Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library

"Jo-Beth shouted into the phone. 'We're prisoners! We're prisoners in the library!'" 

                                                                           --Eth Clifford, Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library

No, I'm not currently a prisoner in the library, but by chance I saw this book while there the other day. And I had to laugh at both the title and my situation.

For I was at the library for an extended period that afternoon and unable to leave at will. Hubby and I were about to head out on a short overnight road trip, but he had a tutoring session scheduled at the library first. So rather than him having to come back and get me before hitting the road, I chose to spend his 2 1/2 hour tutoring time with him, howbeit discreetly on the other side from where he and his student worked. I certainly had enough to keep me busy, a folder of writing material at hand as well as a list of books and authors I wanted to check out.

I did a little reading. I did a little writing. I scanned the shelves for the books on my list. And then, after exhausting the list, I casually wandered the children's stacks just looking for a title to jump out at me. Jump out it did--Eth Clifford's Help! I'm a Prisoner in the Library (Houghton Mifflin 1979). Ironic? I thought so.

Maybe you've heard of Clifford and her work? She has a long list of children's books to her credit. As for Prisoner, the flyleaf reads, in part:

"Although Mary Rose and Jo-Beth hardly ever agreed on anything, they both thought that night would never end. So much had happened! First their car ran out of gas in an unfamiliar city. Then, after their father left in search of a gas station, they trudged through the snow until they found a curious old library that housed the most extraordinary objects: wooden children dressed in old-fashioned clothes, a terrible flying creature that rushed at them in the dark, and (they would later learn) a cellar full of animals.

"But worst of all, they were locked in..."

Sort of like me, but not really--it's a much better story than mine! With a happy ending, all about the promise of saving an old library otherwise destined for demise. Mixed in with middle-grade sisters, bumps in the dark, a talking mynah bird, just enough spookiness. An old book but still a good read.

And to think I found it when locked...I mean stuck...no, when enjoying an afternoon in the library!

Where better to be if you had to be locked in somewhere, right? How about you, where would you want to be if you found yourself stuck somewhere? And any new-found favorites and/or authors on the library shelves (or e-readers) for you lately?

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Day of Rare Finds

"To sit alone in the lamplight with a book spread out before you, and hold intimate converse with men of unseen generations - such is a pleasure beyond compare."  ~Kenko Yoshida

Photo: City Beat

We started here on a recent day out, at this Indie bookstore for children. I'd heard of The Blue Manatee before, it's in our city of Cincinnati, but it took daughter and two grandkids to prompt us to take a field trip there. A fun, energetic place--as are most Indie book stores!--where not only children can get lost in books, but adults-disguised-as-children can, too.

Imagine our delight when we discovered a picture book author was scheduled to speak: Loren Long, author and illustrator of the Otis the Tractor books.  Great fun, great inspiration, great mix of people to stand in the crowd with, and a great author to draw encouragement from.

Can't forget the Blue Marble's DeCafe, a snack bar serving smooties and such, where we were introduced to the "Nutella and Banana" bagel, ordered by hubby--and shared with little Angelica. Can anyone say chocolate fingers and chocolate smiles?

Then a dash across the street, and up a looooong flight of stairs (with two little ones in tow, mind you), to Significant Books, a shop dealing in rare, out-of-print, and "antiquarian" books. A hidden gem was waiting for me: Howe's Historical Collections of Ohio, Volume 1 of 2. Through the years I've actually dipped into the pages of this book, copyrighted 1888, on the internet, but never believed I'd hold it in my hands. On the inside flyleaf of this rare find is an inscription, presenting the book to a W.T. Davies, Esq., dated 1903. Wow. A quick run-through of the almost 1000 pages shows a wealth of history, anecdotes, and details of the years 1846-1886 in Ohio. If only I can someday get my hands on Volume 2!

Finally, dear daughter was the one to spy this gem: Writing the Natural Way, by Gabriele Lusser Rico, a book on a subject I have a special interest in, "Using Right-Brain Techniques to Release Your Expressive Powers: Clustering...Image and Metaphor...Creative Tension... Language Rhythm" (copyrighted 1983). It has risen to the top of the must-read pile, bumping a few other writing books off  the stack for the time being.

Ahhh, and since the store was holding a 60% off sale, we got both books for only $8.50. A rare find indeed!

Any rare finds--books or otherwise--you've encountered recently?