Ideas for Summer Reading for Children

Diane Browne's 'Ebony and the
Auntie of the Starlight' is on
Amazon as an e-book.

Summer Schools are mostly over. What now? In the several weeks of summer holidays remaining, there is no better activity for children than reading for pleasure. The premise is simple, but implementation meets a number of obstacles.

The first is to convince parents and teachers that it is true, although many studies have shown that when children are allowed to read books of their own choosing, most areas of study at school are enhanced. Reading improves comprehension and knowledge of grammar, and increases vocabulary more than do exercises in books designed for that purpose.

The second, especially in Jamaica, is to expose children to an adequate number of books from which to choose. The third is to find people who are willing and able to help them make these choices.
In this and subsequent posts, I am putting forward some suggestions of sources of books (other than The Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew and books by Enid Blyton).

One of the titles in Carlong's
Sand Pebble Series 

There is a common attitude that Jamaicans don’t write and illustrate books, but this is clearly not true, (see my list below). Many of these books are available in local bookshops and libraries; and children enjoy reading about heroes and heroines who look and speak like themselves. There is wide selection of Caribbean books on the Anasesem website. Anansesem is an online magazine featuring news, ideas, art and letters from the world of Caribbean children’s publishing. It incorporates a bookstore where Caribbean children’s books can be bought online.
Nowadays, children have the option of reading on their tablets or even on their phones. Book Fusion in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information have made available books in the Doctor Bird Series, Literacy 1-2-3 and the Blue Mahoe series, which are no longer available in print.

There is also the International Children’s Digital Library  I was surprised to find The Cat Woman and the Spinning Wheel by Diane Browne, illustrated by Andrea Haynes-Peart in this library. Diane didn’t know it was there either! She told me it was one of the most popular books in the Doctor Bird Reading Series, back in the day. To find the Jamaican books, search books by country.

Marley Dias

Marley Dias, a girl from New Jersey whose mother is Jamaican, took social media by storm with her campaign
"1000 Black Girl Books" after she was tired of reading about white boys and their dogs. See below for the books she chose for girls her age.
          On  Amazon, you can find many children’s e-books, for example, Diane Browne’s “Ebony and the Auntie of the Starlight” and “Abigail’s Glorious Hair”.
An advantage of choosing both e-books and hard copies from Amazon is that you can read the first few pages. You can see the size of the print, the type of vocabulary and sentence length, and the illustrations. Children too can choose books in this way.
Another source of book ideas is the Center for Teaching and Learning website. At this school, reading for pleasure is mandatory, both at home and at school. The only problem is that the lists of books which children like are very long. I have been through one for girls in grades 5 & 6, and picked out the more well-known books - see below. It is my intention to pick out and recommend books for boys and girls for other grades, and post them in  my next blog.

List of books by Jamaican Authors

1. Flying with Icarus  by Curdella Forbes                  2003 (Walker Books)

Carlong Sand Pebble Series  available in Sangsters Book Stores

2. Jojo’s Treasure Hunt by Cherrell Shelley-Robinson           2003 (10-12)

3. Freedom Come by Jean Goulbourne                                  2002 (10 -12)

4. Island Princess in Brooklyn by Diane Browne       2011 (10-14)

5. Bernie and the Captain’s Ghost by Hazel Campbell          2010 (10-12)

6. Tek Mi! Noh Tek Mi by C. Shelley-Robinson et al            2008 (10-14)

7. Every Little Thing will be All Right by Diane Browne 2003 (8-10)

8. Little Island - Big Adventures by Maria Roberts-Squires 2007 (12-14)

9. Jenny and the General by Jean D’Costa                 2006 (8-10)

10. Miss Bettina’s House by Hazel Campbell                        2004 (8-10)

11. Ash the Flash by Hazel Campbell and Nattalie Gordon   2014 (10-12)

Published by LMH,  available at outlets supplied by Novelty Trading.

12. Juice Box and Scandal by Hazel Campbell

13. Tilly Bummie by Hazel Campbell

14. Ramgoat Dashalong by Hazel Campbell

15. Goat Boy Never Cries by Hazel Campbell

16. Be-All-You-Can-Be: Yalena and the Spelling Bee by Lil’ Island kids

17. Fly Away Home and other Caribbean Stories by Andy Mead

18. Project Climate Change by Petre Williams-Raynor

19. Inner City Girl by Colleen Smith-Dennis

20. Saving Joe Louis by Isabel Marvin

By Diane Browne

21. A Tumbling World - A Time of Fire

22. Cordelia Finds Fame and Fortune. Now available as an ebook: 

23. The Ring and the Roaring Water

By Linda Gambrill (Beenybud Stories)

24. Miss Tiny (7- 9)

25. A Boy Named Neville (7 - 9)

26. Croaking Johnny and Dizzy Lizzie (7 - 9)

Island Fiction Series (Macmillan Caribbean 2009) available at outlets supplied by Novelty Trading and on Amazon.

