ALA Children’s Book Awards 2012

 

Yes, it happened again this year, on Jan 23 the American Library Association named the 2012 winners of the most prestigious book awards in children’s literature, including the Newbery and Caldecott awards.  Given annually, the awards have become one of the most exciting  announcements in children’s literature, and the winners are notified only hours before the press conference is held.  There are always surprises, and favorites that create applause, screams, cheers, and sometimes gasps!  And this year’s winners are….

John Newbery Medal for the most outstanding contribution to children’s literature:

Dead End in Norvelt  by Jack Gantos, is the 2012 Newbery Medal winner. 

“Looks like a bummer of a summer for 11-year-old Jack.  After discharging his father’s WWII-souvenir Japanese rifle and cutting down his mom’s fledgling cornfield, he gets grounded for the rest of his life or the rest of the summer of 1962, whichever comes first. Jack gets brief reprieves to help an old neighbor write obituaries for the falling-like-flies original residents of Norvelt, a dwindling coal-mining town. Jack makes a tremendously entertaining tour guide and foil for the town’s eccentric citizens, and his warmhearted but lightly antagonistic relationship with his folks makes for some memorable one-upmanship. Gantos, as always, deliver bushels of food for thought and plenty of outright guffaws…   (Booklist)

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The two Newbery Honor Books  named, books that were also judged as having an outstanding contributions in writing for children this year, are:

Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai 

An enlightening, poignant and unexpectedly funny novel in verse is rooted in the author’s childhood experiences. In Saigon in 1975, 10-year-old Kim Hà celebrates Tet (New Year) with her mother and three older brothers; none of them guesses at the changes the Year of the Cat will bring.  On the eve of the fall of Saigon, they finally decide they must escape. Free verse poems of, usually, just two to three pages tell the story. With the help of a friend, the family leaves. Only one of her brothers speaks English, but they pick America as their destination and eventually find a sponsor in Alabama. Even amid the heartbreak, the narrative is shot through with humor.  In a school full of strangers and bullies, she struggles to learn a language full of snake’s hissing and must accept that she can no longer be at the head of her class…for now. In her not-to-be-missed debut, Lai evokes a distinct time and place and presents a complex, realistic heroine whom readers will recognize, even if they haven’t found themselves in a strange new country.    (Kirkus)   

Breaking Stalin’s Nose by Eugene Yelchin

It would be hard to find a boy more excited about becoming a Young Pioneer than ten-year-old Sasha Zaichik. While some kids might love soccer or baseball, Sasha loves Stalin and the Communist party. He embraces life in his crowded communal apartment; he doesn’t even mind knowing the intimate details of his neighbors’ eating and bathroom habits. Sasha is especially proud of his father, a hero and a member of the secret police, dedicated to catching enemies every day. It doesn’t take long for cracks to appear in the veneer of Sasha’s view of the world, however. First, his father is arrested in the middle of the night, leaving the boy alone. Sasha hangs on to his illusions until he cannot help but face the dreadful facts: he will not become a Young Pioneer, he is now a pariah at school, his father is not coming back, and his dream of meeting Stalin is dashed. For most middle graders, the history of Stalinist oppression will be new information, and this story is a start at filling in the blanks.    (Horn Book)

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Randolph Caldecott Medal for the most distinguished American picture book for children:

A Ball for Daisy  illustrated and written by Chris Raschka, is the 2012 Caldecott Medal winner. 

Ever the minimalist, Raschka continues to experiment with what is essential to express the daily joys and tribulations of humans and animals. This wordless story features Daisy, a dog. The motion lines framing her tail on the first page indicate that a big red ball is her chief source of delight. The story’s climax involves another dog joining the game, but chomping too hard, deflating the beloved ball. A purple cloud moves in, and eight squares fill a spread, each surrounding the protagonist with an atmosphere progressing from yellow to lavender to brown as the canine processes what has occurred; a Rothko retrospective could not be more moving. When another day dawns, the frisky dog’s person proffers a blue surprise; the exuberance at having a ball and a friend is barely containable across two pages. Raschka’s genius lies in capturing the essence of situations that are deeply felt by children. They know how easy it is to cause an accident and will feel great relief at absorbing a way to repair damage.  (School Library Journal)

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Three Caldecott Honor Books also were named:

Blackout  illustrated and written by John Rocco

It’s a scenario many kids are probably all too familiar with: a young boy wants to play, but older sis is gabbing on the phone, Mom is busy on the computer, and Dad is making dinner. When the power goes out, however, the family comes together to make shadow puppets on the wall, join the neighbors on the roof to admire the stars, and even head out front to the most idyllic city street you’ll ever see. All good things come to an end, though. The power comes back on, and everyone immediately slips back into walled-off family units, though the walls are a bit weaker now. Rocco’s lustrous, animation-quality artwork somehow manages to get richer the darker it gets, and features one of the silkiest skies since Van Gogh’s Starry Night. A versatile reminder to take a break and invest in quality together time once in a while.   (Booklist)

Grandpa Green illustrated and written by Lane Smith

Watering a garden, pulling a wagon, collecting dropped gardening gloves and tools, a little fellow works in an amazing topiary world made of memories. The trees tell the story of his great-grandfather’s life—from birth to chicken pox to high school to military service and, later, marriage. Many of the illustrations morph with page turns: Tears from the baby become water from a hose; a mysterious conical shape becomes a cannon; a bunny near a tiny tree munches a carrot topiary. When the boy reunites Grandpa Green with his missing things, readers discover that though Grandpa sometimes forgets, the garden remembers for him. The illustrations say what the text doesn’t need to—that the love between boy and elder is elemental and honest. One surprising and sparkling gatefold shows the whole garden, with Grandpa Green working on his newest creation: his grandson fighting a dragon. Readers who slow down will be rewarded by this visual feast that grows richer with each visit.  (Kirkus)

Me … Jane  illustrated and written by Patrick McDonnell

Little Jane loves her stuffed animal, a chimpanzee named Jubilee, and carries him everywhere she goes. Mainly, they go outdoors, where they watch birds building their nests and squirrels chasing each other. Jane reads about animals in books and keeps a notebook of sketches, information, and puzzles. Feeling her kinship with all of nature, she often climbs her favorite tree and reads about another Jane, Tarzan’s Jane. She dreams that one day she, too, will live in the African jungle and help the animals. And one day, she does. With the story’s last page turn, the illustrations change from ink-and-watercolor scenes of Jane as a child, toting Jubilee, to a color photo of Jane Goodall as a young woman in Africa, extending her hand to a chimpanzee. Quietly told and expressively illustrated, the story of the child as a budding naturalist is charming on its own, but the photo on the last page opens it up through a well-chosen image that illuminates the connections between childhood dreams and adult reality.  This remarkable picture book is one of the few that speaks, in a meaningful way, to all ages.    (Booklist)

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Each year a committee of the Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) identifies the best of the best in children’s books. According to the Notables Criteria, “notable” is defined as: Worthy of note or notice, important, distinguished, outstanding. As applied to children’s books, notable should be thought to include books of especially commendable quality, books that exhibit venturesome creativity, and books of fiction, information, poetry and pictures for all age levels (birth through age 14) that reflect and encourage children’s interests in exemplary ways.   This is one of the most inclusive lists of distinguished children’s books each year, and you can find something for everyone!  Check out The Notables List.

Many other awards are announced during this same weekend, lists honoring informational books, media, audio books, and books for teens in all categories.  For the complete list of award winners, click here.  All of these awards are chosen by thousands of librarians and children’s literature specialists reading, listening, and discussing all of the eligible books, cd’s and dvd’s.  A huge thanks for their time and dedication to this amazing task!

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Golden Globes Go Literary!

From Shelf Awareness:

Books had a solid showing at the Golden Globes on Sunday.   Many of the nominated and winning films were based on books, which you will find available at your friendly San Diego County Library.  Check out the list–and enjoy!

The Descendants, based on the book by Kaui Hart Hemmings, won best drama motion picture and best actor (George Clooney).

