New Hampshire Parent Challenges 'The Hunger Games'

Read the article at School Library Journal Online:
New Hampshire Parent Challenges 'The Hunger Games'

My Visit to Salem, Massachusetts

Yesterday I went to Salem, Massachusetts with my grandchildren and was inspired by the history of that seafaring town to buy this book. "Carry On, Mr. Bowditch" by Jean Latham is the story of Nat Bowditch, a bright boy from a poor family who, through hard work and much study, grew up to be a famous astronomer and mathematician and the author of the most important navigation book for sailors ever written.
I would recommend this book to anyone who can read at a 5th grade level and up, to get a good feel for life in the United States the first few decades after the Revolution, and for anyone interested in sea voyages, navigation, and self education.

The part that amazes me most about Nathanial Bowditch's life isn't his mathmatical genius or his ability to re-write the rules of Navigation to make sailing safer, but his ability to educate himself despite all the odds stacked against him. He is from a poor family. He is indentured for nine years and can't go to school, but he keeps notebooks of everything that he learns, ask questions, teaches himself mathmatics, Latin, French and Spanish, along with navigation.

This fictionalized account brings Nat Bowditch to life, and one of the analogies in the story about sailing in life that is carried successfully throughout the novel is about "sailing by an ash breeze".
To sail by an ash breeze meant to pull out oars and make the boat go where you wanted it to go when there wasn't any wind. To sail by an ash breeze in life means to work hard at getting where you want to go, even when everything in life seems to be trying to keep you at a standstill.

Library Hours for Week of July 12, 2010

Mrs. Harding will be expanding the Loranger Library Open Hours during the weeks of July 12 and July 20th. Keep checking here for updates!

Library Hours for July 12-16th

Monday, July 12- Library open from 9-11 AM

Tuesday, July 13- Library Closed

Wednesday, July 14- Library open from 10AM-12PM

Thursday, July 15- Library open from 9-11 AM

Friday, July 16- Library closed

Rick Riordan has a new series!

For all of you who loved the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, you are in luck!  Rick Riordan has a new book, The Lost Hero, and it is the first in a series to be called The Heroes of Olympus. It won't be published for a while, but I have found out how you can get a sneak peek at it!   Just go to this website, enter in the secret password newhero, and you’ll be able to read the first two chapters of The Lost Hero.  You can thank me when you see me next.  Remember, I like dark chocolate!

Well-stocked Home Library Means Kids Stay in School Longer

A recent study by researchers at the University of Nevada reveals what librarians have always known, that a well-stocked home library means kids stay in school longer.

A Librarian in Every School, Books in Every Home- a Modest Proposal

Bob Peterson has a good plan- read his article in the summer 2010 issue of "Rethinking Schools"

Summer Library Hours !!!

Mrs. Harding will be opening the Loranger Library one day every week this summer! Here are the tentative days and hours:

Monday, June 28 - open 9 AM- 1 PM

Tuesday, July 6 - open 9-1 PM

Monday, July 12 - open 9 AM-11 AM

Tuesday, July 20 - open 9 AM- 1 PM

Monday, July 26 - open 9 AM- 1 PM

Tuesday, August 3 - open 9 AM- 1 PM

Monday, August 9 - open 9 AM- 1 PM

Monday, August 23 - open 9 AM- 1 PM

Tuesday, August 24 - open 9 AM - 1 PM

Wednesday, August 25 Evening Open House!

Preview

Hope to see you at the Library this summer!!