Springfield Library Corner
November 14, 2002

ELEANOR'S CHOICE: FUN AND USEFUL WEBSITES FOR THIS WEEK

Clivia Web Site at http://www.clivias.com

Curious and Useful Math at http://personal.cfw.com/~clayford/

Glass Steel and Stone – The Art of Architecture at
http://www.glasssteelandstone.com/

Napoleonic Guide at http://www.napoleonguide.com/

StreetPlay.Com – Rules and Histories of Games at http://streetplay.com

Voices from the Gap – Women Writers of Color at http://voices.cla.umn.edu/

JOY'S PICKS

Many of us have spoken Yiddish without even realizing it. Have you ever known a “kvetch” or “noshed” in between meals? These words are descriptive and expressive. “Meshuggenary” by Payson R. Stevens explores Yiddish words and phrases and touches on the history and culture of the language. Now if someone calls you a Yiddish name you’ll know whether to be amused or insulted. Oy!

If you’re looking for some cooking excitement check out Douglas Rodriguez’s “Nuevo Latino :Recipes that Celebrate the New Latin-American Cuisine.” The author’s New World food preparations are based on his Cuban heritage and modern cooking and they reflect his passion for his craft. The mouth-watering photographs will make your taste buds tingle.

Is family history your thing? Learn how to preserve the past with Katherine Scott Sturdevant’s “Organizing & Preserving Your Heirloom Documents.” Your children and grandchildren are sure to appreciate your efforts and you’ll have fun exploring your roots.

Jan Struther’s “Mrs. Miniver” was published in 1939 and quickly became a best selling novel. It depicted upper middle class English life. The Hollywood film by the same title appeared three years later and won five Oscars. On the outside Jan Struther’s life resembled that of her heroine, but in reality she was very different. Ysenda Maxtone Graham paints a true to life portrait of Ms. Struther, her grandmother, in “The Real Mrs. Miniver :a Biography.”

Do you have a cat in your life? “The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats” by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson gives humans a cat’s eye view of life around them. You’ll learn about your cat’s innermost thoughts and feelings. So stock up on kitty litter and pass the catnip!

Children are taught about Pilgrims and Indians in school; what about the history of Thanksgiving as a National holiday? Local children’s author Laurie Halse Anderson’s “Thank You, Sarah :the Woman Who Saved Thanksgiving” relates Sarah Hale’s ability to make a change in her world.

The Philadelphia Marathon is November 24, so “The Looniness of the Long Distance Runner” is a timely addition to Springfield’s collection. Russell Taylor, unfit and thirty-nine years old, tells the story of his sport with candor and humor. This is a must-read for all athletes, even the arm-chair variety.

NAT'S "YOU SAW IT HERE AT SPRINGFIELD FIRST"

The Princeton Review’s 2003 edition of “The Complete Book of Law Schools” presents the prospective student with substantial evidence for deciding where to apply to law school. It covers essential areas such as average scores required for admission, financial aid packages and important characteristics about the schools such as student-to-faculty ratios. Importantly, the entries indicate where schools place their graduates –government, industry private practice, public interest practice or academia. Check out the companion website at http://www.princetonreview.com/law/research/advsearch/match.asp for a guided search based on your criteria for choosing a school.

Nutrition is a complicated subject and vegetarianism a sometimes controversial one. “I’m a Vegetarian” is full of fun facts (Hank Aaron and Thomas Edison are just two of many famous vegetarians) and ideas for kids who are interested in a vegetarian diet. The author makes no effort to hide her perspective that avoiding meat is both healthier for the person and for the planet. The book will help a young person learn how to eat well and healthfully and get along with carnivores. (See “Living Among Meat Eaters,” a book in our adult collection.)

If you are a writer who is developing a plot and haven’t quite settled on what jobs to give your characters, here’s a book for you: “Careers for Characters: a Writer’s Guide to 101 professions from Architect to Zookeeper.” For each job, the authors provide “the lowdown,” a job description, buzz words in the field, references to books with like characters, and sometimes a typical daily schedule of someone who works at the job! This compendium will hardly allow a writer to understand a character deeply but may well help matching a character to a job that is conducive to the writer’s overall design.


LIBRARIAN'S PICK OF THE WEEK

“Rubbed Out” by Barbara Block. Robin Light is a part-time private eye who owns a pet store and always gets her man/woman. I like these books because 1: Robin’s a tough-talking lady with a soft heart for kids and animals, 2: she doesn’t care if you like her, and 3: she’s not fearless, but can handle danger with the best of them.

Her menagerie includes Manuel, a street kid who helps out at the store part-time and can always be counted on in a crisis, Manuel’s girlfriend, who’s living with Robin temporarily until she can divorce her parents, and an ex-husband, who though he’s involved with another woman at the moment, can’t seem to stay away from Robin (and vice-versa.) Robin’s case this time is to find a runaway wife. It sounds simple, but when the Russian mob gets involved, the case gets difficult. Robin is a great character, the local color is fun and the pages keep turning.

Also new and recommended: “An Experiment in Treason” by Bruce Alexander; “The Winter Queen” by Jane Stevenson; “Scavengers” by Steven Havill; “Lilith’s Dream” by Whitley Strieber; “Out on a Limb” by Joan Hess, and “Leadership” by Rudolph Giuliani.

For the kids: “The Castaway” by James Stevenson; “Gullywasher Gulch” by Marianne Mitchell; “The Bones of Fred McFee” by Eve Bunting; “I Stink!” by Kate McMullan; “Wanda’s Monster” by Eileen Spinelli; “Gooney Bird Greene” by Lois Lowry, and “All Aboard” by Mary Lyn Ray.