Health violations lead to DC cafe shutdown order just days after business owner berates delivery driver

Business News

Canna Coffee Ice Cream Cafe Mocktail Bar Lounge was ordered closed on Wednesday but was seen back open on Thursday.

WASHINGTON — D.C. Officials ordered an Adams Morgan cafe to close due to health concerns just days after the the businessowner was caught on video berating a food delivery driver for not speaking English. Despite that shutdown order, the business appeared to be open Thursday.

DC Health said that on Sept. 11 they conducted an inspection at Canna Coffee Ice Cream Cafe Mocktail Bar Lounge located at 1810 Florida Avenue NW. Following the investigation, health officials issued a summary suspension, which led to the immediate closure of the business until further notice. Despite this notice, the business continued to operate in violation of the order, according to officials. 

“As of September 18, the Canna Coffee Ice Cream Cafe Mocktail Bar Lounge has been shut down with the support of our sister agencies and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). DC Health remains dedicated to enforcing health and safety standards and is committed to ensuring public well-being,” a spokesperson for DC Health told WUSA9 in a statement. 

However, despite the shutdown order, WUSA9 crews witnessed the business open again on Thursday afternoon.

These health violations are in no way related to this story:https://t.co/4C4wVUak9GDC Police has not charged anyone for the incident captured on video. https://t.co/ehOYPC8WxE— Rafael Sánchez-Cruz (@rafasanchezcruz) September 19, 2024

This is not the only investigation involving the business. DC’s Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection (DLCP) says they have also issued two notices of infraction to the cafe. One was issued on May 13 and the other on Aug. 8, according to a DLCP spokesperson. 

DLCP has not disclosed what prompted the notices, but in a statement they told WUSA9, “We take allegations of illegal activity seriously and are actively monitoring the situation. Because this investigation is ongoing; DLCP is unable to further comment on this matter or any future deliberative action that the agency might take.” 

Canna’s temporary closure comes just days after the cafe’s owner, Greg Harris was captured on video berating a food delivery driver. 

In the one-minute video posted Monday on TikTok by delivery driver Gregorio Amundarain, business owner Greg Harris is heard telling him to “Learn English! Learn it! You get money in America. This is-If you get money in America, learn English!”

At one point in the video, Amundarain responds, “No speak English,” to which Harris says “I don’t give a f—! Learn it! Learn it!”

Amundarain says he showed up to Harris’ shop Canna in D.C.’s Adams Morgan to pick up an order Monday morning. The delivery driver says that after waiting a couple of minutes for the order outside of the shop, he signaled Harris to come toward him because there was in dog inside the business. 

“I was scared because of the dog,” Amundarain said. He explained the dog had barked at him when he first opened the door. 

Once inside the shop, Amundarain explained that Harris began yelling at him, so he decided to get his phone out and record. 

“Learn English! Learn English! Learn English!” Harris is heard saying before proceeding to mimic Spanish. 

Amundarain says the business owner toned down his voice once he saw he was recording. 

“This ain’t your f—in’ country. This ain’t your f—in’ country. Learn English! Learn English,” Harris is heard saying.

Amundarain says he has been in the U.S. for two years and it is the first time that he has been met with that type of hostility. He said usually restaurants understand that not all drivers speak English fluently, and “if you don’t know English, you show the phone and you get the order.” 

In the video, Harris forcibly hands over the bag to Amundarain who proceeds to exit the building saying in the video in Spanish, “He’s insulting me and I don’t understand what he’s telling me. That’s the store. That’s the store.”

D.C. Police responded to the scene and on Tuesday said the incident is under active investigation as a simple assault and a hate crime. Amundarain says he believes he was targeted for being Hispanic.

DC Police has not charged anyone for Monday’s incident. 

“I am saddened. My mom saw the video. My mom cried and told me, ‘Son come back to Venezuela because you’re being humiliated. Look how you’re being treated,'” Amundarain said. The Venezuelan national says he shared the video on his TikTok account because what happened to him is just a glimpse of what delivery drivers in the District have to go through. 

Uber reacted to WUSA9’s reporting on X saying, “We are disgusted by the behavior in this video. Hate has no place on our platform and we have removed this business from our app and are working to check in on this courier’s well-being.” 

On Tuesday, WUSA9 attempted to speak to Harris at the Canna location, initially without cameras. Outside the shop we explained that we wanted to hear his side of what happened the day prior and what prompted his response. 

Harris refused to speak on camera, telling WUSA9 that he would only speak if we sent a Black reporter, or if we paid for the interview. He then proceeded to tell our crew that we should be giving the delivery driver English lessons. 

Harris posted on social media that he expects to give his version of what happened on Monday during a news conference he will hold alongside his lawyer. 