Hemmings follows Matt King and his daughters, precocious 10-year-old Scottie and temperamental 17-year-old Alex, in the aftermath of his wife’s involvement in a boating accident that leaves her in a coma. While she tenaciously hangs on, Matt and his daughters tentatively navigate the uncharted waters of life-without-Mom. Reeling from the discovery that his wife had been having an affair, Matt considers his two out-of-control daughters and realizes that he’s failed as both a husband and father. Evincing a sublimely mature style and beguiling command of theme and setting, Hemmings’ virtuoso performance offers a piquantly tender and winsomely comic portrait of a singular family’s revealing response to tragedy.  (Booklist)

Other winners involving films and series that began with books were:

Best director: Martin Scorsese for Hugo, based on The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick

 Selznick’s “novel in words and pictures,” an intriguing mystery set in 1930s Paris about an orphan, a salvaged clockwork invention, and a celebrated filmmaker, resuscitates an anemic genre–the illustrated novel–and takes it to a whole new level.    (Booklist)      

The Hugo Movie Companion : a behind the scenes look at how a beloved book became a major motion picture by Brian Selznick ; with additional material by Martin Scorsese and David Serlin ; photography by Jaap Buitendijk

 Selznick opens with stage-setting comments on his characters and inspirations, then goes on to introduce 40 people involved in the project, from director Scorsese to the actors, set designers, script writer, technical staff and even an “On Set Magician.”   (Booklist)

Best animated feature film: The Adventures of Tintin, based on the graphic novels by Hergé

 When Tintin and his dog Snowy investigate a secret message, Tintin is kidnapped and taken aboard a ship, where he meets Captain Haddock, a descendant of the man who wrote the message, and together they set out to find a treasure.     

The Adventures of Tintin : A Novel  by  Herge and Alex Irvine

This Tintin story is a Junior Novelization of the same Tintin story.   When Tintin and his dog Snowy investigate a secret message, Tintin is kidnapped and taken aboard a ship, where he meets Captain Haddock, a descendant of the man who wrote the message, and together they set out to find a treasure.

Best actress in a comedy or musical: Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn , based on the book by Colin Clark

My Week with Marilyn [electronic resource] / Colin Clark

At the age of 23, the author served as a gofer on the set of the movie The Prince and the Showgirl, filmed in London in 1956 and starring the much-lauded Laurence Olivier and the highly medicated Marilyn Monroe.  Here are both the fly-on-the-wall diary Clark kept during the filming of The Prince and the Showgirl and his remembrance of the brief episode that was to change his life. 

Best actor in a series made for TV: Peter Dinklage (r.) in Game of Thrones, based on the book by George R.R. Martin

A Game of Thrones [sound recording] by George R.R. Martin  or A Game of Thrones  [eBook ]

This  engrossing fantasy epic series opens on a rigid feudal society in a world where the seasons are unpredictable, pleasant summers can last a decade and cruel winters could be scores of years long. Up against the ice wall that separates the barbarians and mysterious wild things from civilization, the Stark family has held the north for generations. As the King’s Hand, Stark must protect the king whose enemies covet the throne, and the most dangerous of these might be the queen and her family, the Lanisters.   (Publishers Weekly)

 
Best actress in a motion picture made for TV: Kate Winslet in Mildred Pierce, based on the novel by James M. Cain

Mildred Pierce had gorgeous legs, a way with a skillet, and a bone-deep core of toughness. She used those attributes to survive and to claw her way out of the lower middle class. But Mildred also had two weaknesses: a yen for shiftless men, and an unreasoning devotion to a monstrous daughter. Out of these elements, James M. Cain created a novel of acute social observation and devastating emotional violence.  (Random House)

Best supporting actress: Octavia Spencer for The Help, based on the book by Kathryn Stockett

 In Stockett’s narrative, Miss Skeeter, a young white woman, is a naive, aspiring writer who wants to create a series of interviews with local black maids. Even if they’re published anonymously, the risk is great; still, Aibileen and Minny agree to participate. Tension pervades the novel as its events are told by these three memorable women.   (Library Journal)

Another up for best film:  War Horse, based on book by Michael Morpurgo

  

Joey is a fine farm horse sold for cavalry use in World War I. Through Joey’s Black Beauty-esque narration, readers learn of the futility of cavalry against machine guns; the loss of Joey’s companion, Topthorn; and Joey’s reunion with the farm boy who loves him.  At times deeply affecting, the story balances the horror with moments of respite and care.   (Horn Book)

 

 

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Tags: books-to-films, Golden Globes

New Ambassador Named!

From The New York Times:

A new Ambassador for  Young People’s Literature that is!  On Tuesday, January 10 Walter Dean Myers will be named the National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature, a sort of poet laureate of the children’s book world who tours the country for two years, speaking at schools and libraries about reading and literacy.

