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Title: Here Lies the Librarian
ISBN: 0142409081
Author:
Richard Peck
Publicate Date: 2007-09-06
Publish: 2007-09-06
List Price: $6.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $3.26
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $3.00
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.29
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Peck's history with a smile strikes again.
Set in pre-WWI rural Indiana, this is the tale of a small town's pair of parentless youngsters, older brother Jake, in his older teens, taking care of his younger sibling, Peewee. Jake has an automobile service business in a ramshackle shack not from the home he shares with Peewee. Peewee helps in the garage, too, and while their lack of parents is alluded to in a few wistful remembrances of the past, it is not explained in any detail. From a neighboring house, the owners of the former livery stable now car service business, a rather peculiar couple, seem to keep some sort of benevolent but distant eye on Jake and Peewee. A real hurricane hits as the story opens, and the town has a couple of others of its own non-weather making. One is the controversial decision to hire a librarian for their departed former one. The other is to hold the area's first automobile race. Of course, Jake wants to enter with his homemade vehicle. Jake and Peewee have much to deal with, including Peewee's imminent promotion to high school, the rather interesting librarian applicants, and business competitors who service cars in underhanded ways. Peck's wonderful way of drawing characters whose words and actions describe them intimately, his knack for the dialogue and details of a time ninety years ago, and the humor that he brings into the story that fits so well are the ingredients for fun and pleasant stories and reading. I have now read some five of his works, with this one taking place in a time before his Newbery honor and award books A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder. The two award winners were among the very best in YA literature. Librarian is very good and very enjoyable and I have already directed it toward several young readers. This is one more reason to rank Peck and his books highly on your list of YA authors and titles. Read and enjoy.
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2: I wish I could give it five stars
but I can't. I thoroughly enjoyed Richard Peck's "A Long Way From Chicago" and "A Year Down Yonder." He is a marvel at recreating another time and another place, and he does a fine job with this rural Indiana town in the early years of the 20th century. And Jake and Peewee (also known as Eleanor) are finely drawn characters - as are most of the others we meet.
My only real problem with the book is that I really, really dislike the first chapter - so much so that I almost stopped reading the book at the bottom of page 11. I'm glad I kept going because all of the remaining chapters are first rate. The offending chapter has to do with a tornado tearing up the town and part of its adjacent cemetary. I thought it was unnecessarily grotesque, and nothing that happens in the rest of the book is dependent in any way on the events in chapter one. It's possible, I suppose, that one could look at the tornado in a metaphorical sense (the only explanation I can come up with) because "winds of change" do blow into town in chapter two. We meet emancipated women who act as role models for Peewee/Eleanor, and we have Eleanor herself coming to terms with her impending maturity and subsequent self-reliance. So, I recommend reading the first four or five pages, then skipping to the first page of chapter two and continuing on to the end of the book. It's a good book - but not a great one like either of the two Grandma Dowdel books I mentioned up front.
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3: Entertainment for a wide age range.
My sons and I listened to this audiobook on a recent trip and we all enjoyed it. There was enough character development and a great plot to keep me interested, and the storyline moved along well and had enough action to keep the attention of both my 10 year old, as well as my 17 year old. We have read and/or listened to several books by this author and he is an excellent storyteller with an elegant style of writing. This is the type of literature I love to share with my children.
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4: Heaven Stamped Her -- Overdue
Tongue in cheek wit and picture perfect images of early twentieth century America serve as a trademark to the talented Richard Peck. If Mark Twain were less wordy and told an interesting story with a faster pace, he might tell a story as well as Richard Peck.
PeeWee, better known as Eleanor, is a tomboy by the standards of the early 20th century. She likes fixing cars, wearing overalls, and dislikes wearing dresses or womanly leisures. So when the four sorority girls from Butler University arrive in town to resurrect the library, they also aim to change Eleanor. Yet even as they make her less of a tomboy, not everything about Eleanor has to change. Eleanor believes her brother Jake has eyes for Irene, the girl Eleanor speaks with most frequently. But just when Eleanor thinks she understands men, a twist comes.
Few writers have such a talent for painting a character's image. This is a real strong point for Peck. Peck makes readers feel a part of a simpler time in American history, and make it laugh-out-loud funny at times. This was not Peck's best story, but I still enjoyed it.
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5: Librarians, race cars, and suffragettes...
Just finished reading this book aloud with my two daughters, ages 10 and 12. Richard Peck can always be counted on to tell a story filled with a sense of history, great characters, and a dry sense of humor. This book doesn't disappoint. We looked forward to our nightly adventure with the Jake and Eleanor (aka Peewee). While some children may be a little confused with some of the vocabulary, it's a great way to learn some history while having a lot of fun. I recommend reading this book aloud to truly enjoy it's full flavor!!
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