RELATED: ‘Hate has no place on our platform’ | Uber drops DC business after WUSA9’s report on owner who yelled ‘learn English’ at delivery driver

RELATED: ‘This ain’t your f—in’ country’ | Video shows DC business owner berating delivery driver for speaking Spanish

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Cat lost in Yellowstone travels almost 900 miles to reunite with owners 2 months later

Travel

A cat has nine lives — and apparently they have 900 miles in them, too.Benny and Susanne Anguiano, a couple from Salinas, California, were reunited with their missing cat after he mysteriously traveled that distance. On a trip to Yellowstone National Park in early June, the couple’s beloved house cat, Rayne Beau, was spooked and ran off into the dense trees. Distraught, they spent the rest of their trip desperately scouring the forest for him, at times getting lost themselves. They laid out his favorite treats and toys, hoping to lure him back to their campsite. Benny Anguiano told NBC News that a Yellowstone employee came by their campsite to warn him that a pack of coyotes had attacked a small dog in the area — and the couple would be lucky if their cat made it through the night. By the time the trip had concluded, Rayne Beau was still missing, Benny Anguiano said. “We had to leave without him,” Susanne Anguiano said in an interview with NBC affiliate KSBW. “That was the hardest day because I felt like I was abandoning him.”But as they were leaving Yellowstone, she spotted a special symbol.”We were driving along and out of nowhere, these double rainbows appear, and it just knit it all together for me,” she told KSBW.She said she took her cat’s namesake in the sky as a sign to remain hopeful for Rayne Beau’s return. Sixty days later, her wish on the rainbow came true: her furry friend had been found.Benny and Susanne Anguiano, a couple from Salinas, California were reunited with their missing cat after he ran off during a trip to Yellowstone National Park.KSBWThe Anguianos received a message from PetWatch, a pet microchip registry service, listing Rayne Beau’s microchip information and location. He was at an SPCA in Roseville, California, over 800 miles away from Yellowstone where he had been lost. The couple said a woman in the area found him alone in the street, realized he was someone’s pet and turned him in. They still don’t know how their courageous cat traveled so far, though, or knew the right way home.The journey took a toll on Rayne Beau. Before he was lost, he weighed in at about 14 pounds. When found, he only weighed eight.”He was really depleted,” Susanne Anguiano told KSBW. “He probably didn’t have a lot of energy to even go further.”Rayne Beau, safely reunited with his family on Aug. 4, now spends his days playing with his twin sister, regaining his strength and taking well-deserved catnaps. But the Anguianos are still curious about how he clawed his way home. Benny Anguiano said he hopes someone will hear their story and recognize their fearless feline.”‘Hey, I remember that cat, and like we saw it here, we saw it there’ or even they took it in,” he told KSBW.As the couple works to put the mystery to rest, they hope to encourage other pet owners to take measures to ensure their pet’s safety.”Definitely microchip your cat or your pet and register the microchip online,” Susanne Anguiano told KSBW. “We would have never gotten them back had that not happened.”Rayne Beau is safe and sound, readjusting to life at home. But if you thought camping was off this family’s itinerary for the near future, think again. “We have a global tracker now,” Benny Anguiano told NBC News.

