Baytown Library's Blog

A comparison of the two Disney versions of Mulan and an original drawing.  While many of the Disney princess movies we look to detail stories of love and romance, there are those that also tell of the epic travels, trials, and tribulations of the strong women they are centered on. One of the most notable examples of this is Mulan. Mulan’s Disney tale begins with the war against the Huns requiring more troops from Mulan’s home province. Each family is ordered to send one man eligible for war. For most, this means a son. For Mulan’s family, this is her father, who is already too old for combat. Mulan takes on the role as the family’s “son” by disguising herself to take her father’s place in the military. Her sex aside, she manages to fight, and almost single-handedly stops the invasion of the huns. With the new live action Mulan movie scheduled to release this month to stream on Disney+, it seemed more than fitting to explore the origins of what is one of the most impactful and embol...

What if you could travel through stories? Would you go through all your favorite novels, interacting with all the characters? Story Thieves by James Riley explores that possibility. Bethany, a half-fictional girl, has the power to travel through stories at will, however she avoids it and tries to hide her ability. One day, she travels into the book C harlie and the Chocolate Factory  to grab some chocolate while in class. Her classmate Owen takes the book while Bethany is still inside of it and brings the book to his mom's library. To his surprise, Bethany pops out of it. When he learns about her power, he demands that she take him into his favorite book, Kiel Gnomenfoot . She agrees, not knowing that secretly Owen plans to change the story, which is against her rules of book traveling, and would put his and her names in the book. Will Owen successfully change Kiel Gnomenfoot , rewriting the entire book and fulfilling his dream of being a hero, but exposing Bethany's power...