Category Archives: Mercury Column

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.

“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.

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

Native American Heritage Month

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by John Pecoraro, Assistant Director

November has been designated Native American Heritage Month to raise awareness about the challenges Native people have faced, historically and in the present. To learn more about the rich history and culture of Native American peoples, sample the writing of Native American authors.

Kiowa author, N. Scott Momaday, recounted the story of a young American Indian caught between the rhythm of the seasons and the dissipation of the twentieth century in his classic, House Made of Dawn. Momaday blended history, folklore, and memoir in telling the story of his Kiowa ancestors’ journey from their ancient beginnings in Montana to their final defeat and relocation to Rainy Mountain, Oklahoma in The Way to Rainy Mountain.

Leslie Marmon Silko of the Laguna Pueblo is the author of several collections of poetry and short stories, as well as novels and other writings.  In one of her most recent works, The Turquoise Ledge, Silko wove tales from her family’s past into observations taken on her daily walks in the Sonoran desert. The result is a deeply personal reflection on the enormous spiritual power of the natural world, how creatures and landscapes communicate to us, and how they are all interconnected.

Abenaki writer Joseph Bruchac writes biographies for young readers, as well as fiction for children and adults. A performer known for his storytelling ability, Bruchac has also written a series of books for children retelling Native American stories and legends. When Bear and Brown Squirrel have a disagreement about whether Bear can stop the sun from rising, Brown Squirrel ends up with claw marks on his back in How Chipmunk Got His Stripes.  When cornmeal is stolen from an elderly couple, Cherokee villagers find a way to drive off the thief in The Story of the Milky Way.

Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of the Chippewa, is the author of several bestselling novels featuring Native American characters. In her most recent, The Round House, Erdrich illuminated the harsh realities of contemporary life in a community where Ojibwe and white live uneasily together. In Plague of Doves, the lynchings of several Indians after a brutal murder haunted a small town on the edge of the Ojibwa reservation in North Dakota. Erdrich’s story revolves around the descendants of the victims and the vigilantes as over time they find their lives interconnected in unexpected ways.

Sherman Alexie, of Coeur d’Alene and Spokane ancestry, writes fiction exploring the despair, poverty, and alcoholism among the lives of Native American people. The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a collection of interconnected stories about Victor Joseph and Thomas Builds-the-Fire, two young Native-American men living on the Spokane Indian Reservation. Questions of authenticity and identity abound in Blasphemy, Alexie’s newest title. In this collection of old and new stories, characters grapple with racism, damaging stereotypes, poverty, alcoholism, diabetes, and the tragic loss of languages and customs.

Now you can share what you think about the books you’re read, CDs you’ve listened to, and DVDs or Blu-Rays you’ve watched. Click “Write a Review” under the book cover image in the library catalog, or look for the red “Reader Review” stars. Read what others have written, or click “Add a review for this,” to add your own review.

On Thursdays beginning November 29 Bookworm Buzz debuts on the library’s Facebook page. Interact in real time with library staff and others interested in books and reading.

Larry McMurtry Ponders George Armstrong Custer

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By Marcia Allen, Technical Services & Collections Manager

