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Looking Back as We Look Forward

by Chelsea Todd, LIS Librarian

I was watching the previews to a movie recently, when I noticed that almost every preview I saw was a re-make or continuation of a movie I’d already seen. Many of them based on books I read in my childhood. It seems to have become common in both media and literature to tell the same story- sometimes from different perspectives or in different time periods, but with the same themes that drew us in the first time around.

It got me thinking: what is it about these stories that we love enough to see them over and over? Aren’t there new and more exciting stories to tell as time passes?  I’ve concluded that, as time goes by, it is really about wanting to share something that influenced and molded us into the people we are today. It’s about preserving and passing them forward, but also looking at these stories with fresh eyes and new understandings of their relevance.  So, I will choose to enjoy and share each new telling of these stories, but also not forget where they originated or that there are also new stories to enjoy.

If you’re looking for some well-loved stories to dive back into, here are some of my favorites:

“Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott is a story, set during the civil war, of four sisters learning to make their way in the world with very different talents and interests to guide them. Any of your historical fiction lovers would enjoy this one! Alcott’s follow-up novel, “Little Men,” continues the story of the March family.

“The Princess Diaries” by Meg Cabot: This ten-book series revolves around the life of Mia Thermopolis as she strives to find balance between becoming a princess and being a normal teenager. These books are aimed at high school readers, but there is also a spin-off series for younger readers about Mia’s younger sister, called “From the Notebooks of a Middle School Princess.”

“Artemis Fowl” by Eoin Colfer is a series that begins with 12-year-old Artemis who is a self-declared criminal mastermind. This series has a wildly entertaining group of supporting characters such as Butler, Artemis’ bodyguard; and Captain Holly Short, a fairy who is a member of the LEPrecon unit determined to stop him. Colfer followed this series by releasing the books as graphic novels, as well as writing a book about Artemis’ younger brothers entitled “The Fowl Twins.”

“The Story of Dr. Doolittle” by Hugh Lofting has also had some grand retellings, and will again in 2020, however its worth reading the original classic about the quirky doctor who works better with animals than he does with humans, and the adventures they go on together. There are several sequels to this classic.

“The Call of the Wild” by Jack London is a naturalist piece set in the Yukon in the late 1890s that explores the motif Man vs. Nature, and centers around the harsh life of a sled-dog named Buck and his owner Thornton as they struggle to survive the wild unknown.

If you’re looking for some newer stories to love, you might try one of these more recent books:

“The Loser’s Club” is written by the late Andrew Clements who has given us many realistic fiction books that humorously reflect adolescent life. Here he tells the relatable story of Alec, a boy who keeps getting in trouble for reading during class, which leads him to starting a club for readers called, you guessed it: The Losers Club.

“Amina’s Voice” by Hena Khan explores the trials and tribulations of school, popularity, and finding oneself from the perspective of a Pakistani-American girl. This focuses on 11-year-old Amina who is discovering the importance of her culture amidst all the changes happening in her life.

 “Finding Langston” by Lesa Cline-Ransome is about a young African-American boy in the late 1940s who has lost his mother and moved to a new town where he must face a new school and new bullies, but also discovers the library and his namesake- poet Langston Hughes.

 “Pax” by Sara Pennypacker is a recent William Allen White award winner, and tells the heart-warming story of a boy and the fox that he saved as a baby. Ultimately after being separated, both Peter and Pax know that they must find each other again.

Find all the classic or contemporary stories worth reading- or re-reading- at Manhattan Public Library. If you need even more suggestions, our staff are here to help.

