Staff Picks

Joe Sacco is a Maltese-American comic artist and journalist that forged a name for himself by combining his love of drawing comics with his journalism education. While traveling in the late 1980s and early 1990s, he eventually wound up in the Middle East and did a series of comics called Palestine. After his travels in the Middle East, he visited Eastern Europe (specifically Sarajevo and Goražde in Bosnia) and chronicled his experiences there during the Bosnian War in books such as Safe Area Goražde.

Sacco’s works combine his journalism training with cartooning and his razor sharp wit. His works have earned him widespread recognition and accolades including the American Book Award, the Eisner Award and a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship.

Hoover Library carries many of Sacco’s works and they’re worth checking out for a different take on non-fiction and journalism writing.

Safe Area Goražde - 949.7 SAC
Palestine: The Special Edition - 956.94054 SAC
Footnotes From Gaza - 956.04 SAC New Book
War's End: Profiles From Bosnia 1995-96 - 949.7 SAC
The Fixer and Other Stories - 949.7 SAC  

Alphabeasties and Other Amazing Types by Sharon Werner & Sarah Forss
The Curious Collection of Cats by Betsy Franco
Face to Face with Gorillas by Michael Nichols
The Frog Scientist by Pamela S. Turner
How to Scratch a Wombat by Jackie French
Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca
Nasreen's Secret School: A True Story from Afghanistan by Jeanette Winter
Never Smile at a Monkey: And 17 Other Important Things to Remember by Steve Jenkins
One Beetle Too Many: The Extraordinary Adventures of Charles Darwin by Kathryn Lasky
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson & David Oliver Relin; adapted for young readers by Sarah Thomson

Al Capone Shines My Shoes by Gennifer Choldenko
Captain Nobody by Dean Pitchford
Dani Noir by Nova Ren Suma
Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love by Lauren Tarshis
Everafter War by Michael Buckley
The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly
Extra Credit by Andrew Clements
How Oliver Olson Changed the World by Claudia Mills
Kaleidoscope Eyes by Jen Bryant
Leo and the Lesser Lion by Sandra Forrester
The Magician's Elephant by Kate DiCamillo
Mercy Watson: Something Wonky This Way Comes by Kate DiCamillo
The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg by Rodman Philbrick
Neil Armstrong Is My Uncle & Other Lies Muscle Man McGinty Told Me by Nan Marino
Odd and the Frost Giants by Neil Gaiman
A Recipe 4 Robbery by Marybeth Kelsey
Scat by Carl Hiaasen
The Secret of Zoom by Lynne Jonell
Standing for Socks by Elissa Brent Weissman
When You Reach Me by Rebecca Stead
The Year the Swallows Came Early by Kathryn Fitzmaurice

Every year, the Children's Department compiles a list of our favorite books for our teacher newsletter. This year, we would like to share those titles with everyone! It's a pretty long list, so we decided to break it down into 3 posts: picture books, fiction books, and nonfiction books. And now . . . our favorite picture books of 2009!

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon
Bears on Chairs by Shirley Parenteau
The Birthday Pet by Ellen Javernick
A Book of Sleep by Il Sung Na
But Who Will Bell the Cats? by Cynthia von Buhler
Can You Make a Scary Face? by Jan Thomas
Chef Creole by Johnette Downing
Chicken Cheeks by Michael Ian Black
The Christmas Sweater by Glenn Beck
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
The Frogs and Toads All Sang by Arnold Lobel
Grandmother, Have the Angels Come? by Denise Vega
Guess Again by Mac Barnett
Harry and Horsie by Katie Van Camp
Hello, My Name Is Bob by Linas Alsenas
Here Comes Gosling! by Sandy Asher
Here Comes the Big, Mean Dust Bunny! by Jan Thomas
How to Win Friends and Influence Creatures by Deborah Zemke
I Don't Want a Posh Dog by Emma Dodd
If a Monkey Jumps Onto Your School Bus by Jean M. Cochran
Let's Do Nothing! by Tony Fucile
Llama Llama Misses Mama by Anna Dewdney
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
The Little Green Pea by Alison Barber
A Mighty Fine Time Machine by Suzanne Bloom
Monsters Don't Eat Broccoli by Barbara Jean Hicks
Mortimer's First Garden by Karma Wilson
Mouse Was Mad by Linda Urban
My Uncle Emily by Jane Yolen
Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed by Mo Willems
Never Ask a Bear by Louise Bonnett-Rampersaud
Oddly by Joyce Dunbar
Ophelia by Ingrid Schubert
Otis by Loren Long
Pouch! by David Ezra Stein
Pretty Pru by Polly Dunbar
Princess Bess Gets Dressed by Margery Cuyler
Read It, Don't Eat It by Ian Schoenherr
Ready for Anything! by Keiko Kasza
Silly Tilly by Eileen Spinelli
The Sleepy Little Alphabet by Judy Sierra
The Strange Case of the Missing Sheep by Mircea Catusanu
The Three Little Gators by Helen Ketteman
Tough Chicks by Cece Meng
Two at the Zoo by Danna Smith

As a first-time homeowner and big fan of DIY, I am desperate for good solid advice on how to get things done in and around our new home. How exactly do you install an interior door? What’s the best way to choose paint colors? How long should the grass be cut? How often? Can we build a deck ourselves? How hard is it really? Above all of these concerns is the big question – How will our home and landscaping best fit our family’s personality and lifestyle? How do we want to live?

