Author Archives: Rhonna

Poetry is in the Air

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poemsI recently had a perfect moment.  How often do we get to say that?  As I was riding my bike down linear park surrounded by my family, with the sun on my face, I wished I could capture the moment, to acknowledge the wonder of it. I think that’s what poetry does – it takes the “moments” of life, whether every-day or marked occasion, and ponders them.  Poetry helps us to step away from the busyness of our lives and consider the essence of “what it’s all about.”

April is National Poetry Month and there is poetry in the air.  Some of us were forced to read poetry in school (although we secretly loved it) but then wandered away.  If you’ve lost touch with your poetic side, there are some fun web sites that enable you to explore with abandon.  The Poetry Foundation has a vast collection of poetry, both classic and new.  My favorite part is their video series Poetry Everywhere, which features poems read out-loud, most by the poets themselves.  The Academy of American Poets lists the most popular poets and poems, and will even email a Poem-A-Day to you.  I especially love the Poems for Every Occasion page which has you covered for everything from a break-up to a summer’s day.

If you’re ready to dive in a little deeper, we can help you out at the library with some collections of favorite poems.  Garrison Keillor, a promoter of poetry on his shows “A Prairie Home Companion” and “Writer’s Almanac,” has created collections of his favorites, all titles beginning with Good Poems.  Filled with classics as well as contemporary poems, these collections are meant for ordinary people to enjoy.  Caroline Kennedy was raised by a great lover of poetry and her first collection The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis honored that early influence.  She has gone on to create two collections for children, Poems to Learn by Heart and A Family of Poems and also a collection for women called She Walks in Beauty.  She talks about her reasons for compiling these poems:  “When you’re going through something, whether it’s a wonderful thing like having a child or a sad thing like losing somebody, you often feel like ‘Oh My God, I’m so overwhelmed; I’m dealing with this huge thing on my own.’ In fact, poetry’s a nice reminder that, no, everybody goes through it.  These are universal experiences.”

From there, poetry has a wealth of material to explore.  You can start with local poets like Jonathan Holden, Elizabeth Dodd, or Ann Carter or revisit the classics with Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, and Langston Hughes.  You might enjoy some of the poet laureates such as Nebraskan Ted Kooser, Rita Dove, or Billy Collins.  At Manhattan Public Library, we have a poetry display up for the month of April, but after that you can delve into poetry at call number 811.

The final question is how to best enjoy poetry.  You can quietly contemplate the words on the page, but reading it aloud adds greatly to the understanding and pleasure of reading poetry.  Find a quiet room or a rooftop (depending on your personality) and savor the words.  As we allow poetry to filter into our everyday lives, we see that opportunities exist everywhere that are just screaming for a poem to be read: family events, gathering of friends, worship services.  I wonder what a poetry flash mob might look like.  I have had several great poetry moments, but my favorite was at a Halloween party when a friend read part 3 of The Bells by Edgar Allen Poe.  It was creepy and haunting and kept us enraptured with wide eyes.  However you experience poetry, recognize it for the beautiful pause in life that it is.  As William Hazlitt said, “Poetry is all that is worth remembering in life.”

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

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I know we’ve alreadreadyy reviewed this book, but I think it needs to be revisited.  It’s that good.  I’ve been told by several people to read Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, but I put it off as I always do.  I was finally forced to read it and from the first page I was completely absorbed.  I have since forced several others to read it and everyone has loved it so far.  On the surface it’s a book about a teenager in the future playing video games, but it’s also a coming-of-age story, action-adventure, a little bit romance, a novel about the human condition.  This is just a great story, so I’m glad it’s been picked as the K-State Common Book for 2013.  We’ll be partnering with them so look out for some opportunities to explore the book further in the fall.  I can’t wait to hear what you think about it!

An Uncommon History of Common Things

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by Janet Ulrey, Adultuncommon Services Librarian

