The secret place - Tana French

The secret place - French, Tana

Summary: "The photo on the card shows a boy who was found murdered, a year ago, on the grounds of a girls' boarding school in the leafy suburbs of Dublin. The caption says I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM. Detective Stephen Moran has been waiting for his chance to get a foot in the door of Dublin's Murder Squad--and one morning, sixteen-year-old Holly Mackey brings him this photo. "The Secret Place," a board where the girls at St. Kilda's School can pin up their secrets anonymously, is normally a mishmash of gossip and covert cruelty, but today someone has used it to reignite the stalled investigation into the murder of handsome, popular Chris Harper. Stephen joins forces with the abrasive Detective Antoinette Conway to find out who and why. But everything they discover leads them back to Holly's close-knit group of friends and their fierce enemies, a rival clique--and to the tangled web of relationships that bound all the girls to Chris Harper. Every step in their direction turns up the pressure. Antoinette Conway is already suspicious of Stephen's links to the Mackey family. St. Kilda's will go a long way to keep murder outside their walls. Holly's father, Detective Frank Mackey, is circling, ready to pounce if any of the new evidence points toward his daughter. And the private underworld of teenage girls can be more mysterious and more dangerous than either of the detectives imagined."-- from publisher's web site.

Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* A year after the brutal murder of a young man on the grounds of posh St. Kilda's school for girls, the case remains unsolved. Then Holly Mackey, a 16-year-old Kilda's student and the daughter of Dublin Murder Squad's Machiavellian Frank Mackey, approaches Detective Stephen Moran with a tantalizing clue: a card with a photo of the victim and the words, "I KNOW WHO KILLED HIM," which she says she plucked from a school bulletin board. Moran, who met Holly when she was a nine-year-old witness to a crime, knows instantly that this could be his ticket into the elite Murder Squad—if the famously combative Antoinette Conway, the lead investigator on the case, will have him. As the detectives learn more about the connections of the victim to two rival Kilda's cliques, they begin to understand that the girls are more devious, and possibly more dangerous, than they had imagined. Complex characters and a vivid sense of place are at the heart of French's literary success (Broken Harbor, 2012), and although Conway and Moran are fine protagonists, it is the members of the two rival cliques, and St. Kilda's itself, that make The Secret Place much more than just a solid whodunit. French brilliantly and plausibly channels the rebellion, conformity, inchoate longings, rages, and shared bonds, as well as Kilda's role in fostering them. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Check Availability

Rape of Europa (DVD)

Rape of Europa (DVD)

Summary: Imagine the world without our masterpieces. Interviews with eyewitnesses and historians and newsreel footage show how during World War II the Nazis systematically took or destroyed the art of Europe. It follows the the heroic Europeans who first hid, and then set out to find and return what had been taken, with the help of the Allied forces "Monuments Men". It is work that continues to this day.

Video Librarian Reviews
An engrossing documentary, The Rape of Europa tells the interrelated stories of the Nazi plunder of priceless objets d'art from conquered territories during World War II, the simultaneous efforts by Allied forces to preserve as much of Europe's artistic patrimony as possible while working towards the defeat of Germany, and the subsequent attempts to restore stolen and/or damaged items to their proper owners and original form. Based on the bestselling book by Lynn H. Nicholas (who appears as one of several talking-head commentators), the film draws on a wealth of archival footage to document Hitler's own artistic ambitions and his attempts, along with underlings such as Luftwaffe head Hermann Goering, to steal some artistic masterworks for personal collections while systematically destroying others—such as Polish and Russian national treasures—officially considered degenerate because they represented the work of "inferior" races. Attention is also paid here to the heroic efforts by Polish, Russian, Italian, and French patriots who strove to save endangered artwork, as well as a unit of experts attached to the American army who advised the military about minimizing damage while also aiding in the recovery of pieces that had been carted off to secret locations. The documentary follows its subject into the postwar period, detailing the extensive repair and reconstruction work, as well as the international effort to return items to their rightful owners. Narrated with quiet authority by Oscar-nominee Joan Allen, this is a fascinating film that sheds light on a lesser-known but culturally significant aspect of World War II history. Highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (F. Swietek) Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2009.