Author Larry McMurtry achieved almost instant fame in 1985 when he wrote the now-famous saga of the West, Lonesome Dove.  In fact, the novel earned the Pulitzer Prize for fiction and was later developed into an Emmy Award-winning TV series that starred Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones. McMurtry went on to write other tales of the West, but none achieved the same stardom of that Gus McCrae/Woodrow Call cattle drive partnership.
McMurtry’s latest is his take on the life of Custer, but readers hoping to find a definitive biography about the controversial Custer will be disappointed.  McMurtry’s Custer does not follow the boyhood and maturing of the West Point graduate, nor does it contain an in-depth study of his development as a military leader.  It mentions his parentage in passing and speaks of his siblings only in listing family members who died with him at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
McMurtry admits in the text that there are other writers, most notably Evan S. Connell in his magnificent biography, Son of the Morning Star, and Nathaniel Philbrick in his historical account, Last Stand, who have written outstanding accounts about Custer.  McMurtry elected to write what he calls a “short biography,” designed to bring clarity to its subject.
Does he succeed?  In some ways he does.  We have clear notions of Custer’s character flaws.  Yes, he graduated last in his class at West Point.  Yes, he seems to have had an enormous ego that compelled him to behave rashly, making enemies of those who outranked him (like General Grant) as well as those he commanded (like troops he abandoned at the Washita Battleground).  Yes, he had difficulty heeding authority, and was charged with disregarding orders an astounding number of times.
In contrast, we also have the Custer who was admired by many.  He did conduct himself bravely during Civil War battles and was promoted to general in as astoundingly short time.   He did verify the existence of gold in the Black Hills.  And he did earn the admiration and loyalty of his wife, Libbie, who spent her widowhood defending his character to any who would listen.
McMurtry also presents a wide array of period photographs.  We find Custer amid the troops in Civil War shots.  We see portraits of the young Custer couple, taken at various encampments and forts.  We peruse portraits of various Native American tribal leaders, especially shots of Sitting Bull who may or may not have encountered Custer on the hills of the Little Bighorn.  We also find depictions of the battle itself: some romanticized heroic stances, others realistic imaginings of what might have occurred.
But the book has flaws of its own.  There are times when the language is amazingly unsuited to the tale.  McMurtry, for example, alludes to Custer and his doomed troops battling the countless numbers of Native American warriors with:  “Surprise, surprise, you’re dead!”  The book also takes tangents that have little relevance to the subject.  The author, for example, spends unsubstantiated speculation about Custer’s involvement with a Cheyenne woman and with Libbie’s possible reaction to any dalliance.  How this relates to events in 1876 in Montana remains unclear. And I am troubled by a photograph that is labeled “Custer with his horse, Comanche.”  Comanche, the scarred survivor of Custer’s charge in the Montana hills, belonged to Myles Keogh, who was killed during the battle.  It seems likely that the photograph was taken after the battle and that the man holding the bridle was not Custer at all.
Where is the appeal of the book?  For those like me, who like enjoy reading about the American West, it offers unique ways of examining those past events.  I was intrigued, for example, with McMurtry’s perceived likenesses between George Armstrong Custer and John C. Fremont, who like Custer, proved a controversial figure in his time.  I also better understand the animosity between Libbie Custer and Major Marcus Reno, a man Libbie blamed for her husband’s death.  And I think McMurtry’s assessment of the Little Bighorn Battle as the final blow against Native American independence is accurate.  McMurtry’s book is not an authoritative account of Custer’s life, but it does illuminate aspects of a violent time clouded in question.

Daring writer’s deadline: 50,000 words or more in 30 days

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It’s November and National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is here again. If you’ve never heard of National Novel Writing Month, the goal of participants in NaNoWriMo is to put out a 50,000 word novel (about 175 pages) over the course of the month of November. If you’ve ever wanted to write a novel but have never found the time to do it, this could be the month. The emphasis isn’t on having a completely polished book by the end of the month; it’s simply to have written 50,000 words. This can mean a complete novel that needs editing and revising, or 50,000 words towards the completion of a longer novel. Broken down to a more manageable number, this sets a goal of writing around 1,667 words per day. This obviously isn’t for everyone, but for some people, having an explicit deadline can be very helpful.

NaNoWriMo is great for helping people complete their goal of writing a novel because there are so many participants. There is an online community of writers, active at http://www.nanowrimo.org/ and on Twitter and Facebook, who are going through the same worries, stress, and time crunch and who are ready and willing to offer encouragement, advice, and ideas.  There are so many people participating in NaNoWriMo nationwide that many towns and cities have local participant meet-ups.  Manhattan has a group on the NaNoWriMo website with over 300 registered participants.

The first NaNoWriMo took place in 1999 in the San Francisco Bay area with a group of 20 participants. The next year it grew to 140 participants, and when bloggers started spreading the word and local and national news outlets started covering the event, it really took off.  Last year 256,618 people from around the world signed up to participate on the website and 36,843 completed their goals.

There are some hugely successful books that were written during NaNoWriMo. A few examples are Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Persistence of Memory by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes, and Wool by Hugh Howey. In October, Kansas author Gennifer Albin’s first novel, Crewel, written when she participated in NaNoWriMo in 2010, was published by Farrar Strauss Girous and is receiving excellent reviews. Her book is the story of Adelice, a young girl who lives in a world where women known as Spinsters weave the fabric of people’s lives.

