Looking For Ideas For Addressing Obesity in Minnesota

Help shape Minnesota's future at http://www.mnideaopen.org/.  This is a project of Minnesota Community Foundation. 

Submit your best idea for helping Hibbing to eat smart and be active by April 9th.  Minnesota will vote and the best idea will become a reality.  Up to $15000 could be given to Hibbing to put your idea into action and you could receive $500 for thinking of it.

Go to Minnesota Idea Open for more information and to enter your idea.

Author Stieg Larrson

Stieg Larsson (1954-2004) was a Swedish writer and journalist.
Prior to his sudden death of a heart attack in November 2004 he finished three detective novels in his trilogy "The Millenium-series" which were published posthumously; "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest". Altogether, his trilogy has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide (summer of 2009). From the Stieg Larsson Blog.

He wrote them for his own pleasure after returning home from his job in the evening, making no attempt to get them published until shortly before his death. The first of these novels was published in Sweden in 2005 as Män som hatar kvinnor ("Men who hate women"), published in English as The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was awarded the prestigious Glass Key award as the best Nordic crime novel in 2005. His second novel, Flickan som lekte med elden (The Girl Who Played with Fire), received the Best Swedish Crime Novel Award in 2006.
The primary characters in the Millennium Trilogy series are Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist. Lisbeth is an intelligent, eccentric woman in her 20s with a photographic memory whose social skills are rather poor. Blomkvist is an investigative journalist, a celebrity in his own right. From Wikipedia.

The Library carries The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire.

The third book in the trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest will be out in May.

For a USA Today article about The Girl Who Kicked a Hornet's Nest, see: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2010-02-23-larsson23_ST_N.htm?obref=obinsite

Crime Scene Investigation

Fascinated with television shows like the CSI or Bones series? Enjoy reading books by Kathy Reichs and Patricia Cornwell? Do you want more information about the actual forensics? Then these websites are for you.




Fascinating Forensic Novels from Springfield City Library: http://www.springfieldlibrary.org/reading/forensic.html

The Writers Forensics Blog
http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/

Hooked on Forensics
http://www.littlemoon.com/forensic/

How Crime Scene Investigation Works:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/csi.htm

Sharpe's Challenge: the movie on PBS' Masterpiece Classic tonight.

War weary and retired, Colonel Richard Sharpe (Sean Bean, The Lord of the Rings) is summoned by the Duke of Wellington to find a missing agent, but he resolutely declines. When he learns the MIA officer is his old friend Sergeant Major Patrick Harper (Daragh O'Malley), fighter and free spirit Sharpe quickly reconsiders, and begins a perilous adventure amidst rebellious forces in British India. Sharpe's seemingly impossible mission: storm an impenetrable fortress, rescue the daughter of a British general and quell the rebellion. With the odds stacked against him, Sharpe confronts shifting allegiances, incompetent leadership within the British troops, the conniving seduction of Madhuvanthi (Padma Lakshmi, Top Chef) and an explosive confrontation with an old foe. Has Sharpe finally found one challenge he won't be able to conquer? Sharpe's Challenge is based on the characters created by novelist Bernard Cornwell. (One episode; 120 minutes; TV-PG) From PBS Website.
Based on the books by Bernard Cornwell, see his website: http://www.bernardcornwell.net/

Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes

Taking 30 years to write about the Vietnam War, Karl Marlantes, decorated combat veteran, gives a vivid portrayal of his experiences as a Marine in South Vietnam in this novel. Waino Mellas, a Marine in Bravo company, shows us the jungle and the firefights while he and his fellow soldiers try to stay alive in a war fought very differently from previous wars. Matterhorn can be ordered through interlibrary loan by using your library card. By clicking on the title, you can read a review by USA Today.

USA Today Article: 10 Great Places to Honor Our Foremothers

March is Women's History Month, and Heather Huyck, a public historian, shares her favorite locations with Larry Bleiberg for USA TODAY. From The Harriet Beecher Stowe Center in Hartford, Connecticut to Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park, in Richmond, California : "These are not your grandmother's lace doily museums," Huyck says. 

Read the article while making your vacation plans and check out The National Collaborative for Women's History Sites http://www.ncwhs.org/ for more information.

Websites: Spring cleaning checklists help you take care of important seasonal chores and welcome Spring!

Look at the following checklists offered by several websites:

Martha Stewart offers this 3 page list:
http://images.marthastewart.com/images/content/web/pdfs/2007Q2/la_0407_spring_cleaning.pdf

About.com: Housekeeping
http://housekeeping.about.com/cs/cleaning101/a/springclnngguid.htm

Organized Home
http://organizedhome.com/seasonal-spin/spring-cleaning-chore-checklist

DIY Life
http://www.diylife.com/2008/04/11/spring-cleaning-checklists-by-room/

Ivillage
http://home.ivillage.com/cleanandorganize/0,,bbx571t2,00.html

After cleaning and organizing your house and yard go to the Fit City Blog and get tips for getting yourself in shape for summer:
http://www.fitcity.blogspot.com/

A Night Too Dark: A Kate Shugak Novel by Dana Stabenow

Working closely alongside friend and lover, Alaskan State Trooper, Jim Chopin, Kate Shugak starts the 17th book in the series by looking for a missing person. Tracking down the identity of the missing now found dead body, Kate goes out to the Suulutaq Gold Mine to check into who may have gone missing from their new and highly transient workforce. After 17 novels, Kate and her colorful Park Rat friends and native relatives living in the small fly-in town of Niniltna on edge of "The Park", are old friends who enrich the stories with their quirky behavior.