This Tender Land

by Bryan McBride, LIS Librarian

About twenty years ago, William Kent Krueger began writing a Native American mystery series that takes place in the Boundary Waters of Minnesota with a main character named Cork O’Connor. In these books, Krueger introduces us to folklore of the Ojibwe tribe. The inclusion of Native American folklore places the series in one of my favorite mystery genres, alongside Craig Johnson’s Longmire and James Doss’ Charlie Moon mysteries. In 2013, Krueger set aside the Cork O’Connor series and wrote a book called “Ordinary Grace,” winner of the Edgar Award for best mystery. Despite it being an older book in our collection, patrons often still need to place a hold on the library copy and wait for their chance to read it. That’s the way it worked for me, but it was worth the wait.  American literature filled with common philosophy, theology, and insights into human nature.

This year, Krueger released a novel called “This Tender Land.” It is a coming-of-age story about four children, whose lives intersect in 1932 at the Lincoln Indian Training School, on the banks of Minnesota’s Gilead River.  The school is a brutal place, where Native American children are taken from their families and placed to have their culture stripped away from them by whatever means necessary. The central character is Odie O’Banion, who is at the school with his older brother, Albert. They lost their parents at a young age and are the only white children at the school.  Albert fares okay because he toes the line. Odie, on the other hand, is always in trouble due to his rebellious nature and frequently spends a lot of nights in an isolation cell the Brickmans call “the quiet room,” where the evil DiMarco disciplines with a whip, and sometimes worse. A young Native American they call Mose is the third member of this friendship.  Mose’s traumatic life began at an early age when his tongue was cut, leaving him unable to speak.

One day, while the three of them are performing hard labor on a nearby work farm, they are swept away by the kindly Cora Frost, who has arranged for their daytime work to be transferred over to her. A short time later Cora has made preparations to take them in for the summer. Just as the boys are feeling like maybe something good is finally happening in their lives, a tornado rolls through Cora’s farm and kills her, orphaning her young daughter, Emmy. Odie and Albert’s hope is lost. The brutal headmistress Mrs. Brickman takes in Emmy, which is intolerable for the boys, who are concerned about Emmy’s welfare in Mrs Brickman’s home. One night, while out of the dormitory, they are caught out by DiMarco, and in a struggle he is accidentally killed by Odie.  Now Odie, Albert and Mose are on the run, but they refuse to leave Emmy behind with the headmistress, so they kidnap Emmy. An odd girl who has a gift for not only sometimes being able to look into the future, but somehow even affecting the future, she seems to be waiting on them when they show up to take her with them.

On the run from the Brickmans and the law, the four take to the river for their escape. They are a tight group of four children who learn about their strengths and weaknesses as they are forced into an early maturity.  Many adventures await them on the river, good and bad. It seems that Krueger is using the twists and turns of the river as a vehicle for the twists and turns their lives will collectively and individually take on their journey.  What Odie comes to realize is that these events test their friendship, ultimately pulling them in different directions as they all find new life following the river.

Those who enjoy coming-of-age stories and the bonds of youthful friendship should put this book on their reading list.  Historical fiction and theology from the Great Depression, as well the twists and turns and the “I didn’t see that coming” sensation, all combine to create time well-spent with “This Tender Land.”

Remembering the Alamo

by Marcia Allen, Collection Services Manager

Sam Houston.  Davey Crockett.  Jim Bowie.  William Travis.  All are remembered in history because of their involvement in the siege of the Alamo in 1836, but of those four men, only one survived the struggle for Texas independence.  While many books have been written about that struggle, few have the vibrancy and the fast pacing of Brian Kilmeade’s new book, Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers.  For those of us who love history or tales of the West, this new narrative is a standout.

Kilmeade’s thrilling account opens with the recognition that the Mexican and American hostilities are already building.    Repeated skirmishes had left casualties on both sides.  General Santa Anna was determined to drive the Texians from the territory and reclaim the land for Mexico, but President Andrew Jackson and his friend Sam Houston were equally determined to claim the Texas territory for the United States.  As word of the hostilities began to spread, American frontiersmen and ex-military fighters traveled to the territory for their own patriotic reasons.  Many legendary characters, like Jim Bowie and Davey Crockett, vowed to fight for their country.  And they, like others, had run into difficulties elsewhere that made them want to seek new adventures.