With ‘My Old Ass,’ Megan Park Masters the Coming-of-Age Movie

Arts & Culture, Film & TV

Megan Park knows it’s hard to create a perfect coming-of-age film—from both in front of and behind the camera. The Canadian filmmaker, 38, was among the ensemble on the classic ABC Family teen soap The Secret Life of the American Teenager for over 100 episodes, before transitioning from acting to writing and directing with the 2021 high school-set drama The Fallout, starring a pre-Wednesday Jenna Ortega. Park impressed festival audiences with her award-winning film about a student reeling from trauma following a school shooting—and her latest project My Old Ass, captures another lightning-in-a-bottle moment. Like her directorial debut, Park’s sophomore feature tells a mesmerizing, authentic Gen Z story and finds another breakout talent in Maisy Stella.My Old Ass is a different kind of coming-of-age story—one where Stella’s high school grad character Elliott has the privilege of being guided into young adulthood by the older version of herself (played by Aubrey Plaza), who appears to her while she’s high on shrooms. The film is best experienced with no spoilers besides the one warning the elder Elliott, nicknamed My Old Ass by teenaged Elliott, gives her younger self: Stay away from a guy named Chad. The subsequent journey of angst, questioning, and growth, undertaken during Elliott’s final days before heading from her home on a cranberry farm to the big city of Toronto for college, was created with care and empathy, with Park cultivating a set where Stella and the film’s other young stars (including Maddie Ziegler and Kerrice Brooks) felt comfortable.“[Maisy and I] had a lot of shared experiences in terms of what it feels like to feel a little bit powerless on a set, especially as a young woman,” Park tells Marie Claire. “I really tried to hopefully create an environment that’s the opposite of that.”My Old Ass star Maisy Stella and writer/director Megan Park attend a special screening in L.A.(Image credit: Amanda Edwards/Getty Images)When she began writing My Old Ass, Park says that her guiding light was the bittersweet emotion of those final days in a childhood home, and everything you both lose and gain by taking that first step into adulthood. The director/writer channeled her childhood in crafting the film, setting it at a cranberry farm in the Ontario woodland where she spent idyllic summers as a kid. Between the setting that seems spliced out of time and those universal themes, Park hopes that her film will eventually stand amongst the eternal coming-of-age classics. She says, “Although there is obviously a phone and technology element, we wanted to even minimize how much we were in screens, and just have it feel as grounded and authentic and timeless as we possibly could in every way.”With My Old Ass out in theaters now, Park chats with Marie Claire about finding the next young superstar in Stella, crafting the film’s standout music moments, and how to make a truly authentic Gen Z movie.To tell Elliott’s (Maisy Stella) story, Park was inspired by filmmakers “who are able to walk that line of making you laugh and making you cry, and wearing their heart on their sleeve in their films.”(Image credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios)Marie Claire: When you began writing the script, were you focusing on the themes of love and how growing up feels, or was that something that came naturally as you discovered the characters?Megan Park: I honestly didn’t know what I was doing. I’m such an emotionally driven writer that I couldn’t stop thinking about this nostalgic idea that there was a last time I did everything in my childhood. Whether it was the last time my entire family was sleeping under the same roof in my childhood at home or the last time I was making dance videos to Spice Girls with my friends. I couldn’t stop thinking about that feeling, and that was really where the idea started.Marie Claire email subscribers get intel on fashion and beauty trends, hot-off-the-press celebrity news, and more. Sign up here.Then, of course, I also had this idea of wanting to make a movie that felt very timeless but was also a coming-of-age film for now. I’m really inspired by directors like Chris Columbus who are able to walk that line of making you laugh and making you cry, and wearing their heart on their sleeve in their films. As a filmmaker, I grew up on movies like that, and I love movies like that. So there was definitely a tone North Star during the whole process for me, but the story really evolved. The mushroom trip and all that came later as the entry point.Park says of star Maisy Stella, “After day one, take one, I was like, ‘Holy shit, this girl is such a star.'”(Image credit: MARNI GROSSMAN © AMAZON CONTENT SERVICES LLC)MC: How did you approach casting for My Old Ass, with finding Maisy Stella and the film as a whole?MP: What was so exciting to me about Maisy was she’s really grounded and cool, and so typical Gen Z in so many beautiful ways, but she also has this really special light and positivity and power and joie de vivre that I often don’t see represented on-camera in young female characters. There was something really magnetic about all those qualities being in one really strong, interesting, flawed young woman. Maisy not only embodied that, but she was able to put that into Elliott and bring Elliott to life in a way I honestly never thought possible. After day one, take one, I was like, ‘Holy shit, this girl is such a star.’I had the exact same feeling I had working with Jenna Ortega on The Fallout. This was Maisy’s first movie, and Jenna had obviously worked for quite a while before, but the depths of where these actors can go is so insane to me and so beautiful. I knew that, for Jenna, the world was her oyster, and I feel the same way about Maisy. I’m just so excited to watch her career explode the same way that Jenna’s has.MC: And then you have Aubrey Plaza being amazing and playing My Old Ass even though she isn’t even 40.MP: Iconic. With Aubrey’s role initially, we were getting so caught up in who looks the most like Maisy. At the end of the day, it came down to, ‘Who is a great energy match? Who’s going to have that chemistry? Who am I a fan of?’ And I’m a huge fan of Aubrey’s. I wanted to work with her. I wanted to see her on that log with Maisy, and I knew Maisy felt the same way. The second we got them together, it was just like magic.Elliott (Maisy Stella, center) with her besties Ro (Kerrice Brooks, left) and Ruthie (Maddie Ziegler, right), preparing to take mushrooms in My Old Ass.