Late at night with my school girl Idol

It's been said be careful who you idolize. They might not live up to your expectations.(Or they just might)

In the 1980's I was a shallow teenager who absolutely adored Rick Springfield. Posters decorated the walls of my bedroom. My lunch money was saved in order to purchase Mr. Springfield's albums and 45's (I know I am dating myself).I spent many a night using my hairbrush as a microphone dancing around singing "Jessie's girl" like a fool. As the 80's came and went so did my adolescence wanton lust. I grew up and Rick slowly faded from the limelight and soon he became a distant memory. Now that I have become middle aged I find myself looking back quite a bit and longing for those adolescent days. When I heard that Rick Springfield was writing a book I knew I had to read it. So with some trepidation, I began to read...I mean did I really want hear the warts and all story about someone I had idolized as a hormonally challenged teenager? Yeah, I rationalized, yeah I did.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover that "Late, Late at Night" was brutally honest and did not paint a pretty picture of my beloved idol. In his autobiography Rick is very candid about his lifelong problems with depression (the notorious “Mr. D.”) addiction, and infidelity. By his no holds barred technique we get to see the human side of him, what lies deep beneath the surface. While reading, half the time I didn't know whether to be disgusted with him or take him to my bosom and tell him that everything was going to be all right. Many parts of this book are upsetting and very dark, but being one who has battled the big bad D word herself, there is nothing happy or bright about this illness. I also appreciated the fact that he owned all those not-so-admirable things he'd done in his life without blaming it on the booze, his mommy or chemical imbalance (Way to man up Rick). On a lighter note many parts of this book are hilarious as well as touching. I admire the deep and abiding love his has for his family and his dogs and all that they mean to him.


So does Rick Springfield have a story to tell? Yes, indeed, he does! And while it's not a pretty one, he let's us know that he's a work in progress even at the age of 60(and might I add a hot 60). Had I read this book back when I was 15, it would have undoubtedly scarred me and made me burn all of my Rick memorabilia. Now that I am an adult and have suffered through life, I have come to realize that at the end of the day we're all the same...even the idols.

Memory Keepers Daughter

I don't read a lot of fiction, and the fiction I do read revolves around a handful of authors, but on occasion a book will grab my attention and I think to myself, gee why not? The Memory Keepers Daughter was one of those books.

It is an epic story that begins in Kentucky(this was what first got my attention). In the middle of a terrible Blizzard Dr. David Henry is forced to help deliver his own twins when his wife Norah goes into labor. The next three decades keep two families tied together with a secret that most of them aren't aware of. In it's conclusion, their son Paul is left with the undeniable truth. That happily ever after is a myth. That good people are flawed. That you can attempt to right wrongs but in the end all you can do is choose not to repeat them. It was a decision that, once made, could not be redeemed nor remedied. Time inexorably moves away from that moment but, instead of becoming distant, it grows tentacles that seize their beings and influence everything for the next three decades. We learn a photograph can capture a moment but it cannot tell you what encompasses it, what came before and after. It cannot effect change, it cannot correct. One moment, one choice, and an ever-widening circle of consequences, many roads taken and many not.

The writing in The Memory Keeper's Daughter is so well-articulated, the story itself is so engrossing and so different from any I have read before, that hard as I tried to remain disaffected, about 100 pages before the end I felt actual pain knowing there was a last page. As I came to know every nuance of these characters, I wanted to reach into the pages and tell them everything, something, anything, to stop time, to take a different road and change the past, then go on again. Honestly, I have never felt quite this way about a book before.

Kim Edwards takes us to the heart of several very complicated issues.It is written in painstaking detail and most likely not the best read for someone looking for a fast paced, dramatic novel. The sentiment in this book can be rather overwhelming at times.

Overall, I found The Memory Keepers Daughter a beautifully written story that slowly builds to create a powerful message of family and the ties that bind them.

2010 Caldecott Medal Winner

THE LION AND THE MOUSE by Jerry Pinkney

Glorious lion face on the front cover is of this book is just the first hint to the rich pictures in this nearly wordless retelling of Aesop's fable. Set in Africa's Serengeti plain, the crux of the story is a mouse who accidentally disturbs a sleeping lion is captured by the lion then unexpectedly released. When the lion is capture in a hunters net, the mouse returns to chew through the net, releasing the lion in return. It's a moral of one selfless act being rewarded by another selfless act.

Interestingly, the only words in this book are sounds, the screech of owls flying through the tree tops, the lion's roar when capture in the net and the squeaks of the mouse as she tells her little mice of her release. You can can almost hear her saying “You're never going to believe what happened to me today.” The only humans, the men who build the net that captures the lion, are shown with faces hidden and create there own noises as they build the net.

Jerry Pinkney, a five time recipient of both the Coretta Scott King award winner and Caldecott Honor, was long overdue for a the Caldecott Award. This book shows how Pinkney's talent can make words unnecessary. The wordless of this book lets the child and the adult story sharer (you can't call them readers) develop a dialogue about the story on their own and lends to the possibility of a bigger dialog between child and adult about the value of helping others without thought of personal gain.

Patricia Schroader
Children's Librarian

2010 Newbery Medal Winner

It makes sense to me that a book where an integral part of the story relies on information from a past Newbery Medal winner would become an Newbery Medal winner itself. In When You Reach Me, the favorite book of Miranda is A Wrinkle in Time, the 1963 winner.

Miranda's life is pretty unremarkable until the day she finds a note in her library book. Miranda is 12 year old, living with her mother in apartment in a run down section of Manhattan in 1979. Beyond the normal middle school politics of who's cool and who's not, the biggest crisis in her life is the loss of her friendship with her childhood friend, Sal. Then she finds a note with a cryptic message that tells her “I am coming to save your friend's life, and my own...I will not be myself when I reach you,” asking her to “write me a letter.” This book is the letter Miranda wrote to her unknown pen pal.