The conflict came to a head at the city of San Antonio at the site of a missionary church.  American forces decided to defend the weak fortifications and await the arrival of more defenders, hoping that General Santa Anna’s forces would arrive later.  That was not to be.  Nearly 200 defenders lost their lives during the standoff, and to the shock of the nation, the Texian survivors were executed outside the walls of the fortress.  As Kilmeade tells us, battle losses were nothing new to the country, but General Santa Anna’s dispatching of the survivors was unforgiveable.

“Remember the Alamo” soon became a battle cry, perhaps coined by Sam Houston, to rally troops for further confrontations with the Mexican forces.  Though not in good health, Houston realized he would have to take responsibility for the defense of Texas, and so he began elaborate plans to change the direction of the war.  His followers were often dissatisfied with his leadership because he did not share his major plans with them and because they felt he was delaying  confrontation for too long, but Houston was determined to avoid another crushing defeat like that at the Alamo.

Ultimately, the clash took place at San Jacinto.  This time, there were plenty of American forces for the battle, and Houston’s lengthy training regime paid off.  Too, the Americans had a favorable geographical advantage and elements of surprise in their favor.  General Santa Anna was not only defeated but also captured while posing as a messenger.  This was the confrontation that turned the war in favor of the Americans.

There are many reasons to appreciate and enjoy this book.  One is that Kilmeade’s accounts of specific battles have an immediacy and drama that make them excellent stories.  Another reason is his careful research that allowed him to convey relatively unknown details, taken from memories of those who witnessed these moments of history.  And his clearly worded passages about those historical events make them easy to understand.

Perhaps the best reason for enjoying the book is depiction of characters.  We know why Bowie and Crockett are there; we know their histories and their wilderness skills.  We come to understand them, not as characters from a book, but as real personalities who were players in a particular period.  “Deaf” Smith, for example, is little known in history, and yet he appears again and again in the conflicts as a colorful messenger/fighter/planner who accomplished so much for a newly assembled fighting force.  He is one of many loyal followers for the American cause.

If you share my enthusiasm for this book, you will be pleased to learn that Kilmeade has written other equally captivating accounts of history.  George Washington’s Secret Six and Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans are also available at the library.  I’m sure that you will find them just as appealing as Sam Houston and the Alamo Avengers.

Most Popular Titles of 2019

by Mary Swabb, Learning & Information Services Supervisor

Another year is almost in the books, and, betwixt all the holiday hubbub, you might have become aware that just sixteen days remain before we ring in the new year. Now might be a good time to look back and take stock of what’s happened, what you’ve read, what’s been written, and make plans for the future, like what books you’re going to read in the upcoming year. Here’re a few of this past year’s top titles that you won’t want to miss:

In her debut book, “Educated,” Tara Westover tells her coming-of-age story about growing up in a survivalist family residing in the mountains of Idaho, where she stockpiles canned goods, makes homemade remedies with her mother, and helps her father by working in his junkyard. Growing up, Westover was forbidden to seek medical attention, other than the herbalism provided by her mother, and she did not receive any formal education, so she began educating herself. Westover ending up attending Brigham Young University, and then went on to attend Harvard and Cambridge. Westover’s journey is one of self-invention, family loyalty, grief, and struggle. It’s a story that presents insight into what an education is, and what it offers- perspective on one’s life, and the opportunity to change it.

Helping women unpack their restrictive mindsets and embrace forward momentum, Rachel Hollis, lifestyle coach, seeks to share her tips for living a better and less fear-driven life in her first book, “Girl, Wash Your Face.” Hollis expands in more detail on how to let go of excuses, adopt positive behaviors, and believe in yourself in her new book, “Girl, Stop Apologizing.”

