School Librarian in Action

Saturday, September 5, 2026

Book Review: Stray Cats

In Stray Cats (Ateneo De Manila University Press, 2023) Irene Sarmiento’s writing is brave and unyielding. By bringing the issue of the seen and the unseen into a YA novel set in the Philippines, populated by Filipino characters who must navigate the thin, unsettling line between fantasy and reality, she has woven threads of stories into a brilliant twine.

Stray Cats opens many possibilities for discussion. Where can friendship, care, and curiosity lead us when they become prompts to understand a world bigger than our own? What do we do with an awakening from a sheltered life? How do we negotiate a reality that is radically different from our own? What happens when we discover that the real monsters are not the ones we have heard about in our folk stories, but the ones created by human beings? And why is growing up so painful?

For me, this is what makes the novel’s fantasy so powerful. Sarmiento does not use fantasy to escape reality. She uses fantasy to make reality harder to ignore.

The tikbalang, kapre, and other creatures of Philippine folklore invite us into a world that feels strange and magical, but as Elisa moves deeper into that world, the difference between the fantastic and the real begins to blur. The creatures become a way of seeing what might otherwise remain unseen: the inequalities, vulnerabilities, violence, and suffering that exist alongside the ordinary lives we inhabit.

Stray Cats becomes a story not only about finding someone who is missing, but about learning to see. It is there where the strands of the twine come together: friendship leads to care; care leads to curiosity; curiosity leads to encounter; encounter leads to awakening; and awakening demands a response.

Growing up, then, is painful because it means discovering that the world is not the world we thought it was. Realizing that once we have seen it, we cannot simply become unseen again.

P.S I missed my cats while reading the novel. I rest in the knowledge that Ohren and Golden are being cared for by someone who knows better than I can.

Friday, September 4, 2026

Growing Through Stories: Mga Pasahero sa Dyip

Thursday, September 3, 2026

The Lighthouse Diary Entry #91: From Finding Information to Making Informed Choices

A couple of weeks ago, in our Grade 8 English class, we had the opportunity to revisit a previous lesson on Types of Sources and Determining Their Credibility. More importantly, we continued the conversation about why we choose particular sources and how those choices are shaped by purpose and the evidence we need.

Starting with the claim, “Schools should limit smartphone use during class,” the students unpacked the kinds of evidence needed to support or challenge it. By phrasing these as keywords and conceptual phrases, they were able to identify and match possible sources to specific evidence needs.

In our second meeting, the Grade 8 students moved from identifying sources to using them purposefully. They selected and evaluated sources, took notes, extracted bibliographic information, and examined the pros and cons of the claim.

The process was a simple but meaningful shift from finding information to making informed choices about information, an important step toward becoming more critical, purposeful, and independent researchers.