This blog post is brought to you by award-winning local author and two-time Library Writer in Residence, Marge Pellegrino. The Library is happy to have had the opportunity to work with Marge on a journal that encourages folks to express themselves in writing, art, or both. The journal, Field Notes, is available at local libraries as part of this year's Summer Learning Program. Get yours today!
If you’re a tween, teen, or a cool adult who loves one, get over to the library and pick up your copy of Field Notes! Inside you’ll find all kinds of prompts that invite you to express yourself in writing, or art, or both.
What’s so cool about expressing yourself? It’s proven that playing this way makes you healthier. You may even notice a shift in your mood for the better. Field Notes gives you new ways to think. Watch out! As you explore yourself through the Field Notes, you might just grow your confidence.
Field Notes are different from a straight-up journal. They invite you to observe your thinking like an anthropologist. They ask you to take off your judge robes and be a witness of your own life. And the only rule? On these pages, you are the boss of how you respond.
Some of the prompts start with a quote or a poem. There are prompts that ask you to imagine, to consider an idea, to remember, or to create. You might build a fantasy, or react to someone’s transformation.
You’ll read voices of youth from community organizations like the Arizona State Museum, Tucson Village Farm, KXCI, Owl & Panther, and the Tucson Museum of Art. There’s a shout-out to the University of Arizona Poetry Center and of course the Pima County Public Library. All of these places offer youth chances to inspire themselves.
You can do Field Notes alone. You can do Field Notes with someone who makes you feel brave. You can use the pages to spark meaningful conversations. Give Field Notes a try! We think you’re going to like it. The book is spiral-bound so it lies flat when you’re drawing or writing in it. It’s small so it’s easy to take with you. And the design of the pages? We hope you agree that they are amazing!
Teens gave feedback that helped shape this first volume. If you’d like your ideas to shape the next edition of Field Notes, reach out to the library staff to share your experiences and feedback.
Field Notes: Exploring You! is Pima County Public Library’s spark for teens for summer. Find Field Notes at your local branch. And who knows, as you explore on these pages, you just may discover and unleash your superpower!
Marge Pellegrino is a Tucson author, writing workshop facilitator, and two-time Writer in Residence for the Pima County Public Library. Marge was thrilled to be on the writing end of the Field Notes project. Her collaborator par excellence was Stephanie Mitchell. Carolina Caples created the magical design with Reneé Bibbly as her guide. Matt Landon and Heather Severson of the Health Action Team offered input and solicited youth feedback. And Beth Matthias-Loghry was an indispensible learning partner who is also the number-one fan of the Writers in Residence at Libraries project.
Marge’s preschool story Amiguito is available free on the Make Way for Books app. Her teen book Neon Words: 10 Brilliant Ways to Light Up Your Writing is published by American Psychological Association’s Magination Press. You can reach Marge through her website.