(Image credit: Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios)MC: You have two significant music drops: “Say It Right” by Nelly Furtado and “One Less Lonely Girl” by Justin Bieber. Were those songs in the script? How did those music moments come to be?MP: “One Less Lonely Girl” was not in the first script. It had a different song for that moment that didn’t get cleared because of the drug element of it. I actually went to Maisy and I was like, ‘What is an iconic moment or concert from your childhood?’ And it was within the same breath. She was like, ‘Justin Bieber, “One Less Lonely Girl.”’ And I was like, ‘Oh shit.’ And then we watched the Never Say Never movie together and I was like, ‘Okay, yeah.’ Then I had the idea of, ‘What if you are Justin, and Chad becomes the one less lonely girl.’ At this point, we had Kerrice [Brooks] and Maddie [Ziegler] who are professional background dancers, so I was like, we have to take advantage of this. Maisie can sing. This is too good to be true. We did have to get it approved by Bieber’s team, even after we shot it. We were taking a big swing because if he hadn’t approved it, that would’ve been a huge bummer. But luckily he did, which we were excited about.All the other music drops in the movie, it’s an all-Canadian soundtrack. It was a mix of songs like “Say It Right;” when I was younger, that was such a song from my young adulthood. And then Maisy introduced me to some of the other artists like Andy Shauf and Leith Ross, who are amazing young Canadian artists. So it’s a mix of Old Ass and Young Ass playlist combined.MC: I loved the subversion in the latter part of the movie when the big coming-of-age moment is Elliott realizing that she has a romantic attraction for a guy. That’s a very different way of looking at sexuality than has traditionally been depicted on screen.MP: It was really a fun thing to explore. We wanted to make sure it never felt like, ‘I’m gay and now I’m straight.’ That’s not the story and that’s not what she goes through. It was interesting to me that there was a young woman who was very sure about her identity. She identified as somebody who was only attracted to women. And then in meeting this man, she questions maybe if she’s pan or bi. It’s a conversation of evolving labels and, in a sense, a reverse coming out. There’s a bit of embarrassment about that, which I think is interesting. But it was really cool to speak with so many people involved in the film and in the queer community who were like, ‘Thank you. There hasn’t been this kind of representation in a coming-of-age film that I’ve seen before, and this was really truthful to my experience.’Elliott (Maisy Stella, left) and Ro (Kerrice Brooks, right) have a girl talk, in My Old Ass.(Image credit: Marni Grossman/Prime Video)MC: There are these hints of what the future that Old Elliott is living in throughout the movie, that are kind of dystopian. How did you approach inserting those asides into the story?MP: Some of those things, like the Penelope Disick line, were already in the script. But once we had the locked movie, it became really important to walk the line of how much we could let people into what was happening in Old Elliott’s world without unraveling the thread of how [the time travel] is all working. Our editor Jen Vecchiarello is such a genius and really was my partner-in-crime in that whole process in the edit. With the voiceover phone calls between the Elliotts, we were able to play around with teasing those moments and having fun with them without it being too heavy-handed or serious, or making it too Sliding Doors-y.MC: Early in the film, Elliott has an excellent line in which she mentions she’s “still trying to have hope” while living in a world that’s on fire and full of “uneducated racists.” In the end, this movie is very hopeful while also recognizing how difficult life can be. How did you come to strike that balance of realistic hope?MP: That really is life, you know? Good and bad go hand in hand. That’s really the tragedy and also the beauty of life. What’s interesting about younger and older Elliott and what they learn from each other is that younger Elliott is hopeful. She is young and dumb. That’s what allows her to live so freely, and older Elliott is reminded of that. You get older and you get sometimes more anxious and afraid. You’ve been through stuff. You know what pain feels like, and you’re trying to do anything you can to avoid it. But when you’re young, you’re not thinking about that as much. I even see that in my 4-year-old daughter in different ways. There’s this bravery and this wide-eyed excitement for things. I think it’s a really beautiful thing to be around and to be reminded of. That’s ultimately the big theme that we wanted to infuse in the movie, those two conflicting feelings always go hand in hand.Elliott (Maisy Stella) hugs her mother Kath (Maria Dizzia), in My Old Ass.(Image credit: Marni Grossman/Prime Video)MC: In your directorial career so far with The Fallout and now My Old Ass, you make these films that are very authentic looks into like the minds of teenagers and young people. How has it been like navigating Hollywood with that focus on coming-of-age films?MP: It’s weird because it was never really my intention. I didn’t set out like, ‘Oh, I wanna make movies about this.’ But I think when I made The Fallout, as a millennial who grew up in Canada and then moved to America, I never felt afraid to go to school. I was so lucky. Then I moved to the U.S., and I was talking to people who had kids that age or who were in school. I was like, ‘Wait, this is just happening? This is just how it is?’ I kept thinking I would not be able to go to school every day. I would be too scared. It was that disgust and that horror that made me want to tell that story truthfully, because I could not believe that that is the reality. So of course that movie had to be centered around a young person, because school shootings and being a Gen Z go hand in hand in the conversation, unfortunately.With My Old Ass, I wanted to explore these big themes of life and time and loss and regret. In my mind, it was always a two-hander. I certainly relate more to Old Elliott now, but even though she’s not on camera as much, the movie in a weird way is her takeaway. It was a more hopeful world to be in, to be with younger Elliott for the majority of the film. It was a lighter head space, and it was really fun to be in that world.I really enjoy and take seriously trying to write authentically for Gen Z. I hope to do more of it. It’s not the only thing I’m probably going to do as a filmmaker, but I really feel like it’s an underserved market. A lot of people try to write a movie for Gen Z, but I think the second you’re trying to write ‘a Gen Z character’ instead of just a human, or just telling a human story, it’s like they can sniff that out. We can all sniff it out; it just loses some of its authenticity, and feels like you’re pandering to them or something.This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

