The Good and The Bad – Memorable Moms in Literature

/ Louise / Leave a comment

(We originally published this list in 2014, updated here to include links to the digital versions of each title where available.)

moms collage

Mothers play a lot of roles in literature, as in life. They can be protectors and nurturers,  oppressors and manipulators, or anything in between. One thing literary moms have in common, they are definitely memorable characters. For better or worse, here are some of literatures most memorable moms:

Sophie Zawistowski – Sophie’s Choice. Sophie, a Polish survivor of the German Nazi concentration camps, may be one of the most tragic characters in 20th century fiction.  The plot ultimately centers around a tragic decision involving her children which Sophie was forced to make upon entering the concentration camp.

Mrs. Bennet – Pride and Prejudice. Poor, misguided Mrs. Bennet. With 5 daughters to marry off, she’s got a lot of worries. Her priorities may not always be in the right place,  but she tries!

Charlotte Haze – Lolita. Falls squarely in the “bad” category.  She invites a pedophile to live in her home, doesn’t seem to think his avid interest in her young daughter is a little weird, then gets hit by a car and leaves said daughter with the world’s most inappropriate guardian. Lolita didn’t stand a chance.

Joan Crawford – Mommie Dearest. One of the yardsticks we measure bad mothers against, Ms. Crawford is probably known more for her poor parenting than for her lengthy film career. No Wire Hangers Ever!

Molly Weasley – Harry Potter series. Mother of Ron, Mrs. Weasley is a desperately needed mother figure for our hero Harry. She is the center of a large and raucous family, by turns gentle nurturer and fierce defender. A mom with a magic wand is formidable indeed!

Ma – Room. In this shocking and surprisingly tender story, woman and  her child are living in unspeakable circumstances. Jack’s mom, Ma, manages to make one small room feel like a whole world for her little boy, and is ultimately driven by her mother-love to try and break away from a very dangerous man.

Sarah Wheaton – Sarah, Plain and Tall. Sarah answers an ad for a mail-order bride, and travels from Maine to Kansas to meet her future husband and become and instant mother to his two children. A multiple award winner, including the 1986 Newbery Medal.

 

Charlotte – Charlotte’s Web.Charlotte the spider is very much a wise and loving mother figure to Wilbur the pig in this classic children’s book. She becomes his staunch defender, eventually saving his life. The end, with Charlotte’s life ending as her babies are coming into the world, is a total tearjerker.

Daenerys Targaryen – A Song of Ice and Fire series. A rather non-traditional mom, Daenerys is the Mother of Dragons in George R. R. Martin’s wildly popular fantasy series. She’s had her hands full raising these fiery children. Whether she’s a good or bad mother has been debated, but there’s no doubt she’s her hands full raising these little monsters.

Eleanor Iselin – The Manchurian Candidate. Bad mom, no debate here. Creepy and evil, this mom is the mastermind of a sinister plot that involves controlling her brainwashed son to unwittingly act as an assassin on orders from the KGB.

 

It’s Nutmeg Book time again!

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The Nutmeg Book Award is the “Children’s Choice” award for Connecticut, encouraging children across the state to read quality literature. Every year, on May 1, the new nominees for the award are announced. These nominees get grouped into four categories: Elementary (Grades 2-3), Intermediate (Grades 4-6), Middle School (Grades 7-8), and High School (Grades 9-12). Children then have a year to read the nominated titles and vote for their favorite.

Some things may look a bit different this time around, but we are still excited to announce the newest Nutmeg nominees! Many of the titles on these lists have ebook and/or audiobook versions available through RBdigital or Overdrive/Libby. In addition to the physical & digital copies of the Nutmeg nominees that CPL has purchased, the Connecticut State Library has also purchased all of the Nutmeg titles that were available in ebook and/ or audiobook (see them here). These copies are included in our library catalog, and can be checked out with your Cheshire Library Card.

Without further ado, here are the new 2021 Nutmeg Nominees!  How many have you read?

Elementary (Grades 2-3)

 

Intermediate (Grades 4-6)

 

Middle School (Grades 7-8)

 

High School (Grades 9-12)

For help accessing the library’s digital collection, try checking out the guides on our website. You can also email us, or call and leave a message for library staff at (203) 272-2245. Someone will get back to you as soon as possible.