Check Availability

When books went to war - Molly Manning

When books went to war: the stories that helped us win World War II - Manning, Molly

Summary: "When America entered World War II in 1941, [it] faced an enemy that had banned and burned over 100 million books and caused fearful citizens to hide or destroy many more. Outraged librarians launched a campaign to send free books to American troops and gathered 20 million hardcover donations. In 1943, the War Department and the publishing industry stepped in with an extraordinary program: 120 million small, lightweight paperbacks, for troops to carry in their pockets and their rucksacks, in every theater of war"--Amazon.com.
Chronicles the joint effort of the U.S. government, the publishing industry, and the nation's librarians to boost troop morale during World War II by shipping more than one hundred million books to the front lines for soldiers to read during what little downtime they had.

Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Books mattered. As war machines rolled across Europe after 1939, Nazis shuttered libraries and burned books they deemed objectionable because of authorship or content. Then the U.S. began its own mobilization, early conscripts training with broomsticks for rifles. America's industry eventually supplied requisite war matériel, but soldiers and sailors needed weapons capable of fighting combat's psychological and spiritual stresses. Under the leadership of redoubtable librarian Althea Warren, the Victory Book Campaign rallied the nation's libraries, publishers, booksellers, and ordinary citizens, marshaling millions of volumes to send to front lines. Magazine publishers ran off issues on lightweight newsprint that could similarly be carried into foxholes. Manning has scoured archives to retrieve soldiers' touching accounts of the therapeutic, life-saving influence of stories that took their minds away from daily horrors. Servicemen loved these flimsy paperbacks, which they could slip into pockets and trade with one another. She also reports a less-savory tale of American politicians conniving to censor some titles. Includes bibliography of books published as Armed Services Editions and a partial list of authors the Nazis tried to suppress. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Check Availability

Hummingbirds - Ronald Orenstein

Hummingbirds - Orenstein, Ronald

Summary: "A visual feast of beautiful images and a comprehensive natural history of a unique and remarkable bird family."--P. [4] of cover.

Publishers Weekly Reviews
This perfect coffee table book captures the dazzling and fascinating world of the remarkable hovering bird unique to the Americas. Author Ronald Orenstein, a zoologist, lawyer and wild life conservationist, explains in layman's terms many characteristics of hummingbirds, from ?ight and feeding techniques to migrations and mating patterns. There are more than 340 species of hummingbirds divided into seven groupings with illustrative names like Mangoes, Coquettes, Brilliants, Mountain Gems, Bees, Emerald and Giant. Readers will learn about their diverse habitat, unique metabolisms, courtship prowess and near mythical attraction in pre-Columbian lore of the Americas, and may be surprised to discover that hummingbirds while resting enter a state of hibernation-like torpor to conserve body heat. The spectacular photography of Michael and Patricia Fogden reveals the diversity, beautiful colors and movement of these unique birds. They successfully captured images of the speedy birds in ?ight, perched, nesting, feeding and, in an exceptional set of photographs, even escaping the fangs of a viper. Although extremely resilient and adaptive, the hummingbird environment is often threatened by development and deforestation and the final chapter focuses on these issues. (Sept.)

Check Availabilty

Museum masterpieces The Louvre (DVD)

Museum masterpieces The Louvre (DVD)

Summary: "In Museum Masterpieces: The Louvre, expert art critic and historian Richard Brettell takes you on an unforgettable journey through one of the world's greatest museums. This 12-lecture series begins with an overview of the Louvre's colorful history as royal palace, art academy, and national showcase. Then you'll explore some of the most beautiful and renowned examples from the museum's remarkable collection of European paintings from the late medieval period through the early 19th century, including masterworks by Raphael, Caravaggio, Leonardo da Vinci, Watteau, Rubens and Vermeer..."--Publisher description.

Lectures: 1. Palace to Museum, the story of the Louvre -- 2. Leonardo and the origins of the collections -- 3. Italian Renaissance and the Baroque painting -- 4. Spanish school of painting -- 5. Rubens and Flemish painting, Early German -- 6. Rembrandt, Vermeer, and Dutch painting -- 7. De La Tour, Le Nain, and 17th century painting -- 8. Claude and Poussin, French painter in Rome -- 9. Watteau and Chardin -- 10. Boucher, Fragonard, and the Rococo in France -- 11. Jacques-Louis David and his school -- 12. Delacrois and Ingres, the great dialectic.

