New at the Mid-Columbia Library System…

While this first title is not new, we include it in honor of author, Sherman Alexie’s upcoming visit to the Tri-Cities for the Mid-Columbia Literary Festival. On Tuesday, April 19^th, at 7:00pm at the Kennewick Branch of the Mid-Columbia Library, Rich Cummins, Vice President of Instruction at Columbia Basin College will host a screening of Alexie’s award-winning film, “Smoke Signals”, based on the book, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven. On Wednesday, April 27^th, Alexie will make a personal appearance, reading and book signing at 7:00 pm, CBC Byron Gjerde Center. The Mid-Columbia Literary Festival is co-sponsored by the Community Lecture Series, the CBC Office of Diversity, Arts and Humanities Division, and the Mid-Columbia Library Foundation.

Ten Little Indians, by Sherman Alexie, c.2003 by Grove Press, New York, 243 pages.

In this selection of nine short stories, Alexie revisits favorite themes of the urban Native American, his loves, his traditions (lost, found or never learned) his poetry and basketball. A unifying thread of post 9/11 changes weaves through the collection.

In “The Search Engine”, a determined young student travels from WSU to Seattle to track down Harlan Atwater, author of a forgotten volume of poetry. Atwater’s depictions of reservation life strike a familiar chord in her heart because Corliss has left the “rez” behind. Although she loves her family and they are proud of her, they disapprove of her poetry studies. But Atwater is an imposter. How can an Indian adopted by white parents and raised in Seattle write the secrets of her soul?

In “Lawyer’s League”, an upcoming political dynamo describes himself as a “biracial revolutionary leftist magician with a twenty-foot jumper encoded in (his) DNA.” When his basketball skills can’t take him as far as he desires, Richard abandons the sport for political science at U-Dub. After graduation, each political internship is carefully chosen to further his career as the “first half-black half-Indian United States Senator.” Congress is a mere stepping-stone to the White House and his every cause, every agenda is carefully calculated toward this goal.

With regret, he sacrifices the potential love of a lifetime because she’s white and he “…would never achieve my full potential as a public servant if I married a white woman. I would lose votes each time I kissed my wife in public.”

So why does this driven, single-minded politician allow a simple game of basketball to derail his carefully constructed life plan?

These stories and more showcase Alexie’s piercing regard of the urban Native American, his hopes, his successes, his failures, and victories.

Reviewed by Marsha Bates, Reference Associate, Mid-Columbia Library System.

The Seuss, the Whole Seuss, and Nothing But the Seuss: A Visual Biography of Theodor Seuss Geisel, by Charles D. Cohen, c.2004 by Random House, New York, 390 pages

This is a tell-all book about the most loved of children’s authors – no, not about his personal life, but about how those wonderful little critters came into being.

Of course, during his life Dr. Seuss was asked by many a reporter just that – how he created Horton the Elephant and all those crazy goats and stacked cats in hats.

It seems, by evidence in this visual biography, that Dr. Seuss could not resist a few answers as outlandish as his wonderful menagerie of animals. But, why would he make up tales about his own creative process? The answer could be as simple as this– His remarks were witty, and Dr. Seuss was always witty.

But, first and foremost, Dr. Seuss, who grew up as Theodor Seuss Geisel, was a cartoonist. He drew as a boy, he drew in college, he drew for a living in New York – illustrations, advertising, even political cartoons.

His first work signed Seuss was in college, and then in 1927 a cartoon of his was picked up by Judge magazine, the first of many. His biographer, Charles D. Cohen, observed, “As Ted’s confidence grew, his characters began to develop a particular style.”

Yes, and aren’t we glad for that? Dr. Seuss’ unique style shaped his many children’s books. That is evident in the hundreds of his drawings in this biography covering his productive life, 1904-1991. In it there’s much to learn about how Dr. Seuss came to write and draw stories that children today are still eager to hear over and over, and then to read for themselves.

This visual biography is a treasure for adults who loved Dr, Seuss as children (and still do.) Besides, who can resist a title like The Seuss The Whole Seuss And Nothing But The Seuss?

Reviewed by Bonnie Taylor, novelist and Trustee of the Mid-Columbia Library System.