Books, Books, Books

At playgroup today, the conversation turned to books. Somehow, we went from the Periodic Table of Elements to Cheaper by the Dozen to a book about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. Here's a little more information on some of those books for anyone interested.

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9-The Nolan family's dreams of prosperity in a new country are shattered when baby Joseph fails the medical exam at Ellis Island and must be taken back to Cork by his father. Though Da promises a quick return, Ma is miserable. Frustrated by her dependence on the unwilling hospitality of prosperous relatives, she gladly accepts money from her brother-in-law for herself and her three daughters to return home. Having few opportunities in Ireland, 16-year-old Rose rebels and she and 12-year-old Maureen are allowed to remain in New York to seek work and schooling. Rose finds them a room with a kindly Jewish family, and the landlord's labor unionist daughter, Gussie, gets her a position at the Triangle Waist Company. The teen feels especially happy one morning, wearing a dress in a new color called "ashes of roses" in anticipation of a nickelodeon outing with friends after work. Within hours, her clothing choice takes on a macabre appropriateness as she, Gussie, and Maureen, who also works there, fight for their lives in a fire still recalled as one of the worst industrial disasters in U.S. history. Fast-paced, populated by distinctive characters, and anchored in Auch's convincing sense of time and place, this title is a good choice for readers who like historical fiction.
Starr E. Smith, Fairfax County Public Library, VA
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

This was excellent--a window into real lives and real tragedy at the beginning of the nineteen hundreds.



Classic Story of the raising of 12 children, by 2 siblings who came from a family of 12. The authors dedicated the book to their parents. "To DAD who only reared twelve children and to MOTHER who reared twelve only children.

This is one of my favorite all time books. It's absolutely hilarious, and yet really touching. Family vacations--morse code--phonographs--first dates--skipping grades--my fine little Irishman--the glorious car with it's loud horn "Ah-ooga!" Excellent. In fact, I wonder which bookshelf it's on. I think I'll read it again.

Other books not discussed, but that come to mind: for young adult fans of historical fiction (or those young adults who need a little push toward good history), anything by Ann Rinaldi. Her work is always well-researched, interesting, and pretty fair. I particularly liked A Break with Charity: A Story About the Salem Witch Trials. It's about a group of girls as accusations of witchcraft ran rampant in Salem. Modern-day explanations of the events in Salem involve rust on the rye (which was one of their primary grains.) The rust was a hallucinogen that acted somewhat like LSD, which explained A LOT about some of the very disturbing events of the time. (Of course, anything about witches and Puritans leads to The Witch of Blackbird Pond, another great read from my youth.)

At this moment in time, we are packing our books. Nineteen bookcases, filled with wonderful books that I (and the children) had forgotten about. As you can imagine, the packing part is almost impossible. Instead, I sit on the floor in front of piles of books (with at least three children), reading snippets, and thinking, "I can't pack this one! We need it!" despite the fact that said book has not been noticed or missed for the last year. There are worse trials.