Living in the information age has made most of us want to know more.    “An Uncommon History of Common Things” by Bethanne Patrick and John Thompson is packed with tons of little known facts concerning all areas of life.  With the World Wide Web, we have information available to us with just a click.  But, I still enjoy sitting down with a book to find tidbits of information to stir up my curiosity, and this book does just that.  For instance, you may be interested in knowing that one of the first uses for Velcro was by NASA, as a nose-scratcher inside helmets.   Discovering that our everyday Saran wrap came about when a scientist was trying to develop a hard plastic car cover is another interesting story.  As the title suggests, some of the most common things in our lives have the most unusual stories.
What is more common in our lives than food?  We consume it every single day.   Corn Flakes, for instance, did not start out to be the first dried cereal; it was discovered by mistake when William Kellogg was trying to make bread dough.   Then there is the story of how Swanson and Sons came up with the TV dinner in 1953, all because they overestimated the amount of turkey they would sell for Thanksgiving that year.  And what was that “runcible spoon” in Edward Lear’s famous poem “The Owl and the Pussycat”?  Just maybe it was a spork, a utensil that was half spoon, half fork.   We may have the foot soldiers of Persia’s Darius the Great to thank for giving us pizza.  It is recorded that the foot soldiers baked dough on their shields and added available toppings while in the field.  It seems that man’s mistakes and measures of necessity have led to many great dietary treasures.
Customs and symbols have been and always will be a part of our lives.  Putting your hand in front of your mouth when you yawn is a polite gesture.  But the custom may have begun because it was once believed that one’s soul could slip out, or evil spirits could slip in, while you were yawning.  You can discover why storks were chosen as the bearers of babies or how bones can bring about one’s wish.   As a child, I remember competing with my cousins to find out who was the lucky one to wish upon the bone from the Thanksgiving turkey.  Yet, it was prior to 400 B.C. when the first wish was whispered over a bird’s clavicle.  Now that tattoos are such a popular form of body art, it is interesting to learn that they were discovered on the body of a man who had been frozen for more than 5,000 years.  It has been amazing to discover the history behind our reasons and ways of doing things.
With computer games and downloadable games so readily available, we are never in want of leisure fun.  Many of us remember spending hours playing board games with friends and family.  The first-known board games, found in the Babylonian tombs of Ur, dated from 3000 B.C.  These gaming boards are thought to be the forerunners of today’s backgammon.  It seems our game of checkers was first played in ancient Egypt around 1400 B.C.  A Hindustan game called chaturanga, played during the sixth century A.D. or earlier, is our counterpart to chess.  While these games may become obsolete with technological changes, the history behind them is fascinating.
I have found that the invention and production of common everyday objects really do have uncommon stories.  If you like history or enjoy trivia, you will find this book informational and entertaining.  It may even change the way you look at the world and the people who live here!

How the States Got Their Shapes

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statesWhy do the eastern states have more squiggly borders and the western have more straight borders? What does the Civil War have to do with the border of Nevada?  If you’re a curious person at all, How the States Got Their Shapes is a fascinating look at our nation’s geography.  Brian Unger travels throughout the U.S. talking to the locals and experts about borders, how they came to be and how they affect our lives now.  Originally aired on the History Channel, this series will crack you up while you expand your knowledge.

One Book, Two Book, Red Book, Blue Book

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book saleBy Jennifer Adams, Children’s Services Manager

Dr. Seuss advised everyone to “fill your house with stacks of books, in every cranny and every nook.”  And lucky us, we can celebrate Dr. Seuss’s 109th  birthday by filling bags with cheap books at the library’s annual book sale next weekend.

The book sale opens to members of the Manhattan Library Association (MLA), the library’s friends organization, on Friday, March 1, 5:30-7:30.  An MLA membership is as little as $10 and can be purchased at the door if you want to be among the first to shop.  Saturday, March 2, the book sale is open to the public from 10 to 4. Sunday is a catchall day with remaining books sold by the bag or box from 1-3:30.

“Oh, the things you can find if you don’t stay behind!”

Bargains abound with thousands of books to browse.  Some books are gently read donations from personal collections, and others are books withdrawn from the library’s shelves. Many donations are recently published books in excellent condition. Adult books fill the auditorium and the Groesbeck Meeting Room, arranged by genre, from historical romance to paranormal to self-help.  Paperbacks are 75 cents or 2 for $1. Hardcover books are $1.50.  Many popular young adult books are available this year, as well as children’s titles including picture books, nonfiction, chapter books and novels.  Children’s books can be found on the 2nd floor across from the auditorium, and they are only 75 cents each.  Look for DVDs, CDs, audiobooks and even some VHS and cassette tapes on sale in the Groesbeck room.

“You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child.”