As an African-American man who dropped out of high school but built a successful writing career — largely because of his lifelong devotion to books — Mr. Myers said his message would be etched by his own experiences.

“I think that what we need to do is say reading is going to really affect your life,” he said in an interview at his book-cluttered house  in Jersey City, adding that he hoped to speak directly to low-income minority parents. “You take a black man who doesn’t have a job, but you say to him, ‘Look, you can make a difference in your child’s life, just by reading to him for 30 minutes a day.’ That’s what I would like to do.”

Mr. Myers is the third person to be appointed to the post, which was created in 2008 and is chosen by a committee formed by two groups: the Center for the Book in the Library of Congress and Every Child a Reader, a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Children’s Book Council, a trade association for children’s book publishers. He succeeds Katherine Paterson, the novelist best known for her “Bridge to Terabithia,” and the first appointee, Jon Scieszka, author of books including “The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales.”

The choice of Mr. Myers represents a departure from his predecessors and is likely to be seen as a bold statement. His books chronicle the lives of many urban teenagers, especially young, poor African-Americans. While his body of work includes poetry, nonfiction and the occasional cheerful picture book for children, its standout books offer themes aimed at young-adult readers: stories of teenagers in violent gangs, soldiers headed to Iraq and juvenile offenders imprisoned for their crimes.   (The New York Times)

Use this link to find all of  San Diego County Library’s copies of Walter Dean Myers books!

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2011 Best Books Lists…

Year end is always a time of reflection,  many of us look at the things we’ve done, places we have been, and also those things left undone, yet to be completed.  One thing I always reflect on is the pile of books that I want to read, especially as I go over all the Best Books of the year lists.   So many books and so little time is always the challenge!  Here are a few suggestions for outstanding 2011 titles that you may want to consider.  Remember, if they aren’t available directly through San Diego County Library, you can use Circuit and Link+ available through our catalog.  Ask us if you have any questions on how to use these great resources that are available to SDCL library card holders.  Or if the title you are interested in has no available copies, be sure to place a request for that title, and when it does come available, it will be waiting on the Holds shelf for you in your branch of choice.  Library staff is happy to help anyone with these options. Happy holiday reading!

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See the complete list from Publishers Weekly: 

The Marriage Plot / Jeffrey Eugenides

Like many of the heroines of the Victorian novels she favors, Madeline Hanna, Brown University class of 1982 English major, must choose between men: the hungry wanderer Mitchell Grammaticus or the brilliant but troubled Leonard Bankhead. Madeline goes with the latter, sidelining her own intellectual pursuits in favor of riding a manic depressive’s roller-coaster through the dawn of semiotics, post-structuralism, identity politics, and psychopharmacology. A coming-of-age novel that’s as unapologetically erudite as it is funny, fun, and profound.  (Publishers Weekly)

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See the list of choices by Nancy Pearl, Librarian extraordinaire:

In Zanesville : A Novel by  Jo Ann Beard

The story of a few months in a 1970s adolescent’s life is so accurately portrayed, the dialogue so precisely rendered, the inner monologue so painfully evocative that the reader plainly remembers being the late-blooming teen herself. The book isn’t nostalgic, because Beard doesn’t write as an adult recalling how she thinks she felt way back when. Beard’s narrator is eclectic, thoughtful, witty, imaginative and constantly trying to catch up to her peers, who already seem to know how the world works.  To read In Zanesville is to step back in time—revisiting the bitter and the sweet memories we all share.   (Booklist)

A World On Fire:  Britains Crucial Role in the American Civil War by Amanda Foreman (available through Link+)

A very good read and a grand panorama of the war on land and sea, in the press, and in drawing rooms and public assemblies on both sides of the Atlantic. Highly recommended for all students of the Civil War, buffs and scholars alike, and anyone wanting to understand the complicated world of Anglo-American relations.  A  big book rich in description and strong in narrative, with a large cast of characters that includes British nobles and American statesmen jockeying for power, British journalists reporting the war, and Englishmen and Irishmen fighting, respectively, with the Union and Confederate armies in what they regarded as noble causes.  (Library Journal)

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The 100 Top Notable Books from New York Times Book Review:  (in alphabetical order!)