There is plenty of suspense, intermingled with Miranda's struggles to connect with new friends, to keep this book a true page turner. The ending is ironically both expected, yet unexpected, as Stead neatly ties in all the gaps, leaving the reader thinking, “Aha! That's what that clue meant.” This book receives my vote as a worthy Newbery Medal winner.

Patricia Schroader
Children's Librarian

The man who sold the world

"The Man who sold the world" by William Kleinknecht could not have come at a more appropriate time for Americans. I personally found this book to be a very valuable insight into the so-called "legacy" of one of America's most revered and misunderstood presidents. At first I was a little bit shocked as to what I was reading, but the further I read the more I came to realize that sometimes things are not as them seem (especially when it comes to government).

Rather than take the easy way out and present empty social mores and personal attacks, the author presents evidence of cause-&-effect scenarios that were directly or indirectly the result of Ronald Reagan's influence (an influence that is still a very viable and dominant force in business and politics today, both in America and around the world). The author dares to question that influence, and does so not by making blanket statements with little real backing, but genuine qualifications of facts and figures that any honest man or woman would find hard to refute in any serious debate. This book is not a slam or attack towards the 40th president unlike other books tend to do when discussing the Carter or Clinton Administrations. Kleinknecht tears away at the legacy of "Reaganism": discussing the after-effects of that legacy and what it means to us today in our current situation.

I also found it interesting and fair that Kleinknecht's time-line of hypocrisy is not limited to the GOP. He allows the evidence to speak for itself. The main theme of the book is that Reagan's populism was more from his Hollywood past than his upbringing and the values he appeared to believe strongly in. By the end of the book we see how a misguided, mixed up Administration began a mess that sadly has led to today.

So what did I learn from reading this? We, as a country, cannot place blame on one person or political party,rather all who have served the past 25 years are to blame either because they have had their own agendas or simply turned a blind eye to the growing hurricane.The president and his administration should have a vision but he should also have his team together(both sides);the right people should be chosen and he/she should understand how Congress works. In my opinion the most important thing for a president is to study the previous administration and not fix or meddle in things that aren't "broke".

What should we, as Americans, be willing to do? We must learn to become bi-partisan when it comes to electing our leaders and be willing to place the blame where it should be placed and learn to be able to criticize someone we may support. Now wouldn't that be a more perfect union?

Coal keeps lights on!

After a hiatus I am glad to report that we are back and it couldn't have come at a better time as I've a review on a book and documentary about a subject that is very near and dear to my heart... “mountaintop removal.” Coal mining is and has been a part of my heritage for at least 4 generations. My grandfather and father, as well as my stepbrother, uncles, and cousins have all been coal miners at one time or another. I must admit at first I was on the fence when it came to being for or against coal mining and mountaintop removal. On one hand if it's done correctly I can see the positive side of mining. Coal mining has given Appalachia many jobs and opportunities that wouldn't have been afforded them had there been no mining. On the other hand I have witnessed first hand the mess, destruction and disease that is left behind once Appalachia has been pillaged and left bare. Needless to say when the documentary “Burning the future , Coal in America” came across my desk I was unable to resist watching.

While I sat back and watched I could not help but notice that it was very one sided. If one were to watch it without keeping an open mind you would be unable to stop yourself from wanting to grab a sign and head to Appalachia and begin the fight to stop mountaintop removal.

The documentary does a wonderful job of illustrating the effects of the coal industry on the lives of ordinary people in Kentucky as well as West Virginia. It features a group of uncomplicated people who have lived in the heart of the coal land for generations. Each and every one of these people have taken on roles they never saw themselves fulfilling as their communities struggle and fight to save the culture that is being threatened. Suddenly their lives have become very complicated because of the politics and greed of coal.

As I watched the profit-mad coal companies as well as congressmen turn a deaf ear to the whole mess I felt this overwhelming sadness that went all the way to my soul. I felt that something needed to be done to help these people, but what? I am well aware that coal generates more than half of all the electricity in the US as well as provides jobs for people so how could that be so wrong?

A few weeks after I saw “Burning the future” a book entitled “Something's rising, Appalachians fighting mountaintop removal” came across my desk so once again I found myself thrust back in the middle of this controversial topic. Like the documentary, the book seems to be one sided as well but with one difference...it is a book of beautifully written stories from all types of Appalachians, including country singer Kathy Mattea. The people who tell their story do not come across as angry or pushy individuals but instead as ones who have a genuine concern for their homeland and people. After finishing “Something's Rising” you may ask if I am still straddling the fence? Unfortunately I am but as I sit here I ask myself these questions... Is it true that coal has done little for my people and the land that they have loved for generations? Has Appalachia been used, abused and left for dead? The answers are not simple, but as with life nothing is ever simple. There is something rising and burning no doubt about it.

The Summer Kitchen by Lisa Wingate

This is a great read. Particularly in light of the Christmas season and the economic challenges this past year. It is a heart-wrenching story written in first person from two persons viewpoint, a middle-aged wife and an orphaned girl on the run.

It is a moving story of second chances involving two orphaned siblings attempting to making it on their own, a disintegrating family, and an once-thriving community slowly changing into a less savory area. The book takes us through a tale of how a family tragedy brings the community together once again. It makes the reader take a good look at their own life and how misplaced priorities might lead to missed opportunities. While inspirational, it is not preachy.

Kathy Stutzman
Public Relations Manager