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by Marta N. Zielyk Since I began working at the State Depart ment, I have logged upwards of a million air miles flying to and from Ukraine, to and from various capitals in “old” and “new’ Europe, and in 40 of states of the United States. For most people those endless hours spent in forced confinement on a plane present an opportunity to relax, to watch a few in-flight movies, or tackle the latest trashy novel. For me, however, these in-flight hours are usually work time. I get on board with huge binders full of briefing documents and background papers, talking points, and other memos pertaining to whatever assignment I am about to embark on. On the return flight, I am usually writing up an after action report, organizing my notes from our meet ings, or adding newly learned words to my ever growing glossary of correct and modem Ukrainian word usage. In the last two years, however, there have been a few select flights during which—had you been sitting across the aisle from me—you would have seen me with tears running down my face or laughing out loud. No, I wasn’t crying over the latest misguided move by the U.S. or Ukrainian administration or laughing over a ‘foot-in-mouth” statement of some unseasoned Ukrainian or American politician. So what, you might ask, was provoking such emotional reactions? And the an swer is five books for young adults that I have read since the inauguration of “Kalyna’s Book Club” in April of 2005. Kalyna is my 11-year-old niece, the oldest child of my youngest sister. She lives in New York with her parents and her younger brother and goes to the United Nations International School. Coming from a family of voracious readers, it was inevitable that Kalyna herself would inherit a love of books early in life. However, this attachment to books took on an entirely different dimension when, at the gentle advice of Kalyna’s aunt (my other sister), Kalyna’s Book Club was bom. The book club is unique. Its members range in age from 11 to 75; all the members are women and all of them are somehow related to Kalyna. There are eight of us: Kalyna, her mother, her grandmother, her two aunts, her aunt once removed, her great-aunt once removed, and (bear with me here) the wife of the brother of her aunt once- removed. The timing of our meetings revolves— bless them all!—around my schedule, and we have managed to get together five times in the last two years, when I go home for the holidays or family celebrations. The choice of books is up to Kalyna, and I have to say, for a young girl, she has picked remarkably interesting books. They have run the gamut from charming fairy tales to Orwellian-like visions of the future, from tales narrated by a malamute dog named McKinley to one narrated by a young Japanese-American girl living in Ohio in the 1950’s. Even though these books are written for children, they touch on very adult themes and this is what keeps three generations of women in Kalyna’ Book Club fascinated. We talk about personal identity, responsibility to family and community, loss, love and death, the power of ideas and emo tions. ... In short, we talk about life. Our first book, The Tale of Despereaux, told the wonderful story of a diminutive mouse, who indulges in some very un-mouselike behavior: Instead of chewing on books he loves to read them. He lives in a castle and falls in love with the human Princess Pea, the daughter of the king of the castle. Despite the fact that everyone tells Despereaux that it’s ridiculous for a mouse to love a princess, he goes on a quest to declare his love for her. This sweet and thoroughly charming book led the members of Kalyna’s Book Club to discuss themes such as the desire of children, or adults for that matter, to pursue what is said to be out of their reach and dare to break "never-to-be-broken” mles of conduct. Hasn’t each of us, no matter how young or how old, longed to break out of a constricting set of rules or social codes, that curtail our freedom and spontaneity? And after this discussion, Kalyna’s Book Club members decided that there is absolutely nothing wrong with a mouse who reads books! One of our most memorable discussions centered on the book Kira-Kira, which I read as I was returning from Kyiv in December of last year. I Видання C оюзу Українок A мерики - перевидано в електронному форматі в 2012 році . A рхів C У A - Ню Йорк , Н . Й . C Ш A.
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