“Public Domain” explores comic books exploitative past through family drama

Arts & Culture, Books

The comic book industry is rife with heartbreaking stories of scrappy, under-appreciated artists who barely got a pittance as their intellectual property blossomed into billion-dollar corporate assets. Joel Shuster and Jerry Siegel famously got $138 for the rights to Superman; both Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko were famously frustrated that Stan Lee stole the credit for the things they created while technically on salary; Alan Moore generally exists; more recently, Marvel Comics has been criticized for offering a $5000 pity bonus to anyone who created a character who gets featured in one of their movies—basically the equivalent of a rounding error.

This is history is the backdrop of Public Domain, a new comic written and illustrated by Chip Zdarsky (co-creator of Sex Criminals who’s also done some great recent work on Daredevil and Batman). Originally launched as a Substack original comic, Public Domain tells the story of illustrator Syd Dallas and his wayward sons, Miles and David. Years ago, Syd helped create a popular comic book, Domain, which has now been turned into a billion-dollar Hollywood franchise. Of course, Syd sees none of that money, much to his family’s chagrin—until his son Miles, a deeply indebted gambling addict, finds some old dusty paperwork in the basement that says that Syd might own the IP after all.

Image: Chip Zdarsky / Image Comics

It’s a perfect microcosm of the comic book industry’s history of exploitation, as well as rich family drama. Like A Raisin In The Sun for Superman. It’s a great setup, and Zdarsky works wonders with it. The thick inks in his realistic artwork call back to his roots as a cartoonist, but he frequently demonstrates deft attention toward character expressions. This is important because Public Domain is not a flashy superhero comic—it’s a family drama with a lot of talking heads. There’s definitely some cartoonish quality—both in the character expressions and the wit of Zdarsky’s writing—but he’s careful never to let it stray too far into parody. You can laugh with and at these characters, but their emotions and trauma are very, very real (Even the performatively gothy bastard British writer who joins the cast in the second arc and is definitely not just Zdarsky ripping on Warren Ellis and Neil Gaiman).

Image: Chip Zdarsky / Image Comics

The first volume of Public Domain is collected and available and ends with a fun twist that sets up the currently-ongoing second volume, which digs more into both fandom and the various struggles of collaborative creative processes. It’s clear that Zdarsky is writing a rich love letter to the comic book industry here—but one that doesn’t pull any punches in pointing out its flaws. Certainly, he’s not the first person to do this; Howard Chaykin’s Hey Kids, Comics! and Alan Moore’s scathing novella “What We Can Know About Thunderman” both come to mind. But there’s a bitterness in those works (and perhaps rightly so!) that’s absent from Public Domain—and which ultimately makes it more accessible and refreshing.

Image: Chip Zdarsky / Image Comics

(As an added bonus, Zdarsky has also launched a new comic called Domain about the character Domain that exists within and is created by characters from Public Domain. It’s a fun superhero comic book, but it’s even more intriguing as a metafictional riff on something that’s already fairly meta to begin with.)

Previously:• Secret identities, pulp storytelling, and audio comic books with Alex Segura