27. Delroy in the Marog Kingdom by Billy Elm  2009 (9-14)

28. Night of the Indigo by Michael Holgate  2009 (12-15)

Scholastic

29. Blue Mountain Trouble by Martin Mordecai 2009 (8-12) 

By Cedella Marley

30. The Boy from Nine Miles (2008)

31. One Love (2011)

32. Every Little Thing (2012)

33. A Jamaican Storyteller’s Tale by Lorrimer A. Burford ( 2005)

By Suzanne Francis Brown

34. The Mystery of the Golden Table (Arawak Publishing)

35. Searching for Pirates. A Port Royal Adventure (Arawak)

36. Marcus Garvey. (Suzanne Francis-Brown/Jean-Jacques Vayssieres)(Ian Randle Publ)

37. The Mermaid Escapade (E-Published, Kindle, 2013) 

38. By Helen Williams ‘Delroy and the Marog Princess’ (self-published e-book sequel to Delroy in the Marog Kingdom).

The following stories were written longer ago (‘70’s,’80’s and ‘90’s). They are probably better known than more recent publications, because many of them were on school book lists.

By James Berry

39. A Thief in the Village and Other Stories1987 (12-up)

40. Ajeemah and His Son – Harper Collins1993 (8-up)

By Everard Palmer

41.  A Cow Called Boy 1972 (6-10)

42. The Sun Salutes You (Republished by Macmillan Caribbean 2007) (8-12)

43. My Father Sun-Sun Johnson 1974 (8-12)(Republished by Macmillan Caribbean 2012)

44. Cloud with the Silver Lining 1987 (8-12)(Republished by Macmillan Caribbean 2011)

By Jean D’Costa

45. Sprat Morrison

46. Escape to Last Man Peak

By Andrew Salkey (all reprinted by Peepal Tree Press 2011 in the Caribbean Modern Classics  Series) (12 - up) 

47. Drought (Oxford 1966; )

48. Earthquake

49.  Riot
            50. Hurricane

By Vic Reid (1913 - 1987)

51. Sixty-Five (1960), London: Longman.

52. The Young Warriors (1967), London: Longman.

53. Peter of Mount Ephraim (1971), Kingston: Jamaica Publishing House.

54. The Jamaicans (revised edition 1978), Kingston: Institute of Jamaica.

55. Nanny Town (1983)

56. The Horses of the Morning (1985)

57. The Leopard

Books chosen by Marley Dias for Middle Grade (some are higher level and some lower)

(The asterisks are not mine and have no significance in the context of this blog post.)