If you’re participating in NaNoWriMo, there are a number of ways Manhattan Public Library can help you. If you need a place to work, don’t forget about the library! We’ve got computers for you to work on, and quiet spaces, outlets, and wireless internet for people who bring in their own laptops. Sometimes getting out of your house or apartment and working in a different space can help you be more productive. On second thought perhaps you would get more written if you don’t connect to our wi-fi!

If you’re experiencing a bit of writer’s block, try flipping through some of our creative writing books for exercises to get your creative juices flowing. Check out a movie or a CD to take a break, recharge and relax before you go back to writing. Look through some of our beautiful art, nature, and photography books to spark ideas. And if you need a fact for your book, stop by the reference desk and we’ll help you find information on everything from the cost of twine in 1890 America for your Western adventure to finding the perfect cookie recipe for your culinary mystery.

To learn more about National Novel Writing Month and to sign up to participate, go to http://www.nanowrimo.org

Women’s Lives

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by Susan Withee, Adult Services Manager

I’m a pretty eclectic reader overall with interests that bounce around through much of the Dewey Decimal system and make forays into all sorts of fiction.  But an ongoing and constant reading interest of mine is books about women’s lives, which have fascinated me since I climbed the stairs to the Children’s Room in the old Carnegie Library and checked out Abigail Adams: A Girl of Colonial Days.  Since then I’ve continued to read anything from collections of women’s journals and letters, to books of humorous and true confessions, to biographies and personal memoirs, to social and cultural history.  Here are some interesting books that I’ve enjoyed in the past year about women and their lives and history.

The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure.  Author McClure, a young woman with a very understanding boyfriend and a childhood obsession with writer Laura Ingalls Wilder, set out to revisit all the joy she experienced from the Little House series by traveling to locales from the books, researching the real Laura’s story, and experimenting in her own apartment with Laura-esque chores like grinding wheat and churning butter.  Reminiscent of Sarah Vowell’s wacky and humorous travelogues through American history, McClure’s experiences and commentary are often hilarious and wry, and her observations on girlhood both in Laura’s time and now are penetrating and poignant.  A fun and unexpectedly touching book.

The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters by Jeffrey Zaslow.  A series of vignettes taken from a bridal shop owned and operated by three generations of strong, hard-working women in small-town rural Michigan, this is a tender, sympathetic look at the changing nature of weddings, marriages, and families since the shop opened during the Great Depression. The Magic Room is a wonderful book about ordinary women and the dreams, joys, and sorrows they encounter and share. (I especially recommend it if you, like me, are a secret devotee of the TV show Say Yes to the Dress!)

When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present by Gail Collins.  Starting out in 1960, when women still needed their husband’s permission to get a credit card and single women were routinely denied home mortgages (if they were even allowed to apply), this book tells the amazing story of five decades of nearly unimaginable social change in the lives of American women.  For women and men of a certain age, this is a startling reminder of all they have lived through and witnessed first-hand, and for those young women who take the changes of the past 50 years for granted it’s a sobering revelation.  Collins’ writing style is conversational, anecdotal, and witty and this social history is a page-turner – absorbing, enjoyable, and enlightening.

Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots by Deborah Feldman.  Born into the ultra-orthodox, insular Satmar Hasidic sect, Deborah Feldman grew up under strict traditional religious and social customs that governed every aspect of everyday life, but she struggled to meet the group’s expectations and live the life prescribed for girls and women.  Her first rebellion was to secretly visit a public library some distance from the Satmar neighborhood and read voraciously from secular and popular works in English.  Her final attempt to conform, an arranged marriage, was a disaster, and with the birth of her own daughter, Deborah began planning her escape from the community.  This is a fascinating look at a mysterious and secretive group; an absorbing and suspenseful personal memoir.

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake by Anna Quindlen.  Pulitzer-prize-winning columnist and novelist Quindlen looks back on her life from the milestone of her 60th birthday, and makes observations and offers perspectives in her trademark style – candid, astute, funny, acerbic, and touching.  Of parenthood she writes, “Being a parent is not transactional. We do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward endeavor: We are good parents not so they will be loving enough to stay with us but so they will be strong enough to leave us.”  About her aging body she writes, “I’ve finally recognized my body for what it is: a personality-delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from place to place, now and in the years to come. It’s like a car, and while I like a red convertible or even a Bentley as well as the next person, what I really need are four tires and an engine.”  Amen, Sister.  This book was a delight.