The Art of Fielding : A Novel by Chad Harbach

You don’t have to like baseball to savor Chad Harbach’s sumptuous debut novel, a wise and tender story of love and friendship, ambition and the cruelty of dashed dreams, featuring an appealing cast of characters. From the day he discovers Henry Skrimshander on a sun-bleached American Legion baseball field, Mike Schwartz is on a mission to turn the gifted shortstop into a major-league-caliber player.

This allusive, Franzen-like novel, about a gifted but vulnerable baseball player, proceeds with a handsome stateliness.  Chad Harbach makes the case for baseball, thrillingly, in his slow, precious and altogether excellent first novel.   (Bookpage)

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Or see what’s most popular on   The New York Times Best Sellers this week:

11/22/63 : A Novel by Stephen King

The buzz on Stephen King’s latest novel, 11/22/63, is that it’s about a man who goes back in time to save JFK. It’s true; that is the mission undertaken by King’s hero, 35-year-old high school teacher Jake Epping. But to a careful reader, it quickly becomes clear that this is actually a novel about falling in love: first with a time period, and then with an awkward, tall librarian named Sadie.  This quietly moving and thought-provoking book, with its unexpectedly poignant ending, is a compelling tale.  Film rights have already been optioned by Jonathan Demme.  (Bookpage)

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For children’s and teens best books School Library Journal’s list its top choices:

Wonderstruck by Brian Selznick

Selznick plays with a plethora of interwoven themes, including deafness and silence, the ability to see and value the world, family, and the interconnectedness of life.   The dual text/illustration format is used to tell the stories; the combination provides an emotional experience that neither the words nor the illustrations could achieve on their own.  Although the book is hefty, at more than 600 pages, the pace is nevertheless brisk, and the kid-appealing mystery propels the story. With appreciative nods to museums, libraries, and E. L. Konigsburg, Wonderstruck is a gift for the eye, mind, and heart.   (Booklist)

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Join SDCL Winter Reading Challenge!

What a great way to enjoy a stormy or sunny winter day!  Take time to curl up with a great book or if you prefer  a DVD, some music, or a magazine.  To help encourage this San Diego County Library is offering its award-winning program,  Winter Reading Challenge to all of San Diego County.   Beginning on Monday, December 5th and running through Sunday, January 15, 2012 the Winter Reading Challenge is on!  Check out the details.

All ages (adult, teen, kids) at all branches can take the challenge.   Any library card holder (and a SDCL library card is free to all county residents!) can check out 5 items on their card and be eligible for a raffle ticket.   Yes, you can win prizes!   For every 5 items you check out, you have another chance to win  prizes in the weekly drawings at one of our 35 branches!  Enter any SD County Library branch  and when you check out your books, you will get your raffle tickets  and can enter in the fun.  Each week there will be a drawing in each age category.  

The prizes include  Board Games, Ear Buds,  Thumb Drives,  Jigsaw Puzzles,  Books, Puppets, Coffee Mugs,   Free Tickets to Local Events, including San Diego Symphony, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Poway Center for Performing Arts, and Coupons for Rubios and Applebee’s!
(Not all entrants will win prizes. Prizes available while supplies last.)

What a great incentive to explore your local library–and to enjoy some of the many resources available to you.  Try something new,  maybe a new author or a new genre ( have you tried a mystery?   chick lit?  some new nonfiction?   romance?  fiction set in San Diego? )  Or try new kinds of music or new groups you have heard about but not listened to.  Our DVD collection is extensive, as many of our card holders have discovered– first run movies, yours for a week of viewing for free! 

Now is the time to come in and visit at your local library, enjoy browsing through our friendly marketplace of new, high interest items,  with helpful library staff ready to assist you.   Join the Winter Reading Challenge!  Check out more details on our Winter Reading Challenge at the SDCL website or at your local branch.

Tags: Winter Reading

Honoring Our Veterans

This November 11 Americans will  honor the veterans of past and present.  

On November 7, leading veterans’ organizations joined President Obama at the White House to announce their support for the Returning Heroes and Wounded Warrior Tax Credits, two provisions in the American Jobs Act Congress is scheduled to consider that will help create jobs and strengthen the economy. The Returning Heroes Tax Credit provides firms that hire unemployed veterans and the Wounded Warriors Tax Credit offers firms that hire veterans with service-connected disabilities tax credits per veteran.   For more information on these programs, visit the White House site, where further resources are available.

