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[CCBC-Net] Summer reads
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From: Carla K <carlak_56>
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 11:32:05 -0700 (PDT)
Chiming in again on this evocative topic: It's been fun to see so many of my favorites listed (when I mentioned THEN THERE WERE FIVE, by Enright, how could I have forgotten GONE-AWAY LAKE? And it is true that the "E" authors, Eager, Enright and Estes, share a special talent for capturing summer in words.)
Another lovely older book (SFPL still has a couple of copies in its collection--well, there's one at my branch, because I've made sure it stays there) is ADOPTED JANE, by Helen Fern Daringer. The exact location of the turn-of-the-century small town and farm country where Jane spends her wonderful summer is never exactly stated, but Chicago and St. Louis are mentioned, so I always assumed it was somewhere in Illinois. (I grew up in southern Wisconsin, and spent long stretches of summer in the country, doing a lot of walking, swimming, and reading and day-dreaming. Jane's description of summer days sounded like mine.) One thing I love about this book is the peddler wagon stopping at the farm house to trade. The friendly peddler is a bearded man named Mr. Abraham, obviously (to me, anyway!) one of the tradition of Jewish men peddling their wares throughout rural areas of the country at that time. Several of these men settled, with their families, in small towns, and
opened dry goods stores, so that often the only Jewish family in those towns was the one owning the store. That is reflected in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, when the Klan targets the owner of the dry goods store (I believe his name is Mr. Solomon), who reminds them that they bought the sheets they are wearing from him.
Has anyone mentioned TUCK EVERLASTING? The opening paragraph, which starts "The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning" impressed me at first reading, and still, as the perfect description of the that time of year.
Carla Kozak, Chinatown Branch, SFPL
Carla Kozak"Librarian by Day, Catwoman by Night (Gone to the Dogs)"
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Received on Thu 13 Jul 2006 01:32:05 PM CDT
Date: Thu, 13 Jul 2006 11:32:05 -0700 (PDT)
Chiming in again on this evocative topic: It's been fun to see so many of my favorites listed (when I mentioned THEN THERE WERE FIVE, by Enright, how could I have forgotten GONE-AWAY LAKE? And it is true that the "E" authors, Eager, Enright and Estes, share a special talent for capturing summer in words.)
Another lovely older book (SFPL still has a couple of copies in its collection--well, there's one at my branch, because I've made sure it stays there) is ADOPTED JANE, by Helen Fern Daringer. The exact location of the turn-of-the-century small town and farm country where Jane spends her wonderful summer is never exactly stated, but Chicago and St. Louis are mentioned, so I always assumed it was somewhere in Illinois. (I grew up in southern Wisconsin, and spent long stretches of summer in the country, doing a lot of walking, swimming, and reading and day-dreaming. Jane's description of summer days sounded like mine.) One thing I love about this book is the peddler wagon stopping at the farm house to trade. The friendly peddler is a bearded man named Mr. Abraham, obviously (to me, anyway!) one of the tradition of Jewish men peddling their wares throughout rural areas of the country at that time. Several of these men settled, with their families, in small towns, and
opened dry goods stores, so that often the only Jewish family in those towns was the one owning the store. That is reflected in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, when the Klan targets the owner of the dry goods store (I believe his name is Mr. Solomon), who reminds them that they bought the sheets they are wearing from him.
Has anyone mentioned TUCK EVERLASTING? The opening paragraph, which starts "The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning" impressed me at first reading, and still, as the perfect description of the that time of year.
Carla Kozak, Chinatown Branch, SFPL
Carla Kozak"Librarian by Day, Catwoman by Night (Gone to the Dogs)"
--------------------------------- How low will we go? Check out Yahoo! Messenger?s low PC-to-Phone call rates.
Received on Thu 13 Jul 2006 01:32:05 PM CDT