Calendar Girls April 2020, National Library Week!

Welcome to another Calendar Girls, this month we’re discussing the best books we discovered at the library.

This topic was a bit difficult for me because the last time I checked a book out of the library was in the late ’90s when I was in middle school. The town I grew up in didn’t have a library until 2005 and the college I went to don’t have much of a fiction section in their library. So I’ve been the kind of person who buys their books instead of borrowing. I’ve been thinking about joining the library in the town I currently live in, but now there’s this pandemic thing and I can’t leave the house so … *shrug emoji*

ANYWAY, when I was in middle school we had an amazing librarian. I didn’t attend a very large school, but she was able to connect with us and recommend books she knew we’d enjoy every week. Because of her, I found historical fiction. Around the time I became all in on the American Revolution after reading Johnny Tremain, she gave me a couple similar books about the Titanic. For the life of me, I can’t find them on Goodreads. The book I thought it was ended up being published in 2012, so it definitely wasn’t the book I read in 1998.

I do believe this book sounds familiar and a lot like I book I would have read when I was 11.

Titanic Crossing by Barbara William. Again I’m not sure if this is the same book, but it feels right to me. The cover and synopsis feel so familiar. 

This book is about a 13-year-old boy returning to the United States on the Titanic and then, you know, it sinks. I was very into these YA or Middle-grade retellings of historical events through the eyes of young teenagers, and whether or not this was the actual book I read, I’m sure 11-year-old me would have absolutely loved the premise and idea of this book and completely devoured it.

We didn’t have the biggest school library, but I’m pretty sure I read every book in the tiny historical fiction section in my time. I stopped reading historical fiction in high school, but my love of it was revived with Mackenzi Lee’s Gentleman’s guide, and you know, Hamilton: An American Musical.

I really wish I could remember the exact book about the Titanic that I loved so much, but it’s been a long time since I was 11 and I’ve read quite a few books since. I do remember my school librarian handing me a book about the Titanic and saying “You’ll like this.” with conviction, and being 100% right.

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Currently hosted by  Flavia the Bibliophile and Dani at mousaibooks Calendar Girls is a monthly blog event created by Melanie at MNBernard Books and Flavia the Bibliophile.  It is designed to ignite bookish discussions among readers and was inspired by the 1961 Neil Sedaka song Calendar Girl.

Join the fun by crafting your own Calendar Girls post, or comment telling us your favorite book you checked out of the library.

Until next time Internet,

Deanna