1. Almost Zero by Nikki Grimes
2. At Her Majesty’s Request: An African Princess in Victorian England by Walter Dean Myers*
3. Bayou Magic by Jewel Parker Rhodes
4. Bird by Crystal Chan
5. Brown girl dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson*
6. Camo Girl by Kekla Magoon
7. The Case of the Missing Museum Archives by Steve Brezenoff
8. Celeste’s Harlem Renaissance by Eleanora E Tate
9. Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
10. The Cheetah Girls by Deborah Gregory
11. Ernestine and Amanda by Sandra Belton
12. Feathers by Jacqueline Woodson
13. The Freedom Maze by Delia Sherman
14. Full Cicada Moon by Marilyn Hilton
15. A Girl Named Disaster by Nancy Farmer
16. Gone Crazy in Alabama by Rita Williams-Garcia
17. Half-Way to Perfect by Nikki Grimes
18. Hold Fast by Blue Balliett
19. The Jumbies by Tracey Baptiste
20. The Laura Line by Crystal Allen
21. Leaving Gee’s Bend by Irene Latham
22. Let The Circle Be Unbroken by Mildred D. Taylor
23. Little Rock Girl 1957: How a Photograph Changed the Fight for Integration by Shelley Tougas*
24. Ludell by Brenda Wilkinson
25. The Magnificent Mya Tubbs: Spirit Week Showdown by Crystal Allen
26. Make Way for Dyamonde Daniel by Nikki Grimes
27. Maritcha: A Nineteenth Century American Girl by Tonya Bolden
28. The Mighty Miss Malone by Christopher Paul Curtis
29. Mo-Ne Davis: Remember My Name by Mo’ne Davis*
30. Nikki and Deja by Karen English
31. Nikki and Deja: Birthday Blues by Karen English
32. Nikki and Deja: The Newsy News Newsletter by Karen English
33. Nikki and Deja: Substitute Trouble by Karen English
34. Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
35. One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia
36. President of the Whole Fifth Grade by Sherri Winston
37. President of the Whole Sixth Grade by Sherri Winston
38. PS: Be Eleven by Rita Williams-Garcia
39. The Red Pencil by Andrea Davis Pinkney
40. The Road to Memphis by Mildred D. Taylor
41. The Road to Paris by Nikki Grimes
42. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D Taylor
43. Searching for Sarah Rector: The Richest Black Girl in America by Tonya Bolden*
44. Shadows of Sherwood by Kekla Magoon
45. Silhouetted by the Blue by Traci L. Jones
46. Skit Scat Raggedy Cat: Ella Fitzgerald by Roxane Orgill*
47. Standing Against The Wind by Traci L Jones
48. Sugar by Jewell Parker Rhodes
49. Twintuition: Double Vision by Tia and Tamara Mowry
50. The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex
51. Unstoppable Octabia May by Sharon Flake
52. Who Was Harriet Tubman? by Yona Zeldis McDonough*
53. Who Was Maya Angelou? by Ellen Labrecque*
54. Who Was Michelle Obama? by Megan Stein*
55. Who Was Rosa Parks? by Yona Zeldis McDonough*
56. Who Was Sojourner Truth? by Yona Zeldis McDonough*
57. Words With Wings by Nikki Grimes
58. Zahrah The Windseeker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu
59. Zora and Me by Victoria Bond

	Books chosen by girls in grades 5& 6 attending the Centre for Teaching and Learning
	Lexile is a way of matching readers with text using the same scale. The lower the lexile, the easier the book. Not all books have a lexile assigned. Grade equivalents are given in the lexile website as a guide, but the important thing is to match reader with text.	Lexile
1	Agell, Charlotte    Welcome Home or Someplace Like It
2	Bowler, Tim    Storm Catchers	560
3	Brashares, Ann    The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants trilogy
4	Carman, Patrick  Thirteen Days to Midnight	760
5	Choldenko, Gennifer   Al Capone Does My Shirts	600
6	Colfer, Chris    Land of Stories
7	Creech, Sharon    Walk Two Moons	770
8	Funke, Cornelia    Inkheart, Inkspell, and The Thief Lord	780
9	Giff, Patricia Reilly    Wild Girl	640
10	Grimes, Nikki    The Road to Paris	700
11	Hale, Dean    Calamity Jack	560
12	Hale, Shannon  Princess Academy
13	Hiassen, Carl    Flush and Hoot
14	Hobbs, Will    Jackie's Wild Seattle
15	Holm, Jennifer    Turtle in Paradise	610
16	Hunt, Lynda Mullaly    Fish in a Tree	550
17	Lord, Cynthia    Rules
18	Lowry, Lois    Number the Stars	670
19	Magoon, Kekla    The Rock and the River
20	Myers, Walter Dean    Fallen Angels, Game, and Monster
21	O'Dell, Scott    Island of the Blue Dolphins
22	Park, Linda Sue    A Long Walk to Water
23	Patterson, Katherine    Lyddie
24	Riordan, Rick    The Lightning Thief	470
25	Ryan, Pam Munoz Esperanza Rising	750
26	Sachar, Louis    Holes	660
27	Watkins, Yoko Kawashima    So Far from the Bamboo Grove
28	Woodson, Jacqueline    Feathers	710
29	Yousafzai, Malala    I Am Malala
30	Zhang, Kat    What's Left of Me

Addressing long term truancy among children in Western Jamaica



Gloria Meredith

Poor attendance at school, a serious problem in Western Jamaica, came to the attention of Mrs. Gloria Meredith, founder and CEO of Children of Faith. When she visited and held corner meetings in the district of Chester Castle, in the parish of Hanover, where truancy was acute, her first observation was that nearly all the young women were holding babies on their hips. Was there a connection between this and poor school attendance? Subsequently, she partnered with UNICEF in a programme to address the truancy problem. Its success indicates that this programme is one which should be replicated in other parts of Jamaica. Not only did this programme reduce truancy, but it has the potential to break the cycle of poverty. As such, its implementation in other communities would be a cost-efficient method of tackling an otherwise intractable problem.

