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StellaMarie

StellaMarie

I am a Library Associate, Adult Information services, with the Carroll County Public Library. I came late to this job, but I love it! I can't imagine another place I'd rather be--surrounded by books is like being in a candy store. The only drawback is that there are so many choices, which means I take lots of books home but don't get to read...more »
  • Westminster, MD, Vanuatu
  • member since Tuesday, March 27 2007

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Public Notes

  • Dorian Y

    dorian y says

    My brother is doing fine now. It's been about eight years since his wife died, and he finally seems to be getting through with the grieving process. He still can't look at home videos with her in them, he is doing much better generally. He has a successful antiques business and stays very busy with that, and he and our mother go antiquing together once a week. He has a rather large network of friends, but few are close.

    I am not a librarian, but a college professor. My brother and I are so different that it is hard to tell we had the same parents. But we love each other, and we appreciate and value each other all the more as we get older.

    I had not thought of posting some of the audio. Actually, the book is still under copyright, although out of print. I had the copyright holder's permission to use the mp3's within my family, but that might be asking too much. I could ask. She is Sharon Kane, the daughter of Eunice Young Smith.

    posted 10 days ago. ( send a note )
  • Dorian Y

    dorian y says

    Thanks for inviting me to join your group of friends, Stellamarie. I have really enjoyed Shelfari, and I believe I will remain active on it for many years to come.

    The Jennifer books were written in the mid fifties to early sixties. They could be found in any school library in the midwest and in many other places all around the world. In my school they made the rounds and were read by nearly all the girls and some of the guys, myself and my brother included. I was introduced to "The Jennifer Gift" by my brother, and it was the only one I read at the time. A few years ago while my brother was losing his wife to MS, a nagging memory entered my brain - there was only one book I could ever remember my brother getting excited about, and the name escaped me for days. Did you ever reach for and grab a fading memory like a life preserver? That was my experience, and when the title popped into my head I said a prayer of thanksgiving. I googled the title and got nothing, but then I thought about all the libraries around the country and how you could probably log onto a guest account and search the stacks of practically any one of them. So I logged onto the New York City Public Library site and found the author's name and more information about it. Then I tried a more local site and was similarly successful. Within a few days I had a copy in my hand, obtained through our local library via inter-library loan.

    I started reading the book every evening to my ten-year-old boy, and we became more and more engrossed in the characters. Nothing I could find on the current market was nearly so creative and wholesome. The values it promoted - courage, loyalty, honesty, and especially selflessness - are hard to find in contemporary youth literature. But the whole effect was so professional and polished, and she did her own excellently crafted illustrations. I had to have a copy for myself, and I paid a book finder a lot of money for one excellent copy. I now have the whole collection of six books.

    I personally read the whole book into a microphone and stored the recordings on mp3 files that year, and I presented CD's to my brother and his whole family. It was a very healing experience for all of us.

    Here is the "rest of the story". I have often thought that the books did not make a lot of money for Mrs Smith, because of the way they were distributed throught the school libraries. They were not terribly high profile, and I am sure did not appear on any best-seller lists, because people didn't buy children's books then like they do now. But along about the time those girls who had read the books began to have their own children, Jennifer became the most popular name given to girl babies in this country. As a matter of fact, it was the most popular name from 1969 through 1985, I believe.

    posted 2 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • Dorian Y

    dorian y says

    I can't believe there is someone else on this site who has read "Growing up hard in Harlan County"! My mother bugged me until I resignedly sat down to read it, and then I was delighted with it. I believe Mr. Jones remembers every detail of every meal he has ever eaten... I notice you have a very eclectic shelf, with some classics, some children's books, and a lot of women writers. Let me suggest the Eunice Young Smith books from the 50's, the Jennifer series, and especially of "The Jennifer Gift". You can only get it through interlibrary loan, but it is well worth the trouble.

    posted 2 weeks ago. ( send a note )
  • Donna M

    donna m says

    Thanks, Stella! Everyone says that.. (haha)

    posted 4 months ago. ( send a note )


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