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 rhondafredericks@yahoo.com.

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