Every Jacqueline Wilson book I’ve ever read, ranked from worst to best

Arts & Culture, Books

To honour the release of Think Again by Jacqueline Wilson, mega fan Miriam Moore ranks all the books by her childhood hero.Content warning: some sensitive material, such as eating disorders and child abuse, is discussed. 
Last week, the heroine of tween girls all around the world, Jacqueline Wilson, released her first book for adults, Think Again. The world of Jacqueline Wilson fostered a lifelong love of misery lit, transporting me to a world where young girls triumphed over bullies, abusive step-fathers, rundown council estate housing, dead pets, lying adults, predatory teachers, foster homes, a world  where absolutely everyone’s parents (if alive) were divorced.  
Of course I had Think Again on pre-order from Unity Books. When it finally arrived I ripped through it in a day and was among the first 200 people on Good Reads to post my review (5 stars of course). Wilson knows her fans, and the book was for us – filled with easter eggs and references to books of childhood past. 
Think Again is a continuation of her young adult series, Girls, written in the voice of now-forty-year-old Ellie Allard who is dealing with the familiar issues that have aged with us. Everyone’s parents are still divorced, but Ellie is now battling with almost-teen-parenting, single motherhood, ageing parents, figuring out her sexuality in adulthood and the worst trial of all – mansplainers. Twenty years later and Jacqueline Wilson still gets us. Even more so now she’s a queer icon: Jacqueline Wilson’s entry into LGBTQIA+ themes is refreshing in a world where certain childhood literary heroes have dived deep down the transphobia rabbit hole. 
Think Again transported me to the early 2000s; even prompted me to make the pilgrimage to my parents’ house (yes they are still together) to revisit my impressive Jacqueline Wilson collection. Here is my ranking of every Jacqueline Wilson book read until I turned 13 in 2005 and became “too old”.
Mega fan Miriam Moore reunited with her Jacqueline Wilson stack and working on her ranking.
30. Glubbslyme (1987) 
Too much slyme, not enough drama.
29. Buried Alive (1998) 
The sequel to Cliffhanger in the Tim and Biscuits series. I don’t remember it like I remember Cliffhanger, so I assume it was only OK.
28. Best Friends (2004)
I had to google the plot summary to see if I had read it. I had. Gemma and Alice are friends and Alice moves away: obviously I found it a bit meh. Features Biscuits from Cliffhanger!
27. The Dare Game (2000) 
This is going to be controversial, especially as she’s one of the author’s personal favourites – but I wasn’t a big fan of Tracy Beaker. She was a little too abrasive and arrogant for me. As an adult I now realise this is probably because she was going through some shit in that children’s home.
26. Lizzie Zipmouth (2000)
Lizzie copes with her mother’s new relationship by not speaking … until she realises that she is the only one who can help her Great Grandmother learn to talk again following a stroke. Short and wholesome.
25. Clean Break (2005)  
Only vaguely remembered this one. It’s about Em’s family and a cheating, absent stepfather. Most memorable feature is the self-reference to the “Jenna Williams” books: all the girls in Em’s class are obsessed with them, including Em herself as the books offer her solace and escape from her unstable home life. A beautiful nod to the way in which Jacqueline Wilson herself has impacted the lives of many.
24. The Story of Tracy Beaker (1991)
Don’t come for me! Maybe I need to try these books again. This one has a better plot than The Dare Game (above), but same goes. Nonetheless, I still associate “Justine” with the ultimate arch-enemy name.
23. Love Lessons (2005) 
This was the last Jacqueline Wilson book I read (until Think Again). After a lifetime of homeschooling, Prue finally goes to high school completely ill-equipped to deal with the social pressures that come with it. There is a memorable scene in which she wags tutorial, spending her tutorial money on a fancy set of underwear that the school kids tease her about in the changing room. The biggest drama is when she ends up fancying (and snogging) her art teacher, Rax. I had to rank it low because, spoiler alert, it’s pretty cooked that Prue ends up having to leave the school at the principal’s request to save Rax’s job. Note: Jacqueline Wilson has since said she wouldn’t write this plot nowadays. 

22. Girls in Tears (2002) 
My lowest ranking of the written-for-teenagers Girls series. Released a few years after the first three, this one isn’t as well-themed and therefore not as memorable.
21. Dustbin Baby (2001)  
Possibly too high on the trauma content. Found in a dustbin behind a pizza shop, April Showers is in and out of children’s homes and foster care her whole life. On her 14th birthday, she sets out on a journey to seek answers about her past. From shoplifting to suicide, this one really deals with it all and, dare I say, it was just too much for young me. In a nod to the fans, Dustbin Baby features Tanya from Bad Girls as one of the foster-home kids. Which leads me to…
20. Bad Girls (1996) 
Poor bullied Mandy befriends cool (and maybe a bit bad) Tanya, and takes up a life of petty crime. In a Jacqueline Wilson rarity, Mandy’s parents are together, but alas they are boring and dress her in babyish clothes which doesn’t help the bullying situation at school.   
All the chapters are named for colours of the rainbow and the final (“Rainbow”) is basically a handbook on how to end bullying. Thank you for your service, Jacs.
19. Girls Out Late (1999)
This book tackles the hot issue of how friendship groups crack once you start dating: Girls Out Late sees Ellie finally get a boyfriend. Back when I first read it I knew that love-interest Russel was a bad egg. But reflecting on it now it’s properly concerning what Ellie, Magda and Nadine were getting up to at age 13, including jumping into a stranger’s van, but I suppose that was the thrill for us nerds who chose books over boys.
18. The Worry Website (2003)
A collection of short stories, this book is a total comfort read for me. Mr Speed’s class all submit their worries through a class website, a sure fire way for Jacqueline Wilson to squeeze as many traumatic issues into one book. From school crushes to alcoholic parents, this book has it all. The book ends with the tale of Natasha, who lives with a Motor Neuron disability, and her friendship with Lisa: the pair dream of performing on stage and so enter the school concert lineup and perform an original song about the Worry Website using the voice in Natasha’s ASL wheelchair. 

