March 2016 Volume 3, Issue 3
Tracy Public Library Newsletter
CALENDAR
Thursday, March 3
2-7 p.m. Open lab computer class
6:30 p.m. Library board
Thursday, March 10
2-7 p.m. Open lab computer class
6:30 p.m. Friends of the Library
Monday, March 14
7 p.m. Authors Erin Hart & Paddy
O’Brien—book talk and music
Thursday, March 17
2-7 p.m. Open lab computer class
6 p.m. Writing Group
7 p.m. Book Club
Thursday, Feb. 25
2-7 p.m. Open lab computer class
Tracy Public Library
189 Third Street ~ Tracy,
MN 56175~ 507.629.5548
www.tracypubliclibrary.org Hours:
Monday-Friday
10 a.m.-6 p.m.
Saturdays 10 a.m.-noon
FEATURED READS
Check it Out
“Find Her” (D.D. Warren #8), Lisa Gardner
In The Bee-Friendly Garden, award-winning garden designer Kate Frey and bee expert Gretchen LeBuhn provide everything you need to know to create a dazzling garden that helps both the threatened honeybee and our own native bees. No matter how small or large your space, and regardless of whether you live in the city, suburbs, or country, just a few simple changes to your garden can fight the effects of colony collapse disorder and the worldwide decline in bee population that threatens our global food chain. There are many personal benefits of having a bee garden as well!
Illustrated with spectacular full-color photos, The Bee-Friendly
Garden debunks myths about bees, explains seasonal flower progression, and provides
detailed instructions for nest boxes and water features. From “super blooming” flowers to regional plant lists and plants to avoid, The Bee-Friendly Garden is an essential tool for every gardener who cares about the planet and wants to make their yard a welcoming habitat for nature’s most productive pollinator.
Flora Dane is a victim. Seven years ago, carefree college
student Flora was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, Flora learned just how much one person can endure.
Flora Dane is a survivor. Miraculously alive after her ordeal,
Flora has spent the past five years reacquainting herself with the rhythms of normal life, working with her FBI victim advocate, Samuel Keynes. She has a mother who’s never stopped loving her, a brother who is scared of the person she’s become, and a bedroom wall covered with photos of other girls who’ve never made it home.
Flora Dane is reckless.
. . . or is she? When Boston detective D. D. Warren is called to the
scene of a crime—a dead man and the bound, naked woman who killed him—she learns that Flora has tangled with three other suspects since her return to society. Is Flora a victim or a vigilante? And with
her firsthand knowledge of criminal behavior, could she hold the key to rescuing a missing college student whose abduction has rocked Boston? When Flora herself disappears, D.D. realizes a far more sinister predator is out there. One who’s determined that this time, Flora Dane will never escape. And now it is all up to D. D. Warren to find her.
“The Bee-Friendly Garden,” Kate Frey and Gretchen LeBuhn
By Librarian Valerie Quist
When choosing the staff recommendations for the newsletter
each month, I usually ask John or Dianne for suggestions. This
month I picked on Dianne, who suggested “Pax” by Sara
Pennypacker and Jon Klassen, but hesitated because it is a
children’s book.
Coincidentally, the book that popped into my head when I was
trying to come up with a recommendation was “Wonderstruck” by
Brian Selznick, which is also in our juvenile fiction section. Rather
than changing one of the picks to an adult book, I decided to put
both the juvenile selections in.
I decided to do that because sometimes we can get locked in to
just reading one type of book, and thinking that others are not for
us. There’s no shame in reading books that are targeted at children
or teens. Okay, so maybe “Captain Underpants” isn’t for you, but
there are a lot of good stories waiting to be discovered. Sometimes
when I get stuck in a rut, that’s where I turn.
I like to choose at least one children’s or teen book for the
library’s book club, also. Last year we read “The Birchbark House”
by Louise Erdrich, and this year — this month, in fact — we are
reading “The Call of the Wild” by Jack London.
In February I read one book from the children’s section, and two
books targeted at teens.