 

If You’re an Herbivore, This is Your Month

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by John Pecoraro, Assistant Director

Eat your vegetables if you want to grow big and strong, at least that’s what our parents and teachers have always told us. Remember: “An apple a day keeps the doctor away.” Our entire lives we’ve been told to eat right to feel right. Some of us have heeded this advice; some of us haven’t. Vegetarians and vegans have taken this advice to heart. October is National Vegetarian Month, and the perfect time to remind ourselves of the variety of eating experiences on offer from the greens, reds, yellows, purples, and other colorful fruits and vegetables available in garden and market.

Vegetarians and vegans are not synonymous. According to Merriam-Webster Online, a vegetarian is someone whose diet is one “consisting wholly of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and sometimes eggs or dairy products.” This type of vegetarian is also referred to as a lacto-ovo vegetarian. Vegans, on the other hand, are strict vegetarians who do not consume animal or dairy products. All vegans are vegetarians, but not all vegetarians are vegans.

Whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, or just want to eat like one, Manhattan Public Library has a wide selection of the cookbooks you’ll need to help you create a royal feast. If you like to cook outdoors, Grilling Vegan Style by John Schlimm delivers a full plate of meal options. From creative vegetable classics like Grilled Corn on the Cob with Lime and Pepper Sauce, to the art of grilling faux meats, this guide fires up 125 recipes for the backyard chef.

Also for grilling enthusiasts, Jolinda Hackett presents 225 backyard favorites in Cookouts Veggie Style. Learn how to make delicious and unique vegetarian dishes such as Crisped Camembert and Mango Quesadillas and Cajun-rubbed Portobello Caps. You’ll never miss burgers and hotdogs again.

For reluctant vegans, try Vegan Cooking for Carnivores by Roberto Martin. Featuring mouthwatering photographs, this book explains that the key to good vegan cooking is substitution. Vegan versions of meat-eater favorites include the Avocado Reuben and “Chick’n” Pot Pie.

Former Bon Apetit columnist Marie Simmons begins Fresh & Fast Vegetarian with pages of fast cooking techniques, suggested tools, and lists of favorite ingredients. Only then does this author present recipes for 150 of her favorite dinners. From soups (White Bean and Fennel; Pumpkin and Tomato Soup with Cheese) to salads (Toasted Quinoa, Corn and Avocado) to main dishes (Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Quick Black Bean Chili), this book has it all.

Vegetarian recipes are often a godsend to individuals on a gluten-free diet. Carol Fenster offers quick and delicious dishes for the healthy cook in 125 Gluten-free Vegetarian Recipes. From snacks and appetizers like Baked Kale Chips, to filling dinners like Chili Cornbread Casserole and Eggplant Parmesan Stacks, to decadent desserts like Tiramisu and Chocolate Mousse, Fenster makes gluten-free eating fun.

Joy Tienzo draws from a variety of influences to feature a diversity of innovative vegan dishes in Cook, Eat, Thrive. This author uses a series of symbols to indicate which recipes are raw, low fat, soy-free, and wheat-free, as well as recipes you can prepare in 30 minutes or less. Recipes range from well-known favorites (Buttermilk Pancakes) to more exotic dishes (Sage-Ricotta Gnocchi with Spicy Squash Mash).

Many cuisines have a tradition of meatless cooking. Troth Wells takes us on a gastronomic tour of the world with her One World Vegetarian Cookbook. Recipes include Indian Creamy Mixed Vegetable Curry, Greek Cheese Pies, Middle Eastern Baba Ghanoush, and even good old Boston Baked Beans from the U.S.A.

A vegan diet isn’t strictly about fruits and vegetables. Vegans do sometimes like dessert after a meal. Lickin’ the Beaters 2 by Siue Moffat includes a wealth of vegan chocolate and candy recipes to drool over. Presented with useful hints and a handy quick recipe indicator for those who simply cannot wait for their sugar fix, recipes include favorites such as pralines, cookies and cakes.

