LAL Winners Notified

The envelopes just went out to the 3 students whose letters were selected as the New Hampshire winners for Letters About Literature 2010. I expect to announce their names and publish their letters on our website next week. The writers of the winning letters should receive their envelopes tomorrow or the next day.

Book of the Week #13

Women's Work in New England, 1620-1920 edited by Peter Benes (Boston University, 2003)

This volume is volume 26 of the Annual Proceedings of the Dublin Seminar for New England Folklife. This conference, held in Deerfield, MA in June 2001 "consisted of museum tours in Deerfield conducted by Historic Deerfield and the Memorial Hall Museum, followed by twenty-one lectures and demonstrations on the working roles of women in New England and contiguous portions of New York State and Canada from the time of first European settlement through the early twentieth century. The conference planning committee hoped to concentrate on the expectations and gender burdens placed on women of all ages and social ranks in the region between 1620 and 1920." (p. 5)

Among the papers included in this volume is "Number, Please: New Hampshire Predial Telephone Operators, 1877-1920" by Judith Moyer. This is a look at the history of telephones in the granite state and the women who made them work. The image on the cover was taken at Otis Sumner's drugstore, Goffstown, NH c. 1920. At that time there were 653 telephone operators in New Hampshire and 92.5% of them were women.

Book of the Week #12

When Women and Mountains Meet: Adventures in the White Mountains by Julie Boardman (Etna, NH: Durand Press, 2001)

"This book tells the story of the women who helped shape the rich history of New Hampshire's White Mountains. I was inspired to write it when I began looking into the life of Lucy Crawford, the author of a famous history of the region. As I learned something about Lucy's accomplishments, I realized that she had never recieved the attention that she deserves, and I wondered if other women might have suffered a similar fate. ...the women whom I have chosen to write about had a special feeling for mountains. The loved being in the mountains, were curious about them, and looked to them for adventure, inspiration, or solace. Some were hikers and mountaineers, while others enriched the region as writers, artists, scientists, conservationists, explorers, innkeepers, or simply as characters." [preface, p. vii]

Julie Boardman's work has appeared in Appalachia, the Sierra Club Magazine, Connecticut Magazine, Connecticut Audubon, and many other publications. Since moving to New Hampshire in 1990, she has hiked extensively throughout New England and climbed the New England 4,000 footers.

Congratulations LAL Semi-finalists!

These students wrote letters that were selected as New Hampshire semi-finalists in the 2010 Letters About Literature competition. From among these letters a state winner will be selected at each of the 3 competition levels. The state winners will be notified by mail next week.

Abby Bronson - Landaff
Abby Howard - Durham
Abby Richett -North Hampton
Amelia Schillemat - Marlborough
Amy Meyers – Gilford
Andrew Norkiewicz - Belmont
Annabeth Gullo – Pembroke
Ashley Rogers - Jaffrey
Brian Morgan - Hopkinton
Brianna Hutchinson - Pembroke
Bridie Rose O'Connell - N. Sandwich
Brie Tarmey – Pembroke
Brittney Gesick-LaMears – Marlborough
Cameron Randlett - Brookline
Christie Cannone - Windham
Courtney Bloniasz – Brookline
Ethan Gorman – Etna
Gus Lewis – Brookline
Hannah Lang – Grantham
Hannah Whitesel - Jaffrey
Jacob H. Geil - Monroe
Jake Clark – Claremont
Jami Daigle – Marlborough
John Sterritt - Hollis
Kristin Chan - Nashua
Lauren Kiessling - N. Haverhill
Lauren Olivier – Lincoln
Leah Prevost - Marlborough
Lindsey Beauregard – Hollis
Mandy Kabel – Hollis
McKenna Robinson – Lisbon
Megan Brown - Sugar Hill
Morgan Sulham - N. Haverhill
Nate Hunt – Hopkinton
Nicole Langlais – Derry
Olivia Eaton - Portsmouth
Patrick Donohue – Gilford
Sarah Schott – Canterbury
Shania Clark – Pembroke
Sophia Lingley – Dunbarton
Srishti Sadhir - Londonderry
Tim Gurshin – Canterbury
Will Shepard - Thetford Ctr., VT

Please note that in addition to the students listed here, there were 4 other students honored as semi-finalists who had not given us permission to announce their names as of today.

LAL Semi-finalists Announcement Delayed

The announcement of the semi-finalists in the NH Letters About Literature competition was scheduled for today. It isn't going to happen until Wednesday 3/24.

I had a number of messages this morning from parents telling me that they had just gotten the letter that was sent last Tuesday and that the release was on its way but wouldn't make it by today. I have gotten about 40% of the forms and would like to recognize 100% of the students who wrote semi-finalist letters, so I am going to wait and announce all the names I have by Wednesday.

If you got a packet letting you know your letter was selected as a semi-finalist, sign & mail your blue release form today!

LAL Packets are in the Mail

I just got back from delivering the Letters About Literature semi-finalist packets to the post office. Forty-seven NH students should find packets from the Center for the Book in their mailboxes in the next few days letting them know that their letters were selected.

There are a few semi-finalists who did not include their home addresses on their entry coupons. Those students will receive their packets care of their schools -- this group includes students from Dunbarton Elementary School, Haverhill Cooperative Middle School, Lisbon Regional School, and Marlborough School. NOTE to SCHOOLS: The students who receive packets care of the school are not necessarily all the students selected as semi-finalists from that school.