17. The Diamond Girls (2004)
Dixie has three sisters and her mum is pregnant with her first boy. However her mum actually gives birth to a girl but pretends it’s a boy and Dixie finds out by accident. Oh, and they live in a depressing, rundown council estate which falls short of the dream they’ve been sold. Dixie befriends Mary who lives over the back fence in the nice houses. Mary’s mum is evil and won’t let Mary play with Dixie because Dixie is poor. Dixie manages to save Mary when she jumps out a window. Just the simple stuff. 
16. Girls under Pressure (1998)
Ah, the eating disorder installment of the Girls series. Our famous trio line up for a modeling competition for Spicy magazine at their local mall (the Girlfriend Model Search of the Jacqueline Wilson world). While Magda and Nadine thrive, Ellie, mortified by even being in the line, overhears that she is too fat, leading her to restricted eating and dangerous dieting habits. A realistic portrayal of a phase of life too many of my peers have battled; this one was a teen classic.    
15. The Suitcase Kid (1992)
This story follows Andie whose parents are going through a divorce. She has to leave her home at Mulberry Cottage while navigating family lawyers and a pesky new step-family. I fondly remember this one because Andie’s comfort toy was a Sylvanian called Radish. As a huge fan of both Sylvanians and radishes this book holds a strong place in my heart. 
14. Cliffhanger (1995)
Off-brand for me to rank a book about a boy this highly, but really this is a book about a nerd. Tim is useless at all the activities at a competitive summer camp, making him a target for bullies. However, he triumphs through brain power in the final challenge when he figures out how to transport water across a ditch faster than the other teams, not with athleticism but through the clever use of a pipe. A win for the nerds and a win for my heart. 

13. Lola Rose (2003)
Jayni, along with her brother and her mother Nikki, move to London to escape Nikki’s alcoholic and gambling addict partner Jay. In London Jayni takes on a new name to go with her new start, Lola Rose. Navigating dark issues such as cancer, alcoholism, poverty and homelessness, the story peaks when Aunt Barbara fends off a vengeful Jay because she’s a professional practitioner of Muay Thai. 
12. The Mum Minder (1993)
My gateway drug to Jacqueline Wilson. Aimed at the younger audience, Sadie’s mum is a childminder but when she gets sick (just the flu, the issues are mild in this novel) Sadie instead goes to the workplaces of each of the four children that Sadie’s mum usually looks after. I still read it every time I am off work sick. 
11. Girls in Love (1997) 
The first and best of the Girls series. Which of us hasn’t invented a love interest at some stage in our lives? One might even say this book is the origin of the “I have a boyfriend but he goes to another school so you won’t know him” ruse. (Although, I don’t know how the kids these days pull it off in the era of social media). In this book Magda is kissing boys, Nadine is being used for sex, and Ellie invents dreamy Dan, a handsome version of a nerd she met on holiday. Nerdy Dan then turns up for real at a party and exposes her big lie. But he turns out to be a legend after he scares off some gatecrashers – chef’s kiss. 
10. Take a Good Look (1990)
Mary is blind and sick of being babied by her grandmother so she sneaks out to buy crisps and a coke. It goes wrong when she gets kidnapped. I never owned this book, but I got it out at least once a year from the Hataitai School library.
9. Double Act (1995)
Identical twins Ruby and Garnet live with their dad (you guessed it, mother is dead) until he gets a new girlfriend and they all have to leave town and their beloved grandmother behind to go move in with her. Ruby hates it and forces Garnet to audition with her for a TV show and go for a scholarship to the prestigious boarding school, Marnock Heights. Of course, only shy, bookish Garnet gets in, prompting Ruby’s resentment. I was team boisterous Ruby all the way with similar dreams of becoming an actor – and I did end up going to the Marnock Heights of Wellington.  
8. The Bed and Breakfast Star (1994)
A family who lived in a hotel? The dream. Please note: I don’t think I quite understood they didn’t live in a hotel by choice. Protagonist Elsa tries to boost everyone’s spirits by practising her jokes on her journey to becoming a comedian. This book is also ranks highly because of the part where Elsa makes a sugar sandwich which prompted me to give it a try. Again, I don’t think I appreciated that this was because they had no food and she was desperate. 