On Saturday, you can also bring a child to our 11:00 storytime or get something good to eat at the bake sale to support teen programs at the library.  In the “Move & GrTLAB Bake Saleoove” storytime for all ages, Ms. Jessica will be reading stories to celebrate Dr. Seuss’s birthday and leading some silly rhymes and songs.  Children will get a Seuss craft to take home.  Young adult librarian Keri Mills and several of our teen volunteers will have delicious goodies for sale from 10:00-2:00, including Seuss-themed cupcakes. Exchange your change for some home-baked goods to raise money for teen summer reading prizes.

Donations for the library’s book sales are always welcome, although the sorting has already begun for this year’s event.  Amazing volunteers keep the donations organized year-round and stock our Rosie’s Corner Bookstore where we sell used books in the library all the time.  In the coming week, volunteers leading our friends group will be working tirelessly to get items set up for the sale, along with some help from library staff and other volunteers from around town.

All proceeds from the Book Sale go to the friends group, which in turn funds many of the library’s guest speakers, special children’s programs, summer reading prizes, new books and media for our collection, and library furnishings and supplies.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”

A Renaissance in Harlem

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poemsBy John Pecoraro, Assistant Director

African American literature has a long history, tracing its roots to 18th-century writers such as Phillis Wheatley. In addition to being the first African American to publish a book (“Poems on Various Subjects Religious and Moral,” 1773), Wheatley was the first person of African descent to achieve an international reputation as a writer. Continuing into the present day, literature by African Americans, often the descendants of slaves, has survived through diversity.

The flowering of the genre occurred between 1920 and 1940 during the Harlem Renaissance. Writers created novels, plays, and poetry that have stood the test of time. Works by African American visual artists and musicians also flourished as part of the Renaissance.

“The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes” is the ultimate book for those interested in one of the better known writers of the Harlem Renaissance. This weighty volume includes 868 poems written over five decades and is the definitive sampling of a writer called the poet laureate of African America. Hughes’ poetry and fiction portrayed the lives of working-class blacks in America and stressed a racial consciousness and cultural nationalism. Hughes championed racial consciousness as a source of artistic inspiration.

Scholars consider “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston a seminal work in African American literature, as well aseyes women’s literature. In the novel, Janie Crawford recounts the story of her life and journey to her best friend Pheoby. Janie’s story revolves around her three marriages to three very different men: an older farmer looking for a domestic servant, an enterprising entrepreneur who treats her as a trophy wife, and a drifter and gambler who finally gives her the love she desires. Hurston’s writings were forgotten during the post-World War II period and rediscovered during the surge of Black Studies programs at universities during the 1970s and 1980s, thanks in part to the author Alice Walker.

“My Soul’s High Song” is the collected writings of Countee Cullen, American poet,cullen and a leading figure of the Harlem Renaissance. The collection includes poems and essays, his only novel “One Way to Heaven,” and his translation of the Greek tragedy, “Medea.” Cullen’s first collection of poetry, “Color,” published in 1925, celebrated black beauty and decried the effects of racism. It remains a landmark of the Harlem Renaissance.

Arna Bontemps, a poet in his own right, edited “American Negro Poetry,” a popular and highly respected collection of poems by more than sixty African American poets in its revised edition. Included were Langston Hughes and Countee Cullen, as well as more contemporary writers such as Gwendolyn Brooks and Nikki Giovanni. Bontemps selected poems that reflected the spontaneity, folklore, and religious sensibilities of African Americans.

Steven Watson’s “The Harlem Renaissance” documents one of thharleme most dynamic movements in twentieth century African American history. The author chronicles the brilliant writings of Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Countee Cullen, and Jean Toomer, among others. He also portrays the world that supported this literary and artistic renaissance.

“The Power of Pride” by Carole Marks and Diana Edkins is a visually prideappealing book full of photographs, letters, and drawings capturing the excitement of the Harlem Renaissance. Among the short profiles of style-makers and rule-breakers of the time are biographies of authors Zora Neale Hurston, James Weldon Johnson, Nella Larsen, Langston Hughes, and Dorothy West. Other entries include entertainers such as Josephine Baker, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Bessie Smith.

Cary Wintz has edited a living history of the Harlem Renaissanharlem speaksce in “Harlem Speaks.” This book showcases the artists, writers, and intellectuals behind the outburst of African American culture in the decades after World War I. In a series of biographical essays, experts in the field examine the careers and contributions of individuals including Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Richard Wright, Ethel Waters, and Eubie Blake. The book also includes a CD of sound recordings of many of the people profiled.

Celebrate African American History Month by sampling these and other titles available at the Manhattan Public Library.