For the ultimate one-stop vegetarian cookbook, from the author of the classic How to Cook Everything, pick up How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman. This is the definitive guide to meatless meals that will appeal to everyone who wants to cook simple but delicious meatless dishes, from health-conscious omnivores to passionate vegetarians.

Manhattan Public Library has an extensive collection of cookbooks for all levels of culinary expertise. Check them out. They’re guaranteed to make you hungry for more.

Assistive Technology Center

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by Ann Pearce, Talking Books/Children’s Consultant

Manhattan Public Library’s Assistive Technology Center is the recipient of a $2,500 matching grant from Pilot International Foundation and the Little Apple Pilot Club.  This is the third and final year of this grant.  The grant has enabled the library to upgrade the Assistive Technology Center with new furniture, computers, software, and the addition of devices including an  iPad, Kindle Touch, and a Livescribe Smartpen.
The focus of the grant this year is service to children.  The Center is equipped with different software solutions in the areas of reading, writing, spelling, grammar, and math.  One such software solution is the family of programs from the company, Inspiration.  Inspiration is recognized as a leader in visual thinking and learning.  Inspiration has been available for several years in the Assistive Technology Center, and we have just added Kidspiration for younger children, and Inspiration Maps app for the iPad.  Visual thinking is a style of learning that presents concepts in a visual way such as diagramming and outlining.  To understand visual thinking, it’s easiest to think about brainstorming and being able to quickly put your thoughts down by either using images, words, or both.  For many students, the writing process can be overwhelming.  By using visually mapping, this process can be broken down into more manageable components.  The user can then edit the content, and when ready, the software can convert the images to a traditional text outline.
Along with software and the addition of devices, part of the grant monies have been used to purchase books concerning brain health and related topics for the library’s collection.  I recently read one of the books purchased, All About IEPs: Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About IEPs by Peter W. D. Wright, Pamela Darr Wright, and Sandra Webb O’Connor.  The school year has begun and for many students, their Individualized Education Program (IEP) is an important component in their pursuit of an education.  For many students and parents, the IEP process can be daunting.  This is a self-help book that takes the reader from the planning stages to resolving disputes with the school and everything in between.  The authors have included a helpful glossary of terms and a list of the statutes and regulations pertaining to IEPs.
The book is divided into chapters related to the issues and decisions each IEP team needs to address, from measurable goals to transition after school.  One chapter is devoted to the use of assistive or adaptive technology.  The law defines an assistive technology device as “any item, piece of equipment, or product system, whether acquired commercially off the shelf, modified, or customized, that is used to increase, maintain, or improve the functional capabilities of a child with a disability.”  Some of the assistive technologies that can benefit students with disabilities include text-to-speech, voice recognition, word prediction, screen readers, screen magnification, and talking dictionaries.  Dr. Katherine Seelman, associate dean of rehabilitation science and technology at the University of Pittsburgh, is quoted in the book as saying, “For people without disabilities, technology makes things easier.  For people with disabilities, technology makes things possible.”
The authors of this book are no strangers to special education.  Peter Wright is an attorney who represents children with special needs and their families.  Pamela Wright is a psychotherapist with training in psychology and clinical social work.  Sandra O’Connor is the editor of “The Special Ed Advocate,” a newsletter about special education legal issues.
The Assistive Technology Center is a community resource equipped with technological solutions for children.  Parents, teachers, and children are encouraged to take advantage of this resource.  If you would like more information, or if you would like to make an appointment, call the library at 785-776-4741, extension 202.  The Assistive Technology Center is open twenty hours a week from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, except for Wednesday, with hours from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

October Events at the Public Library

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by Susan Withee, Adult Services Manager

Along with our customarily full calendar of stellar activities for kids and youth, Manhattan Public Library and its co-sponsors will offer some unusual opportunities for fall fun to families and individuals of all ages this October.   The beauty of the season and the crisp, cool weather make it a great time to be out and about, so plan to join us for any or all of our events which, as always, are free and open to the public.

