“Decline by 9”

In “Not Lost in a Book” (Slate ), Dan Kois writes about a decline in children’s reading:

It’s called the “Decline by 9,” and it’s reaching a crisis point for publishers and educators. According to research by the children’s publishers Scholastic, at age 8, 57 percent of kids say they read books for fun most days; at age 9, only 35 percent do. This trend started before the pandemic, experts say, but the pandemic accelerated things. “I don’t think it’s possible to overstate how disruptive the pandemic was on middle grade readers,” one industry analyst told Publishers Weekly. And everyone I talked to agreed that the sudden drop-off in reading for fun is happening at a crucial age — the very age when, according to publishing lore, lifetime readers are made.

Kois describes the causes as numerous: screen time, lack of screens (no marketing via BookTok), a decline in word-of-mouth reading recommendations during the pandemic, test-focused teaching with an emphasis on excerpts not books, and the defunding of libraries.

Related reading
All OCA reading posts (Pinboard)

NYRB Nancy

You know the end times are upon us when New York Review Books puts out a Nancy collection: Nancy and Sluggo’s Guide to Life: Comics about Money, Food, and Other Essentials. It’s on sale now at NYRB, 25% off.

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All OCA Nancy posts (Pinboard)

First!

[Click for a larger view.]

The first one we’ve seen, on a walk this morning. I hope it got across the street.

A related post
Cicadas, prime numbers, and the Great Confluence of 1998

Mystery actor

[Click for a larger view.]

That’s Johnny Roventini (“Call for Philip Morris”) in the background, above a display of upside-down Chesterfield packs. But who’s in the foreground?

I’ll drop a hint if one is needed, and brother, one is gonna be needed. (I’m typing like the 1940s.)

*

A hint might help: In this movie, she’s a long way from Salzburg.

*

Noon: I think this one’s ungettable. You’re still welcome to play, but I’ve put the answer in the comments.

More mystery actors (Collect them all)
? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ?

[Garner’s Modern English Usage notes that “support for actress seems to be eroding.” So I use actor.]

Travel

Martin Edelweiss’s tutor deems Cambridge student Darwin “ ‘a splendid specimen.’ ” Darwin’s studies at Cambridge were interrupted by the Great War: he spent three years in the trenches, “ ‘and not a scratch, either morally or physicially.’ ” And he’s published a book of short stories that, the narrator tells us, “connoisseurs were raving about.”


Martin has to say something back, yes? But that last sentence will prove prophetic.

Related reading
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A hidden figure?

From The Spiral Staircase (dir. Robert Siodmak, 1946). Blanche (Rhonda Fleming) has gone to the basement to fetch her suitcase. I can’t decide if the vaguely human form at the center of the screen is meant to suggest a person, lurking, or not. All I know is that it scared the bejesus out of me. The form turns into a pitcher and some shelving with a bit more light. Click any image for a larger view.

[Now you see it.]

[Now you don’t.]

[In case you missed it.]

Exile and pleats

Vladimir Nabokov, Glory, trans. Dmitri Nabokov and Vladimir Nabokov (New York: MacGraw-Hill, 1971).

Yes, university is a time for trying on new identities.

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The secret comics of plants

At Oscar’s Day : Do plants get Nancy?

“____ no!”

From the New York Times coverage:

One juror smiles as Stormy Daniels describes her initial reaction to Trump’s dinner invite: “No,” with an expletive attached.

I think that the expletive attaches at the front.

“No” with an expletive attached should be the response of every American voter to Donald Trump in November.

John Mulaney, sardinista

John Mulaney travels with three cans of King Oscar sardines. Says Mulaney, “You don’t know what you’re gonna encounter out there.”

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