Stephen Wade’s “The Beautiful Music All Around Us”

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Reviewed by Marcia Allen, Technical Services & Collections Manager
beautiful
In the early 1930s, the Library of Congress initiated a project that was destined to continue until 1942.  Staff traveled through the South, as well as the Great Plains, making field recordings of traditional songs and original compositions.  The selected musicians were not famous performers; in fact, most were ordinary singers who simply enjoyed tinkering with their instruments and setting words to chords.  The recordings themselves were made in churches, in homes, and on porches, so background noise and distortion run throughout.  The result is an astounding expression of feeling that remains a historic American treasure.
Author Stephen Wade sought to discover the backgrounds of some of those musicians.  “The Beautiful Music All Around Us” is the result of decades of interviews with those who knew the original musicians, as well as a careful scrutiny of public records.  He learned that some of those original musicians never recorded beyond that Library of Congress project, while others went on to other public performances.  He uncovered a wealth of material about the lives of the artists, and so wrote this wonderful book, a compilation of brief biographies of thirteen of the performers.
The book opens with the story of Bill Stepp.  Born in 1875, the illegitimate son of a half-Indian mother and local landowner, Bill spent the first few years of his life living in a cave along a Kentucky River.  He was later taken in as a foster child and became fascinated with a step-uncle’s fiddle playing.  A natural talent for playing led Bill to local performances at dances and at weddings.
Why is Bill included in the book?  Because of “Bonaparte’s Retreat,” a fiddle tune that Bill embellished and made his own.  Bill was recorded playing his now-famous tune at the request of Library of Congress staff in 1937.   Bill’s version became a part of Aaron Copeland’s famous score for the ballet “Rodeo” in l942, and it was more recently incorporated for the recent beef growers’ television commercial soundtrack.
Another chapter recalls the careers of sisters Christine and Katherine Shipp.  The girls were taught music in Mississippi by their mother, Mary, who only allowed religious music in the home.  Mary would compose vocal tunes based on ballads her pastor husband had purchased.  She then taught each of her children different parts so that they could all accompany Dad in his pastoring.  Mary explained her rare talent as an ability to “scale” or “call” the songs that were appropriate for church music.
Christine and Katherine were recorded in 1939 as they harmonized on “Sea Lion Woman.”  The song originated as a fiddle tune the girls’ grandfather had played before the Civil War.  As the tune was passed down to later generations, the fiddle arrangement vanished, and the tune was altered to include melodic repetition, clapping and dancing.  To the girls, the music was a fun game that helped them pass the time.
There are other equally talented musicians throughout the book.  Vera Hall was recorded in 1940, performing her version of “Another Man Done Gone.”  That emotionally charged rendition later drew compliments from Carl Sandburg, Johnny Cash, and John Mayall.  Jess Morris, a classically trained violinist who attended Valparaiso, joined the other artists with his field recording of “Goodbye, Old Paint,” during which he combined classical violin techniques with cowboy harmonies.  This nostalgic piece probably recalled his days as a predator controller (or wolf hunter) on a Texas ranch, but it had its origins in Britain and in the Appalachian Mountains.
Why read this book?  It is both a valuable snapshot of American music culture and a terrific collection of biographical sketches of those historic creators.  As there was no studio enhancement of their music, each recorded piece is unique.  You have only to listen to the included CD to experience the originality and freshness of those early recordings.  You are bound to recognize familiar tunes in a new way.

Make It Fast, Cook It Slow by Stephanie O’Dea

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make it fastI am not ashamed to say that I love my crock pot.  I am a busy person and I love the ability to just dump things in a pot and have something yummy to eat a few hours later.  I was getting bored of my small selection of crock pot recipes so I checked out a stack of cookbooks and my kids and I went through them over the weekend.  This was our unanimous favorite.  I loved the variety and the choice to make a dish super-fast with prepared ingredients (cream of mushroom soup) or completely homemade.  My kids liked the yummy recipes.  We tried the chicken pot-pie with nummy success.  Make It Fast, Cook It Slow is a great cookbook for busy families.

Annual winter book discussion series at the library

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talkby Susan Withee, Adult Services Manager

Beginning this month, Manhattan Public Library will again host the annual winter book discussion series, TALK: Talk About Literature in Kansas, sponsored by the Manhattan Library Association and the Kansas Humanities Council.  Discussions will be held monthly from January through April, meeting at 7:00 p.m. in the library’s Groesbeck Room (exception: the February meeting will meet in the library’s lower atrium).  Participants will discuss a different book each month and copies of the books featured are available for individual checkout at the library’s Information Desk. Feel free to attend any one, all four, or as many of the discussions as your schedule will allow.

