Menolly

from the Pern books (beginning with Dragonsong) by Ann McCaffrey

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" 'Women can't be harpers,' she'd said to Petiron, astonished and awed.
'One in ten hundred have perfect pitch,' Petiron had said... 'One in ten thousand can build and acceptable melody with meaningful words. Were you only a lad, there'd be no problem at all."

" 'It's so beautiful. It's such a challenge, to hear the interweaving harmonies and the melody line changing from instrument to instrument. I felt as if I was... flying on a dragon!' "

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I love Menolly for so many reasons. First off, she's denied music as a girl because it's not an appropriate occupation for women in their society. But she can't keep herself from composing and playing and is beaten for it. She runs away to a cave on the beach where she finds herself at the hatching of nine fire lizards, which are kin to dragons (also a major part of the Pern novels). Her personal journey to find her place in the world makes her an exciting and relatable character. Especially if you love music, you'll want to follow her adventures as she hones her talent and learns that there is a place for her songs.

Matilda

from the novel by Roald Dahl

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“So Matilda’s strong young mind continued to grow, nurtured by the voices of all those authors who had sent their books out into the world like ships on the sea. These books gave Matilda a hopeful and comforting message: You are not alone.” 

“Sometimes Matilda longed for a friend, someone like the kind, courageous people in her books.”

“She decided that every time her father or her mother was beastly to her, she would get her own back in some way or another. A small victory or two would help her to tolerate their idiocies and would stop her from going crazy.”  

.................

Matilda is a young girl who has been born into the wrong family. While she loves to read and learn, her parents (in the brilliant way that only Roald Dahl can tell it) stand for ignorance, cheating, telly-watching, and every boorish thing you can think of. They think she's four when she tells them she's six and a half and wants to go to school. They want her to stay home so that she can sign for packages. She manages to find an escape at the library where books open a world of possibilities for her.

But school is no better. The children are regularly oppressed by the principal, Miss Trunchbull. Matilda is regularly told she's small and insignificant both at school and at home: "I'm right and you're wrong, I'm big and you're small, and there's nothing you can do about it." Until the one day when she discovers she has magical powers...

So why do we love Matilda? She loves to read. She loves to learn. And she strikes a blow for every person who felt marginalized or belittled for liking something different.


(Note: This is one of the few instances where I think the movie lives up to the book. It's just delightful.)

"If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." ~ Marcus Tullius Cicero 

Pansies are such cheerful little flowers. They remind me of faces, or lions, or laughing dogs. They always bring a smile to my face. And they're fun to paint!

Today's painting was begun, I kid you not, in our town library.

Inspired again by those incredibly bright orange flowers, and ginkgo leaves found on a walk. They are just as gorgeous in autumn when they turn yellow.