San Marcos Record, San Marcos, TX

Features

July 3, 2009

Answers To Go: Find adventure books like ‘Hatchet’ this summer

By Susan Smith

Each week hundreds of people call or visit the San Marcos Public Library to find information. "Answers•To•Go" highlights recently received questions. Please visit the library at 625 East Hopkins, call 393-8200 for information over the phone, or e-mail us through our web-page at www.sanmarcostx.gov/library.



Q. Last summer, I asked for a book recommendation for my son. The librarian suggested “Hatchet.” He really did enjoy it. Can you help me find a similar book for him?



A. For those of you who haven’t read Gary Paulsen’s “Hatchet,” it’s a modern children’s classic in the vein of Robinson Crusoe. Brian is on the way to join his father in a Canadian oil field when his small plane crashes into a lake.

The pilot is killed in the crash and city boy, Brian, is caught up in a battle to survive alone in the wilds.

I am fortunate enough to be able to help select children’s books for the library. Last year Terry Pratchett’s “Nation” appeared on several best books of 2008 lists.

Here’s what the prestigious children’s literature magazine, “Horn Book,” has to say about Pratchett’s young adult novel: “Two civilizations meet when a tsunami shipwrecks an English vessel on a small tropical island.

“Representing the empire is the sole survivor of the wreck, the young girl Ermintrude. She meets Mau, a boy on the brink of manhood, and the only survivor of the island's "nation."

“All the attractions of a castaway story are here -- including an ingenious use of found materials, exotic plants and animals, nature's violence, really bad guys, and a single footprint in the sand — but this story holds far more.

“As Mau says, ‘The wave came. These are new days. Who knows what we are?’ The unique pleasure of this story is that all the serious subjects and juicy ethical questions, such as the dilemma of the compassionate lie, are fully woven into action and character.

“Satirical portraits of upper-class twits, slapstick buffoonery, bad puns, and English wit buoy this story at every turn. Add a romance of gentle sweetness, encounters with ghosts, and lots of gunfire, and it is hard to imagine a reader who won't feel welcomed into this nation.”



Q. I’ve asked you to look up out-of-state telephone numbers for me. Is there any way you can find telephone numbers in Scandinavian countries?



A. There are a number of online telephone directories. I generally try AT&T;’s AnyWho website (www.tollfree.att.net) for American telephone numbers. I’ve used it for businesses, individuals, and toll free numbers.

This same webpage offers a connection to international telephone directories. Many countries are listed from all over the world.

In Scandinavia, I saw telephone listings for Finland, and Norway, and Sweden. Sometimes Denmark and Iceland are included in the lists of Scandinavian countries. They are listed on this web page as well.





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