March Book Reviews
"Living Downstream: An Ecologist's Personal Investigation of Cancer and the Environment ", by Sandra Steingraber.
Sandra Steingraber, an acclaimed ecologist and author, explores the links between human rights and the environment, with a focus on chemical contamination. Some parts of the book are technical, but the author also includes her personal story and readers should not be intimidated.
NB – Susan Steingraber is the keynote speaker for the Women Write the World Conference at Bard College at Simon’s Rock on March 5th.
Judy Nardacci, Vice President, Lee Library Board of Directors.
"Inkheart", by Cornelia Funke.
What happens when a 12 year-old girl discovers that her father, in order to protect her, has been hiding a monumental secret from her? Meggie learns that when she was just a little girl, her devoted father Mo (also known as Silvertongue) accidently "released" several evil characters out of the book Inkheart while he was reading it aloud to Meggie’s mother.
At the same time, Meggie’s mother disappeared into the pages of the book and has never been seen again. The villains have been hunting for Mo and Meggie in the real world ever since and finally find them.
Exciting escapes and magical adventures ensue as Meggie and Mo try to outwit the forces of evil. Meggie proves herself to be a smart, courageous and fiercely determined heroine who just might be capable of a little magic herself when she embraces her own new found gift.
This is a beautifully crafted story by an author who truly loves books. Readers young and old have fallen in love with the spellbinding world Cornelia Funke has created here. Meggie’s saga continues in Inkspell and concludes in Inkdeath – the second and third books in the Inkheart trilogy.
Anthea Bell translated all three books from the German. They can be found in the YA collection in the Lee Library.
Rosemarie Borsody, Public Services Librarian.
There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration.