Historical Fiction Author to Visit Post Road Library

Author Nicole Castroman will speak and sign copies of her book Blackhearts in a special after-hours event at the Post Road Library on Saturday, March 5 at 6:30 p.m.

In addition to meeting Castroman for a book signing, teens in middle school and high school are invited to wear their pirate finery, discover their “own” pirate name, and participate in a cannonball “battle” at the Blackhearts Book Release Pirate Party.

“Blackhearts is the fictional origin story of Blackbeard, the pirate known for striking fear in the hearts of the bravest of sailors. This story imagines his time as a young man in Bristol, England where he was known as Edward Teach,” explains Lisa Echols, Youth Services Supervisor at the Post Road Library.

This is Castroman’s first novel. In an Ask the Author forum on Goodreads.com, Castroman explained that the idea for Blackhearts came while she was planning a trip to Charleston, South Carolina.

“I love history and found out that in 1718, Blackbeard held the entire city of Charleston hostage. His only demand was medication for his sailors. I decided to dig deeper and discovered that only the last two years of Blackbeard's life were documented. He was one of the most notorious pirates who ever lived, yet there isn't much information available. It's believed he was born in Bristol, England. His flag ship was called Queen Anne's Revenge. He could read and write, so it was obvious he was educated. I decided to take what information was known about him and create my own story,” wrote Castroman.

“Blackhearts has elements of adventure, romance, and scandal – not to mention a 4.5-star rating from readers on Amazon – and it’s received positive reviews since it was published by Simon and Schuster earlier this month,” adds Echols.

The Library has several copies of the novel and it can also be found in bookstores and at Amazon.com. Teens that really want to get into character as a pirate for the Blackhearts Book Release Pirate Party should check out the Library’s Mango Languages program for a little talk-like-a-pirate training.

Admission to the event is free, but registration is requested. Visit www.forsythpl.org for more information or to register.

Programming Update: STEAM

STEAM is an educational approach to learning that uses science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics as access points for guiding student inquiry, dialogue, and critical thinking. Similar in nature, STEM focuses on the subjects above without incorporating the arts. STEM and STEAM-based instruction has taken root in the local schools and in fact, Forsyth Central was named a top STEM high school in Georgia in 2013.

The library has worked hard over the last two years to offer more and more STEAM programs to our patrons. All branches currently offer STEAM programs regularly, from STEAM-based book clubs to monthly STEAM programs that focus on a certain theme.

The Sharon Forks Library offers STEAM Reads each month for grades 3-5 and combines STEAM activities with chapter books and stories. The Cumming Library also recently launched STEAM Rollers, which features crafts, activities, and discussion based on a book and meets once a month with grades 3-5.

February book selections include Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White at Sharon Forks, where participants learned about spiders and engineered webs of their own using supplies such as wire hangers, string, tape, and hula hoops. Cumming’s STEAM Rollers will meet today, February 25, and will discuss Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff. This program will focus on art and participants will create paper self-portraits and brainstorm technical ideas for creating a brand new reality TV show, as it relates to the book selection.

Image Credit: Questacon.edu.au

The Hampton Park and Post Road branches offer monthly STEAM programs that focus on a variety of themes. This month, Hampton Park presented “Can You Hear Me Now?” and focused on sound. Participants learned about how sound travels, they made their own sound devices, and created sound experiments.

Staff prepared three learning stations for the children, including Humming Hangers, where children used strings attached to metal hangers to help the sound travel through the string and directly into their ears. Stephanie Hampson noted that she thought the vibrating hangers sounded a bit like gongs, but the children thought they sounded like church bells, drums, and “beautiful music.”

The Post Road Library also offers monthly STEAM programs for elementary-aged children. This month, they focused on candy with “Sweet, Sweet Science” and conducted a variety of experiments while learning about topics such as nucleation, acids and bases, and density as they relate to candy. For example, they started outside and made Mentos and soda explosions while testing out five types of soda. Click here for an example of Mentos and diet cola, the combination that makes the best geyser of soda. They also experimented with baking soda and vinegar volcanoes and added Pop Rocks to the mix. The kids learned that Pop Rocks pop in our mouths because millions of tiny CO2 bubbles trapped just inside the sugar are released when they get wet in our mouths!

To learn about upcoming STEAM programs at the library, please visit our website or pick up a copy of Beyond the Books at your local FCPL branch.

Staff Pick - Audiobook

The Knockoff: A Novel
by Lucy Sykes & Jo Piazza


I picked up this book on CD on a lark hoping for quick light entertainment (light reads being my favorites).  Our protagonist is Imogen Tate who has recently returned from a 6 month medical leave to her post of editor-in-chief at the famous Glossy fashion magazine.  During her absence there have been huge changes implemented in the focus of the magazine. Newer and younger staff is being led by Eve, Imogen’s former assistant, back with a Business Degree from Harvard. Imogen has a lot to learn about new technology and her resistance will be familiar to those of us who find technology daunting and perhaps unnecessary at times.  In the meantime Imogen’s young daughter, already tech savvy at 10 years old, is being bullied on-line and Imogen is heartbroken on her behalf. Katherine Kellgren is the reader of this book on CD and she moves back and forth between the Queen’s English and American English during character dialogs and is convincingly outraged when reading Imogen’s thoughts. This book will be appreciated by anyone who has wondered about e-devices and their apparent takeover of our world! I would recommend this book on CD as a good and entertaining read with some laugh out loud moments and just enough intrigue to keep the listener hooked and wanting to know how it all turns out.

Lola Nichols
Information Specialist