What’s Happening at Cheshire Library (virtually) in May

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Greetings from isolation! We hope everyone is doing well and staying safe. The library building may be closed, but our staff has been working remotely on some pretty great “virtual” programs for the month of May. You’ll find events for kids, teens, and adults on our Event Calendar – we hope to see some familiar faces and some new friends joining us!

Jackbox Games with Zoom

Mondays, 4:00 – 5:00pm

Looking for ways to connect with friends? Tired of only talking to your pet all day? Let’s play a Jackbox Party Pack! Fibbage, Drawful and more!Please register through our Event Calendar, and we will email you before start time with a link to join this Zoom Virtual program. THEN go to https://jackbox.tv/ on your mobile device, enter the 4-letter Room Code, your name, and click PLAY! For grades 6-12.

Virtual Cheshire Anime Club

Fridays, 3:00 – 5:00pm

Konnichiwa, minna-san! Can’t get enough Anime and Manga? Be an “Otaku” and join the Cheshire Anime Club! We’ll meet on Zoom and watch Anime movies together! The link to this Zoom Virtual Program will be posted on Cheshire Anime Club’s facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/13673851607/) OR you can register through our Event Calendar, and we will email you before start time with a link to join this Zoom Virtual program. For grades 7-12.

Virtual Storytime

Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays 10:00 -10:30am

The library might be closed, but storytime is still on! Join us virtually for interactive songs, stories, and other fun activities for little ones with Miss Ali (Tues), Miss Andrea (Wed) and Miss Lauren (Thurs). No registration required, click the link in our Event Calendar to join the fun!

Support Through Meditation

Tuesdays 2:00 – 3:00pm

This introductory meditation class presented by Tia Mandrozos is geared towards helping you through these anxious and challenging times. You will learn various meditation techniques that you will practice in session and guidance to perform meditation on your own. Please register via our Event Calendar. Registered participants will receive an email link to attend the day of the program.

Switch it up with CPL!

Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday afternoons, (check Event Calendar for dates and times)

Teens: add us on  Nintendo Switch and let’s play! Our Friend Code is: SW-2591-8360-3045 under CheshirePL. We’re playing Animal Crossing on Tuesdays, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate on Wednesdays, and Thursday games are TBA. No registration required! Info on how to join in is on our Event Calendar. For grades 6-12. (A Nintendo Online Account required to connect with others and play online.)

Organizing Your Photos

Thursday, May 7, 2020, 3:00 – 4:30pm

Are your printed photos hiding in boxes, drawers, and closets all around your house?  You aren’t alone!  Cathi Nelson, author of Photo Organizing Made Easy: Going from Overwhelmed to Overjoyed will share her top tips on ways to bring your photos and their stories back into your life. Please register via our Event Calendar. Registered participants will receive an email link to attend the day of the program.

Creating Musical Readers: Listen to My Trumpet!

Monday, May 11, 2020, 10:00 – 10:30am

Musicians from the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra will read Listen to My Trumpet! by Mo Willems and use a trumpet to bring the story to life! Children will be shown the different parts of a trumpet and learn how it works. Best for ages 3 & up. Advance registration required. You will receive a link via email for the Zoom meeting prior to the event. If you would like to ask the performer questions, you can send questions to cplkids@cheshirelibrary.org. Please include your name and age.

Food Explorers

Join Katie, Registered Dietitian from Food Explorers for a fun virtual baking program for ages 7-12. Parental help may be needed for some steps, ingredients listed on the registration page. Registration through our Event Calendar is required  (1 registration per device), registered participants will receive a link to the Zoom meeting before the program.

Virtual Author Talk: A Fatal Finale

Wednesday, May 13, 2020, 6:30 – 8:00pm

Local author Kathleen Marple Kalb will explain how her career in radio news inspired her to write A FATAL FINALE, the first in a Gilded Age mystery series featuring a swashbuckling mezzo-soprano who sings male roles. She’ll also share some fun facts from the period, and shed a little light on some unexpected corners of Old New York. Please register via our Event Calendar. Registered participants will receive an email link to attend the day of the program.

