Speaking Volumes

What would summer be without an amusement park, fair or carnival?  And in particular, a roller coaster.  I LOVE roller coasters!  Oh, I don’t ride them.  I’m terrified.  In fact, I’ve been known to turn into a whining, hysterical mess on rides that don’t ever leave the ground.  To be fair I have ridden a few, and one of my proudest moments in this context was exiting Disney’s Tower of Terror, but …
 
I don’t ride roller coasters. 
 
I do love to watch roller coasters, however.  Their serpentine like motion and their speed mesmerizes me.  I could watch for hours, especially the ones that drop straight down, offer inverted corkscrew turns and now, the latest thing I’ve seen is one in which riders lay flat, suspended from the bottom of the track and almost literally fly. How cool is that?
 
We’ve come a long way since 1884, when on this very date, Coney Island opened it’s first roller coaster.  But in investigating that for this post, I learned something I found even more fascinating.  Allegedly the first roller coasters were built in the 1600’s.  The first looping coaster was in 1840 in France.  And here I thought this was some 20^th century marvel!
 
If you’re like me, and like the idea of the roller coaster more than the fact of the roller coaster, come to the library and check out some of these titles!
 
                                                                        
 
Using math to design a roller coaster / by Hilary Koll, Steve Mills, and Korey T. Kiepert.
 
 
                                                                       
Bear flies high / Michael Rosen ; illustrated by Adrian Reynolds. 


                                                                            
 
The amusement park mystery / created by Gertrude Chandler Warner ; illustrated by Charles Tang.


                                                                  
 



 

The carousel keepers : an oral history of American carousels / by Carrie Papa.

 
 

                                                                         

Five People You Meet in Heaven / Mitch Albom.