    Starting this week, the public will be unleashed on the streets of downtown Manhattan in search of gargoyles, Aesop’s fox, a relic of an historic flood, and the letter W.  A new and updated edition of our popular Architectural Scavenger Hunt, co-sponsored this fall by Downtown Manhattan, Inc., will be held during the entire month of October. To begin the hunt, pick up a brochure at the library at 629 Poyntz Avenue, or print one from the library’s website. Next, search for the architectural features pictured in the brochure and write down their locations.  Then, bring your results back to the library and enter the drawing for a chance to win prizes donated by Downtown Manhattan businesses including the Pathfinder, Brown’s Shoe Fit, Cary Company, AJ’s Pizzeria, and DMI.  Prize drawings will be held at the end of the month, and winners will be from among those who completed the hunt successfully.  This is a fun activity for all ages and a great way for you, your family, or visiting friends or relatives to explore Manhattan!  More information can be found by visiting the library at 629 Poyntz Avenue, at the website, or by calling 785-776-4741, extension 141.

Attend another blockbuster movie event at Manhattan Public Library on Saturday, October 13, when we’ll show the film that started it all on the big screen in the library auditorium at 2:00 p.m.  The festivities will include refreshments and special prizes and activities, and movie-goers are encouraged to come in costume if they wish!  Local sponsors include Varsity Donuts, Wal-Mart, and Hastings.  The celebration is part of Star Wars Reads Day, a national event created by LucasFilm, international publisher Dorling-Kindersley, and other publishing partners.  This film is rated PG.

If you enjoy a brain challenge along with your entertainment, come to Manhattan Public Library on Saturday, October 20, from 10:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. when the KSU Math Department and Math Circle Seminar will host a drop-in birthday celebration and math games event in honor of world-renowned mathematician Martin Gardner (1914-2010) in the library’s Groesbeck Room.  Gardner, a math and science writer who specialized in “recreational mathematics,” wrote a monthly column, “Mathematical Games,” which ran for over 25 years in Scientific American magazine.  His writing introduced a wide popular audience to math puzzles, games, and paradoxes, such as Soma cubes, Tangrams, the works of M.C. Escher, Penrose tiling, and the Golden Ratio.  Gardner authored books of brainteasers, puzzles, and logic problems for thinkers of all ages, and many of his books are available from Manhattan Public Library.  The program is appropriate for older children, youth, and adults, and will include opportunities for participants to work on a variety of math puzzles and games.

Books really are a metaphor for life’s adventures

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By Janene Hill, Young Adult Librarian

When starting a book, the anticipation can be tremendous.
Who will these characters be? Which ones will I like/love/despise? Where will the story take me? Will there be adventure? Tragedy? Laughter? Tears?
If we are lucky, a few chapters in we have settled in with good friends, in a familiar setting. We have become comfortable in this new world. We can’t wait to see what each turn of the page will bring.
We’ve settled in and become comfortable. Yes, twists and turns in the plot may make us anxious, but with luck, our heroes/heroines will come out of the situation without too much damage. Though they, and we, may not see it for some time, hopefully they have learned and grown from their ventures.
Then, many times before we know it, the story is coming to a close. We begin to realize we will soon have to let go of all of the people, places, and things to which we have become attached. We know the end our time with them is near.
Then, it is over. You put the book down and reflect on everything that just happened. Whether it took a few hours or a few weeks for us to get through the story, if it is one we enjoyed, it is a bittersweet moment. We hope for a sequel, but know that more often than not, this is the end.
Now we can only imagine what happens next. For our favorite characters, we imagine greatness in their future. Happiness, love, and all good things.
I’m sure I am not the first person to realize that books really do reflect life. Even if the adventures are way beyond anything we would actually experience in real life, the jest of the scenario is relatable.
Such is true for me this week.
After six and a half years as Young Adult Librarian at Manhattan Public Library, I say goodbye this week to head off to the next adventure in my career.
From my first day at MPL, I have always known this was a special position at a special library. In my time we have been able to take the Young Adult area from a single isle of books in a far corner, to a welcoming section with seating, displays, and a booming programming schedule.
While I am apprehensive about leaving MPL, I take comfort in knowing that staff and teens will work to keep the programs going and continue to build this crucial area.
So many people have worked alongside me over the past few years to encourage teen reading and get teens active at the library that I could never thank them all; but I hope the next YA Librarian at MPL will have the wonderful experiences that I did in meeting teens, community members, educators, parents, and all those involved in other community organizations.
The hardest thing for me this week will be to say farewell to some teens I have known for many years now. When I came some were just approaching middle school, and now those same kids are in their last year(s) of high school. I have seen so many of them grow into wonderful young men and ladies and can’t wait to hear about all of their accomplishments in the near future.
Looking back on the first time I ever wrote this column as a staff member at MPL, I was able to speak more about what a Young Adult Librarian is and what they do.
I pointed out that telling someone you work with teenagers causes one of three reactions:  fear, sympathy, or confusion. To this day, that is still true.
However, I am now able to add in the description of my job that “my” teens are so much fun and appreciate me for who I am and what I can do for them that every day is an adventure, and every time I get to be around the teens I learn more about teens, about my job, and about myself. Working with teenagers for more than nine years has given me a unique perspective on the world, one which I believe keeps me young.
The volume of my life that has taken place around Manhattan Public Library has been a good one. With lots of twists and turns, but ultimately with a happy ending that leaves us all looking forward to what happens next.
With all this in mind, I leave you with a quote I recently found by Terry Pratchett in his YA book Nation.
“No more words. We know them all, all the words that should not be said. But you have made my world more perfect.”

