Genres: Historical Fiction, SportsRecommended Grades: 5-9
Prior to moving to Vermont I lived in Durham, NC for two years. Durham is a city. It has lots of traffic. There are lots of people and lots of cars. I can't recall seeing a farm or a cow during my time there. Now I am in northern Vermont. I live in a small town. There can be traffic, mostly because of all of the tourists, but you can't compare it to what we had in Durham. There aren't a lot of people or cars and you can't drive more that 10 minutes in any direction without seeing a farm or cow. Sometimes while I am driving to work I wonder what life was like here before there were cars and paved roads.
In Here Lies the Librarian, 14-year-old Eleanor McGrath, known as "Peewee" to those who know her, knows what life is like when there are few cars and no paved roads. Living in a small town in Indiana during the 1910s, very few of Peewee's neighbors have cars and the paved road hasn't yet made it down to Hendricks County. Not that Peewee wouldn't appreciate a car or paved road when they came her way. The paved road would be sure to bring more business to her and her older brother Jake's garage. Business is slow, so Peewee and Jake spend their time building a car that Jake will enter into the 1st Annual Hendricks County Fair 10 mile Stock Car Race. With no parents and few oppurtunities Peewee is content with a future of working at her garage with her brother. But change is in the air when four college students/librarians roll into town. Not only do they reopen the town's library, but they change Peewee and Jake's future, and even affect the results of the 1st Annual Hendricks County Fair 10 mile Stock Car Race.
I enjoyed Here Lies the Librarian. Richard Peck has recreated what small town life was like in rural Indiana during the 1910s. The characters are quirky and funny yet still realistic. This book is funny. It will appeal to boys from small towns, especially those interested in cars and auto racing. It will also appeal to any middle school-aged kid looking for a quick, funny book.