If you haven’t ever read anything by Brian Selznick, I encourage
you to. I read “The Invention of Hugo Cabret” after seeing the
movie of the same name. When I found out it was based on a book,
I had to read it. Selznick has a unique style — his stories are told in
pictures and words, but they’re not quite like most graphic novels.
Don’t be intimidated by length. The books are long because there
are hundreds of pages of artwork interspersed with the prose.
I haven’t read “Pax” yet, but I plan on it. I couldn’t resist ordering
it when I read the description. It sounds fantastic.
“Pax” and “Wonderstruck” are just two examples of the great
books classified as juvenile literature. Why not take a look the next
time you’re at the library, or the next time you’re in a slump and
looking for something different?
What I read in February:
“Trapped,” Michael Northrop
“The Dog Says How,” Kevin Kling
“Motel of the Mysteries,” David Macaulay
“Go Set a Watchman,” Harper Lee
“Wonderstruck,” Brian Selznick
“The Tie That Binds,” Kent Haruf
“Her,” Harriet Lane
What I’m Reading:
“Haunted Ground” (Nora Gavin #1), Erin Hart
“Best to Laugh,” Lorna Landvik
“The House Girl,” Tara Conklin
Up next:
“The Murder Trial of the Last Lakota Warrior,” Steve Linstrom
“Our Souls at Night,” Kent Haruf
LIBRARIAN’S CORNER
Buck, a sturdy crossbreed canine (half St. Bernard, half Shepard), is a dog born to luxury and raised in a sheltered Californian home. But then he is kidnapped and sold to be a sled dog in the harsh and frozen Yukon Territory. Passed from master to master, Buck embarks on an extraordinary journey, proving his unbreakable spirit…
First published in 1903, The Call of the Wild is regarded as Jack London's masterpiece. Based on London's experiences as a gold prospector in the Canadian wilderness and his ideas about nature and the struggle for existence, The Call of the Wild is a tale about unbreakable spirit and the fight for survival in the frozen Alaskan Klondike.
The Tracy Public Library Book Club meets
on the third Thursday of each month. For a full schedule, visit www.tracypubliclibrary.org.
BOOK CLUB BEAT “Call of the Wild,” Jack London
Computer classes offered Free computer classes are offered every Thursday from 2-7 p.m. in
our Computer Learning Center. The format is informal, covering whatever participants would like to learn, with one-on-one help provided.
These classes are made possible with the support of Southwest Minnesota Adult Basic Education.
Pre-registration is not required.
Friends of the Library update
The Friends of the Tracy Public Library have two upcoming fundraisers planned. They will be selling Cold Stone ice cream at the Tracy Women’s Expo and the Tracy Area Sportsmen’s Show.
The Friends of the Tracy Public Library are always accepting new members! The group meets on the second Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the library. Funds raised by the Friends of the Library help to support library programs and events, such as story time.
If you would like to become a member of the Friends of the Library, or would be interested in volunteering to help sell ice cream at the Women’s Expo or Sportsmen’s Show, email Rhonda Fredericks, Friends president, at [email protected].