Celebrate Hispanic Heritage with Mystery

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by John Pecoraro, Assistant Director

Each year from September 15 to October 15 we recognize National Hispanic Heritage Month “by celebrating the histories, cultures and contributions of American citizens whose ancestors came from Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America.” What better time of year to explore mysteries written by Hispanic or Latino authors of many nationalities?

Mexican-American writer, Rudolfo Anaya, for example, features New Mexico private investigator Sonny Baca in a seasonal quartet whose titles include Zia Summer, Rio Grande Fall, Shaman Winter, and Jemez Spring.  Sonny Baca is not your average private investigator. A divorced former high school teacher, he’s the grandson of a legendary lawman, whose backup includes an extra-large sociopath, coyotes, and a curandera (folk healer).  Sonny routinely deals with drug dealers and medical experiments, as well as the mysticism and magic of Chicano culture.

Marcos McPeek Villatoro brings El Salvadoran policewoman Romilia Chacon to life in a series of novels that take her from the Nashville Police Department to the FBI in Los Angeles, as the Latina detective hunts for her sister’s killer. Titles in the series include Home Killing, Minos, A Venom Beneath the Skin, and Blood Daughters.

Inspector Espinosa is the protagonist in a series by Brazilian writer Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza. Lush in setting, these mysteries take place in steamy, exotic Rio de Janiero. Titles in this Rio-noir series include Silence of the Rain, December Heat and Pursuit. Inspector Espinosa is an everyman character, a public servant, a solitary individual, who does not consider himself a hero. Garcia-Roza has created an ethical policeman often out of his depth in the seedy world he serves.

Cuban-born writer Leonardo Padura is the author of a colorful series featuring Police Lieutenant Mario Conde. Havana Gold, Havana Red, Havana Blue, and Havana Black blend dark police procedurals with vivid images of contemporary Havana. Lieutenant Conde is a cop who would rather be a writer, feeling himself drawn to other writers, crazy people, and drunks.

For thrillers with a mystery twist, Spanish author Juan Gomez-Jurado offers several titles written with both energy and a sense of the cinematic. The Traitor’s Emblem involves a daring rescue at sea, a mysterious gold emblem, Nazis, Masons, and a son’s search for the truth behind his father’s death. Other titles by Gomez-Jurado in English include God’s Spy and The Moses Expedition.

Michele Martinez is a Puerto Rican-American attorney and former federal prosecutor in New York who shares many characteristics with her protagonist, Melanie Vargas. Martinez features Vargas and FBI agent Dan O’Reilly in several novels. In Most Wanted, the first book in the series, Melanie Vargas takes the case of a prominent New Yorker found tortured and murdered in his posh townhouse. Other titles in the series include The Finishing School, Cover-Up, and Notorious.

Cayetano Brule is the private investigator in a series of mysteries by Chilean author Roberto Ampuero. In The Neruda Case Cayetano meets the poet Pablo Neruda at a party in Chile in the 1970s. The dying Neruda recruits Cayetano to help him solve the last great mystery of his life. The novel is set against the dangerous political world of pre-Pinochet Chile, Castro’s Cuba, and perilous behind-the-Wall East Berlin.