In “Heartland: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth,” Sarah Smarsh weaves a lyrical and poignant tale of her fifth-generation wheat farming family, speckled with young mothers and people who understand a hard day’s work. Smarsh, primarily raised by her grandmother on a farm thirty miles west of Wichita, enjoyed the freedom of a country childhood but observed the economic hardships and limited opportunities surrounding her family. Combining personal narrative with cultural commentary, Smarsh challenges readers to acknowledge the class divide in our country and to re-examine the idea that if you make less, you’re worth less.

Jodi Picoult weaves a nuanced story that tackles complicated issues in “A Spark of Light.” Picoult entwines the narratives of a variety of characters who find themselves at the Center, a women’s reproductive health services clinic, on the day an avenging angel solicits vengeance at gunpoint. This unique narrative is told in a backward structure that shows how each person arrived at the Center. The novel’s directness combines with Picoult’s trademark sentimentality to engage readers in a dialogue on this difficult subject.

At a luxurious health resort in the Australian countryside, nine people gather for various reasons to relax and recover. They are all given blood tests upon arrival by the spa owner, Masha, an ominously beautiful women with huge green eyes who seems too beautiful to be real. But the blood tests don’t turn anyone away from the experience, and of course the nine guests are not strangers like the title would suggest. Obviously, something odd is going on. Read “Nine Perfect Strangers” by Liane Moriarty to find out what happens to these “strangers.” Moriarty’s dark humor does not disappoint.

In “Long Road to Mercy,” David Baldacci introduces readers to his newest protagonist, Atlee Pine, an FBI special agent assigned to the remote wilds of the western United States. Baldacci’s intricate plots, double crosses, and fast-paced suspense are hard at work as Atlee Pine investigates a string of disappearances, the most recent being the rider of a mutilated mule found in the Grand Canyon. Will Atlee Pine be able to unravel these missing persons cases in the canyon?

If you’ve already read all these titles, or they just don’t capture your interest, Manhattan Public Library has plenty of other titles to add to your 2020 reading list. Feel free to stop by the library and ask a staff member for a recommendation. We’d be happy to help you find your next great read.

Sit Back and Relax with a Good Book

by Rhonna Hargett, Associate Director

Some call the holidays the “most wonderful time of the year,” but it can also be the most stressful time of the year. In the midst of your planning, shopping, and socializing, take some time for yourself with a good book. According to research, reading is a great stress-buster, sort of a mini-vacation for your brain. Here are some great titles, perfectly designed to help you recharge.

“The Turn of the Key” by Ruth Ware is the story of Rowan Caine, the new nanny at Heatherbrae House in the Highlands of Scotland. She thinks she’s gotten lucky when she lands the high-paying position in a sumptuous house and meets the attractive and ideal-seeming family, but it doesn’t take long before it becomes clear that something isn’t right. Consisting of her correspondence with her lawyer from jail after the death of one of the children, the novel details her growing trepidation as soon after her arrival, she is left alone with children that turn out to be nothing like the angels she was led to believe they were. Constant electronic monitoring and a “smart-house” system that randomly turns lights off and on increase her fear. Based on “The Turn of the Screw” by Henry James, “The Turn of the Key” is a riveting and disturbing mystery.

In “The Tattooist of Auschwitz” by Heather Morris, Lale Sokolov is a charming Slovakian Jew that is popular with the ladies. When he is sent to Auschwitz, he is given the advantageous job of tattooing his fellow prisoners with their numbers, a position that he uses for his own gain. When he tattoos the young beauty Gita, he falls in love. As their relationship grows, his hope to marry her inspires him to become a man worthy of her. Based on a true story, Morris’s novel portrays the horrifying life in the prison camps, as well as the power of love to survive in the worst of conditions.

