Without a Word: How a Boy’s Unspoken Love Changed Everything by Jill Kelly 2010
This is the true story of the only son born to Jim and Jill Kelly. Jim was the quarterback for the Buffalo Bills football team for many years. Their son Hunter was born with a very rare disease. At the time the doctors said he would only live a year or two, but he survived until he was about 9 years old. Jill Kelly’s book deals with the struggles of a handicapped child, raising two daughters, and dealing with Jim being gone most of the time playing football. The book also deals with their struggles after Hunter died—the profound loss each of them felt, what to do with the equipment he needed to live, no longer having his nurses there full time, and coming to grips with Jim’s infidelity. In the end, it is a story of hope, of dealing with loss, and ultimately coming to know God.
Recommended by Kris F. –Circulation
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The Steal: a Cultural History of Shoplifting by Rachel Shteir (2011) is a fascinating look at shoplifting. The author looks at the early cases of theft as documented in court papers and in newspapers, including a few famous well-to-do women. Society's response to shoplifters then and now is shown—who would steal that if you could afford it? Apparently, just about anyone! Shteir documents the strange cultural “heroism” of shoplifting, with the rules about who can provide “liberated” materials, and who shouldn’t have to. What seems like a strange subject for a book is an amazing read about a cultural phenomenon.
Recommended by Hollis, Library Director
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Regarding Ducks and Universes by Neve Maslakovic. 2010
The whim of fate and the masters of physics are helpless in the face of a falling rubber duck. In 1986, the universe is suddenly made two—and 35 years later Felix Sayers is troubled by the fact that his alternate self is up to no good. Or is it Felix who is up to no good? There are certainly several people who are. . .But who wants to hide the truth about a rubber duck and the Golden Gate Bridge. A delightful read that both praises and mocks our modern world, while considering some serious philosophical issues along the way.
Recommended by Hollis, Library Director
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Love Finds You in Homestead, Iowa Melanie Dobson 2010
This is a romance novel set in the difficult economic times of 1893, Jacob Hirsch loses his job as a bank clerk in Chicago. He and his four-year-old daughter, Cassie, ride the train to Homestead, Iowa, the place of the Amana Society. There, he and his daughter are cared for by the society, and he becomes interested in a young Amana society woman.
Recommended by Kayleen--Circulation Desk
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Never-ending-snake By David and Aimee Thurlo
Set in the southwest, Ella Clah, a Native American police detective walks the line between the old ways of her people and the white man’s world. In this latest story, her ex-husband Kevin and his security guard have been shot. No one knows if it’s over the dispute to use a locally grown weed to help provide more jobs or if it’s over the local casino. She must also decide if she wants to take an FBI job in Washington. The authors write stories along the same line as Michael McGarrity and Tony Hillerman.
Recommended by Kris—Circulation Desk
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Miles to Go by Richard Paul Evans is a fiction book that I found to be inspiring and encouraging to the fact that one person can make a difference. Despite the hardships, our main character Alan has found the ability to give of himself and in doing so helped to heal himself. Alan lost his wife, home, and business. He has decided to set off on an extraordinary cross-country journey. A roadside stabbing robbed him of his one source of solace: the ability to walk. Homeless and facing months of difficult recovery, he had nowhere to turn until a woman he had helped earlier on the road takes him in. Alan realizes that before he can return to his own journey he must first help the woman who has taken care of him. An up-lifting, inspiring, and full-of-wisdom read for everyone.
Recommended by Nancy-- Children's Library
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The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton 2009
A small girl left alone on a ship to Australia in 1913, and a cottage on the Cornish coast, lead to three generations of women who struggle to make sense of an incomplete past. The nature of love and desire entwined with sorrow and despair are revealed in this beautifully written historical novel. A slow read that is worth every hour; the characters, the plot, and the settings are all rendered in beautiful detail.
Recommended by Hollis, Library Director
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Luba: The Angel of Bergen-Belsen by Michelle McCann, 2003.
This is a non-fiction book based on a holocaust heroine, a Polish Jew named Luba. The book describes the two years in Auschwitz, where her infant son had been taken from her upon arrival: believing that Luba was a nurse, the Nazis sent her to Bergen-Belsen in the winter of 1944 to look after their wounded. On her first night there she discovers 54 Dutch babies and children in a field, left to freeze to death. Determined to save them, she obtains food and clothing for them and persuades other captives to keep their presence a secret. This is a quick read and would not overwelm students. It is an excellent introduction to a part of history that gives a personal touch to the conditions in concentration camps and how children survived.
A story that stays with you long after it's read.
Recommended by Nancy, Children's Librarian
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Red Wolf : a novel by Liza Marklund. 2011
Red Wolf is a title that catches your eye and you wonder what could this story be about. Liza Marklund tells an interesting story about the northeast coast of Sweden, a reporter named Annika, and the murders of three citizens in the small town of Lulea. Annika has been asked by another reporter in Lulea to come investigate some new information about a bombing that occurred in that town back in the 60’s. Before she can arrive, that reporter has been run down. That is where her work begins, to uncover why he was killed, and what new information he might have found. You will not discover until the end what Red Wolf means, and what the motive for the murders was. Enjoy this mystery!!
