New This Week
May 25, 2009
Column: At the Library
From: Cranbrook Public Library
By Mike Selby
In the aftermath of 9/11, Four Canadian Muslims were arrested and brutally tortured by Syrian Military Intelligence for over a year. They were then released without charge, and returned to Canada. Human-rights journalist Kerry Pither documents this year of hell in her latest book DARK DAYS. Pither details Canada’s complacency in this ordeal, and how each victim is trying to rebuild their lives. DARK DAYS has just been shortlisted for the Arthur Ellis Prize for non-fiction.
Younger readers should enjoy Anna Kerz’s THE MEALWORM DIARIES; a heat-warming tale of two students’ science-fair project, and how they discover that mealworms are not the only thing which hides in dark secret places.
Jim Ellemers will be giving basic computer and internet training sessions every Wednesday between 2 and 5 pm. Anyone interested can register at the circulation desk.
Don’t forget to come and see Darlene Chatten’s beautiful and award-winning artwork.
Look for the next book sale by the Friends of the Cranbrook Public Library on Saturday, June 20th, during Sam Steele Days. They will be in Spirit Square (10th Ave.) in a big tent with crafters. Here is your chance to haul away your summer reading. They have children & adult books, beach reading, popular fiction and non-fiction, and the very popular newer releases. Mark this date on your calendar and come. They have a great book selection. If you would like to donate to this sale, please drop off books at the front circulation desk. For further information, please call Marilyn Forbes at 489-6254.
The Friends of the Cranbrook Public Library and the College of the Rockies will be showing the travelogue MOUNTAIN FOOTSTEPS : IMAGES OF THE EAST KOOTENAYS. Janice Strong will be presenting on Monday, June 8, 2009 in the Lecture Theatre (Room 250) of the College (Limited Seating). Presentation begins at 7:00 p.m. Doors open 6:30 p.m. ADMISSION IS BY DONATION. For more information, please contact April at 489-2038.
ADULT NEWLY AQUIRED SHELF:
The Truth about History "Readers Digest (909)
Teen Brain Teen Mind " Ron Clavier (649.125)
Landscaping with Stone " Pat Sagui (717)
The 11,000ers of the Canadian Rockies " Bill Corbett (796.522)
The Complete Guide to Finishing Basements (643.5)
The Practical Cyclist " Chip Haynes (796.6)
Canoe and Kayak Building the Light & Easy Way " Sam Rizetta (623.829)
Staged to Sell or Keep " Jean Nayer (747)
Dark Days " Kerry Pither (323.490)
Canadian Rockies Access Guide " John Dodd (917.110)
Everything Flax " Linda Braun (641.635)
The Grief Recovery Handbook " John W. James (755.93)
The Backyard Homestead " Carleen Madigan (641)
Deer-Resistant Landscaping " Neil Soderstrom (635)
The Canadian Garden Cookbook " Sayers Bejger (641)
Tax-Free Savings Accounts " Gordon Pape (332)
Eat to Beat Diabetes " Fran Berkoff (641)
California Lonely Planet (917.94)
Alaska Lonely Planet (917.98)
England Lonely Planet (914.2)
The Children of Freedom " Marc Levy (fic)
The Water Horse " Julia Gregson (fic)
Hell’s Horizon " D.B. Shan (fic)
The Best of Times " Penny Vincenzi (fic)
No Lovelier Death " Graham Hurley (mys)
The Poisoning in the Pub " Simon Brett (mys)
Jurassic Park (DVD)
Hitch (DVD)
Batman Begins (DVD)
X-Files Season 5 (DVD)
Blindness (DVD)
YOUNG ADULT & CHILDREN’S NEWLY ACQUIRED ITEMS:
The Bones You Own " Becky Baines (j 612.75)
Bruno for Real " Caroline Anderson (j pb)
DragonBall Evolution : The Discovery (j pb)
DragonBall Evolution : The Battle (j pb)
DragonBall Evolution : The Search (j pb)
The Mealworm Diaries " Anna Kerz (j pb)
At Night " Jonathan Bean (j pic)
The Berenstain Bears Mind Their Manners (j DVD)
Charlie and Lola Four (j DVD)
Thomas and the Treasure (j DVD)
MIKE’S BOOKNOTES:
There haven’t been too many books that impacted the culture as strongly as GO ASK ALICE did in 1971. The diary of an anonymous teenage girl, GO ASK ALICE charts her daily descent from a typical 15-year-old into a deeply troubled world of drugs, prostitution, homelessness and rape. The horrifying depictions of the author’s experiences with drugs helped to make the book an American classic. In the ever increasing drug-culture of the early 70s, parents and teachers alike found GO ASK ALICE to be an ideal cautionary tale. In fact, many thought it was the perfect cautionary tale.
Perfection brings its critics though, and one came in the form of Alleen Pace Nilsen, a professor of Library Science. Nilsen strongly doubted GO ASK ALICE was the work of a teenage girl. The entries describing the harmful effects of drug use were excessively long, while entries on peer gossip, intimate feelings, and social relations were all but absent. While many teenagers no doubt use words such as “gregarious”, “impregnable”, and “conscientious”, they are not typically used by 15-year-olds jotting down their feelings in a diary. Nilsen soon discovered that the copyright to the book was held by someone named Beatrice Sparks of Utah. Oh, and by the way, Beatrice Sparks is a 53-year-old grandmother!
When confronted by Nilsen, Sparks"claiming to be a youth psychologist"admitted her authorship of the book, stating she used one of her patient’s diaries, along with a few other incidents of other teens she worked with. Yet when pressed for details, Sparks became evasive, stating she had destroyed the girl’s diary after using it. Nilsen was unable to confirm any of the credentials or work experience Sparks claimed to have.
Nor did Sparks write the diary alone. In 1998, the New York Times exposed a Linda Glovach as Spark’s writing partner. The Times does not call them writers though, but fraudsters. Which is exactly what they are. Both women have continued to write “true” teen diaries, continually carving out a literary career from the body of a dead teenage girl.