Check Availability

Hidden girl - Shyima Hall

Hidden girl: the true story of a modern-day child slave - Hall, Shyima

Summary: The author relates how she was sold by poor parents into slavery and forced to endure brutal servitude in California until a neighbor's anonymous call to the police began her journey to freedom and her subsequent efforts to fight for child slaves.

Booklist Reviews
Hall was eight years old when her impoverished Egyptian parents sold her to a wealthy couple. The life of domestic slavery that followed was one of endless labor and physical and verbal abuse. Her experiences don't improve when her captors immigrate to the U.S., smuggling her in with them. Almost two years pass before her plight is discovered, and she is freed. But her difficulties don't end there. As a result of never having been educated, she is illiterate, can't speak English, and can't even tell time. Accordingly, school is an ordeal and the foster homes in which she lives are often problematic. The balance of this affecting and enlightening memoir tells the story of how she survived and, ultimately, thrived. Unfortunately, her story is not unique. She points out that there are almost 43,000 slaves in the U.S. at any given time. By giving a face to one hidden girl, Hall has given a face to many. This is an excellent book for both individual reading and classroom use. Also suggest Rosanne Hawke's Spirit of a Mountain Wolf, reviewed in this issue, for a fictionalized view of child slavery. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Check Availability

Mind of chef (DVD)

Mind of chef (DVD)

Summary: Season 1 of The Mind of a Chef examined the food-centric world of Chef David Chang. From ramen to rotting bananas, Copenhagen to Kansas City, and pork buns to golf clubs, Season 1 combined travel, cooking, history, science, and humor into an unforgettable journey.

Season 2 of The Mind of a Chef features Sean Brock (Episodes 1-8), Executive Chef and Partner of McCrady's and Husk Restaurant in Charleston, SC and the newly-opened outpost of Husk in Nashville, TN. The second half features April Bloomfield (Episodes 9-16), Executive Chef and Co- Owner of The Spotted Pig, The Breslin Bar & Dining Room, The John Dory Oyster Bar and Salvation Taco, all in New York City.

Season 3 of The Mind of a Chef joins chefs Magnus Nilsson and Ed Lee as they show viewers what it truly means to cook, think, create and live in the food-obsessed world that is The Mind of A Chef. Narrated by Executive Producer and renowned chef Anthony Bourdain

Check Availability

Redeployment - Phil Klay

Redeployment - Klay, Phil

Summary: A collection of short stories by a former Marine captain and Iraq veteran focuses on the complexities of life for soldiers on the front lines and after, exploring themes ranging from brutality and faith to guilt and survival in such stories as "After Action Report" and "Money as Weapons System." - (Baker & Taylor)

Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Klay's stories are sensational, with vivid characters, biting dialogue, and life within and beyond the Afghan and Iraq wars conveyed with an addictive combination of the mundane and the horrifying. A soldier reenters civilian life after the surreal wartime task of shooting dogs that eat corpses. A rookie takes part in a raid on insurgents and then eats cobbler. Two soldiers agree to swap responsibility for a killing. A foreign service officer navigates bureaucracy with results that are no less sad for being comic. Soldiers return to barracks after patrol and wordlessly pick up their video games, which they choose over sleep. Redeployment is most remarkable, though, for the questions it asks about the aims and effects of war stories themselves, and Klay displays a thoughtful awareness of this literary tradition. That perspective holds these diverse tales together, as his narrators ask why and how war stories are told. What details does a soldier share with civilians? Does one tell it funny or tell it serious? Is the storytelling a further return to war, a redeployment in itself? Those questions, and Klay's exciting new voice, may stay with the reader long after this book is back on the shelf. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Check Availability

The rainbow - D.H. Lawrence

The rainbow - D.H. Lawrence

Summary: Set in the rural Midlands of England, The Rainbow (1915) revolves around three generations of the Brangwens, a strong, vigorous family, deeply involved with the land. When Tom Brangwen marries a Polish widow, Lydia Lensky, and adopts her daughter Anna as his own, he is unprepared for the passion that erupts between them. All are seeking individual fulfillment, but it is Ursula, Anna's spirited daughter, who, in her search for self-knowledge, rejects the traditional role of womanhood.
In his introduction, James Wood discusses Lawrence's writing style and the tensions and themes of The Rainbow. This Penguin edition reproduces the Cambridge text, which provides a text as close as possible to Lawrence's original. It also includes suggested further reading, a fragment of 'The Sisters II' from his first draft, and chronologies of Lawrence's life and of The Rainbow's Brangwen family. - (Blackwell North Amer)