Recommended by Kris, Serials & Circulation
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The movie FAIR GAME is the story of Valerie Plame, the CIA agent whose identity was exposed by the White House. This was not a news story I followed at the time it happened, so I learned some interesting details about what happened. For someone who likes politically themed movies, this would be very compelling and intriguing.
Recommended by Karen, Circulation Desk
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The Distant Hours by Kate Morton is about a letter that arrives 50 years after it was sent. Edie, the daughter of the woman who receives the letter, becomes curious. Inevitably Edie is caught up in the mystery and history of the Milderhurst Castle and the sisters Blythe who reside there. This history spans England during World War II and into the present time. I thought the book was very well written and kept my attention throughout.
Recommended by Karen, Circulation Desk
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The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us by Sheril Kirshenbaum is a fascinating explanation of what we really learn when we kiss another person. With science as the foundation of this book, one would think that love is forgotten. Is kissing really the way we fall in love? Is it how we know that someone is the “wrong one” as well as the “right one?” Is it just biology? With chapter titles such as “This is your brain on kissing” and “The future of kissing” you can learn more about what your lips do than you ever imagined.
Recommended by Hollis, Library Director
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Halos by Kristen Heitzmann 2004
Alessi Moore, 21-year-old orphan, has left her Uncle’s reluctant care looking for a place to call home. Driving her red Mustang convertible down the highway, she sees it – a halo. Just like the ones she’d been seeing since she was seven. So far they’d always been followed by good things. Miracles. Pulling into Mr. Gas Garage and Videos in a snowy town called Charity, Alessi expects nothing less. But while she pays for the gas and chats with Ben, the owner, her car disappears. Both Ben and his partner Dave are sympathetic, but not hopeful that it will be found. The local sheriff is none too swift to look for the car, and the whole town insists that Alessi is either lying or mistaken. No one in Charity would steal a car! Then who is following her and playing cruel, even dangerous, pranks that nobody sees but her? What about Steve, local bookstore owner with a personality that goes from cold to hot and back again? And what is the town “pact” that no one will talk about? As Alessi becomes better acquainted with the townspeople, she begins to wonder if this was all God’s doing and that He has decided she would be better off without this cherished possession. Maybe she should just leave.
Recommended by Jane--Cataloging
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I am such a fan of anything Alaska, after visiting there three years ago, so when I saw this title—If You Lived Here, I‘d Know Your Name: News from Small Town Alaska—I had to read it. Heather Lende and her husband, originally from the east coast, have lived in Haines, Alaska most of their adult lives. Each chapter in this book tells a story about some person or aspect of daily life in this town of about 2400. Haines is one of the tourist stops along the inside passage of the southeast Alaska, just before the ships head up to Skagway. She tells about how when someone dies, she writes the obituary for the local paper—sitting in their homes finding out what made this person unique and special. She tells about her fear of flying and yet one must fly everywhere to get out of Haines. If you too enjoy learning about small town Alaska, you will enjoy her stories.
Kris –Circulation & Serials
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Fans of the Sister Fidelma murder mystery series by Peter Tremayne will enjoy the latest—The Dove of Death. In this story, Sister Fidelma and her aide/husband Eudalf are traveling by boat along with a cousin. They encounter what appear to be pirates, who kill her cousin. Eudalf and Sister Fidelma barely escape in a small boat, landing on a nearby island. This begins a series of murders and activities that lead Sister Fidelma on her quest for the truth. As a lawyer in Celtic Ireland, she always finds adventure in her journeys.
Recommend by Kris—Circulation and Serials
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Somewhere to Belong by Judith Miller 2010
A group of Christians from Germany called the Community of True Inspiration built the seven self-contained Amana colonies in Iowa in the mid-1800’s in order to pursue their belief that God communicated through inspired individuals, just as he did in the days of the prophets. This is a novel that takes place in the Amana villages in 1877.
Johanna Ilg is a young woman who grew up in Main Amana and is content with her life there. However, she has a desire to see the outside world, especially Chicago, where her brother now lives with his wife. Her parents seem unusually fearful that if she leaves she will never come back. Her father, in charge of the livery, has hired a new man from one of the other villages. Carl seems interested in Johanna, despite the Amanian practice of not encouraging marriage. Johanna must ultimately choose between her heritage and the outside world. And between marriage and singleness.
Meanwhile, Johanna is put in charge of a new member of Amana, a girl who knows nothing about this way of life, or about self-discipline. Berta Schumacher grew up in Chicago and has had everything she’s ever wanted in her 16 years of life. When her family travels to Iowa, she has no idea that her parents plan to make Amana their home. She rebels at every opportunity, jeopardizing her job in the kitchen, and eventually causing one man to lose his job and a young friend to be badly injured. Her choice becomes asking for forgiveness and staying in Amana, or going to a boarding school in Ohio.
Recommended by Jane--cataloging
