06/11/08 Book Published the Year You Were Born....

1951 - Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific in a Raft by Thor Heyerdahl
On April 28th, 1947, Heyerdahl and his five crew members embarked from Peru on their daring voyage to the Marquesaa Islands, on a Balsa wood raft withch was built according to the traditions of South America's pre-Columbian Indians. After 101 suspensful days on the open sea, alone amid raging storms, whales, and coutnless sharks, they landed on the Polynesian island of Raroia.




1954 - Three Men Out by Nero Wolfe & Rex Stout
In the early 1950s Nero Wolfe was famous. His stories had become so well known that, as is depicted in two of the three in this collection, Archie is instantly recognized on the street as a celebrity (in one of them he's asked for his autograph). This collection represents, then, "middle Wolfe." He was franchising by then: radio plays, a short-lived TV show, and even a Nero Wolfe comic strip. Nero Wolfe chewing gum? Nero Wolfe frozen dinners?




1975 - Danny the Champion of the World by Roald Dahl

I'm not allowed to tell... you'll just have to read the book






1986 - So far from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Watkins

A true account that is filled with violence and death, yet one that is ultimately a story of family love and life. Eleven-year-old Yoko Kawashima had led a peaceful and secure life as the daughter of a Japanese government official stationed in North Korea near the end of World War II. Abruptly, all is changed as she, her older sister Ko, and their mother flee the vengeance-seeking North Korean Communists and eventually make their way to an unwelcoming and war-ravaged Japan.





1977 - Foster Child by Marion Dane Bower
When her great-grandmother is placed in a nursing home, a twelve-year-old is sent to a foster home where the fanatically religious father presses his attentions on her.


1928 - Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
Treasure Island is perhaps THE classic pirate's tale. A rich story of adventure and treachery on the high seas all seen through the eyes of a boy named Jim Hawkins. Jim starts off as the son of tavern owners in a humble little port village. When an old seaman stays at the tavern, trouble soon follows him in the form of a pirate crew seeking revenge. I will not give away any more specific plot points, but events move forward to a great treasure hunt.





1974 - Iceberg Hermit by Arthur Roth
Shipwrecked in 1757 on an iceberg in the Arctic seas with only an orphaned polar cub for companionship, seventeen-year-old Allan begins a seemingly hopeless struggle for survival.






1935 - Carry on Mr. Bowditch by Jean Lee Latham
This story is an incredible true tale of a simple young boy who is forced into an apprenticeship by his father. Rather than letting his new life depress him, he began the process of educating himself. He found he had a talent for math and navigation, and became a famous navigator at sea.






1945 - Rabbit Hill by Robert Lawson
It has been a while since Folks lived in the Big House, and an even longer time has passed since there has been a garden at the House. All the animals of the Hill are very excited about the new Folks moving in, and they wonder how things are going to change. It’s only a matter of time before the animals of the Hill find out just who is moving in, and they may be a little bit surprised when they do.






1983 - Fox at School by Edward and James Marshall
As usual with the books of James Marshall, the combinations of the words and the silly pictures make this a very funny book. Fox lose his big part in the class play, is afraid to go down a slide for a fire drill, and is left in charge of the class by Miss Moon.

1974 - JAWS by Peter Benchly

Insert Music Here . . . . Dun Dun...Dun Dun . . .