Check Availability

Leaving time - Jodi Picoult

Leaving time - Picoult, Jodi

Summary: "Alice Metcalf was a devoted mother, loving wife, and accomplished scientist who studied grief among elephants. Yet it's been a decade since she disappeared under mysterious circumstances, leaving behind her small daughter, husband, and the animals to which she devoted her life. All signs point to abandonment . . . or worse. Still Jenna--now thirteen years old and truly orphaned by a father maddened by grief--steadfastly refuses to believe in her mother's desertion. So she decides to approach the two people who might still be able to help her find Alice: a disgraced psychic named Serenity Jones, and Virgil Stanhope, the cynical detective who first investigated her mother's disappearance and the death of one of her mother's co-workers. Together these three lonely souls will discover truths destined to forever change their lives. Deeply moving and suspenseful, Leaving Time is a radiant exploration of the enduring love between mothers and daughters"-- Provided by publisher.

Booklist Reviews
On the night one of the caretakers at a New Hampshire elephant sanctuary was killed, Jenna's mother, Alice, was found unconscious nearby. Hours later, Alice checked herself out of the hospital and disappeared, leaving her 3-year-old daughter behind. Now, 10 years later, the precocious 13-year-old wants answers to the mysteries of her mother's whereabouts. Is she dead? Was she also the victim of an unknown assailant? Or was she an abused wife and heartless mother who did not care about her child's welfare? With her father, Thomas, incarcerated in a mental hospital since the tragedy that destroyed his family, Jenna has few people to turn to for help. Aided only by Virgil, the disgraced detective who bungled the initial investigation, and Serenity, a once-famous but now infamous TV psychic, Jenna seeks answers to the questions that have always plagued her. Best-selling, reliably entertaining, and thought-provoking Picoult's newest multifaceted novel is redolent with elephant lore that explores the animals' behavior when faced with death and grief, and combines a poignant tale of human loss with a perplexing crime story that delivers a powerhouse ending.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Popular Picoult's latest hot-topic novel will be heavily promoted on all fronts as she appears in 20 cities and conducts a TV satellite tour. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Check Availability

Stardust - Neil Gaiman

Stardust - Gaiman, Neil

Summary: The story of young Tristran Thorn and his adventures in the land of Faerie. He has fallen in love with beautiful Victoria Forester and in order to win her hand, he must retrieve a fallen star and deliver it to her.

Publishers Weekly Reviews
Tristran Thorn falls in love with the prettiest girl in town and makes her a foolish promise: he says that he'll go find the falling star they both watched streak across the night sky. She says she'll marry him if he finds it, so he sets off, leaving his home of Wall, and heads out into the perilous land of faerie, where not everything is what it appears. Gaiman is known for his fanciful wit, sterling prose and wildly imaginative plots, and Stardust is no exception. Gaiman's silver-tongued narration vividly brings this production to life. Like the bards of old, Gaiman is equally proficient at telling tales as he is at writing them, and his pleasant British accent feels like a perfect match to the material. Gaiman's performance is an extraordinary achievement-if only all authors could read their own work so well. The audiobook also includes a brief, informative and enjoyable interview with Gaiman about the writing of the novel and his work in the audiobook studio. Available as Harper Perennial (Reviews, Nov. 23, 1998). (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Check Availability

Night sky dragons - Mal Peet

Night sky dragons - Peet, Mal

Summary: Yazul loves making kites with his grandfather, but all he truly desires is the approval of his father. Yazul's father, lord of a han along the Silk Road, is a man made stern by loneliness, and Yazul's love of kite-making only seems to elicit disappointment. "Travel and trade are what matters," his father says. But when the han is attacked by bandits, Yazul has an idea. With the help of his grandfather, he might just be able to use his kite-making skills to scare the bandits away and save the han. Will Yazul's courage and cleverness make his father proud?