The 2013 series theme is Between Fences and it was partially inspired by Robert Frost’s famous poem, “Mending Wall.” Frost wrote, “Good fences make good neighbors,” but in the same poem he also noted, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” Fences and walls mark our territory, limit our movement, and convey our sense of property. We define ourselves and our space with fences. Metaphorically, fences and walls can mark different states of being—the familiar and the unfamiliar, the sacred and taboo, even life and death. Fences and walls establish the boundaries between the civilized and uncivilized. In the poem, Frost questions the building of barriers and walls, saying,

Before I built a wall I’d ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.

This year’s TALK series’ featured books are “The Wire-Cutters“ by Mollie E. Moore Davis, “Farewell to Manzanar” by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston, “The Tortilla Curtain” by T. C. Boyle, and “Fences” by August Wilson.

“The Wire-Cutters” by Mollie E. Moore Davis was first published in 1899 and is wire-cuttersconsidered by many to be the first novel of the American Western genre, predating even Owen Wister’s “The Virginian.” In the 19th century, fencing off rangeland with barbed wire transformed the Great Plains and, in Texas, led to the 1880s wire-cutting wars between rancehers and farmers.  Davis’s writing about this era reveals her “sharp ear for regional dialect, abundant sense of frontier humor, and keen grasp of historical detail” (Barnes & Noble).  The discussion of “The Wire Cutters” is scheduled for Thursday, January 31, 2013.

farewellJeanne Wakatsuki was seven years old in 1942 when her family members were uprooted from their home and, along with 10,000 other Japanese-Americans, were sent to live behind barbed-wire fences at Manzanar internment camp in the high mountain desert country of California. Life in the camp combined the incongruities of high school sock hops, Boy Scouts, and baton twirling lessons with searchlight towers and armed guards. “Farewell to Manzanar” is Wakatsuki Houston’s memoir of this experience and a recounting of the years after internment when the family struggled to rebuild their lives. It will be discussed Thursday, February 28, 2013.

“The Tortilla Curtain” by T.C. Boyle is a powerful and timely novel that examines the tortillaparallel lives of a desperately poor, undocumented  immigrant couple and a wealthy, comfortable, and politically correct suburban couple living in close proximity to each other in the southern California hills. By random accident, their lives intersect for a brief period and the encounter provokes difficult questions concerning immigration, unemployment, discrimination, and social responsibility, and the brutal inequities that separate them and expose the failed American Dream. “The Tortilla Curtain”will be featured Thursday, March 28, 2013.

fences“Fences,” a two-act play written by August Wilson, won the Tony Award for Best Play of 1987, the New York Drama Critic’s Circle award, and the Pulitzer Prize.  Set in the 1950s-60s in an urban neighborhood in Pittsburgh, this play tells the story of a middle-aged African-American man, his wife and son, and visits some universal themes of American life that were going through great upheaval at that time – segregation and racism, changing moral boundaries and family values, baseball and the American Dream.  The play will be discussed Thursday, April 25, 2013.

Again, programs will start at 7:00 p.m. and will be held in the Manhattan Public Library’s Groesbeck Room on the second floor of the west wing.

Vicarious Adventure

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national parksThe weather outside is frightful, so it’s a good time to travel vicariously with our DVD collection.  My entire family has recently been obsessed with National Geographic’s National Park Collection.  Each episode covers a different park with commentary on geology, wildlife, and history.  So far we have enjoyed rock climbing in Yosemite, hiking the Appalacian trail, and discovering cowboy hideouts in Canyonlands.  An adventure around every bend!

“Geronimo” by Robert Utley

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geronimoBy Marcia Allen, Technical Services & Collections Manager

I always look forward to new titles by writer Robert Utley.  While Utley, a former historian for the National Park Service, has created some excellent guidebooks for various parks, he has also written extensively about the American West.  His books are always scrupulously researched, and he manages to remain objective about real characters that are sometimes larger-than-life.    “The Lance and the Shield” offers great insights into the life and character of Sitting Bull, while “A Life Wild and Perilous” presents incredible details about the lives of the mountain men who explored and hunted the West.

