The Trial of Lizzie Borden by Cara Robertson

Lizzie Borden took an ax
Gave her mother 40 whacks
And when she was done
Lizzie gave her father 41...

While the old jump rope rhyme isn't totally accurate, it solidifies the picture of a young woman who brutally murdered her parents in every child's playground memory.

The Lizzie Borden murders are a fascinating story, an unsolved mystery in a quaint New England town at the end of the 1800s.  The Borden house still stands, operating as a haunted bed and breakfast.  The same goes for the home she'd die in later.  Halloween in Fall River brings paranormal investigators, amateur sleuths, and macabre tourists.  And me. (Let's not neglect to mention the phenomenal Portugese bakeries all over the city!!!!)

Mr. Lupoli, the Carrigan Band Director, recently went on a "Babymoon" as he and his wife await the arrival of their son.  His Facebook album basically planned my itinerary to Fall River/Newport/Providence.

In preparing to visit, I wanted to brush up on my Lizzie history. 

I'll be honest, I have not seen the most recent movie on the murders, because Kristen Stewart?  Then again, I was shocked at Stewart's amazing portrayal of Joan Jett (see my post about Neon Angel).

So when this appeared as a suggestion for our Library collection, I jumped on it.  Again, box-unpacker perk hehehe.

There are a lot of theories about who really killed Andrew and Abby Borden (Abby was Lizzie and her sister Emma's STEPmother).  Certainly could've been Lizzie.  Her maternal uncle visiting?  A recently fired employee of Andrew's?  The housemaid Bridget?  A would-be thief? 

As a final note, and something I learned in reading this book---Lizzie's lawyer locked up her file as it confidential under attorney-client privilege.  The law firm still exists.  And Attorney Robinson's file cabinet is still there.  Locked and under the watchful eye of the firm's current partners more than 125 years later.

Coming up in early Spring, the Connecticut Association of School Librarians annual Share2Learn UnConference.  One of the sessions is Readers' Advocacy.  We have to bring 5 books to share, and this is one I'll be bringing!
Among the others reviewed here:
A Craftsman's Legacy
The Toll
The Grace Year
Nightingale

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

This book was recommended to me by our book vendor, Follett, as a "top selller" in nonfiction.  One of my goals is to update our nonfiction holdings (still hovering in 2002/3 for our average age).  Now, the Dewey Decimal System is kinda weird (OK, let's be honest here, it's outdated, misogynistic, racist, and just plain dumb in some respects); things Library related are in the very first set of Dewey--027.  So that's where this was placed.  True, it does have a lot of Library stuff in it. For example, as topics are discussed, their Dewey numbers are included. Also how Libraries work and how this has changed as the American concept of "Library" has developed, how materials are processed and moved, the various jobs of the staff in a system holding millions of volumes (we hold about 9,000 for comparison), the relevance of Libraries today.  But also History, specifically American/California History tied to literacy, suffrage, urban planning, war, poverty, philanthropy, and politics.  And a lot about fire--how fire burns, how it spreads, and its suppression.  There is also a fair amount of personal autobiography and reflection.  It would be interesting to poll a bunch of Librarians and ask where they'd put it.  I think there'd be a wide spread based on age, location, and level of the Library and Librarian!  If I was going to teach a class or guest speak in a Librarian preparation program, I'd definitely be requiring at least an excerpt from this book and holding an exercise in cataloging.  Maybe something you might see some day?  #wink

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All opinions expressed on this blog are solely those of Mrs. W.