Booklist Reviews
Yazul lives in a han, a walled settlement that shelters travelers on the Silk Road. Though his widowed father, the lord of the han, is rather distant, the boy enjoys making and flying kites with his grandfather. After a prank goes wrong and causes his grandmother to drop a precious bowl, Yazul's father accuses him of idleness and orders him to work as a kitchen drudge. Then bandits besiege the settlement, which nearly runs out of food and water. Fortunately, Yazul comes up with an ingenious plan to drive their enemies away. Though the setting's time and place aren't precisely determined, this nicely designed and illustrated volume offers a story with broad appeal. Yazul and his grandfather are sympathetic characters, but so is his strict father, given the weight of his experiences and responsibilities. Yazul's pleasure in gaining his approval is clear. Created with pen and watercolor, Benson's detailed illustrations help readers envision Yazul's world. A well-knit story that reads aloud beautifully. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Check Availability

Practicing: a musician's return to music - Glenn Kurtz

Practicing: a musician's return to music - Kurtz, Glenn

Summary: Describes how the author grew up as a young classical guitar prodigy, abandoned his instrument and his dreams of becoming a leading artist at the age of twenty-five, and rediscovered his passion for the guitar years later.

Booklist Reviews
Guitar was the young Kurtz's passion. From lessons as a child, through summers at a guitar camp where he learned aspects of performance, on to the New England Conservatory of Music in preparation for a solo career, and actually pursuing that career in Vienna, he describes the journey that led to the recognition that he wasn't cut out to be a performer. Practice is putting love into the music, he sees, and performance is sending that love to the listener. Including discussion of the history of the guitar and of the composers of music for it, he traces an odyssey that turns full circle 10 years later when he resumes playing for his own enjoyment. He bares his soul, relating his feelings during practice, audition, and performance, as well as his experiences with teachers, mentors, and other artists. Although Kurtz writes in stream-of-consciousness style, virtually everyone who is dedicated to getting the most out of music by playing it will appreciate his insights into the art of practice for the love of music.

Check Availability

Bacardi and the long fight for Cuba - Tom Gjelten

Bacardi and the long fight for Cuba - Gjelten, Tom

Summary: "The Bacardis of Cuba, builders of a rum distillery and a worldwide brand, came of age with their nation and helped define what it meant to be Cuban. Across five generations, the Bacardi family has held fast to its Cuban identity, even in exile from the country for whose freedom they once fought. The Bacardi clan--patriots and bon vivants, entrepreneurs and intellectuals--provided an example of business and civic leadership in its homeland for nearly a century. From the fight for Cuban independence from Spain in the 1860s to the rise of Fidel Castro and beyond, there is no chapter in Cuban history in which the Bacardis have not played a role. Here journalist Tom Gjelten tells the 150-year epic tale of this family, its business, and its nation, describing the intersection of business and power, family and politics, community and exile."--From publisher description.

Booklist Reviews
Reflecting Cuban history in that of the Bacardi rum company, NPR reporter Gjelten covers the business and political activities of the firm's leaders. Starting with its 1862 founding by Facundo Bacardi, Gjelten describes how this family-owned enterprise operated through Cuba's volatile sequence of wars with Spain, U.S. occupation, unstable governments, and, finally, expropriation by the Castro regime. Run by a succession of savvy autocrats, the Bacardi company met with initial success with its formula for rum and, over time, capitalized on a successful identification of its product including its black-bat trademark with Cuban patriotism. Recounting the involvement of Bacardi descendants and their in-laws with Cuban politics, Gjelten paints a picture of their fondness for their country but wariness of its governments. In retrospect, expanding Bacardi operations to Mexico, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. proved to be the company's salvation. The book concludes with the Communist confiscation of Bacardi's Cuban assets and the claim on them that the company has not relinquished. Anyone interested in post-Castro Cuba will be better informed by Gjelten's rich history of the Bacardi family. Copyright 2006 Booklist Reviews.

Check Availability

Abraham's curse - Bruce Chilton

Abraham's Curse - Chilton, Bruce

Summary: When they arrived at the place which God had indicated to him, Abraham builtan altar there, and arranged the wood. Then he bound his son and put him onthe altar on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to kill his son . . ." --The Book of Genesis