“American Spy” by Lauren Wilkinson begins in 1992 with Marie Mitchell fleeing her home with her young sons. When she reaches a place of safety, she begins to chronicle the story of her career as an FBI intelligence officer so that her sons can read it when they are older. When she began her career in the mid-80s, her status as a black woman restrained her to desk duties, so she jumped at the opportunity when her race makes her the best candidate for the task of infiltrating the inner circle of Thomas Sankara, the president of Burkina Faso, in order to sabotage his position. A Communist-leaning trail-blazer, Sankara is more complex than he is portrayed by the bureau, and Mitchell spends the next year experiencing upended perceptions of herself and her career, even while accomplishing her mission. A mix of espionage and literary fiction, “American Spy” provides suspense along with an insightful exploration of family and race in the era of the Cold War.

In “Where the Crawdads Sing” by Delia Owens, Kya Clark raises herself from a young age in the marshes of North Carolina after being abandoned by her family. As she grows into a young woman, she encounters two men who befriend her. When one of them dies in a fall from a fire tower, Kya is the lead suspect. Although the mystery adds suspense, the true star of this 1970s story is the expressive language. Kya becomes intricately attached to the life in the marshes, and the descriptions of her relationship with the natural environment that surrounds her are accomplished. This is a good read-alike for those that enjoy Barbara Kingsolver’s work.

Take a few moments for yourself during this busy holiday season to stock up on a few fun reads at Manhattan Public Library, then put your feet up and escape into another time or place. You deserve it!

An Apple a Day, as They Say

by John Pecoraro, Associate Director

     An apple a day keeps the doctor away. Oh, if it were only true. There are over 7,500 varieties of apples, but a 2015 study found no evidence that, while apples are good for you and tasty, eating one a day won’t necessarily keep the doctor away. Today is Eat a Red Apple Day. It is the perfect time to sample a few of the books on growing and cooking apples available at your library.

“The Apple Lover’s Cookbook,” by Amy Traverso, is the most complete cookbook for enjoying and cooking with apples. This full-color guide to fifty-nine apple varieties comes with flavor descriptions, history, and, how to use apples in the kitchen. The author gives us a front row seat to meet farmers, cider makers, and other apple enthusiasts. There are one hundred recipes in this book running the gamut from simple cobblers to exotic fare such as Cider-Braised Brisket or Apple-Gingersnap Ice Cream.

“Apples, From Harvest to Table,” by Amy Pennington, features 50 delicious recipes organized into five chapters, from Breakfast & Brunch to Jams, Jellies & Preserves. This book is illustrated with beautiful food photography and vintage botanical drawings. It also includes essays on topics including how to make your own apple juice, heirloom apple varieties, and recipes and apple crafts for kids.

“The Apple Cookbook: 125 Freshly Picked Recipes,” by Olwen Woodier, is a revision of the author’s 1984 classic. It has been updated to include guides to newer varieties and cultivars, along with 30 new recipes, and full-color photography. This book offers descriptive information on the history of apples, as well as apple selection, storage, and cooking methods. While recipes for apple pies are featured, the author also provides unique savory preparations such as Apple Meatloaf and Ground Lamb Kebabs with Apple Mint Raita.

“Apples to Cider: How to Make Cider at Home,” by April White and Stephen Wood, is a beginner’s guide to making hard cider. This book begins with information about the roots of hard cider in America, giving the history and styles of cider. It then focuses on equipment, the types of apples to use, and how to set up the space for fermentation. Along with the step-by-step directions for cider making, the authors suggest techniques for evaluating each batch to further improve the end product.

We’ve all heard the tale of a man wandering in the American wilderness, wearing a pot on his head, and throwing apple seed. John Chapman, aka Johnny Appleseed, was more than a myth. Born in 1774 in Massachusetts, by the 1790s, Chapman was making his way west into Pennsylvania and Ohio, planting apple trees and spreading Swedenborgian philosophy.

In “Johnny Appleseed: the Man, the Myth, the American Story,” author Howard Means attempts to separate history from the folklore surrounding John Chapman. The rag-clad, barefoot nomad with a tin pot for a hat, was welcomed into frontier cabins despite his appearance.  Chapman was known for his boundless love of nature, his kindness, generosity, and bravery.  The seeds Chapman planted generally grew to trees bearing scrawny, sour apples, better suited for cider than anything else. While much of Chapman’s life is legend, Means pulls together his research on a fascinating figure and the myths that surround him.

