New offerings at library perfect for a summer read

Published:  Monday, August 4, 2008 (4 months ago)
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Summer is winding down quickly. The reading program was again very successful. A total of 305 children joined the program, and approximately 100 of those earned a trip to the pool party by reading at least 90 minutes or more per week for six weeks. Special activities were held on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during the program, bringing in lots of families to use the library. It was wonderful to see all of the activities on those days!
The front steps are now finished and the main entrance is again accessible to the public. We thank the public for their patience during our repair work.
Don’t forget … August and September Saturday hours are 9 a.m. to 12 noon.

7 titles were added to our video collection this month:
Biloxi Blues, Coming to America, Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Liar Liar, Pretty Woman, Splash, Turner & Hootch.

24 new DVD titles were added to our collection this month:
Ace of Hearts, Bella, The Best of the Real West, Buffalo Soldiers, Civil War Journal, Cover, Emma, For One More Day, Gettysburg, Heroes of Iwo Jima, The Hottie & the Nottie, Jane Eyre, Jesse  James, Lil’ Bratz: Party Time, Mad Money, Northanger Abbey, Over Her Dead Body, P.S. I Love  You, The Richie Rich Scooby-Doo Show, A River Runs Through It, Runaway Bride, The Spiderwick Chronicles, The Sword in the Stone, The Wager.

Fiction
Before the Storm — Diane Chamberlain
Laurel Lockwood lost her son once through neglect. She’s spent the rest of her life determined to make up for her mistakes, and she’s succeeded in becoming a committed, protective parent. Still, she loosens her grip just enough to let Andy attend a local church social — a decision that terrifies her when the church is consumed by fire. But Andy survives … and remarkably, saves other children from the flames. Andy basks in the role of unlikely hero. But when the suspicion of arson is cast upon Andy, Laurel must ask herself how well she really knows her son … and how far she’ll go to keep her promise to protect him forever.
Chasing Darkness — Robert Crais
When Lionel Byrd is charged with murder, his attorney hires Elvis Cole. The PI corroborates Byrd’s alibi through a convenience store security tape, but murders similar to the one in which Byrd was a suspect continue. Then Byrd is found in his small rental in the Los Angeles hills, the victim of an apparent suicide. Beside his body is a notebook with pictures of all the victims, taken at the moment of death. The consensus among the cops, the press, and the victims’ families is that Cole freed a killer. Shut out of the investigation by a special LAPD task force determined to close the case, Elvis Cole desperately fights to uncover the truth about Lionel Byrd and his nightmare album of death — a truth hidden by lies, politics, and corruption in a world where nothing is what it seems.
The Beach House — Jane Green
Sixty-five-year-old Nan Powell has lived comfortably and happily in Nantucket since the suicide of her husband. She is thrown for a loop when she learns that she is in danger of losing her beloved house. After weighing her options, Nan decides to turn her home into a bed-and-breakfast. The guests she gets for the summer are all at a crossroads in their lives in one way or another. Nan finds herself opening up to her guests and enjoying their company, but she is shocked when she discovers a person close to one of them has a startling connection to her.
Damage Control — J.A. Jance
In the Coronado National Monument an elderly couple’s car goes off t he side of a mountain. The rocky terrain makes it impossible to retrieve the bodies without a helicopter. Hours later and miles away, a subsiding rainstorm reveals two trash bags containing human remains that turn out to be those of a handicapped woman who wandered away from a care facility with a suspicious track record. Meanwhile, a note found in the glove compartment of the car lying twisted down the mountainside, states that its occupants intended to take their own lives. Yet a contradictory autopsy report surfaces, and when the deceased’s two daughters show up to feud over their inheritance, Cochise County sheriff Joanna Brady knows there is more to this case than just a suicide pact. She will go all out to solve these two cases, no matter where it leads.
Silent Thunder — Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen
A U.S. maritime museum has just acquired the former pride of the Soviet fleet, the decommissioned submarine Silent Thunder, for public exhibition. Marine architect  Hannah Bryson enlists the aid of her brother, Connor to help inspect every single inch of this legendary nuclear attack sub and design modifications that will make it safe for the thousands of expected visitors. Connor discovers a mysterious message behind one of the ship’s panels, and before they can figure out what it means, there’s a deadly assault on Silent Thunder. Hannah will stop at nothing to find the mastermind behind the plot. As she finds herself caught in the crossfire of an epic standoff, her only hope for survival is to unravel Silent Thunder’s explosive secret.
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle — David Wroblewski
In the backwoods of Wisconsin, the Sawtelle family — Gar, Trudy and their young son, Edgar — carry on the family business of breeding and training dogs. Edgar, born mute, has developed a special relationship and a unique means of communicating with Almondine, one of the Sawtelle dogs. With the return of Claude, Edgar’s paternal uncle, turmoil consumes the Sawtelles’ once peaceful home. When Edgar’s father dies suddenly, Claude insinuates himself into the life of the farm. Grief stricken and bewildered, Edgar tries to prove Claude played a role in his father’s death, but his plan backfires. Forced to flee into the vast wilderness lying beyond the farm, Edgar comes of age in the wild, fighting for his survival and that of the three yearling dogs who follow him. His need to face his father’s murderer and his devotion to the Sawtelle dogs turn Edgar ever homeward.