Kirkus Reviews
Sweeping overview of monotheistic violence and sacrifice, tied to one of the most studied and academically tortured portions of the Bible.The verses in Genesis depicting Abraham's near-sacrifice of his son Isaac contain the seeds of cyclical and ceremonial violence that has plagued Judaism, Christianity and Islam to this day, suggests Chilton (Religion/Bard Coll.). While the subtitle suggests that child sacrifice is his focus, religious violence is in fact much more broadly defined here. Acknowledging that child sacrifice was nothing new in Abraham's time, the author then discusses early Jewish views on the practice, especially emphasizing the importance of martyrdom to the Jewish community during its years of revolt against Hellenistic and Roman rule. Chilton goes on to consider martyrdom in the Christian context, explaining the parallel made by early Christians between the self-sacrifice of the willing Isaac and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. He explains the Qur'anic version of this story and its impact upon Islam, especially in the context of religious violence during the Crusades. The confrontation of all three monotheistic religions from the Crusades onward most clearly exhibits the violent inheritance of the Abrahamic peoples. Chilton discusses instances of child sacrifice and the death of children through religious violence, but just as Isaac's age is uncertain in the biblical account, this exploration of religious sacrifice also spans childhood and adulthood. In his final analysis, the author calls on the faithful to "come down from Mt. Moriah" and have faith that "Abraham's curse," or the need for sacrifice in human blood, is not inevitable.It seems that Chilton forces more blame on the Abraham story than it can reasonably bear, but his careful look at the contemporary problem of religious violence merits attention. Copyright Kirkus 2007 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.

Check Availability

Cosmos: a spacetime odyssey (DVD)

Cosmos: a spacetime odyssey (DVD)

Summary: Cosmos: a spacetime odyssey continues the exploration of the remarkable mysteries of the cosmos and our place within it. Hosted by renowned astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson, this thrilling, 13-part adventure will transport you across the universe of space and time, bringing to life never-before-told stories of the heroic quest for knowledge and a deeper understanding of nature. With an updated Cosmic calendar, dazzling visual effects, and the wondrous ship of the imagination, prepare to take an unforgettable journey to new worlds and across the universe for a vision of the cosmos on the grandest -and smallest - scale.

Video Librarian Reviews

More than 30 years after the airing of the original Cosmos—created by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan—which went on to become the most influential science program ever shown on American TV, astrophysicist Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson (one of the many scientists who were inspired by Sagan) joined Druyan to offer an update and continue the exploration in this new 13-part series. Cosmos employs state-of-the-art special effects to engage the next generation as it details advances in our scientific understanding of the universe and the evolution of our solar system, reaching back in history to trace the roots of that knowledge. The series puts the scientific method front and center as it charts the continuum of research, experimentation, and discoveries that have led to what we know about everything from the Big Bang to black holes. Tyson is an authoritative and inspiring host and his use of the "ship of the imagination" to visualize scientific concepts provides an engaging way to explore the ideas outlined in each episode. Although it was attacked in some quarters for a) acknowledging the church's persecution of scientists who contradicted religious beliefs over the centuries, and b) refusing to acknowledge faith-based ideas about evolution, the only truly quasi-controversial aspect here is the show's aggressive confrontation of climate change denial. Extras include an episode commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes, and an interactive cosmic calendar. Sure to be popular, this is highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (S. Axmaker) Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2014.


Check Availability

Kid sheriff and the terrible Toads - Bob Shea

Kid sheriff and the terrible Toads - Bob Shea

Summary:
The Toad brothers are wreaking havoc in Drywater Gulch when a boy with no experience but immense knowledge of dinosaurs rides into town on his tortoise and declares himself the new sheriff.

Booklist Reviews
Drywater Gulch is in a big ol' heap of trouble. The Toad brothers are raisin' heck. Why, them fools would rightly "steal your gold, kiss your cattle, and insult your chili." Mayor McMuffin is plumb panicked until boy-aged Sheriff Ryan rides into town. On a tortoise. ("Give him a minute," writes Shea, tracking his progress across two spreads.) The sheriff has a suspicion: it ain't Toads doin' the stealin' and kissin' and insultin'—it's dinosaurs! See, it's T. rex what done blasted open the jail, not dynamite, and velociraptors who gone ahead and hog-tied them victims, not no bandits. Well, the Toads don't cotton to that! Hoppin' angry that the "dineysaurs" are gettin' all the credit, they hotfoot their way into the jail. That's when the rootin'-tootin' varmints realize they been had. Dang it! Shea's enjoyably bizarre take on a good old fashioned hoodwinkin' finds a perfect executor in Smith, whose desert-hued illustrations have all the hard corners and sneering lines of a wanted poster. Aw shucks, now Sheriff Ryan is probably blushing. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