Additional titles about Johnny Appleseed for younger readers include “Seed by Seed: the Legend and Legacy of John “Appleseed” Chapman,” by Esme Codell, and “Johnny Appleseed: a Tall Tale,” by Steven Kellogg.  Codell portrays a man who sometimes traded his trees for clothing. Chapman also gave away seedlings, lent his books to settlers, planted medicinal herbs, and, showed great kindness to animals.

Kellogg chronicles Johnny Appleseed’s travels, his legendary scattering of apple seeds, and his telling of Bible and adventure stories to the children and adults he meets along the way. Both picture books are brilliantly illustrated.

Food for Fines is coming again to the library. On Saturday, December 7, from 10:00 to 5:00, you can donate nonperishable food items for the Flint Hills Bread Basket in exchange for vouchers to pay your overdue fines. Vouchers are limited to $10 per account, and must be used during December. That’s a sweet way to get rid of your overdue fines, and help your neighbors.

Kansas Reads to Preschoolers “I Like Myself”

by Jan Johnson, Children’s Librarian

Would you love yourself if you had purple polka-dotted lips, or horns protruding from your nose, or hair that’s like a porcupine? Of course!

To celebrate Kansas Reads to Preschoolers Month, the Kansas State Library has provided copies of this year’s choice, “I like Myself” by Karen Beaumont, to each public library in the state. With funds provided by the Manhattan Library Association, Manhattan’s public library was able to give each family, who attended storytime the week of November 11​-16​, a free copy of the book.

Why is it so important to read to a child birth through five years old? 90% of a child’s brain is developed before the age of five, with 80% of that development relating directly to the activities children experience with and observe in parents and caregivers. When parents, caregivers, teachers and librarians read, sing, and play with young children every day, they are helping young brains to grow and form the necessary foundation for reading.

“I like Myself” is a fun look at the importance of self-esteem and acceptance. What better time to learn about how awesome it is to be ourselves than when our brains are developing? With positive text, bright illustrations and bopping rhymes, this book will become a lifelong favorite.

Another book that explores the importance of self-esteem is “ABC I like me!” by Nancy Carlson. This fun take on learning the ABC’s also teaches the importance of feeling good about ourselves. “I Like Me” by the same author introduces us to our best friend and that best friend is me!

“Be Who You Are” by Todd Parr is a bright, colorful, whimsical book for toddlers and beginning readers to help them embrace the importance of being who they are, just as they are. It explores what makes all people unique, whether it’s appearances, the way a person talks, where they are from, who is in the family – everyone is special and should be celebrated!

“The Skin You Live In” by Michael Tyler emphasizes how beautiful all are, no matter what a person’s skin looks like. This book introduces concepts of diversity, acceptance, social differences, and self-esteem that play a role in making us all unique.

“I Love All of Me (Wonderful Me)” by Lorie Ann Glover is a body positive board book that is fun to read while teaching baby about their wonderful body. Any time a parent or caregiver reads to their child and can incorporate physical movement like wiggling toes and noses and cheeks, they help strengthen a child’s understanding of words.

There’s a jungle dance in Africa where everyone shows up to party in “Giraffes Can’t Dance” by Giles Andreae and poor Gerald doesn’t feel that he can dance as gracefully as the warthogs waltzing, chimps doing the cha-cha, or baboons performing a Scottish reel. When Gerald meets a violin playing cricket who tells him to just feel the music, his body moves and grooves to the jungle beat.  “We can all dance when we find the music that we love” is a theme we can all connect to.  This book lets us know that it’s ok to just be yourself and have fun. Manhattan Public Library has several different versions of this book available, including the book with read along CD, and a fun cartoon version of the story available free to library card holders though our Digital Library on Hoopla and Kanopy.