Organizing & Decluttering Your Life

Thursday, May 14, 2020, 3:00 – 4:30pm

Jan Blatrush, professional organizer and creator of FindYourStuffCT.com will teach you the tools to get organized.  Jan will help you tame the paper piles and organize your closets, kitchens, garages and home offices. Please register via our Event Calendar. Registered participants will receive an email link to attend the day of the program.

Creating Musical Readers: Trombone Shorty

Friday, May 22, 2020, 10:00 – 10:30am

Join us virtually as musicians from the Waterbury Symphony Orchestra read Trombone Shorty by Troy Andrews and use a trombone to bring the story to life! Children will be shown the different parts of a trombone and learn how it works. Best for ages 3 & up. Advance registration required. You will receive a link via email for the Zoom meeting prior to the event. If you would like to ask the performer questions, you can send questions to cplkids@cheshirelibrary.org. Please include your name and age.

Virtual Trivia

Thursday, May 28, 2020, 3:00 – 4:30pm

Test your knowledge from general categories, including pop culture, current events, history, music, and of course literature! It’s all For Pride, Not Prize. Please register starting May 14 via our Event Calendar. Registered participants will receive an email link to attend the day of the program.

A Lighthearted Romp Through the Spaceways

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Our Teen Librarian, Kelley, shares some of her favorite sci-fi:

Recently I rediscovered a book that I loved long ago: The Witches of Karres by James H. Schmitz. I enjoyed it just as much, if not more than before. The book is a rarity among older science fiction, it doesn’t show its age with ridiculous predictions or stilted dialog and literally feels as if it could’ve been written yesterday. Partly, I believe that this is because it is as much a fantasy book as a science fiction book, but mostly it’s because the author’s writing is funny, imaginative, and clever, and his characters are delightfully quirky and likeable.

Between the 1940s and the 1970s Schmitz wrote a large number of short stories and several, fairly short, novels. His fiction is characteristically light-hearted, fast-paced, amusing and entertaining. It straddles the SF/fantasy genres, can be equally enjoyed by adults and younger readers, and (very unusual for the time and genre) features female characters who are every bit as strong and interesting as the men. This spurred me on to read more of Schmitz’s work, happily most of which are again available, both digitally and in hard copy, and a lot of it is available online for free.  I read all of it- Eternal Frontier, the Agent of Vega story sequence, all of his series set in the “Hub”, and all of the numerous independent tales. Twelve of his stories are available from Project Gutenberg , and more are available from Free Speculative Fiction Online (including the entire full-length novel The Witches of Karres). I loved them all, but I still love Witches best.

The Witches of Karres was originally a novelette published in the December 1949 issue of Astounding Science Fiction. Schmitz expanded the novelette into a novel in 1966, and it is unusual in being relatively long. As is common with this author, it is set in a far-flung future in which humanity has spread across many planets in a substantial part of the galaxy. The story is about Captain Pausert, an amiable, well-intentioned, but inexperienced young space ship captain who finds himself increasingly embroiled in wild adventures when he rescues a young female slave from an abusive owner. Events snowball from there, and he soon finds that he has purchased three young sisters. But these are no ordinary girls; they are from Karres, the witch world, and skilled in manipulating klatha – the universal force which powers witchcraft. This is the start of a whole series of adventures in which Pausert and his feisty and formidable young allies face multiple threats and problems as a result of attracting the attention of some powerful and dangerous organizations, with the survival of civilization being ultimately at stake.

And- if you found Witches as utterly funny and charming as I did, you are in luck! The story has been continued by other authors (but are not unfortunately available online for free). The Wizard of Karres, by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint and Dave Freer, The Sorceress of Karres by Eric Flint and Dave Freer, and (forthcoming) The Shaman of Karres also by Eric Flint and Dave Freer are direct sequels but were written long after James Schmitz’s death in 1981, the first being published in 2004. The authors make a good job of matching Schmitz’s light and amusing writing style and they pack in enough new ideas to keep readers involved and entertained. These stories are not quite as terrific as the original, of course, but still great fun, as are all the James H. Schmitz stories linked above. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

If you enjoy The Witches of Karres, here are some other titles from our downloadable audiobook collection you might like:

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What’s up all you cool cats and kittens? Books for those craving more Tiger King!