Check Availability

Russ & daughters: reflections and recipes from the house that herring built - Russ Federman

Russ & daughters: reflections and recipes from the house that herring built- Federman, Mark Russ

Summary: Presents the history of the Lower East Side gourmet food store beginning with its humble Depression-era origins, offering a behind-the-scenes look at the evolution of the family-owned business known for its smoked and pickled fish. - (Baker & Taylor)

Kirkus Reviews
An enduring narrative of an early Jewish Lower East Side small business. As the grandson of the founder of J. Russ Cut Rate Appetizing (the name changed to Russ & Daughters in 1935), Federman tells a remarkable story of family foresight and resiliency. A former New York City lawyer who returned to run the family's smoked-fish and candy store at 179 East Houston Street from 1978 until 2009, when he sold it formally to his daughter and nephew, the author has collected the story of the business's early founding from many of the old-timers still around to lend their memories. Originally from a Yiddish-speaking shtetl in Galicia, between Poland and Ukraine, Joel Russ was sponsored to come to America in 1907 by his older sister, who needed help running her busy herring stand on Hester Street. Russ opened his "appetizing" store on Orchard Street in 1914, before moving to the present location in 1923. An appetizing store is less strictly kosher than a deli; it sells a mix of dairy and meat and also nonkosher fish such as sturgeon. Federman gives fascinating details of early life among the squalid, teeming, narrow streets of the Lower East Side in the first decades of the century, chockablock with family-run shops and clogged with pushcarts. Russ did so well he was able to move his increasing family out to Brooklyn, until the Depression forced them back to the old neighborhood. Not exactly a feminist, Russ recognized that changing the name was a good marketing ploy, and his pretty, grown daughters, Hattie, Ida and Anne, had helped him grow his business and prosper. Including precious pictures and recipes, this work offers a savory wealth of social history. A century of change on the Lower East Side as viewed from the neighborhood fishmonger, told humorously and endearingly. Copyright Kirkus 2012 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.

Check Availability

The silver star - Jeannette Walls

The silver star - Jeannette Walls

Summary: Two motherless sisters--Bean and Liz--are shuttled to Virginia, where their Uncle Tinsley lives in the decaying mansion that's been in their family for generations. When school starts in the fall, Bean easily adjusts and makes friends, and Liz becomes increasingly withdrawn. Then something happens to Liz and Bean is left to challenge the injustice of the adult world.

Kirkus Reviews
Memoirist Walls, who has written about her own nomadic upbringing (The Glass Castle, 2006) and her remarkable grandmother (the novelized biography Half Broke Horses, 2009), turns to out-and-out fiction in this story about two young sisters who leave behind their life on the road for the small Virginia town their mother escaped years before. By 1970, 12-year-old Bean and 15-year-old Liz are used to moving from town to town with their would-be actress/singer mother, Charlotte. When Charlotte takes off to find herself in San Diego, the Holladay sisters know how to fend for themselves, living on potpies and getting themselves to school for several weeks. But then the authorities start sniffing around. Scared they'll be carted off to foster care, Liz decides they should head cross-country to Byler, Va., the hometown Charlotte left for good when Bean was still a baby. Clearly, Walls borrows from her own experience in describing the girls' peripatetic life, but she doesn't waste undue time on the road trip before getting the girls to Byler, where the real drama begins. The Holladays used to own the town's cotton mill, but all that's left is the decaying mansion where Charlotte's widowed brother still lives. Less cutesy eccentric than he first seems, Tinsley gives the girls the security they have missed. Tinsley also reflects Byler itself, a conservative Southern town struggling to adjust to shifting realities of racial integration and the Vietnam War. Bean joins the newly integrated school's pep squad and thrives by assimilating; creative, sensitive Liz chafes under pressure to conform. Then, Charlotte shows up wanting to take the girls to New York City. Walls throws in an unnecessary melodrama concerning an evil bully of a man who threatens Liz with violence and worse, but the novel's strength lies in capturing the complexity of Bean's and Liz's shifting loyalties. Walls turns what could have been another sentimental girl-on-the-run-finds-home cliché into a fresh consideration of both adolescence and the South on the cusp of major social change. Copyright Kirkus 2013 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.

Check Availability