Library Notes


June 22, 2012

Marissa Creamer

School is out and the beach beckons, bringing thoughts of sun and fun. There are many enticing vacation destinations, but here in North Carolina summer vacation usually involves at least one trip to the coast. We are fortunate that North Carolina’s coastline offers over 300 miles of sandy summer relaxation.

Beachcombers will want to come to Rowan Public Library before their trip to check out “Living Beaches of Georgia and the Carolinas: A Beachcombers Guide,” By Blair and Dawn Witherington. Filled with colorful photographs, this book begins with the premise that the beaches themselves are alive, and includes a fascinating discussion of the anatomy of a beach. You can learn about beach features such as wrack lines, beach cusps, and antidunes, as well as boneyard beaches, tides, and currents. Learn the best areas of a beach to find seashells and other treasures. The chapter on beach animals includes all manner of seashells, crustaceans, birds, reptiles, mammals, and even insects. Learn how to identify bubble shells, dovesnails, and wentletraps. There are also chapters describing beach plants and beach minerals, including fossils and shark’s teeth. The final chapter is dedicated to the “hand of man,” and includes features such as lighthouses, shipwrecks, historical remnants, and even sand art. It seems that everything that has anything to do with the beach can be found between the covers of this book.

If circumstances don’t allow you to travel to the beach this year, you can always visit vicariously through a novel set at the Outer Banks. In “The Watery Part of the World,” Michael Parker weaves a fictional tale from historical fact. He begins with the mysterious disappearance of Theodosia Burr Alston, daughter of Vice-President Aaron Burr, whose ship went missing after setting sail from Georgetown, South Carolina in late 1812. In this re-imagining, Theodosia’s ship is attacked by pirates and she is left for dead on a remote Outer Banks island. After being nursed back to health by a hermit, Theodosia embarks on a new life with a freed slave. Also woven into the story are the 1971 news reports of the last remaining residents of Portsmouth Island, two elderly white women who abandon the island when their African-American caretaker passes away. Parker explores the bond these last living residents have to the island and its past.

To learn more about this Outer Banks ghost town, check out “It Happened on the Outer Banks,” by Molly Perkins Harrison. Here you’ll find intriguing people and episodes from the history of the barrier islands. Did you know that the first musical notes ever transported over radio waves were sent from a small wireless station antenna in Buxton to Roanoke Island? This breakthrough would eventually lead to the world’s first radio broadcast. Ponder the mystery of what happened to the crew of the schooner Carroll A. Deering, found deserted on Diamond Shoals, and meet a couple who survived Hurricane Isabel by clinging to a treetop.

Whether you are planning a trip or traveling vicariously, Rowan Public Library has something to enhance your summer fun.