Manhattan Public Library has several copies of “I like Myself” in our collection, as well as a Spanish language copy. Stop by the children’s library through the end of the year to check out our fun interactive display based on this book aimed at building the skills pre-readers need to enjoy a lifelong love of reading.

For more information on Kansas Reads to Preschoolers visit https://kslib.info/prek.

Books and Food to Be Thankful for

by Crystal Hicks, Collections Librarian

            To me, the best part of fall is making food to share with family and friends. Holiday cooking and baking are all about sharing, and I love the feeling that comes from showing my appreciation for others by gifting them with delicious food. I’m already making lists of what I want to make over Thanksgiving, and I’ll continue baking regularly for everyone I know clear into January. I’ve seen a lot of recent picture books that echo my gratitude for food, family, and friends, and, best of all, there’s something that will appeal to every palate.

Dawn Casey and Genevieve Godbout’s “Apple Cake” captures the essence of thanksgiving and gratitude. The deceptively simple book follows a girl and her dog as they gather ingredients for apple cake at their farm and thank everything from the bees to the earth for their parts in making apple cake. The warmth this book radiates in its illustrations and message makes it a delightful read, and the text would serve as a lovely blessing for Thanksgiving or another holiday celebration.

“Around the Table that Grandad Built,” by Melanie Heuiser Hill and Jaime Kim, is another book perfect for Thanksgiving celebrations. Structured around the rhythm of “The House that Jack Built,” this book shows a family preparing for a large meal centered around—you guessed it—the table that Grandad built. I love the mentions of past memories and traditions, like using “the glasses from Mom and Dad’s wedding,” and the list of foods they’re making sounds positively scrumptious. The bright, cheery illustrations are inviting, and I love the diversity of the family featured.

Fry bread holds a special place in Native American families and cultures, and Kevin Noble Maillard and Juana Martinez-Neal dive into what it means to them in “Fry Bread.” This book is both entertaining and informative, telling the story of a family celebration made special with fry bread and also explaining the history of where fry bread originated. Best of all, the illustrations are warm and comforting, like a grandmother’s love or a fresh piece of fry bread.

For a slightly more fantastical take on family cooking traditions, check out Eric Velasquez’s “Octopus Stew.” When Ramsey’s grandma starts cooking an octopus for octopus stew, he ends up having to save her from the rampaging creature. This is a fun, lively look at cooking getting out of hand and also features Afro-Latinx characters, who are rarely seen in children’s books.

Lou Peacock and Jasmeen Ismail liven up the traditional morality tale about the importance of sharing in “Nuts!” Two squirrels are happily collecting nuts until—uh-oh!—they discover the other squirrel poaching on their nut-hunting territory. In the end, the squirrels see the benefits of sharing with each other and other animals. This book is great for young readers, using few words and expressive illustrations to tell an engaging, relatable story.

During the fall, food holds even more importance for animals than it does for humans, as they have to eat in order to survive the cold winter months. You can learn all about the winter survival strategies of different animals in “Snack, Snooze, Skedaddle: How Animals Get Ready for Winter” by Laura Purdie Salas and Claudine Gévry. Informational sidebars accompany the main text, highlighting how animals from foxes to whales and butterflies survive the coldest months, and notes in the back talk about each animal’s survival strategies in greater detail.

Lynne Rae Perkins’s “Wintercake” does what I thought could never be done: it makes me want to try fruitcake. Thomas the gopher has misplaced his dried fruits, the ones he’s been saving for Winter’s Eve wintercake. With the help of his friend Lucy and a stranger, he recovers his dried fruits, then decides to do a kind turn for the stranger and share his wintercake in return. Perkins’s story combines several plot threads with inviting illustrations and dry humor to make a story about friendship, holidays, and food that is to be savored. It’ll also make you hungry for some cake.