Once the signed release forms are returned to us (there is a self-addressed, stamped envelope in each packet to speed this up) the NH students who wrote semi-finalist letters will be announced and a letter sent to the principal of each school that had semi-finalists letting them know who the students from their school were.

Book of the Week #11

Marvelous Mattie: How Margaret E. Knight Became an Inventor by Emily Arnold McCully (NY: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2006)

Emily Arnold McCully wrote and illustrated the life of Margaret E. Knight who came up with her first (life saving) invention when she was a girl living in Manchester, NH. There is a very good chance that you used something this week that wouldn't exist without a machine that Margaret Knight invented.

Ms. McCully is also the author of The Escape of Oney Judge, another story of a New Hampshire woman.

LAL Semi-finalist Update

Last week when I announced the schools that had semi-finalists in this year's Letters About Literature competition I said that the semi-finalists would be notified by mail by today (3/15)
Unfortunately there was a problem last week with the printing of LAL bookmarks and the packets did not go out. The bookmarks are being laminated right now and I expect the packets will go into the mail tomorrow.





The NH winners will be announced by the end of March at the latest.

Book of the Week #10

More Than Petticoats: Remarkable New Hampshire Women by Gail Underwood Parker (Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press, 2009)

This book profiles the lives of 13 of New Hampshire's most important historical women (born before 1900). From the introduction:

"These thirteen women are a mosaic. White and black, Jewish and Scandinavian, rich and poor, convicted and lawyer, prodigy and late bloomer, respected and scorned, adamantly religious and anti-religion, immigrants and descendants of colonists. They are all worth meeting. Their stories should be known and told. While reading these pages, I suspect you will discover unexpected common bonds with these women. I am sure you will be captivated by their stories."

Have you read these books?

As You Wish by Jackson Pearce
Deep in the Heart of High School by Veronica Goldbach
The Devouring by Simon Holt
Fade to Blue by Sean Beaudoin
Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom
Halo The Cole Protocol by Tobias S. Buckell
The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks
Nathan Fox Dangerous Times by L.Brittney
Seven Deadly Sins by Robin Wasserman

The Flume Award committee is looking for feedback on these titles. If you have read these titles and want to share your opinion, or to check out what else is nominated for this teen book award, visit the Flume Award Wiki.

Book of the Week #9

In honor of Women's History Month, the books of the week for March 2010 will all relate to women in New Hampshire history.

Pandora's Pride by May Gruber (Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart, 1984)

In the 1940's May Gruber & her husband started the Pandora knitting factory in Manchester, N.H. In this, her autobiography, she tells of her childhood in NY, her courtship & marriage, going into business with her father, then the move to Manchester. After her husband died, she overcame many obstacles & became president of Pandora Industries.

Among the NH State Library collections is a set of interviews with Ms. Gruber.

LAL semi-finalist letters

The 2010 Letters About Literature New Hampshire semi-finalists have been selected and are being read by local judges to select the state winners at each competition level. Students whose letters were selected as semi-finalists will be notified by mail (at the address they put on their entry coupon) by March 15th.

Letters selected as NH semi-finalists were sent by students from these schools:

Belmont High School
Crossroads Academy
Dunbarton Elementary School
Gilford High School
Haverhill Cooperative Middle School
Hollis Brookline Middle School
Hopkinton High School
Infant Jesus School
Jaffrey Rindge Middle School
Lisbon Regional School
Marlborough School
Monroe Consolidated School
Oyster River Middle School
Portsmouth High School
Sandwich Central School
Three Rivers School
Unity Elementary School
West Running Brook Middle School

There were also several students who entered as individuals without indicating their school, and one who entered through the Lincoln Public Library, whose letters were selected as NH semi-finalists.

Ladybug Nominees for 2010

The Ladybug Picture Book Award committee has chosen the nominees for the 2010 Ladybug Picture Book Award. New Hampshire children, from preschool to third grade, will select the winning picture book when they vote in November 2010.

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon & Marla Frazee (Beach Lane Books, 2009)

Bad Boys Get Henpecked by Margie Palatini & Henry Cole (Katherine Tegen Books, 2009)

Birds by Kevin Henkes & Laura Dronzek (Greenwillow, 2009)

The Circus Ship by Chris Van Dusen (Candlewick, 2009)

Creaky Old House: A Topsy-Turvy Tale of a Real Fixer-Upper by Linda Ashman & Michael Chesworth (Sterling, 2009)

The Hair of Zoe Fleefenbacher Goes to School by Laurie Halse Anderson & Ard Hoyt (Simon & Schuster, 2009)

Otis by Loren Long (Philomel, 2009)

Princess Hyacinth (The Surprising story of a girl who floated) by Florence Parry Heide & Lane Smith (Schwartz and Wade, 2009)

Sleep, Big Bear, Sleep! by Maureen Wright & Will Hillenbrand (Marshall Cavendish, 2009)

Under the Snow by Melissa Stewart & Constance R. Bergum (Peachtree, 2009)

Voting materials will be posted on the Ladybug web page in June. If you want to get ahead of the crowd you can go ahead and order your Ladybug Stickers anytime.