13 of the Best Self-Help Books for Anyone Looking for a Little Inspiration

Arts & Culture, Books

The best self-help books don’t promise to “completely change your life” overnight. Instead, a truly great one—written by someone who knows their stuff—will gently nudge you towards small shifts that gradually make a major difference. Perhaps after reading a few chapters, you’ll learn how, exactly, to start showing yourself more kindness. Or, you’ll finally have an aha moment about why you’re drawn to the most toxic partners.But finding a self-help read that genuinely supports your personal development journey can be a challenge: The “better yourself!” market is saturated with self-proclaimed gurus spewing empty promises and recycled advice. Speaking for myself, I’ve scrolled through countless Goodreads reviews and “must read” lists, only to be let down by preachy clichés (“I did it, and so can you”) and moralist BS that left me more frustrated than motivated.That’s why we did the hard work for you and rounded up some of the best self-help books that SELF staffers and therapists stand by. Whether you’re hoping to strengthen your relationships, be more assertive at work, or just find a bit more joy and gratitude, we hope one of these picks actually helps you level up your life.1. How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing by KC DavisHow to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and OrganizingAnyone who’s been too overwhelmed, busy, or caught up in the whirlwind of life to keep up with their chores knows that maintaining a tidy home can feel impossible. But In How to Keep House While Drowning, therapist KC Davis offers practical, compassionate, and easy-to-follow strategies that’ll make that mountain of dishes, pile of wrinkled clothes, and all the clutter in between seem much more manageable. Two SELF staffers especially love how Davis strips away the shame of having a less-than-spotless space (she shares that she didn’t fold a single piece of laundry for seven months!).2. Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James ClearAtomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad OnesYou’ll find Atomic Habits on just about every “best self-improvement books” list—and for good reason. Unlike all the “instant-success” bullshitters out there, James Clear, a writer who’s been blogging about this topic since 2012, understands that huge, life-altering goals (like starting your own business or overcoming self-doubt) can’t be achieved in a week or two. Instead, Atomic Habits focuses on the power of small (atom-like), consistent changes. Whether you’re trying to build a fitness routine, quit smoking (for real), or even just make your bed every morning, one SELF staffer notes that Clear’s down-to-earth approach makes changing your habits for good feel way more attainable. (You can download the first chapter for free here.)3. The Power of Habit by Charles DuhiggThe Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and BusinessA top-notch self-growth book is more than just a collection of tips and theories; the standouts of the genre combine great advice with captivating storytelling, an art that Charles Duhigg (an award-winning New York Times business reporter and writer) excels at. The Power of Habit includes a mix of compelling anecdotes from real people, as told to Duhigg, as well as research to back up why, exactly, we slip into self-destructive patterns—and more importantly, how we can break free from them. And if you’re worried about complicated, scientific, boring jargon, don’t worry: Therapist Hallie Kritsas, LMHC, tells SELF that Duhigg explains these concepts in “an easy-to-understand format” that many of her patients find engaging.4. The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brené Brown

Long Beach recognizes National Banned Books Week from Sept. 22-28

Arts & Culture, Books

Long Beach will recognize National Banned Books Week – a week that highlights the dangers of censorship and promotes the freedom to read — beginning Sunday, Sept. 22.The City Council unanimously approved a resolution to recognize the week during its Tuesday, Sept. 17, meeting. The resolution is a symbol of Long Beach’s commitment to the exchange of ideas, the right to access information, and the nurturing of an informed population, according to a staff report.National Banned Books Week was created in 1982 by the American Library Association in response to a sudden surge of challenges brought against books in libraries, book stores and schools. This weeklong event is observed annually during the last week of September.“Though this recognition started over 40 years ago, it is truly just as relevant today, if not more so,” said Councilmember Megan Kerr, who brought the item to the council. “Library staff across the nation are facing an unprecedented number of attempts to ban books.”The American Library Association’s Office for Intellectual Freedom documented more than 4,200 unique book titles targeted for censorship, as well as more than 1,200 demands to censor library books, materials and resources in 2023. The number of titles targeted for censorship at public libraries increased by 92% over the previous year, accounting for about 46% of all book challenges in 2023, according to the OIF.“In Long Beach, we take pride in being a welcoming, accepting place for people of all backgrounds, cultures, sexualities and lifestyles,” Kerr said. “Participating in National Banned Books Week reaffirms to the rest of the country that we stand for acceptance, diversity and free exchange of ideas.”Some of the most challenged books of 2023 included “Gender Queer: A Memoir” by Maia Kobabe; “All Boys Aren’t Blue” by George M. Johnson; “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky; and “The Bluest Eye” by Toni Morrison, among others.“Reading takes us places outside of ourselves,” Councilmember Mary Zendejas said. “That is why whenever there are efforts to limit books or knowledge, we must always ask why. Oftentimes these efforts are an attempt to erase something – our history, our voices – especially the voices of those most marginalized, to challenge the status quo. Long Beach does not stand for that.”Along with recognizing Banned Books Week this year, the council’s proclamation will also align with the Friends of the Long Beach Public Library’s yearly designation.Part of the local nonprofit’s mission is to preserve the public library as a place of intellectual freedom and to guard against censorship, according to its website.“The Friends are still actively spreading word against censorship, to educate our neighbors and share the message that any kind of censorship is wrong,” Barbara Sosa, president of the Friends of the Long Beach Public Library, said during the meeting. “Even in Long Beach, that threat can be simmering just below the surface.”The nonprofit will host events throughout next week in an effort to inform the community of the current state of censorship at schools and public libraries.The theme for 2024 in Long Beach is “Free to Read, Free to Think,” which highlights the freedom to read and encourages open discussion on controversial and challenging topics. This theme follows the national theme of Banned Books Week, “Freed between the Lines.”This year’s Friends of the Long Beach Public Library events for Banned Books Week will take place on the following dates and at these locations:
From 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 22, at Second Street in front of Chase Bank, 5200 Second St.
From 6 to 9 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, at Fourth Fridays on Fourth Street in front of The Center, 2017 E. Fourth St.
From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 28, at the Billie Jean King Library, 200 W. Broadway.
From 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, at First Fridays on Atlantic Avenue in front of the Expo Arts Center, 4321 Atlantic Ave.