Ahoy, mates. Can you guess which movie I saw over the weekend? There is something about a rebel pirate that really gets my imagination going. I understand that real pirates were not to be idealized, but today’s movie pirate can be rather charming. Okay, maybe I should say that I find Johnny Depp rather charming, pirate or not.
Anyhoo, I picked up Richard Zacks’ book The Pirate Coast: Thomas Jefferson, the First Marines, and the Secret Mission of 1805 for the excitement. What I found was a compelling history lesson on the early stages of the U.S. Marine Corps.
When we think of Marines we think tough—even hardcore—soldiers, but in the beginning they demanded little respect. Their only mission was to keep U.S. sailors in order. It was an inglorious task for which they were despised and scarcely feared. It took a man, heavily in debt and fresh from a court martial, to change all that.
His name was William Eaton and the area he wanted to secure was Muslim Tripoli in Northern Africa on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. This is the same shore celebrated in the Marine Hymn that begins, “From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli.” At the time, the area was notorious for excessively brutal pirates.
Eaton knew the area well having served there four years prior to the incident. He was appalled at the U.S. government for allowing slavery of Christians take place in the small African nation. Instead of fighting to secure the area from threat the U.S. Navy looked the other way and the Tunis were paid heavily to ignore American trade.
President Thomas Jefferson had a better idea. These Barbary Pirates were not going to take American citizens and place them in slavery and he was not going to pay any bribes to the local Beys. He sent orders to the small Navy and the USS Philadelphia established a blockade on the North African shores.
Unfortunately, the young Captain, William Bainbridge, ran the Philadelphia aground after giving chase to a blockade runner. He ordered the anchors cut first, then the foremasts chopped down, and finally, the cannons and ballast flung overboard to float the ship off the reef but to no avail. The crew was seized.
Later that night Bainbridge must have cursed as he watched the Philadelphia roll gently at high tide.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
The Pirate Coast (copy)
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Southern Reading Challenge (copy)
This summer join us at Northwest for the Southern Reading Challenge. For the month of June, I dare you to read three southern setting books by southern authors. They can be either fiction or nonfiction, but they have to be (and I cannot stress this enough) Southern!
Oh, but you are thinking to yourself, “I really don’t like southern books. I am a proud mystery reader.” To that I say, have you read Anne George? Unfortunately, Anne passed away in 2001, and left eight books in her “Southern Sisters” series. Every book is funny as the sisters match wits to find the killer. These books are like a box of chocolates, one cannot stop at just one.
Other mystery writers who are southern include: James Lee Burke who sets his stories in New Orleans or Louisiana, Carl Hiaasen who tickles every funny bone with his oddball characters in stories set in Florida, and Patricia Sprinkle who delights readers with her “Thoroughly Southern” series featuring MacLaren Yarbrough in small town Georgia.
Is Eugenia Price still read? My ignorance of romance novels knows no bounds. All of her books are set in the American South but they were written in the 1960s. I do remember thinking romance writers like to set their books in Texas. Some of these writers include: Rosanne Bittner, Dana Ransom, Annette Broadrick, Sandra Brown, Fern Michaels, and Diana Palmer.
The Northwest RC Pugh Library will be hosting two Mississippi writers ready for reading. Celebrate your Mississippi heritage with Patricia Dorsey who wrote a collection of poems titled, Reflections of a Mississippi Magnolia: A Life in Poems. She is currently compiling her second collection and might share new poems on June 16 at a “brown bag” noontime lunch.
If you have not read In the Sanctuary of Outcasts by Neil White, you are in for a treat. He will be at the library June 30 during the brown bag lunch series to discuss his incredible story. He will also encourage participants to write their own incredible stories.
On June 23, Northwest Instructor Deborah Wilbourn will present the writings of Mississippi author, Margaret Walker. This is your chance to get lost in her historical novel Jubilee. Walker started the book as a doctoral dissertation using her grandmother’s memories of growing up as a slave in rural Alabama. Mrs. Wilbourn will also discuss Walker’s Civil Rights poetry.