/ emclaughlinz / Leave a comment

You, like many others across the world, just finished watching Tiger King. The Netflix docuseries just launched on March 20th, and it’s already taken the world by storm. The series received acclaim from critics, and according to Nielsen ratings, was watched by 34.3 million people over its first ten days of release, ranking as one of Netflix’s most successful releases to date.

The series follows the larger than life character Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, also known as Joe Exotic, and his sprawling zoo, the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park. Joe has quite the history, with the law and with other big-cat owners. He twice unsuccessfully ran for public office, first for President of the United States in 2016 as an independent, and then for Governor of Oklahoma in 2018 as a Libertarian. In 2019, Maldonado-Passage was convicted on 17 federal charges of animal abuse (eight violations of the Lacey Act and nine of the Endangered Species Act) and two counts of murder for hire, for a plot to kill Big Cat Rescue CEO, Carole Baskin. He is currently serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison.

It doesn’t seem like reality until you’re watching it unfold in front of your eyes, and like some terrible fire, you can’t pull your eyes away from the madness. There are no “characters” you can root for, except for the cats. As a true crime lover, I felt myself wanting more after the credits rolled! Instead of digging deeper into the depths of Netflix, I decided to do some digging through the libraries’ digital collections to satisfy my craving for tiger true crime mania.

Due to the fact that the library is closed at this time, we’re recommending books and audiobooks that are accessible through the libraries’ digital services, including RBdigital, Libby, and Overdrive. If you need help accessing these services, help is available on our website, and librarians are available by phone remotely. Call 203-272-2245 and leave a message. Someone will get back to you shortly! 

First up is The Lizard King: The True Crimes and Passions of the World’s Greatest Reptile Smugglers by Bryan Christy. The book is described as “The Sopranos of Snakes”, focused on the fascinating account of a father and son family business suspected of smuggling reptiles, and the federal agent who tried to take them down. If you’re looking for more animal justice and federal takedowns, then The Lizard King is the perfect fit. The audiobook and ebook are available online through RBdigital.

Next is a little bit more fanciful, but showcases a star tiger, Richard Parker. Life of Pi is a classic, and mixes fantasy and dangerous reality into a beautiful story, in which you can’t quite tell reality from fiction (much like tiger king, is this guy real life?) The story’s back cover states: ” Pi Patel has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior and a fervent love of stories. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. ” The story is an escape from reality all of us could use right now. The audiobook and ebook are available online through RBdigital. 

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt is a true crime classic, covering art dealings, murder and mystery, all in the deep south. It includes the same courtroom drama that was brought to life in Tiger King. The book is described as: ” Shots rang out in Savannah’s grandest mansion in the misty,early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. John Berendt’s sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative reads like a thoroughly engrossing novel, and yet it is a work of nonfiction.” Another classic worth checking out from our digital collections, available online as an audiobook through RBdigital, and ebook through Overdrive.

If you spent the whole documentary wishing they’d focus more on the tigers less on the mullets, then The Human, the Orchid, and the Octopus could be your fit. Written by Jacques Cousteau, an author and researcher who studied the sea and all forms of life in water, the book “weaves gripping stories of his adventures throughout, he and coauthor Susan Schiefelbein address the risks we take with human health, the overfishing and sacking of the world’s oceans, the hazards of nuclear proliferation, and the environmental responsibility of scientists, politicians, and people of faith”. It’s a heartfelt tale which inspires us to do better, and be better for our planet, and the animals we share it with. It’s available online as an audiobook through RBdigital.

“A man is killed for his prized pet fish” Whaaaaaat? That first line hooked me right away on The Dragon Behind the Glass: A True Story Of Power, Obsession, And The World’s Most Coveted Fish.  “A tycoon buys a single specimen for $150,000. Meanwhile, a pet detective chases smugglers through the streets of New York. Delving into an outlandish realm of obsession, paranoia, and criminality, The Dragon Behind the Glass tells the story of a fish like none other” This book follows tiger kings footsteps in chasing animal smugglers throughout the globe, all for the very expensive, very lucrative, animal black market. Download the audiobook through RBdigital.

Looking for more? Here are a few more titles available through RBDigital, Overdrive and Libby for your phone, tablet, or computer!