“No veteran should have to fight for a job at home after they fight for our nation overseas,” said President Obama. “ I am directing my Administration to move forward with three initiatives that will help make it easier for veterans to find jobs when they return home.”

SDCL offers a wealth of information for veterans as they seek employment, and reentry into civilian life.  You can start at the National Resource Directory and  also the Veteran’s Job Bank.   We have many print resources available as well, see our list below.    (And a special thank you to all the vets out there!)

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Best Careers for Veterans : Transitioning to Civilian Life by Olivia M. Cloud

Presents information for veterans on successfully transitioning to a new career, providing advice on resume writing, preparing for interviews, and networking.  This all purpose guide covers everything you can think of.  Online Resources are included in this edition.    B & T

 

Job Search : Marketing Your Military Experience  by David G. Henderson

A how-to-do-it-yourself guide to selling your military experience for other jobs and professions.  Explores career changing, resume writing, and job search skills.  Also helps define your occupational interests, skills, and lifestyle.  Examples of resume writing and interview preparation.  B & T

 

Heroes Among Us : Firsthand Accounts of Combat from America’s Most Decorated Warriors in Iraq and Afghanistan  edited  by Chuck Larson ; with a foreword by Tommy Franks and an afterword by John McCain

Firsthand accounts of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan from decorated soldiers of all branches of the military capture front-line stories of combat, courage under fire, and heroism on the battlefield.    B & T

 

Chicken Soup for the Veteran’s Soul : Stories to Stir the Pride and Honor the Courage of Our Veterans by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Sidney R. Slagter

This self-help-guide and tribute to veterans will appeal to wide readership, from this popular blockbuster series.   PW

 

 

  Veterans edited by Margaret Haerens

From the Opposing Viewpoints Series, this title brings together expert opinions in a pro and con format, focusing on current issues in today’s world.  Gale

 

 

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It’s Reading Group Month

  As book groups across the county look for new titles and prepare  lists for their book discussion groups, the Women’s  National Book Association (WNBA) has already been hard at work preparing for National Reading Group Month, vetting  and selecting new titles from the publishers, that would make GREAT group discussion books.  Each year they create a list, Great Group Reads.

As explained by the WNBA , Great Group Reads 2011 titles are selected on the basis of their appeal to reading groups that will open up lively conversations about  timely and provocative topics, from the dynamics of personal relationships to major cultural and world issues. The 20-member Committee also focuses its attention on gems from small presses and lesser-known mid-list releases from larger houses. All are books with strong narratives peopled by fully realized characters; books which perhaps have fl own under the radar of reviewers.   (from Women’s National Book Association)

Some 2011 Great Group Reads Selections

 

The Beauty of Humanity Movement  by Camilla Gibb

Raised in the United States but Vietnamese by birth, Maggie has come to Hanoi seeking clues about the fate of her father, a dissident artist who disappeared during the war. Her search brings her to Old Man Hu’ng’s pho stall and Tu’, a hustling young entrepreneur. Maggie, Hu’ng, and Tu’ come together during a highly charged season that will mark them forever. Exploring the indelible legacies of war and art, as well as love’s power to renew, The Beauty of Humanity Movement is a stellar achievement by a globally renowned literary light.   From the acclaimed author of Sweetness in the Belly.  (Penguin Putnam) 

Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and War by Annia Ciezadlo

 ”I cook to comprehend the place I’ve landed in,” muses Ciezadlo  in her first book, a vividly written memoir of her adventures in travel and taste in the Middle East. She fills her pages with luminous, funny, and stirring portraits of the places and people she came across in her time abroad. There is always her passion for food and the conundrums she faced in her wanderings;  the struggle to define identity, ethnic and personal, and the challenge of maintaining social continuity in wartime. The capstone to all her thoughtful ruminations is a mouthwatering final chapter collecting many of the dishes she describes earlier in the book. She does this all in writing that is forthright and evocative, and she reminds us that the best memoirs are kaleidoscopes that blend an author’s life and larger truths to make a sparkling whole.  (Booklist)

The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell

Fifty years after an unconventional reporter of genteel origins becomes a single mother, present-day London painter Elina navigates the first weeks of single motherhood upon surviving a dangerous labor and learns that her life is disconcertingly linked to the woman from the past.  A spellbinding novel of two women connected  by art, love, betrayals, secrets, and motherhood. Like her acclaimed The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox, it is a “breathtaking, heart-breaking creation.” And it is a gorgeous inquiry into the ways we make and unmake our lives, who we know ourselves to be, and how even our most accidental legacies connect us.  (Houghton)