The problem was identified as follows:

• A baseline profile of school attendance for children in selected schools in Western communities conducted by UNICEF in 2014 reported that the level of daily absenteeism for these schools was equivalent to up to 36% of the total enrolment.  
• Region 4 of the Ministry of Education records an average 73.6% of attendance among students - - one of the lowest averages on the island.  
• The report notes that the average days absent per student is 70 days per school year.
• 47% of children reported that they were absent because they were sick. (It was later discovered that many of them suffered from asthma, exacerbated by poor nutrition, and emotional and psychological problems).
• 30% of children could not find the money to go to school or to buy supplies they needed to attend school
• Additionally, some residents pointed to the contribution of poor parenting practices as part of the challenge of school attendance. 
•  A significant number of adolescents are dropping out of school due to
• o   pregnancy, (some of these pregnancies were the outcomes of girls seeking financial and emotional support);
  o   involvement in illegal activity;
  o   not attending school long enough to graduate or to further their education.

Objectives of this project

• Increase school attendance/skills of 300 children and adolescents.
•  Build resilience of children/adolescents.
•  Support families psychologically, socially, financially, (Income Generating Activities -  IGA) environmentally.

Intervention to increase school attendance

•   Before intervention data showed that the children referred were absent  80.9%  from school that is 4-5 days per week.
•  Only 19. 1% were absent for 1-3 days per week.

Intervention in four (4)schools

•   COF presently implements interventions at the school, community and individual levels in Chester Castle, Mount Ward and Mt. Peto in Hanover and Bethel Town in Westmoreland.  
• COF has reached 80 parents caring for 248 children and young adults.

Strategies that are used:
Counseling for children and families at school and in their homes.
•        Support group for parents, children, and young adults.

Community Health Fair at
Mt Ward Primary School

•        Corner meetings in the communities.
•        Parenting skills and money-management
•        Income generating project


•        Community Fairs
•        Children referred to the program are seen once per week by a trained counselor for an hour.
•        Support group meetings for young adults are held weekly.
•        Parenting community support group meetings are also held once per week.

Parenting community support groups
Parenting community support group members are the parents:
•         of children whose school attendance was low, interested parents who want to see all children attending school and parents in the community who could offer assistance.
•        The support groups plan and execute fund raising activities to help address some of the money related challenges to attendance. 


•        There are currently two active young adult support groups with approximately 45 young adults participating in the communities of Mt. Peto and Chester Castle

Schools and Parents are important partners
•        The schools are critical to the programme.  Through them we have access and we work together for the good of the children
•        Mt. Ward parenting community support group, with the support of the Mt Ward Primary School operate and manage a school garden.  They have received support from the Rural Agricultural Development Association.
•        Money derived from the farm is spent on school uniforms, books and other necessities for their children.
•         The Mt Ward parents group also staged a Fish Fry to raise additional funds for students who need help.

Fish Fry fundraiser

The Bethel Town parenting group, also very active, raised money to assist needy students.  

Income generating Activities  (Participants are assessed for readiness. They are taught basic accounting and are required to join a Credit Union.)
•       
Individual households receive assistance to generate income – sale of household chemicals, chicken rearing and farming.

UNICEF Ambassador,Danny Glover, inspecting
a chicken coop.

•        We have found that household chemicals cost the least but sells fast.
•        Chicken rearing - 25-50 baby chicken broiler crumb and layers.
•        Farming – focus on quick crop (vegetables)

Successes
•        11 families received baby chicks, broiler crumb feeder and waterer.
•        10 household chemicals
•        1  received layers
•        1 Farming
•        Community fairs are our main platform for partnerships
•        Parents and caregivers,  NGOs , and Governmental agencies at community health fair where the parents are given more information, register for birth certificates, PATH programme, get information about their farming, chicken etc.
•        Children seen by doctors and counsellors.