So, the challenge is on! Contact me at 662-562-3277 to register and let us spend June reading hot humidity filled southern books.
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
Swamplandia! (copy)
It is going to be a swampy summer! All this water will take time to evaporate and I foresee stagnant mosquito-infested pools in our near future. Why not celebrate with the perfect book titled “Swamplandia!” by debut author Karen Russell.
Swamplandia! is a family operated theme park in Florida on a swampy island in the Gulf of Mexico. It enjoyed being the top rated Gator-Themed Park and Swamp Café for years, but things are changing. World of Darkness moved north and everyone wants to walk on the neon tongue of the behemoth or should I say laser behe(mouth) they offer.
Back in the day, Swamplandia! entertained sold out crowds with a routine called “Swimming with the Seths.” Seth was the name given to the very first alligator that attracted tourist to the theme park. Now, all 98 gators are called Seth.
“Swimming with the Seths” was a closing act done in complete darkness. Hilola Jane Bigtree stood on the edge of a green diving board overlooking the gator infested pool. The audience would see her silhouetted body poised with arms above her head in the faint light of the moon. The spot lights were always turned off.
With a swift graceful move she would dive into the black water and swim the length emerging on the other side in three minutes. Most of the audience held their breath night after night. Some even stood and gasped as a gator or two matched her stroke side-by-side. It never failed, though. She arose from the dangerous waters unscathed to hundreds of clapping hands.
The family, Bigtree, is two less now. Hilola, the mother, died of cancer and her father, Sawtooth Bigtree, is in a retirement home on the mainland. All that is left of the tribe is Chief Bigtree, older brother, Kiwi Bigtree, and two sisters, Osceola and 13-year-old Ava Bigtree. The story is told through young Ava’s eyes.
It is Ava who discovers a rare red alligator in the newly hatched brood. She says nothing to Chief for she knows the hatchling may not live past the week. Within three days all of her brothers and sisters die of yolk sac infection, but she continues to thrive. This rare little red Seth may just save the park.
There is no muck associated with this book! “Swamplandia!’ establishes Russell’s clear, clean and fascinating prose.
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Scaredy Squirrel (copy)
Do you know Scaredy Squirrel? If you are a child of 3, 4 or 5, you should! Scaredy Squirrel is scared of a lot of things. Mostly, he is scared of the unknown like many preschool children. He is also scared of things he knows about, but has yet to come into contact with such as sharks, porcupines and bunnies.
The unknown can be frightening. Scaredy Squirrel decides to stay away from the unknown and always do the same things. He lives in a nut tree and decides he will never leave it. There are scary things below his tree like green Martians, killer bees, tarantulas, poison ivy, germs, and sharks. These must be avoided at all costs!
Let us concentrate on Scaredy Squirrel’s fear of germs. Before little readers can delve into one of his books there is a warning. “Scaredy Squirrel insists that everyone wash their hands with antibacterial soap before reading this book.” If he does come into contact with germs, he wears mittens on his hands as an added layer of protection.
There are some advantages and disadvantages involved with never leaving a nut tree. The ups include a great view, plenty of nuts, and a safe place. The downs include the same old view, the same old nuts, and the same old place.
To prepare for a day when he might have to evacuate the tree, Scaredy makes an emergency kit. This very important kit includes a hard hat, antibacterial soap, calamine lotion, parachute, bug spray, mask with rubber gloves, net, Band-Aid, and sardines. The sardines will be thrown at any impending sharks while Scaredy makes his getaway.
It was a normal, ordinary day when something really scary happened. Remember our friend the squirrel is afraid of killer bees, right? Well, one day there comes one lone killer bee into Scaredy’s nut tree. What does Scaredy do? He panics and throws the emergency kit out of the tree!
Not the plan! Not even the backup plan, but Scaredy recovers and makes a dive for the kit. “But something incredible happens…he starts to glide. Scaredy Squirrel is no ordinary squirrel. He’s a Flying Squirrel!”
Join Scaredy Squirrel on his nutty adventures through this wacky series by Canadian Mélanie Watt. I do caution, this story is not suitable for walruses.