Cuban expatriate Jose Latour delivers a suspenseful, atmospheric novel of intrigue set in contemporary Havana and Miami in Comrades in Miami. As Colonel Victoria Valiente, the Havana-based spymaster of greater Miami, her husband, and $2.7 million in stolen money set sail for Key West, little do they know that the FBI is on their trail. This novel gives an insider’s view of the Cuban regime’s darker corners.

Learn more about National Hispanic Heritage Month at hispanicheritagemonth.gov/.

September is also “Library Card Signup Month.” Visit the library to sign up for your card today, or click the Library Card button on our web page to register online. Your library card will open up a world of adventure, information, and knowledge, not to mention mysteries by Hispanic authors.

Reflections on The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

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By Marcia Allen, Technical Services & Collections Manager

Lately we’re hearing about a great deal of local interest in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. In fact, this newspaper recently ran Chris Banner’s review of that 2010 title.  Readers who have read the book know that on one level, it can be approached as the personal account of a woman’s death as a result of cervical cancer.  On another level, there’s the phenomenal extent to which her cancer cells have been used in the last sixty years to combat other ailments like polio.  On yet another level, there are the inevitable ethical questions about the harvesting and the sharing of human tissue without patient consent.  Perhaps it’s the last concern, the ethical treatment of patients, which accounts for so many strong reader reactions about the book’s contents.
I just finished reading this book, and I found that I really struggled to finish it.  It’s not that it was badly written or that the content was dry; in fact, the book was fascinating in a gut-wrenchingly painful way.  I struggled with the revelation of the many awful situations it conveyed.  The appalling series of treatments to which Henrietta, a black woman from Baltimore, was subjected (the radium implants and the heavy doses of radiation that she suffered) were shocking. The fact that various tissue samples (designated as “HeLa cells”) were harvested without the family’s permission during her autopsy, let alone the manner in which the samples were shared and later sold commercially, was repugnant.  And the gradual awareness on the part of the Lacks family that Henrietta’s tissue had attained a state of “immortality” was truly disheartening.
Why the local attention some two years after initial publication?
The K-State Book Network, the all-university reading program, selected this title as the 2012-2013 school year common reader.  Committee members made this choice based on the book’s variety of discussion topics and its easy availability in different formats, among other criteria. The university kickoff ceremony was held early last spring, but there is ample time to attend one of several book-related events yet to occur.
One such event is scheduled for Thursday, September 20th, at 7:00 p.m., in the K-State Union Ballroom.  Attendees are invited to share a visit with the Lacks family.  Another event is scheduled for Wednesday, October 10th, at 7:00 p.m., in the K-State Union Forum Hall.  At that time, guest speaker Yvonne Reid, PhD, Manager and Scientist in Cell Culture Contracts, will address the aspects of biological research impacted by HeLa cells.  Her address is entitled “HeLa Cells and Biomedical Research: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.”  A third event will take place on Tuesday, October 30th, at 7:00 p.m., in the Hale Library Hemisphere Room.  The topic for the evening is “Speaking the Silences: Women and Race in Kansas.”  Each of these events is free and open to the public.
Manhattan Public Library is also hosting a related event.  The library auditorium has been reserved on Tuesday, September 18th, at 7:00 p.m., for a discussion of the book.  Dr. Irma O’Dell, Senior Associate Director for Administration/ Associate Professor of the School of Leadership Studies at Kansas State University, will be the facilitator for the evening.  This event is also free and open to the public.
If you have not yet read this worthy book, you still have time to do so.  Manhattan Public Library has multiple copies of the Skloot book in a variety of formats.  Beyond print copies, also available in large print format, there are books on cd and a loanable book kit available for book groups.  MPL also has website links that will allow cardholders to download both audiobooks and ebooks of the title.
Again, this is not enjoyable reading, but in an age of explosive medical advancements and ethical dilemmas about sharing information and tissue samples, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a necessary reminder of human dignity and responsibility.  I would strongly encourage you to explore this book and to actively seek answers to your own questions about the contents.