 

My Name Is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira

The Civil War offers a 20-year-old midwife who dreams of becoming a doctor the medical experience she craves, plus hard work and heartbreak, in this rich debut that takes readers from an upstate New York doctor’s office to a Union hospital overflowing with the wounded and dying. Though she’s too young for the nursing corps, she goes to Washington anyway and is led to the Union Hotel Hospital, where she assists chief surgeon William Stipp. From a variety of perspectives Mary, Stipp, their families, and social, political, and military leaders the novel offers readers a picture of a time of medical hardship, crisis, and opportunity. Oliveira depicts fine details that set this novel above the gauzier variety of Civil War fiction. The focus on often horrific medicine and the women who practiced it against all odds makes for compelling reading.   (Publishers  Weekly)

Silver Sparrow : A Novel by Tayari Jones

“My father, James Witherspoon, is a bigamist.” Thus begins Silver Sparrow, a story that winds its way around this one life-making fact. Set in 1980′s Atlanta, the book peels open James’s  two lives, the one with his legitimate wife and daughter, Laverne and Chaurisse Witherspoon, and the one with his secret family, Gwendolyn and Dana Yarboro. Told from the points of view of both daughters, what unfolds in these pages has nothing to do with convention and everything to do with love, how it pushes and prods you to startling ends, and compels you to make choices you would never imagine.

Silver Sparrow is Jones’s third novel, and she writes with the adeptness and grace of one who is both gifted and highly skilled at her craft. Her narrators’ voices ring with authenticity, their openness frank and unflinching. The story holds not a wink of sentimentality or woe-is-me-ism, and it’s what allows Jones to pull off this tale of deception, secrets, and four women scorned.  (ForeWord Reviews)

 

Under the Mercy Trees by Heather Newton

A melancholy mood suffuses Newton’s nimble debut about a middle-aged man who returns, reluctantly, to his rural North Carolina hometown. Martin Owenby might have never again set foot in Willoby County if it weren’t for the disappearance of his ornery brother, Leon. Now he finds himself in the company of the same damaged souls he fled decades before.  Martin, who has kept his homosexuality a secret, reconnects with his high-school sweetheart, now married.  As time passes, family and friends begin to lose hope that Leon is alive. In this eloquent, sorrowful novel, short-story writer Newton gradually reveals dark secrets about each member of the Owenby clan, including Leon, who may have had good reason to disappear. Readers of both Pat Conroy, on one hand, and Carson McCullers, on the other, will relish Newton’s flawed characters and piquant portrayal of small-town life.   (Booklist)

 

The Year We Left Home by Jean Thompson

Thompson brings together all of her talents to deliver the career-defining novel her admirers have been waiting for: a sweeping and emotionally powerful story of a single American family during the tumultuous final decades of the twentieth century. It begins in 1973, and follows the Erickson siblings as they confront prosperity and heartbreak, setbacks and triumphs, and seek their place in a country whose only constant seems to be breathtaking change. Ambitious, richly told, and fiercely American, this is a vivid and moving meditation on our continual pursuit of happiness and an incisive exploration of the national character. The National Book Award finalist author of Who Do You Love and Throw Like a Girl chronicles the Eriksons from coming-of-age to the present day, in a story told from revolving viewpoints.   (Simon & Schuster)

 

You Know When the Men Are Gone by Siobhan Fallon

When you leave Fort Hood, the sign above the gate warns, You’ve Survived the War, Now Survive the Homecoming. It is eerily prescient.  There is an army of women waiting for their men to return in Fort Hood, Texas. Through a series of loosely interconnected stories, Siobhan Fallon takes readers onto the base, inside the homes, into the marriages and families-intimate places not seen in newspaper articles or politicians’ speeches.   An anthology of interconnected stories tours the experiences of military wives who are privy to each others’ lives in community housing and who share a poignant vigil  waiting for their husbands to return.   (Penguin Putnam)

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Kindle E-books Available!

Yes, Kindle has finally come on board with offering their proprietary e-books through libraries.  Thousands of Kindle owners who have been waiting for Amazon to make ebooks available through the local public libraries say hurrah!  