I was not disappointed by Utley’s latest book, “Geronimo.”  Like most of us, Utley had heard rumors about Geronimo’s past.  To some people, for example, Geronimo is considered a heroic representative of the remnants of the American Indian tribes fighting for a homeland in the wake of pioneer settlements.  To others, Geronimo is regarded as little more than a blood-thirsty killer who preyed on unsuspecting settlers.  To still others, he is venerated as a chief who wisely led a band of Apache warriors in the Southwest.

Utley’s research led him to the discovery of a character that he describes as both complex and contradictory.  Why?  First of all, Geronimo was not a chief at all.  He was a tactical leader, an expert in orchestrating raids to capture slaves and steal horses.  He had a particular hatred for the Mexican population, so he frequently ventured across borders to take advantage of livestock holdings.  And yet, he was regarded by his followers as being a great negotiator, particularly when the Apache people were later relocated to reservations.

He also frequently changed his mind, hence the contradictory nature of Utley’s findings.  Geronimo regarded himself as a great healer, for example, and was sought out by his followers when they developed ailments.  When he himself became ill, though, he immediately sought the aid of white American doctors.  He also despised the lies that U.S. Cavalry leaders told in order to remove the Apaches from their native land, and yet he himself was guilty of frequent dishonesty, and on several occasions abandoned his friends during battle.

To what does Utley attribute Geronimo’s fame?  Partly, it is the times in which he lived.  Westward expansion did encroach on the Apache grounds, eventually pushing the native people to the unfamiliar and unhealthy reservations in Florida, and finally to a more habitable locale in Oklahoma.  Geronimo resisted relocation as long as he could.  Again and again, he suffered the loss of family members and close friends during surprise attacks that drastically reduced the Apache population.   His skirmishes became legendary in newspapers, and his reputation grew, until he became symbolic of the solitary hero fighting a losing cause.  He also adjusted surprisingly well to his new circumstances.  Photographs taken late in his life depict him as an avid participant in the 1904 Louisiana Purchase Exposition in Saint Louis, as well as the driver of an automobile for a 1905 convention.

Utley’s retelling of Geronimo’s life story is typical of the author’s lively accounts of the West.  We learn, for example, that Geronimo was an unknown until he reached his middle fifties.  Until that time, he had led a life unremarkable in the Apache tradition.  He had a family to which he was deeply committed, a system of traditional beliefs to which he adhered and a fairly ordinary reputation as an Apache warrior.  It was not until westward expansion and territorial battles developed, that his leadership skills in arranging ambushes and concealing encampments became crucial.

Jason Betzinez, who wrote a book entitled “I Fought with Geronimo,” was an Apache writer whose work Utley greatly admires.  Betzinez wrote of the honesty and endurance of the Apache people, but also of their quarrelsome nature and their tendency toward drunkenness.   Geronimo’s death resulted from his weakness for alcohol.  Despite the fact that the law barred Indians from buying liquor, Geronimo obtained a bottle, drank it while riding a horse home in freezing temperatures and fell from the horse.  He lay on the cold ground until found the next morning, dying of pneumonia a few days later.  Some hundred years later, Geronimo remains, in Utley’s words, “one of the enduring icons of American and Native American history.”  This worthy biography is an essential chapter in the history of the American West.

A New Classic of War Novels: The Yellow Birds

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by Marcia Allen, Technical Services & Collections Manager

I chose to read this particular novel because of the endorsements of some of my favorite authors.  Anthony Swofford, who wrote the compelling book Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles,  called the book “a powerful work of art that captures the complexity and life-altering realities of combat service.”  Daniel Woodrell, who wrote the stark novel Winter’s Bone, described the book as “a story for today and tomorrow and the next.”  Philip Caputo who wrote his own memoir about war A Rumor of War, called this new novel “enduring and truthful about war itself.”  I knew that if those writers considered the book to be an important one, then I, too, would gain something from it.

And so I began reading Kevin Powers’ first novel, The Yellow Birds.  Powers, a veteran of the war in Iraq, wrote one of those first sentences that simply compels  the reader to keep going.  “The war tried to kill us in the spring,” he wrote, beginning his tale of friendship and death in the Gulf War.  This powerful story expertly handles the nature of friendship and betrayal, of death and guilt.

In the year 2004 in Al Tafar, Ninevah Province, Iraq, two young soldiers, Bartle and Murphy, are on a mission.  In the opening chapter, Bartle, who is telling the story, recounts the shooting death of an old woman.  Neither young man is surprised by the violence of her demise; Bartle notes, for example, that Murphy discusses her death in the same tone used for discussing the day of the week.  It’s obvious that the two are exhausted both by the violence of what they have witnessed on a daily basis, and by  their ongoing lack of sleep and recuperation.