Dana Stabenow lives in Alaska, read about her here: http://www.stabenow.com/.
Dana is also on Facebook and Twitter.

Newbery Honor book new in the Kid's Room

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin

In this enchanted and enchanting adventure, Minli, whose name means “quick thinking,” lives with her desperately poor parents at the confluence of Fruitless Mountain and the Jade River. While her mother worries and complains about their lot, her father brightens their evenings with storytelling. One day, after a goldfish salesman promises that his wares will bring good luck, Minli spends one of her only two coins in an effort to help her family. After her mother ridicules what she believes to be a foolish purchase, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon, who, it is told, may impart the true secret to good fortune. Along the way, she finds excitement, danger, humor, magic, and wisdom, and she befriends a flightless dragon, a talking fish, and other companions and helpmates in her quest. With beautiful language, Lin creates a strong, memorable heroine and a mystical land. Stories, drawn from a rich history of Chinese folktales, weave throughout her narrative, deepening the sense of both the characters and the setting and smoothly furthering the plot. Children will embrace this accessible, timeless story about the evil of greed and the joy of gratitude. Lin’s own full-color drawings open each chapter.  (from Booklist)

Wizards in Training

Young wizards got a chance to attend "Wizard's School" on Thursday, March 18 at the library.  Magicians Bob and Lynn Halbrook of Cloquet presented an hour-long show, based on the Harry Potter books.  The show included disapearing animals, a floating table and HUGE wands.

Nearly 40 people attended the show, with plenty of audience participation.

New Fiction Recommendation

A new addition to Linda Fairstein's "Alexandra Cooper" series is now on the shelf.

Head of the Sex Crimes Unit of the district attorney's office in Manhattan for decades, Linda Fairstein is America's most visible legal expert on sexual assault and domestic violence-which is why she writes some of the most compelling crime thrillers of our time and why her Alexandra Cooper series has been topping bestseller lists for more than a decade. For her twelfth novel, Fairstein takes Alexandra Cooper inside a world she'd rather not see. New York City politics have always been filled with intrigue and behind-the-scenes deals. In Hell Gate, Alex finds her attention torn between investigating a shipwreck that has contraband cargo-human cargo-and the political sex scandal of a promising New York congressman now fallen from grace. When Alex discovers that a woman from the wreck and the congressman's lover have the same rose tattoo-the brand of a "snakehead", a master of a human trafficking operation-it dawns on her that these cases aren't as unrelated as they seem and that the entire political landscape of New York City could hang in the balance of her investigation.

According to Library Journal, "Fairstein mixes intrigue, political corruption, and international exploitation with just the right amount of New York history: a perfect recipe for a winning thriller."

New in the Kid's Room

In book #43 of the best-selling Magic Tree House series - Leprechaun In Late Winter - author Mary Pope Osborne writes about Jack and Annie, who are on another Merlin Mission. With help from their magical assistants Teddy and Kathleen, the two kids’ mission is to convince young artists – like Mozart and Louis Armstrong, for example - to use their talents to bring joy to the world. Now Annie and Jack travel to Ireland, year 1862, with just a magic whistle and instructions to convince an unhappy young girl that she has much to give to the cultural life of Ireland.


When the two time travelers climb down from their magic tree house, they find themselves knocking on the door of a Big House, where rich folks live lavishly compared to their poor Irish neighbors. This is where young Augusta is unhappy with her life, because she doesn’t want to be a wealthy lady. Instead, she wants to help the poor.

Jack and Annie use the magic whistle to give Augusta the power to see and speak with the magical, mystical, fairy creatures that are so much a part of Irish folklore and culture. These fairies lead Augusta to their Queen, who tells her that her mission is to find old storytellers and write down their Irish tales before they’re lost forever.

One Book One Community

April is "One Book One Community" month.  This year's title is Barbara Kingsolver's "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle".  Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" tells the story of how one family was changed by one year of deliberately eating food produced in the place where they lived.

There are multiple copies of this book available for check out at the library.  Community events will be offered in Hibbing, Virginia, Cloquet, and Duluth starting the last     week in March and ending the first week in May.    
 
Hibbing Public Library will be having the following events and displays starting the week of March 29th:

• Art Display by Joan Beth Lewandowski.  Artist Reception will be on Thursday, April 1st, 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the library auditorium.
• Piano Recital by students of Rachel Maki on Thursday, April 15th, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the library auditorium.    
• Brown Bag Lunch/Discussion.  Master Gardener, Donna Stuntebeck, will be moderating a discussion on "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" on Earth Day, Thursday, April 22nd, 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the library auditorium.  Coffee will be provided.    
• Piano Recital by students of Nadine Berg on Monday, April 26th, 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. in the library auditorium.   
• Poets Workshop for Kids on Wednesday, April 28th, 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the children's room.   
• Magic Mama Concert  on Friday, April 30th, 3:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the library auditorium.

