at the library
The other day a woman I know handed me her copy of Strong at the Heart. I thought she was going to ask me to sign it, but instead she said, “I’ve read your book, and I’m glad I have, but I was hoping you’d know how to pass this on so it will reach young people.”
Yes, I know plenty of libraries that are short on funds and looking for quality book donations.
Her copy sits on my desk while I take off for summer camp (see below) but she got me to thinking.
When I was a kid there were no books on abuse in my library—let alone books on healing from it. I wrote Strong at the Heart for teens so that young people could find these true stories in school and public libraries. (I’m also very gratified that adults are reading it, too, and finding it relevant.)
apple seeds
More than 5000 new books for young readers are published each year and far more for adults. How do librarians on limited budgets decide which books to buy? Reviews are important, so is word of mouth. Patron requests and recommendations are also taken very seriously, after all the library is there to serve the reader.
If you are a survivor or have read up on the subject, you probably know several books that are especially good. There may be others you want to read but can’t afford
What would happen if we went to our public and school libraries and asked for the books we want to read by name? Would they be available? Will your the library order the ones you recommend? What if we donated copies to shelters, juvenile facilities, school or public libraries?
Every time a books is added to a library, hundreds of people gain access to it who wouldn’t have otherwise.
With this book donation to make, I’m feeling a little like that guy with the kettle on his head. Who knows what hands will open my friend’s book next? Whose life it might change?
summer camp
As I write this I’m on a plane flying east. I’ll end up in Burlington, Vermont, at the 20th and last Children’s Literature New England conference. It’s put on by my professors from grad school. This year’s topic is The Hero Revisited.
For this conference there’s a reading list of 40 books–all with wonderful heroes.
I’ve especially enjoyed Sea of Trolls by Nancy Farmer, about an apprentice bard from England at the time of the Norse invasions. And I just read the last pages of Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo, about two brothers during WWI, as heart wrenching a book on a soldier’s experience as you’ll find anywhere.
And for a superb and disturbing survivor story there is, Meg Rosoff’s How I Live Now, which takes place the day after tomorrow when war breaks out in England.