NEW ON THE SHELVES
Adult
“The Restoration” (Prairie State Friends #3),
Wanda Brunstetter
“A Treasure Concealed” (Sapphire Brides #1),
Tracie Peterson (March 1)
“The Gangster” (Isaac Bell #9), Clive Cussler
(March 1)
“Goodbye to the Dead” (Jonathan Stride #7), Brian
Freeman
“Far From True” (Promise Falls #2), Linwood
Barclay (March 8)
“The Selected Letters of Laura Ingalls Wilder,”
William Anderson (March 8)
“The Steel Kiss” (Lincoln Rhyme #12), Jeffrey
Deaver (March 8)
“Clawback” (Alison Reynolds #11), J.A. Jance
(March 8)
“Off the Grid” (Joe Pickett #16), C.J. Box (March 8)
“Private Paris” (Private #11), James Patterson
(March 14)
“Property of a Noble Woman,” Danielle Steel
(March 15)
“At the Edge of the Orchard,” Tracy Chevalier
(March 15)
“Deep Blue” (Doc Ford #23), Randy Wayne White
(March 15)
“Fool Me Once,” Harlan Coben (March 22)
“Treachery at Lancaster Gate” (Thomas Pitt #31),
Anne Perry (March 22)
“The Atonement,” Beverly Lewis (March 29)
“Brush of Wings” (Angels Walking #3), Karen
Kingsbury (March 29)
“Darkness,” Karen Robards (March 29)
“No Safe Secret,” Fern Michaels (March 29)
“Nobody But You” (Cedar Ridge #3), Jill Shalvis
(March 29)
Audio
“Darkness,” Karen Robards (March 29)
Children
“The Book With No Pictures,” B.J. Novak
“Big Nate: Thunka, Thunka, Thunka,” Lincoln
Peirce (March 1)
“The Hunt for the Secret Papyrus,” Geronimo
Stilton (March 29)
Teen
“Lady Midnight” (Dark Artifices #1), Cassandra
Clare (March 8)
Movies
“Downton Abbey” Season 6
“Bridge of Spies”
STAFF RECOMMENDATIONS “Wonderstruck,” Brian Selznick
Ben and
Rose secretly
wish their
lives were
different. Ben
longs for the
father he has
never known.
Rose dreams
of a
mysterious
actress whose
life she chronicles in a scrapbook.
When Ben discovers a puzzling clue
in his mother's room and Rose reads
an enticing headline in the
newspaper, both children set out
alone on desperate quests to find
what they are missing.
Set fifty years apart, these two
independent stories--Ben's told in
words, Rose's in pictures--weave
back and forth with mesmerizing
symmetry. How they unfold and
ultimately intertwine will surprise
you, challenge you, and leave you
breathless with wonder. Rich,
complex, affecting, and beautiful--
with over 460 pages of original
artwork--Wonderstruck is a stunning
achievement from a uniquely gifted
artist and visionary.
“Pax,” Sara Pennypacker and Jon
Klassen
Pax was only
a kit when his
family was
killed, and “his
boy” Peter
rescued him
from
abandonment
and certain
death. Now the
war front
approaches,
and when Peter’s father enlists, Peter
has to move in with his grandpa. Far
worse than being forced to leave
home is the fact that Pax can’t go.
Peter listens to his stern father—as
he usually does—and throws Pax’s
favorite toy soldier into the woods.
When the fox runs to retrieve it,
Peter and his dad get back in the car
and leave him there—alone. But
before Peter makes it through even
one night under his grandfather’s
roof, regret and duty spur him to
action; he packs for a trek to get his
best friend back and sneaks into the
night. This is the story of Peter, Pax,
and their independent struggles to
return to one another against all
odds. Told from the alternating
viewpoints of Peter and Pax.
1,000 Books Before Kindergarten The 1,000 Books
Before Kindergarten program is open to children from birth to age 6 (who have not yet entered kindergarten). The goal is to read 1,000 books before entering kindergarten. Children who sign up for the program receive a book tote, and small prizes are given out for each 100 books that are read. A graduation ceremony is held once a year or as needed. The program is made possible through a partnership with the United Way of Southwest Minnesota.
How long does it take to read 1,000 books? If you read three books a day to your child, that’s 1,095 books in one year!
The Book of Killowen &
The Road from Castlebarnagh
Memoirs, Music, Manuscripts & Mystery!
As people, places, and artifacts from the
past come alive through projected images,
Paddy plays a few tunes on button
accordion and offers tales of his adventures
growing up in a thatched house in rural
Ireland, with no electricity or running water,
when music and stories around the fire were
still the main form of entertainment. Erin
might sing an ancient song as she spins the
story of her latest novel, a knotty mystery
inspired by a true discovery: a 9th-century
book of Psalms preserved in an Irish bog.
And there's always time for a few questions
from the audience.
Monday, March 14
7:00 p.m.
Tracy Public
Library
Tracy Public Library
189 Third Street, tracy • 507-629-5548 • www.tracypubliclibrary.org
Erin Hart &
Paddy O'Brien