Two new books worth mentioning have come to the Des Peres Library this month.
One is a children’s book— but adults can enjoy it, too. It’s aimed at seventh and eighth graders. This is Emily Cheney Neville’s Garden of Broken Glass. Mrs. Neville lived in St. Louis for two years, teaching creative writing in inner city schools, while she researched her book. It is the story of a poor white boy and his black friends, and is set very specifically on the streets around 14th Street and Park Avenue, in near south side St. Louis. Brian battles to understand and survive his life with an alcoholic mother. Martha tries to console him; Dwayne shares his own secure family life. This is not a cheerful story, but it does show some of the happinesses and strengths of these children.
Another book is Postage-Stamp Garden Book, done by Duane Newcomb. Just the thing for city folks, this presents organic gardening on a small scale. Intensive fertilization and planting, he says, can produce amazing amounts of vegetables from a tiny garden— ten feet by ten feet, for example. The author suggests suitable plants and describes precisely how to use his method. And it’s not really too early to begin enjoying those seed catalogs and planning for spring.
Originally published in The Paper, December 1975.
Read this article in the original newspaper issue.
Original source: SD_Times1975_12.pdf, printed page(s) 3; PDF page(s) 3.
