New YA Book Club Title!

We've got a new title in our Young Adult Book Club in a Box collection! We're excited to present Monster by Walter Dean Myers. Monster is Printz Award winner, a National Book Award finalist, and a Coretta Scott King Award Author Honor.

From Goodreads : "This New York Times bestselling novel and National Book Award nominee from acclaimed author Walter Dean Myers tells the story of Steve Harmon, a teenage boy in juvenile detention and on trial. Presented as a screenplay of Steve's own imagination, and peppered with journal entries, the book shows how one single decision can change our whole lives.

Fade In: Interior: Early Morning In Cell Block D, Manhattan Detention Center.

Steve (Voice-Over)
Sometimes I feel like I have walked into the middle of a movie. Maybe I can make my own movie. The film will be the story of my life. No, not my life, but of this experience. I'll call it what the lady prosecutor called me ... Monster."

Are you interested in getting this title for you book club? Let us know! Contact me (Ally) at amellon@mlc.lib.ms.us or 601-432-4117 for more information!

The Free State of Jones

Did anyone see Matthew McConaughey in Jackson last week?  McConaughey is here filming for the movie The Free State of Jones.  Based on true events, The Free State of Jones film follows Mississippian Newton Knight as he rebels against the Confederacy in Jones County,Mississippi. 

Knight was a farmer, soldier, and Southern Unionist.  He is best known for his role in forming the Free State of Jones, which consisted of a band of Confederate Army deserters who turned against the Confederacy in the surrounding area of Jones County, Mississippi. Knight’s desertion remains controversial to this day. Some believe that he was a noble man that refused to fight for something that he did not believe in.  Others believe that he was a deserter and an outlaw. To learn more about Newton Knight and the Free State of Jones stop by the library and check out these books!
The Echo of the Black Horn: An Authentic Tale of “The Governor” of “The Free State of Jones”
by Ethel Knight Published by Newton Knight’s grandniece, Ethel Knight, in 1951, this book is a denunciation of Knight and his followers.  Ethel portrays Knight as a manipulator, traitor, and an ignorant murderer.  








The State of Jones

by Sally Jenkins and John Stauffer

The State of Jones claims to tell the true story of the real South. This is an investigative account of Newton Knight’s life on and off the battlefield.

A Mini-Confederacy: The Free State of Jones A Source Book

edited by Mary H. Kitchens and Theresa Blackledge

This source book contains both scholarly writing and fictive legend of the activities of Newton Knight and Jones County, Mississippi.  Both sides of the controversy are represented and it is up to the reader to decide whether Newton Knight led the Free State of Jones for a noble cause or if he was a manipulative outlaw.

 


Legend of the Free State of Jones

by Rudy H. Leverett

This book provides evidence proving that much of Jones County was in fact loyal to the Confederacy. This brings up questions about the accuracy of local history accounts about the Free State of Jones and Newton Knight. 

Tap Roots

by James Street

This fictional book is loosely based on the rebellion of Jones County.A film version was released in 1948.

The Free State of Jones starring Matthew McConaughey is set to be released in 2016. 

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1124037/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jones_County,_Mississippi

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton_Knight

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/life/2015/02/10/mcconaughey-sightings-free-state-of-jones/23165475/

More MLC Magazines

Remember our post last month on the latest Mississippi Library Commission magazine additions? Well, we received a few more publications and we wanted to share them with you! We now have Harper's, Cooking Light, Prevention, and Smithsonian magazines.

See anything interesting? Stop by the Mississippi Library Commission for a quick break and dive into one of these engaging periodicals. We hope to see you soon!

Eureka!

We're back with our celebration of Black History Month! This time, we're focusing on African American scientists and inventors.

Did you know that Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first African American female physician? She graduated from the New England Female Medical College in 1864 (92). Dr. Roger Arliner Young was "the first African American woman to conduct and publish research in her field." A zoologist, she wrote a paper entitled On the Excretory Apparatus in Paramecium in 1924 (37). You can read more about these and other black female scientists in Black Stars: African American Women Scientists and Inventors.

 African American Women Inventors 1884-2003 shares patents from black female inventors.These inventions span a range of beauty supplies and instruments, to medical tools and equipment, to toys and games. For example, in 1951, Bessie Virginia Griffin was granted a patent on a device that allowed people with temporary or permanent disabilities to drink from a cup or bowl.

Another personal favorite of mine? Deanna R. Meredith was issued a patent in 1984 for an extendable skateboard.

Now that is totally gnarly, dude!

Black Stars: African American Inventors details the lives of numerous black inventors. Included are astronaut Guion S. Bluford, the first African American in space (139) and Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, a brilliant surgeon who opened the first non-segregated hospital in the United States (52).

Want to learn even more about black scientists? Check out this two volume set that covers everyone from George Washington Carver, a botanist who focused on peanuts and peanut products (37), to Clarence Arthur Ellis, the first African American PhD in computer sciences (69), to Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist (194). African Americans in Science educates us about them all.

Be sure to stop by the Mississippi Library Commission to check out these and many, many other books on the myriad accomplishments of African Americans in the sciences. Happy Black History Month!

Celebrating Black History Month @ Your Library

Welcome to Black History Month 2015! This yearly celebration of the African diaspora and their history and accomplishments provides an excellent learning opportunity for us all. The first observance of African culture, started by Carter G. Woodson in 1926, was known as Negro History Week. Fifty years later, in 1976, President Gerald Ford lengthened the event to the entire month of February. (http://www.africanamericanhistorymonth.gov)

If you're looking for print resources on African-Americans, the Mississippi Library Commission is the place for you. Here are some of our favorites:

Black Heroes
Jessie Carney Smith

This book contains profiles of many African Americans, both well-known and obscure.

Q. Civil rights activist James Howard Meredith integrated the University of Mississippi on October 1, 1962. What was his name at birth?
A. "Moses 'Cap' Meredith named his son J. H. Meredith to prevent whites from calling him simply by his first name" (468).

African American Firsts: Famous, Little-Known and Unsung Triumphs of Blacks in America
Joan Potter 

This text offers a plethora of Black firsts sure to intrigue any history buff.

Q. Who created the first golf tee?
A. "In December 1899, Dr. George F. Grant, an African-American dentist and an amateur golfer, received a patent for a wooden golf tee. Before his invention, golfers had to balance their balls on mounds of damp sand" (341).

African-American Holidays, Festivals, and Celebrations: The History, Customs, and Symbols Associated with Both Traditional and Contemporary Religious and Secular Events Observed by Americans of African Descent
Kathlyn Gay

This resource outlines all of the holidays, festivals, societies, and events with African-American themes.

Q. What was the first black sorority?
A. Alpha Kappa Alpha, "the first black sorority was formed in 1908 by nine women at Howard University in Washington, D. C." (189).

African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage and Excellence
Lean'tin Bracks

Here is another compilation of short biographies. It also includes sections on African-American history.

Q. Who was the first black woman bishop in any of the large American denominations?
A. Leontine T. C. Kelly, born in Washington, D. C. in 1920, was elected a bishop in the United Methodist Church in 1984 (126).

We'll be posting more information about Black History Month and the achievements of African-Americans over the next month. If you can't wait for more tidbits, check out this website, which provides audio/video files, images, and lesson plans on the topic, as well as great information on historical events.