Key Achievements
•        Since the intervention eighty seven  point five percent (87.5%) of the children referred attend school 4-5 days per week.
•        Approximately 177  of our children were assisted with all or some back to school supplies including - uniforms,  shoes, text and note books, shoes and other necessities
•        Birth certificates issued (after receiving the birth certificate one was able to sit his GSAT and now is now able attend a high school)
•        7 parenting workshops and 7 Money management
•        2 parenting community support groups successfully established and members are very active.
•        9 young adults (17-19 years) are entering into skills training.
•        3 young adults presently in training  2 in the area of food and nutrition and one in construction at a HEART registered institution
•        15 young adults at Knocklava

Lessons learned

•        Community norms – For some community members education comes at the cost of survival.  These communities need support, especially if this way of thinking is to change for the children.
•     In order to sustain this support – we need the involvement of other entities including the Ministry of Local Government and Social Security, Child Development Agency, private sector, the churches, etc.

Mrs. Gloria Meredith presented the achievements and challenges of this programme at a Stakeholders Workshop, chaired by Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forester, on Wednesday, December 7, 2016, at the Grandiosa Hotel in Montego Bay. Ms. Lone Hvass – Deputy representative, UNICEF; Dr. David Stair – Custos of Hanover; Judge Rosalie Toby – Board Member, COF; and Jeanne Foster-Robinson – Good Shepherd Foundation brought greetings from their respective organizations.

At head table, (l to r) Mrs. Jeanne Foster-Robinson, Judge Rosalie Toby,
Dr, David Stair, Mrs. Gloria Meredith, Ms. Lone Hvass, Dr. Sheila Campbell-Forester.

 

Following the presentation and the Q and A session, UNICEF showed a touching documentary featuring Roshane Thomas, one of the children in the programme. Because his mother began to sell household chemicals, she was able to send him to school. Because of  RGD’s presence at Community Health Fairs, he got his birth certificate and was able to enter GSAT. Because of his own hard work and determination, he passed GSAT for Cambridge High School. Roshane came to the podium where he told us more about himself, answered questions and thanked COF and UNICEF for their help. You can see the video on youtube.

Mr. Victor Wong presenting
a certificate



Mrs. Grant Smith

The second objective of the workshop was to recognize outstanding leadership and performance among children and adolescents in the programme. In attendance were children, parents and teachers from the communities involved in the programme.  Victor Wong, Board Member, COF, presented certificates to children for being most punctual, most improved, most perseverant, best attendance and other categories. Mrs. Grant Smith, Principal  of Chester Castle All Age School, thanked UNICEF and COF for involving her school in the programme. One result, she pointed out, is that parents are becoming more a part of the school. A parent, on behalf of the Mount Ward parenting support group, also expressed thanks for the programme. After the presentations, we all enjoyed a sumptuous lunch prepared and served by the dedicated staff of the Grandiosa Hotel.


Participants at the workshop at the Grandiosa Hotel

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you believe in Global Warming?

     

Wigton Wind Farm, Jamaica

Stephen Hawking, one of the most brilliant physicists of our age, on his 70^th birthday, warned that the greatest threat to the future of the planet is global warming, (but journalists were more interested in what he thought about Donald Trump). Most people understand what is meant by the ‘greenhouse effect’ – carbon dioxide (CO2) forms a layer around the earth that prevents the heat of the sun from escaping, in the same way as glass in a greenhouse. What is not so well understood is that the hotter it gets, more and more water evaporates and the water vapour itself acts as a greenhouse gas, multiplying the effect of the carbon dioxide. This is an example of positive feedback, (like having a microphone too near a speaker box) which will result in further increases in temperature causing more water to evaporate, hence more greenhouse effect.

Prof Stephen Hawking
Photo © Jaime Travezan

At the present time, the only way this can be prevented is to cut down on emissions of CO2, primarily by stopping the generation of electricity from the use of fossil fuels.  If the emissions of CO2 are not cut down, we will reach a tipping point, where nothing more can be done. Global warming will be irreversible.

     The reason I gave this post the title ‘Do you believe in Global Warming?’ is because many people, including those in positions of power and influence, deny that it is happening, in spite of all the evidence – melting polar ice-caps, higher than average temperatures every year, record temperatures being recorded. This is not the first time that those in authority have refused to believe scientists. In 1634, Galileo was condemned to house arrest for the heresy of believing that the earth was not the centre of the universe, and that the earth revolves around the sun. This happened a long time ago and would be thought of as ridiculous today. Unfortunately, we don’t have the luxury of time to convince the world about the causes of global warming. 

