Module 10

Module 10

Here Lies The Librarian

Summary
Eleanor McGrath is a 14 year old tomboy who wants to work on cars with her brother Jake more than go to school.  The town librarian has passed away and the library is closed.  Four college girls drive to the town to see tornado damage and decide to try to reopen the library.  The girls are in Library Science courses.  The town does not want a new librarian but the girls end up convincing the town and open the library again.  They all get hired because they would split the salary.  Meanwhile, the girls also are determined to make Eleanor a little more feminine.  Eleanor becomes a little bit famous for winning a local race.  Jake goes off the Indianapolis and ends up serving in the military and marrying one of the girls.  Eleanor goes to high school but never stops dreaming of cars and adventure.

Citation
Peck, Richard. (2006). Here Lies the Librarian. New York: Scholastic, Inc. 

Impressions
I had read The Teacher's Funeral and since this was on the list and about librarians, I thought it would be a good choice.  I liked this one as well.  It was not quite as funny to me as Funeral was but Peck is good a telling a story and developing characters that you can really relate to.  My family owned a tire shop and I worked in it growing up.  I found the parts of the story about the garage and fixing flats to be accurate and brought back some good and bad memories.  I really liked the tomboy part and the battle within her to be girly or not.  There was a little of drama, with some implied romance, comedic parts that kept interest.  I am certainly a Peck fan.

Review
S. D. L (2006) The Horn Book Magazine 325. 

(Intermediate, Middle School)

A tornado whirls through their 1914 Indiana town, but young Peewee and her big brother Jake survive intact, and so does their garage, which does a pretty good business fixing flat tires punctured by horseshoe nails in the dirt road. When a quartet of well-to-do young ladies studying library science visit the tiny town to view the tornado damage, they decide to restore the public library, deserted since the librarian “expired,” and end up making a big difference in the lives of Peewee and Jake. Peck retains his knack for using wry humor to create an authentic voice in a
first-person account (this time it’s Peewee’s), and the gentility of the librarians mixes amusingly with their practical determination. Carefully researched period details convincingly ground the novel without overwhelming the plot or characters, while an auto race provides a big, exciting climax complete with bad guys, crashes, and a rousing victory.

Uses
Hot wheels races.  Get a bunch of track or even make some and race the cars.  Small prizes for the winner.  If you announce ahead of time, students could bring their own cars.  This ties in with the car theme in the book and the race near the end. 

Could also do a discussion on what a libarian does.  Myths vs. reality.