Make sure you stop into the library throughout the holiday season and find some more books to be thankful for. If you’d like, you can go beyond reading about food and check out some cookbooks, too, which are sure to help make your holidays tastier. Be sure to share your favorite books with others, and you can even ask our staff for their favorite holiday and food book recommendations, too.

Nostalgia

by Jared Richards, Technology Supervisor

In times of stress, I find myself escaping into nostalgia, taking a break from my current existence and losing myself in a simpler time. To be fair to my present, that simpler time probably wasn’t any better, but time has the welcoming ability of blurring the harsh edges and giving everything a rose-colored hue, thus allowing me a bit of escapism and a chance to catch my breath.

I first noticed myself doing this in grad school when I needed an escape that wouldn’t increase my mental load. This led to rediscovering old favorites from my childhood. Today I go back, not only to escape stress, but also to revisit different periods in my life and rekindle old memories.

In my twenties, I worked at a movie theater and had all the time in the world to read stacks of books. My interests were all over the place, but I spent a lot of time reading historical nonfiction. A few of my favorites are “Salt” by Mark Kurlansky, which showcases the importance of salt throughout the history of the world; “Longitude” by Dava Sobel, the story of how John Harrison came to invent the marine chronometer to help sailors at sea determine their location; and “Colossus” by Michael Hiltzik, about the building of the Hoover Dam. Prior to construction of the Hoover Dam, J. Gregory Tierney fell from a survey barge and drowned in the Colorado River on December 20, 1922. Exactly thirteen years later, on December 20, 1935, Tierney’s son, Patrick Tierney, became the last person to die during construction, after falling to his death. As Hiltzik put it, this was a rather “mordant bookend of the project’s record of human loss.”

In college, I read the classics, because I feel like that’s the time in life when you not only have the time to do that, but you’re also still trying to figure out your place in life. I read Ayn Rand, both “The Fountainhead” and “Atlas Shrugged.” I found both to be interesting, if unnecessarily long, but neither was really my thing. I enjoyed “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller because it was humorous and had an interesting format. After reading it, I purchased the movie through Blockbuster (gone but never forgotten) and liked it almost as much as the book. Library patrons now have access to Kanopy, an online video streaming service, where you can check out up to 10 movies a month, including the original “Catch-22.”

Kurt Vonnegut dominated my high school years, “Welcome to the Monkey House” in particular, and Jules Verne dominated my time in middle school. Reading my grandpa’s old copies of “Popular Mechanics” featuring flying cars, and Verne’s visions of the future, led to hours of trying to envision what my future would look like. I’m sad to admit my predictive prowess pales in comparison to Verne’s, and is certainly far less grand.

My fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Lackey, introduced me to the “Goosebumps” series by R. L. Stine. I was a bit distracted in class that year, maybe even distracting, so things could have turned out much differently. Instead, I walked away with only positive memories, a bag of confiscated toys, and a fondness for “Goosebumps,” a series that was creepy and funny, and maybe just a little bit scary, but nothing I couldn’t handle with the lights on.

As a child, I was enamored with Laurel & Hardy. My grandpa had a collection on VHS tapes, and I am still impressed with how durable VHS tapes are. I must have watched each one somewhere in the neighborhood of a thousand times, and, much like Laurel & Hardy, they never failed me. One of my favorites was “March of the Wooden Soldiers,” which you can check out any time you want using Hoopla, another one of our online resources. I’d also recommend the 2018 film “Stan & Ollie,” featuring Steve Coogan as Stan Laurel and John C. Reilly as Oliver Hardy. Both actors clearly cared for the person they portrayed and went to great lengths to personify them, even down to the smallest mannerisms.

Recommending something to someone can be tricky because we all like different things, but I bet you know yourself pretty well. So instead, I’ll simply suggest, that every once in a while, you escape into nostalgia. Hit the pause button on whatever is currently stressing you out, take a break from living in the future rather than the present, and indulge in your past. The familiarity is comforting.