Professor Anthony Chen

 Jamaica’s own Professor The Hon. Anthony Chen, OM, an Atmospheric Physicist at UWI, was a member of the Team which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 for efforts made to increase and disseminate greater knowledge of man-made climate change and to lay the foundations for the measures that are needed to counteract such change. How many Jamaicans know of his work or of this award? I hope the present government will have the sense to consult him.

In an article in the Sunday Gleaner on August 14, 2016, "Betting Against Coal" he addressed the question of energy generation in Jamaica.

     In relation to proposed coal fired generation and alumina smelting he said: While there will be immediate gains for the owners, in particular, and for the country, the extent to which is still not clear, the losses in the long run will cancel these gains. This statement must be considered in the light of climate change. Further on in the article he noted: China is to shut down 4,300 old coal mines and ban new coal mines for the next three years, and it has placed a ban on new coal-fired plants in areas where there is excess electricity generation. Don’t we live on the same planet as the Chinese? Even if they want to blame Jamaica for producing the CO2, it will still have the same effect. Contrary to popular belief, Jamaica’s greenhouse gas emission (GHG) is not insignificant.

     Professor Chen also pointed to the possibility of a carbon tax: If the new US EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) rule will effectively ban the construction of new coal-fired power plants because the CO2 emission rates required of fossil plants are so strenuous that no conventional coal plant could meet them; the state of Oregon has become the first U.S, state to ban coal plants; UK coal plants are to be phased out in 10 years.
The World Bank head has warned against new coal plants. In this scenario where there is a ban on coal, the owners of the Alpart plant would be in a tight situation since coal, if it is available, will likely be expensive because of mechanisms put in place to restrict its use, such as a tax on carbon, and the project may well be abandoned.

   

A wild fire in California



If the world decides to wait to see what happens, the decision to get rid of fossil fuels would probably take place around 2040 to 2050, when climate-change disasters become so severe that the world will see that it has to get rid of fossil fuel. These disasters could take the form of extreme drought and floods, heat waves killing thousands, unstoppable wildfires, severe storms, accelerated sea-level rise, food and water shortage, and acidification of the seas.
In this scenario, Jamaica will be spending billions on combating the impacts of the disasters which will continue well beyond 2040 to 2050, again because of the lag between emission of CO2 and additional warming. Our losses, because of the billions of dollars spent to fight the disaster, will be more than what we have gained from the operation of the coal plant. CARIBSAVE, for example, put the estimated cost of sea-level rise to CARICOM countries at between US$30 billion and US$60 billion by 2050.

Professor Chen suggested, that instead of building a coal-fired plant, we should become pioneers in the development of renewable energy, from sun, wind, waves and hydropower, with a mix of large-scale plants, and small-scale generation at homes and business places. As he says, Solar and wind take up space, but consider that the amount of solar radiation falling on one-thousandth of the area of Jamaica is sufficient to provide all our electricity demand, assuming a conversion efficient of 20 per cent. Consider also other sources of renewable energy that are more persistent, such as offshore wind farms and wave energy.

Solar panels on a roof

The ultimate benefit of having renewable energy as 100 per cent of our energy source is that we will no longer depend on imported energy resources such as oil and coal.  Our energy fuel, such as wind and solar, will be free, and we will have energy security and independence. As pioneers, we can attract funding from sources like the Green Climate Fund or the World Bank. But it should be clear that we cannot profess to be pioneers in the field of renewables if we have a 1,000MW coal plant belching out toxic material; no funding agent would consider us to be serious.
He discussed the problem of storage of electricity, which is at present challenging, but much research is being done, with new technologies coming on stream.
He suggested how we can become these pioneers:

 

1. We should be leading the charge at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on behalf of island states. We should negotiate a UNFCCC-sponsored meeting of the leading world experts on storage of energy and renewable energy to determine the future prospects in energy storage and renewable energy which are best for island states, and have UNFCCC set up bodies to seek funding for research and development in these areas.

2. We should do more to encourage the use of renewable energy in homes and business places.

Wind Turbines at Ultimate Jerk Centre, Discovery Bay
They also have solar panels.

3. We should seek funds for pilot projects on utility-scale storage. We could start small like just having enough storage for frequency regulation and  ramp up when electricity supply fluctuates. With enough experience and pioneer status, we could seek funding for more ambitious projects like utility storage for peak usages in the evening.

     My own suggestion is that the National Water Commission should install solar panels to supply electricity to pump water to customers and storage tanks during the day. The water in the storage tanks could then flow by gravity to supply customers during the night.

