Blog Post
What do Piglet and Captain Underpants have in common?
by StoryLaura
They are sharing the March is Reading Month celebration in the glass display case at the Downtown Library's Youth Department. Take a peek at The Velveteen Rabbit, Madeline and other favorite characters.
Blog Post
Jesus Family Tomb
by Robb
This sounds unbelievable but intriguing. A new book, The Jesus Family Tomb suggests that archaeologists have ignored evidence pointing to the possibility that the family tomb of Jesus of Nazareth was found in 1980 during construction in Jerusalem.
On March 5, 2007 on the Diane Rehm show Guest host: Susan Page and her guests, Anthony Tambasco, professor of theology at Georgetown University , Simcha Jacobovici co-author of "The Jesus Family Tomb”and Eric Meyers, professor of Judaic studies and director of the graduate program in religion at Duke University talked about this idea and why it's drawing criticism from Biblical scholars, archaeologists, and other experts.
Blog Post
Mary Gordon wins 3rd annual Story Prize
by sernabad
Mary Gordon, author of such highly acclaimed novels as Pearl (2005) and Men and Angels (1985), as well as the compelling biography of her father, The Shadow Man (1996), has won the 3rd annual Story Prize for The Stories of Mary Gordon (2006).
The finalists were Rick Bass for The Lives of Rocks: Stories (2006) and George Saunders for In Persuasion Nation: Stories(2006).
Ms. Gordon, 57, will receive a purse of $20,000.
Blog Post
Crazy World? Try Some Stories!
by StoryLaura
If you are looking for clever ways to deal with uncertainty and conflict in this wild time, Dan Keding’s collection of folktales, Stories of Hope and Spirit: Folktales from Eastern Europe may give you resolution. From the Croatian version of Stone Soup, to the Slovakian Cinderella, these tales share the wit, wisdom and strength of the Slavic culture and fuel the human spirit. Keding is an award-winning storyteller and musician who grew up on tales from his Croatian grandmother.
Blog Post
Fabulous Fiction Firsts #55
by muffy
Finn* by first-time novelist Jon Clinch, is an imaginative reconstruction of the life and death of Finn, Huck's father, "Pap.".
In Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Huck and Jim find Pap Finn's body in a house floating down the Mississippi River, among such oddities as women’s underclothes, a wooden leg and two black cloth masks, and the walls covered with “the ignorantest” kind of scrawling.
Shunned by his father, Adams County Judge James Manchester Finn and his successful brother Will, Finn is a violent, bigoted, ne’r-do well drunk, and often in trouble with the law. He blames his black sheep status on his on-again, off-again relationship with his black mistress, the mother of his pale mulatto child, also named Huck.
Working from a few tantalizing hints in Mark Twain's text, Clinch not only fleshes out the shadowy figure of Huckleberry Finn's father but creates clever and plausible backstories for the likes of Widow Douglas and the Thatcher family, and all the while, following Twain’s lead – allows the Mississippi to play a prominent role in the unfolding tale. Highly recommended.
* = Starred Review
Blog Post
John Lewis in the Lead (A Story of the Civil Rights Movement) by Jim Haskins
by Tahira
John Lewis’s parents warned him to "stay quiet, don’t get in trouble and don’t get in the way." John Lewis did not heed his parents' warning. He felt that segregation was wrong. When he heard Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. give a speech on the radio against segregation he knew he was right. This sparked a desire in him to fight segregation and earn black people the right to vote. Jim Haskins leads young readers on a journey for civil rights through the life of John Lewis.
Blog Post
John Irving is 65
by Maxine
Today is the birthday of John Irving, celebrated author of many books, his most famous being The World According to Garp which was published in 1978. This story of a fatherless son of a radical feminist began a thematic thread that runs through some of his other work , especially The Cider House Rules and his latest, Until I Find You. Irving never met his father and hoped through his fame, his father would contact him but he never did. Not only is Irving an accomplished writer but in college was a champion wrestler. In 1992, he was inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame.
Blog Post
Announcements from New York Comic-Con
by joy k
One of the more interesting anime-related announcements at last weekend’s New York Comic-Con was the introduction of the English-language voice cast for the U.S. release of the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle anime. You can see the cast listing and watch the NYCC panel online at the official Tsubasa anime website; you'll be happy to hear that some fan favorites—such as Vic Mignogna, the actor of Edward Elric in Fullmetal Alchemist—will be lending their voices to the main characters. The first dvd won’t be released until May, but until then, you can follow the adventures of Syaoran, Sakura, Fay, and Kurogane through the original manga by CLAMP.
Blog Post
Happy 46th birthday, Peace Corps
by Maxine
On March 1, 1961, President John F. Kennedy stood on the steps of the Michigan Union and by executive order announced the beginning of the Peace Corps. This experiment in activism was a huge success with many young people out of college as well as older retirees venturing to far off countries to teach, help with farming and start health clinics. The Peace Corps is alive and well today, still offering those who want to serve exciting and challenging opportunities.
Blog Post
Heard the one about the goatman in the lemon grove?
by anned
Gilbert Hernandez took a break from his work on Love & Rockets (done collaboratively with his brother Jamie) to create another book on his own, Sloth.
Hernandez uses his rough and expressive style of illustration to work magic on the story of Miguel, a youth full of suburban ennui who wills himself into a coma as a means of escape. When Miguel wakes up a year later, his physical movements have slowed to a sloth’s pace and he finds himself mixed up in a local urban legend. The story takes some unexpected twists and and comes out looking like a Möbius strip.