The friendship between the two is an uneasy one.  Bartle seems to have adjusted to the nature of the service, but Murphy, whose mother asked Bartle to look after her son, begins to lose touch with reality.  When he witnesses the death of a young medic during a mortar attack, he becomes completely unmoored and wanders off by himself.  What follows is tragic.

Why be drawn to a novel such as this?  For one thing, it’s a valid examination of the contemporary horrors of war and the discipline of the men involved.  Bartle describes his sergeant as a man who “didn’t care if we hated him.  He knew what was necessary.”  The sergeant knows his troops must obey his every order if they want to survive.  He is crude and he is violent, but his young charges heed his every word.

For another, the story is incredibly well-written.  In passages that echo with Ernest Hemingway’s Farewell to Arms or Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, Powers handles the immediacy of combat so well.  In the aftermath of a vicious attack, for example, Powers describes the landscape as follows:

“The empty city smoldered.  We wore it to the bone with our modern instruments.  Walls crumbled.  Blocks composed of halves of shelled buildings allowed warm breezes to sweep up trash and dust and send them swirling in little cyclones as we walked.”

Finally, there is a timelessness that makes Bartle’s experiences those of any warrior at any time.  He admits that his involvement in combat was a decision based on rebellion.  He struggles with the demands of coping with an ethical void.  He does what is asked of him and struggles with the entailing responsibility.  And in the end, he comes to some kind of acceptance, if not peace, for what he has seen and done.

I didn’t like this book.  It was a struggle to read of the carnage that took place, and identifying with the main character would place any  reader in a very uncomfortable role.   And yet I felt I had a better understanding of the difficulties of those who serve.  It is clear to me exactly why “The New York Times” recognized The Yellow Birds as one of the ten best books of the year.  This is tale is destined to become a classic.

Favorite New Young Adult Books for Adults

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by Keri Mills, Young Adult Librarian

Young Adult books, as many people are recognizing these days, are not just for teens. In fact, adults make up the majority of young adult book purchasers. With that in mind, here are a few of my Young Adult picks from the past year that that should appeal to people of all ages.

Between Shades of Gray by Ruta Sepetys
In 1941, fifteen year old Lina, her mother, and younger brother are suddenly pulled from their Lithuanian home by Soviet soldiers and sent to work camps in Siberia, while the fate of Lina’s father is unknown. Lina, her family, and fellow Lithuanians struggle to maintain their humanity while enduring brutal cold, near starvation, disease, and cruelty from Soviet soldiers. To cope with her horrific situation, Lina, a gifted artist, draws in secret, hoping that one day someone will find her pictures and her story will be told.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
At age sixteen, Hazel is a stage IV thyroid cancer survivor. Her life is hanging by a thread, as an experimental drug temporarily keeps her alive, but no one knows how long it will be effective. At her parents’ insistence, she begins attending a weekly support group for teens living with cancer. It is here that she meets Gus, a fellow cancer survivor, and they fall in love. Green deals with the tough issues in this novel – life, death and love – with honesty and sensitivity. And, although this book tackles a serious subject, there is a good deal of wit and humor that keeps it from devolving into a cry fest. However, you may not want to completely abandon that box of Kleenex!

Bzrk by Michael Grant
Conjoined twins Charles and Benjamin Armstrong, evil and twisted owners of Armstrong Fancy Gifts Corporation, have a master plan to take over the world and turn it into their version of Utopia. Opposing them is a secret organization, code name BZRK, in which members take the names of the famously insane. This is no ordinary war, however. Here, the weapons of choice are nanobots the size of dust mites, and the battlefield is inside the human brain. The price of war to combatants is often insanity, loss of memory or free will, and even death. Atrocities are committed on both sides, and it is often impossible to tell the good guys from the bad. Although this book is science fiction, the ethical and philosophical issues Grant raises held my attention long after I was done reading.

I Hunt Killers by Barry Lyga
Jazz is your average teenager growing up in the sleepy little town of Lobo’s Nod, except for one little thing. His dad is one of the most notorious serial killers in history. Before finally being captured by police, Jazz’s father murdered over 100 victims, and passed on many of his secrets to Jazz along the way, hoping that one day Jazz would follow in his footsteps. Growing up with a sociopath has left Jazz with nightmares and the constant fear that he will inevitably end up just like dear old Dad. As if life isn’t complicated enough, bodies are beginning to pile up in Lobo’s Nod again. Jazz is determined to help the sheriff with the investigation, but unbeknownst to the police, Jazz has his own secret. If you are easily spooked, you might want to read this one with the lights on.