While digital downloads of e-books have been available at libraries for years, this marks the first time that e-books from Kindle will also be available. 

For library patrons who already go on the San Diego County Library website to see what’s available, finding a Kindle e-book will be just as convenient.

In order to download an e-book from the library, readers  go to SDCL’s  website, create an OverDrive account, and if the e-book they’re looking for is available, they can simply click “Send to Kindle.”    The website will automatically send the book ordered over to amazon.com, where they can sync up their device via Wi-Fi or a USB port to download the e-book. 

Like a regular library book, you’ll have the e-book on your Kindle only for a limited time. Like a library book, there will be limited copies of e-books at libraries, so if you’re searching for a Kindle e-book of  a very popular title, you will have to wait until someone checks one back in.  

The San Diego County Library has over 3,000 e-book titles, and most are single use books, meaning only one person at a time can check them out.  Fortunately, we also have some titles, such as the Lonely Planet Travel guides, which are offered with “max access”  which means as many people as want them can check them out at any time.   SDCL also offers the Project Gutenberg e-books with “max access” and an unlimited number of users at any time.

We also offer instructions on the DYI videos, on the Hot.Right.Now. website,  that will help you in setting up your OverDrive account, and in checking out e-books,  audio books, and videos. 

The popularity of e-books is growing.  Ian Singer, publisher of LJ and School Library Journal, said at the group’s first e-book virtual summit,  “We believe libraries will play a critical role in larger e-book adoption.”  Ebooks: The New Normal summit will take place Oct 12 in New York City.  (Library Journal.com)

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Banned Books Week

September 24−October 1, 2011

Banned Books Week is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the our freedoms of speech and expression.  Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted banning of books across the United States.

Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular—provides the foundation for Banned Books Week.  

In this special Banned Book Week video clip, Banned Author Judy Blume talks about the issue of censoring of books.

The books featured during Banned Books Week have been targets of attempted banning.  An extensive list of Banned Books is available on the American Library Association site, just click here.  SDCL , as a library that supports intellectual freedom, has these banned books available to all who wish to read them.

1984 by George Orwell

A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain

A Farewell to Arms   by Ernest Hemingway

Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Beloved by Toni Morrison

 Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak 

Forever by Judy Blume

Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Jaws by Peter Benchly 

The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien

One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy

  

Since the inception of Banned Books Week in 1982, libraries and bookstores throughout the country have staged local read-outs as part of their activities. This year, for the first time, readers from around the world will be able to participate virtually in Banned Books Week, Sept. 24 – Oct.1. During this year’s celebration of Banned Books Week, readers will be able to proclaim the virtues of their favorite banned books by posting videos of themselves reading excerpts to a dedicated YouTube channel.

Or check out this post at Huffington Post, on the 11 most surprising banned books, and why they were banned!

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Gutenberg Project Mourns

Obituary for Michael Stern Hart 

Michael S. Hart left a major mark on the world. The invention of eBooks was not simply a technological innovation or precursor to the modern information environment. A more correct understanding is that eBooks are an efficient and effective way of unlimited free distribution of literature. Access to eBooks can thus provide opportunity for increased literacy. Literacy, and the ideas contained in literature, creates opportunity.

Hart was best known for his 1971 invention of electronic books, or eBooks. He founded Project Gutenberg, which is recognized as one of the earliest and longest-lasting online literary projects. He often told this story of how he had the idea for eBooks. He had been granted access to significant computing power at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. On July 4 1971, after being inspired by a free printed copy of the U.S. Declaration of Independence, he decided to type the text into a computer, and to transmit it to other users on the computer network. From this beginning, the digitization and distribution of literature was to be Hart’s life’s work, spanning over 40 years.

In July 2011, Michael wrote these words, which summarize his goals and his lasting legacy: “One thing about eBooks that most people haven’t thought much is that eBooks are the very first thing that we’re all able to have as much as we want other than air. Think about that for a moment and you realize we are in the right job.” He had this advice for those seeking to make literature available to all people, especially children.

He died on September 6, 2011 in his home in Urbana, Illinois, at the age of 64.

(This obituary is granted to the public domain by its author, Dr. Gregory B. Newby on the Project Gutenberg website)

SDCL carries  thousands of Project Gutenberg ebooks, available by using your OverDrive account.  

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