Non-Fiction
Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You — Sam Gosling
Do the things on your desk betray the thoughts on your mind? Does your dining room decor carry clues to  your character? For the last ten years, award-winning psychologist Sam Gosling  has been studying how we project (and protect) our inner selves. One of the field’s most innovative researchers, he has dispatched teams of scientific snoops to poke around bedrooms and offices, check out iPods, and peek at personal web sites — to see what can be learned about us simply from looking at our stuff. What he has discovered is astonishing: When it comes to the most essential components of our personality — from friendliness and flexibility to openness and originality — the things we own and the way we arrange them can say more about who we are than even our most intimate conversations.
Moving Forward: Taking the lead in your life — Dave Pelzer
No matter who you are, you’ve no doubt encountered obstacles and challenges in your life. Some you deal with and move on, others you carry with you. No person is without conflict, but it is how you deal with those conflicts that determines who you are. The author will walk you through the most common struggles people face and illustrate each with candid lessons he’s learned in his own life experiences. He will show you how to let go of all the negative stuff that has been weighing you down (even if you don’t realize it), and he’ll give you insight into living life to its fullest while maintaining your dignity, esteem, and beliefs.
Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies — Richard McKenzie
This entertaining book unravels an array of pricing puzzles from the one captured in the book’s title, to why so many prices end with “9” (as in $2.99 or $179), to why ink cartridges can cost as much as printers, to why stores use sales, coupons, and rebates. Professor McKenzie explains how well-meaning efforts to spur the use of alternative, supposedly environmentally friendly fuels have caused starvation among millions of people around the world and have given rise to the deforestation of rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia. How can this be? If you think you already have an answer, read on. The solutions to these and other such pricing puzzles are more sophisticate and surprising than you likely now think.
Somewhere in Heaven — Christopher Anderson
Christopher Reeve: He was a hero in every sense of the word — the chiseled-from-granite star of four blockbuster Superman films and the romantic classic Somewhere in Time who, after being paralyzed in a freak horseback-riding accident, became a symbol of hope for millions. Dana Reeve was no less heroic, standing steadfastly by her husband’s side until his surprisingly sudden and unexpected death at age fifty-two. When Dana, a non-smoker, passed away from lung cancer just seventeen months after Chris’s death, she left behind their thirteen-year-old son, Will, to be raised by friends and family. Dana was only forty-four years old. Now the author draws on those who knew Chris and Dana best to examine in touching detail the Reeves’ unique partnership and the romance, faith, and fortitude that defined it. This is more than just a portrait of a marriage. It is the profoundly human story of two souls whose brief lives made a difference, a bittersweet saga of tragedy, triumph and loss, and — above all else — a love story for the ages.

August Memorials
Rogue — Danielle Steel (large print), A Summer Affair — Elin Hilderbrand, A Sister’s Choice — Emilie Richards, Fields of Gold — Marie Bostwick, Mennonite Cookbook, Last Kiss — Luanne Rice. In memory of: Dorothy H. Leffers. Given by: Family & Friends.
July & August — Nancy Clark, Where Memories Lie — Deborah Crombie, Silent Thunder — Iris Johansen & Roy Johansen, One of Those Malibu Nights — Elizabeth Adler, Damage Control — J.A. Jance, Death Under the Dryer — Simon Brett. In memory of: Freeda Belle Kelly. Given by: Family & Friends.
Belinda Begins Ballet — Amy  Young. In memory of: Norma (Shirack) Reindel. Given by: Jim and Phud Calvelage.
Hot Line Antique Tractor Guide. In memory of: Arthur Hoersten. Given by: Bob & Marsha Mueller.
Relief Carving Wood Spirits — Lora Irish. In memory of: Thomas H. Bendele. Given by: Family & Friends.

From the Children’s Corner:
My Dog, My Cat, My Mama, and Me! By Nigel Gray
There is a definite pattern to this sweet tale. A little girl watches her dog get fatter and fatter, eventually crawl into a cupboard and come back out thin. What’s in the cupboard? Why, two puppies, of course! The same thing happens when her cat, fatter and fatter, crawls into a box and has three kittens. Then she notices her Mama getting fatter and fatter! Will Mama bring home four babies? Lift the flap and see.
It’s My School by Sally Grindley
Alice is going to kindergarten and big brother, Tom, does not appreciate it! It’s been his school all along and he wants it to stay that way. Can he get over the embarrassment that she’s brought her teddy bear to school and wants to show his friends? He doesn’t have to play with her on the playground, does he? Then, on the first day of school, a little boy snatches Alice’s teddy and Tom comes to her rescue. Maybe, it’s not so bad having a little sister to share your school with after all.
United Tweets of America by Hudson Talbott
Talbott has crafted an interesting homage to the 50 state birds by writing as if they are in a beauty pageant. The bald eagle is the ‘master of ceremonies’ and introduces us to each bird, giving humorous trivia about the bird and the state. Of course, in the end, no one can really be crowned the winner, and true to the nature of pageants, the contestants break into a rousing version of ‘America the Beautiful’ with just a few slight word changes. When you add the author’s remarkable illustrations, there is a lot to see and read.
The Mighty 12, Superheroes of Greek Myth by Charles R. Smith, Jr.
This is an attractive introduction to Greek Mythology using poetry and dynamic comic book style illustrations. The author and illustrator bring the gods and goddesses to life and make them superheroes with super-human powers. Each of the 12 have their own page or two and at the end gives a thumb-nail sketch of the Olympians, perhaps the best known of mythological creatures.
Nick of Time by Ted Bell
This is Ted Bell’s first foray into juvenile fiction and it has all the pieces of a grand tale: adventure, time travel, war, riches, ruthless enemies and a young hero. Nick and his sister Kate live in a  lighthouse on the English Channel just as the war with Germany is heating up. One day, Nick discovers a time machine and a message asking for help from the captain. Nick uses the time machine to travel back to 1805 and ends up coming to the aid of Admiral Nelson. In the meantime, Kate is battling on the warfront when she helps uncover German submarines. This is an authentic page-turner.

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