     On a final note, the UNFCCC is doing its work. It is now the responsibility of governments to educate their populations on the dangers of global warming and what we can all do to mitigate it.

 

Summer Reading for 8-12 year-olds

	Summer holidays have come round again with parents wondering what would be the most useful way for children to spend the time. I strongly recommend that they should read for pleasure, as this has been shown to improve performance, not only in reading, but also in math. See my blog post of July 2012 SummerReading - Some Surprising Findings  and September 2014: How to help kidsbecome skilled, passionate, habitual, critical readers. The challenge in Jamaica is to select appropriate titles, other than Enid Blyton books, Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys. I have already written blog posts with lists of books, namely Books by JamaicanAuthors, Books from Africa and 1000 Black Girl Books. For books by other Caribbean authors see Anansesem online bookstore. Here now, in alphabetical order of authors, is a list of 30 books for girls from a list of over 200 chosen by students at   Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) Edgecomb, Maine. (I started with girls’ books after I was dismayed by the 3 ‘literature’ books, which included Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men', listed on a high school booklist.) However, boys like many of these books, too. All books are available on Amazon. Most of the authors have written several books - check them out. L stands for lexile – a measure of ease of reading – the lower the lexile, the easier the book.
1	Agell, Charlotte    Welcome Home or Someplace Like It
2	Bowler, Tim    Storm Catchers L560 A scary book set in the UK, liked by boys also.
3	Brashares, Ann    The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants trilogy
4	Carman, Patrick  Thirteen Days to Midnight L760
5	Choldenko, Gennifer   Al Capone Does My Shirts L600 Set in the notorious prison, Alcatraz, where the protagonist's father worked.
6	Colfer, Chris    Land of Stories Refers to familiar fairy tales.
7	Creech, Sharon    Walk Two Moons L770 13-year-old girl searches for truth about her missing mother.
8	Funke, Cornelia    Inkheart L780 The characters come out of the pages of a book.
9	Giff, Patricia Reilly    Wild Girl L640 A horse story from Brazil to New York.
10	Grimes, Nikki    The Road to Paris L700  Paris is the name of the brown girl protagonist in a white foster home.
11	Hale, Dean    Calamity Jack L560 Sci Fi, Fantasy, Fairy Tales and Folklore.
12	Hale, Shannon  Princess Academy Girls from a mountain village prepare for a prince to choose one of them as his bride. Surprising twist at the end.
13	Hiassen, Carl    Flush and Hoot Fast-paced detective stories related to environmental breaches in Florida.
14	Hobbs, Will    Jackie's Wild Seattle L660 Adventure related to wild-life rescue.
15	Holm, Jennifer    Turtle in Paradise L610 Set in the Great Depression, Turtle (11-year-old girl) is sent to live with relatives in Florida.
16	Hunt, Lynda Mullaly    Fish in a Tree L550 A story about dyslexia
17	Lord, Cynthia    Rules The challenges of living with a brother with autism.
18	Lowry, Lois    Number the Stars L670 Smuggling Jews out of 1940's Denmark.
19	Magoon, Kekla    The Rock and the River About the Civil Rights Movement.
20	Myers, Walter Dean   Monster a teenage boy in juvenile detention and on trial.
21	O'Dell, Scott    Island of the Blue Dolphins Survival story of a girl alone on a deserted island.
22	Park, Linda Sue    A Long Walk to Water Set in the Sudan, with references to The Lost Boys of Sudan
23	Patterson, Katherine    Lyddie A story of personal determination and growth, set in textile mills in USA
24	Riordan, Rick    The Lightning Thief  L470 Fantasy related to Greek Mythology. There is also a graphic (comic-style) version.
25	Ryan, Pam Munoz Esperanza Rising L750 A riches to rags story.
26	Sachar, Louis    Holes L660 Stanley wrongly sent to a boys' detention centre and unravels a mystery.
27	Watkins, Yoko Kawashima    So Far from the Bamboo Grove About a Japanese family escaping from Korea at the end of WW2
28	Woodson, Jacqueline    Feathers L710 takes readers on a journey into a young girl’s heart and reveals the pain and the joy of learning to look beneath the surface.
29	Yousafzai, Malala    I Am Malala Story of Pakistani girl who survived the attempt to murder her because she wanted an education.
30	Zhang, Kat    What's Left of Me Fantasy - people are normally born with 2 souls, 1 of which dies. What happens when both survive?