Never Fall Down by Patricia McCormick
This National Book Award Finalist is a fictionalized retelling of the childhood of Cambodian human rights activist, Arn Chorn-Pond. Arn is only eleven years old in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge marches into his Cambodian town and forces everyone into the country to work as slave laborers.  Arn is separated from his family and is witness to atrocities that will make your stomach turn. As the Killing Fields pile up with bodies, Arn does whatever it takes to survive before he is eventually rescued and brought to America. This is not an easy book to read, but it is certainly unforgettable.

If you are looking for last minute Christmas gifts or a great book to read over Christmas break, try out one of these I’ve mentioned or check out one of the many other great reads in our Young Adult area.

The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt: a Novel in Pictures by Caroline Preston

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When Frankie Pratt graduates from high school in 1920, she receives a scrapbook and her father’s old Corona typewriter.  She can’t wait to leave her small New Hampshire home town and take on the world as a writer, but of course complications ensue.  Frankie’s experiences include education, heartbreak, encouragement, and decisions both misguided and brave.  We get to be there every step of the way as she types up her journal entries for her scrapbook and includes letters, candy wrappers, fashion spreads, and ticket stubs for our archival pleasure.  The Scrapbook of Frankie Pratt is a quick and delightful read with images that bring her and her era to life.

Great Books for Holiday Gifts

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by Susan Withee, Adult Services Manager

Whether you’re looking for holiday gift ideas for the people on your list or planning your own post-holiday winter hibernation, here are a couple of suggestions for no-fail great reading from Manhattan Public Library.

First, for those who enjoy reading as an intellectual adventure, consider “micro-histories,” books that combine history, science, and sociology to make an absorbing reading experience.  Microhistories investigate how individual discoveries, natural phenomena, new ideas, and technological developments have impacted human life and knowledge and how these events have “changed the world.”  These books appeal to folks with a wide range of interests, and the stories unfold like mysteries or adventures tales, entertaining and enlightening readers on a variety of subjects.  Some well-reviewed recent microhistories:

The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum
Double Entry: How the Merchants of Venice Created Modern Finance by Jane Gleeson-White
A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire by Amy Butler Greenfield
The Big Roads:  The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways by Earl Swift
The Invention of Air: A Story of Science, Faith, Revolution, and the Birth of America by Steven Johnson
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat by Bee Wilson
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain
No Idle Hands: A Social History of American Knitting by Anne L. Macdonald
A History of the World in Six Glasses by Tom Standage
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World by Dan Koeppel
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History by Katherine Ashenburg
Spice: The History of a Temptation by Jack Turner
The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World by Steven Johnson
The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language by John McWhorter
City: A Guidebook for the Urban Age by P. D. Smith
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary Queen of Scots to Quantum Cryptography by Simon Singh

For people who read for pleasure and enjoy a lavishly illustrated and browsable book, take a look at these fabulous choices from publisher Dorling Kindersley.  DK Publishing is renowned for the readability of the layout and the beauty of the photos, graphics, diagrams, and illustrations in its books.  In addition to their highly-recommended Eyewitness travel guides, outstanding non-fiction series for children, and reference and how-to books for adults, DK regularly publishes big beautiful blockbuster books on subjects of timeless popularity.  They are a substantial and satisfying feast to enjoy over and over.  Great choices for adults:

Ship: The Epic Story of Maritime Adventure by Brian Lavery
Great Buildings by Philip Wilkinson
Car: the definitive visual history of the Automobile
Mountaineers: Great Tales of Bravery and Conquest
Fashion: the definitive history of costume and style
The World’s Must-See Places
Prehistoric Life
Timelines of History
The Illustrated Bible: Story by Story
Explorers: Great Tales of Adventure and Endurance by Alasdair Macleod
Flight: the Complete History by R. G. Grant
Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5000 Years of Combat by R. G. Grant
The Civil War: A Visual History
The Road Less Travelled: 1000 Amazing Places off the Tourist Trail
The Complete Golf Manual by Steve Newell
Bird:  The Definitive Visual Guide
Violent Earth by Robert Dinwiddie
World War II: The Definitive Visual History