in case you forgot who I'm writing about in this post, please reference the post title.)

I should clarify.  Just because she no longer works at Lucasfilm does not mean she's not one of my role models anymore: Bonnie Burton is one of my role models.  I can't see that position of hers ever being lost in my book of Wonder Women, no matter what the circumstance.  Therefore, to celebrate her positive influence on the world of geekdom and in my life, I've assigned characteristics to every letter of her first name to explain what I think about Bonnie.  Call it junior high-ish; I can take it.

B - beautiful.  Bonnie wrote about the influence that Betty Page had on her life on her website, and this "inspired [her] to do [her] own thing and not care what others thought."  To me, Bonnie has a firm grasp on what it means to be a beautiful woman.
O - original.  Bonnie always comes up with unique content that I can't help adore, like her new co-authored book Weight Hacking: A How-To Guide for Geeks Who Want to Lose Weight and Get Fit.  And she was the first person to marry R2-D2 (no joke).  Beat that.
N - nice.  My co-worker and I always argue that the word nice is an empty word, something that people throw around carelessly when they don't really know what to say.  I beg to differ here.  Every time I interact with Bonnie on Twitter, she is polite, respectful, and flat-out a nice lady.

Caution: herbs on board.

N - nifty.  Bonnie is notorious (hey, look, another n-word!) for her Star Wars crafts; she can make pretty much anything around the house into something related to that beloved film series.  I mean, who doesn't want their herbs planted in an AT-AT?
I - inspirational.  Self-explanatory.
E - encouraging.  Many times I notice that Bonnie's tweets are complimentary, supportive, and benign towards those she interacts with; I'm not sure I've once noticed her purposefully say anything rude or hateful, and that's a rare gem in the wide, untamed wilderness that is known as the Internet.

I know I'm just another fan and another geek among millions, especially since the dawning of this recent online nerd revolution.  However, I hope that this little tribute has not fallen on deaf ears.  To those of you who feel the same way about Bonnie's inspiration, please, learn something from her example and make the geek world a better place for all of us.

My Geeked Up Life: Andre Norton

Quick update: I have started reading Daybreak: 2250 A.D. based on a recommendation from my co-worker.  He was the first one to make this suggestion when I told him about my idea for this blog and for having my readers make me geekier, so I must pay homage.

I will post my review of the book when I'm done!  If you've read this book before or anything else by Andre Norton, do you like the book/author?