There will also be information displays during the month on "Donate Life", "Volunteer Week", and "Fibromyalgia Awareness".

Programs for these and all area events will be available at the library.       

"Wizard's School" magic show

Looking for something to do after school? Something different? Something free?

The library is proud to present "Wizard's School," a magic show for all ages.  Taking ideas fron "harry Potter," magicians Robert and Lynn from 20th Century Magic will present a comedy show for all ages with magic, illusions and an emphasis on reading.

The show starts at 3pm on Thursday, March 18.  And, as always, it is free!

See you there!

New Series Starting on HBO: The Pacific

Starting this Sunday at 8 pm on HBO is the 10 week series, "The Pacific."

Produced by Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg, the war in the Pacific is very different than the war fought in Europe as protrayed in "Band of Brothers" produced in 2001, also for HBO. The soldiers fight the Japanese in jungle warfare on the islands of Guadalcanal, New Britain, and Peleliu. The miniseries starts right after the attack on Pearl Harbor and follows three marines until the story ends at home in 1946 after Japan surrenders.  The series is based partially on the books, "Helmet for My Pillow" by Robert Keckie; "With the Old Breed" and "China Marine," by Eugene B Sledge; " Red Blood, Black Sand, by Chuck Tatum, and original interviews conducted by Hanks and Spielberg.

Book Review: Food Will Win the War: Minnesota crops, cooks, and conservation during World War I by Rae Katherine Eighmey

Read about the support on the home front and try out some of the unique recipes consumed with the food shortages during World War I.

Meat, wheat, sugar, and other grains were sent overseas while at home families were urged to grow and eat vegetables. Daylight Savings Time was introduced in 1918 to increase the efficiency of backyard war gardens or "liberty" gardens producing food to support the troops.
Americans were asked to voluntarily make breads with some non- wheat flour. Farms in Europe and a poor wheat crop in America led to shortages of harvested wheat. One recipe: “Uncle Sam’s War Receipt for Biscuits” included cornmeal, ground soy beans, rice flour or finely ground peanuts to fill out the flour portion of the recipe.
Through volunteer efforts many Americans conserved food at home in order to feed American soldiers and European allies during the war. Read about Minnesota’s efforts in “Food Will Win the War.”

Its a long way to the top...

...if you want to rock and roll!

As part of Teen Tech Week, the library is offering you and your friends the chance to rock out on Wii Rock Band. On Monday through Thursday, from 3-5pm, the Wii is available in the auditorium.

Up to three people can play, with drums, microphone and guitar. Three games are available: Rock Band, Rock Band 2 (with extra downloads) and AC/DC Live.

Bryant and May on the Loose by Christopher Fowler

In the previous book, "The Victoria Vanishes," the Peculiar Crimes Unit was disbanded and their building taken over by another police unit. Detectives Bryant and May, long past the age of retirement, solved London's odd crimes at a better rate than the metropolitan police.
The PCU gets a reprieve when a man impersonating a stag shows up on the streets of King's Cross, a busy part of London undergoing massive reconstruction. Colin Bimsley, formerly a member of the PCU, does some construction work for a shop owner in King's Cross and finds a headless corpse in a freezer.
With great reluctance from upper management, Bryant and May are instructed to resurrect the unit for one last case.
For more about Christopher Fowler and the Bryant and May series, see the website: http://www.christopherfowler.co.uk/

New in the Kid's Room

The Death-Defying Pepper Roux by Geraldine McCaughrean

Pepper's fourteenth birthday is a momentous one.

Its the day he's supposed to die.

Everyone seems resigned to it-even Pepper, although he would much prefer to live. But can you sidestep Fate? Jump sideways into a different life? Naive and trusting, Pepper sets a course though dangerous waters, inviting disaster and mayhem at every turn, one eye on the sky for fear of angels, one on the magnificent possibilities of being alive.

New York Times bestselling author and Printz-award winning author Geraldine McCaughrean has created a gripping tale filled with dark humor and escapades, where the key to a boy's life lies in facing his own death.

Join him on the run-if you can keep up.

Book Review: The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag

by Alan Bradley
Flavia de Luce, 11 years old with a chemistry lab full of poison inherited from Great Uncle Tar, lives on the bankrupt decaying estate of Buckshaw. Second in the series following the first book, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Flavia again uses her sleuthing abilities and charm to investigate a murder and an accident by misadventure.
Set in England during the 1950s, Flavia has a lot of free time on her hands with a father immersed in his stamp collection, and two older sisters who have their own activities: boys and novels. A puppeteer and his beautiful assistant become stranded when their van breaks down next to St. Tancred’s church and the vicar offers them the church for a puppet show in return for getting their van fixed. Flavia hangs around and offers to help but her sleuthing skills are put to work when murder occurs during the showing of Jack and the Beanstalk.
For more information about Alan Bradley and his books, go to the website: http://www.flaviadeluce.com/