I love thinking about these questions and rely on the books at our library to lead me to new and exciting ideas. That’s why I’m so pleased to introduce you to Julie Moir Messervy’s new book Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love. It is truly the best book I’ve read on planning a landscape for your home. It discusses why landscaping matters at an individual and community level, and how Americans have become disconnected from nature and slave to the boring “democratic front lawn”.

The thing I like most is that this is a process book. It leads you through steps that help you to imagine and create a holistic landscaping plan that will fit your personality and neighborhood. Primary to the process is mapping out your property and noting characteristics like trees, good and bad views, prevailing winds, sun and shade. Small exercises help the reader hone in on design and style preferences. All of this is supplemented with plenty of good photographic examples.

For the first time, I’m thinking about my yard as a whole! Not just how one or two corners look and where I’m going to put the compost bin. Highly recommended for those with both big yards and small.

-Deni

After listening to Joan Baez sing a wonderful rendition of the classic "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda", my interest in the Dardanelles Campaign in the Turkish theater during WWI was sparked.

I checked out two new books on this subject and I suggest reading them both as I did. They are Dardanelles Disaster: Winston Churchill's Greatest Failure by Dan Van der Vat and Gallipoli: the End of the Myth by Robin Prior.

Also watch the library's DVD Gallipoli which is highly acclaimed and one of Mel Gibson's first movies.

-Susan

The Dardanelles disaster : Winston Churchill's greatest failure / Dan van der Vat.
940.426 VAN.

Gallipoli : the end of the myth / Robin Prior.
940.426 PRI New Book.

Gallipoli [videorecording] / Paramount.
DVD GAL.

When Australian reporter, Sarah Turnbull, was in her twenties she decided to take a year long leave of absence from her job and travel around Europe. While in Romania she had a chance encounter with a French attorney named Frederic. They had only one dinner together in a group of other people, but hit it off, and Frederic invited Sarah to visit him for a week or two in Paris. She hadn’t planned on going to Paris – but, her logic was that she was out for adventure; she liked him, so why not pursue it and see where it took her.

Well, that has been over twenty years ago and she is still in Paris and married to Frederic. Her book, Almost French, is a great read about her life in Paris as an expatriate adjusting to Frederic's culture, family and friends. Her candid experiences with the French and their acceptance, or unacceptance of her, in many cases gives the reader intelligent perspective on what living in France as a foreigner is like.

Americans have always heard that the Parisians’ are not as warm, friendly, and accepting of us as we would hope, and Ms. Turnbull gives background and history about their cultural practices and beliefs that help us in better understanding the French and she graciously offers advice on ways to bridge the gap between cultures. Most of all she encourages us not to take their rebuffs personally because they treat everyone the same way.

If you’re looking to get a true perspective on what an extended stay or short visit to Paris will be like, this would be a highly recommended book for you to read.

Since the book has been written, Sarah and Frederic have a precious little one named Oliver in their home. You can see the family by looking at their blog about a six-month caravan trip in Australia in 2008 online at touraustralie.blogspot.com.

-Joanna

It's coming! The fourth book in the ridiculously popular Diary of a Wimpy Kid series will be released on Monday, October 12. For a chance to win your very own copy of Dog Days by Jeff Kinney, drop by the Kid Zone and answer Wimpy Kid trivia. A right answer gets your name in the drawing for a free book. You can play once a day, October 1-11. The drawing will be at 9 a.m. on October 12. If you need something to read NOW, check out one of these great books!

1. Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things by Lenore Look
2. Attack of the Growling Eyeballs by Lin Oliver
3. Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
4. Clementine by Sara Pennypacker
5. Ellie McDoodle: Have Pen, Will Travel by Ruth McNally Barshaw
6. Lawn Boy by Gary Paulsen
7. Moxy Maxwell Does Not Love Stuart Little by Peggy Gifford
8. No Talking by Andrew Clements
9. Oggie Cooder by Sarah Weeks
10. Piper Reed, Navy Brat by Kimberly Willis Holt
11. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
12. There's a Boy in the Girls' Bathroom by Louis Sachar

We've just added dozens of new craft books - quilting, beading, paper arts, knitting, felt, doll making and more! Most of them will be on display at the entrance to the Plaza but if you need even more inspiration, head back to the Nonfiction Department.

Pictured above:

Crafts 746.9 STE. Altered shoes : a step-by-step guide to making your footwear fabulous by Marty Stevens-Heebner.

Crafts 731.42 DIN. Sculpting mythical creatures out of polymer clay : make a gnome, pixie, halfling, fairy, mermaid, gorgon, vampire, griffin, sphinx, unicorn, centaur, leviathan, and dragon! by Dinko and Boris Tilov.

Crafts 746.432 WIL. The alchemy of color knitting : the art and technique of mastering exquisite palettes by Gina Wilde.

If you have missed out on the Twilight saga you must have not entered a library, bookstore, movie theatre, mall or retail store in the last year.Twilight started with a book and has trickled all the way down to action figures. It has been an explosion for pop culture and readers. Teenagers both boys and girls alike as well as adults are reading it and devouring it, but once the romance is over the question we always get is, “Do you have anything like Twilight that I can read next?” While Twilight is a one of a kind novel, there are similar reads that will sustain even the most die hard of fans.

1. Thirsty by M.T. Anderson
2. A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
3. Jinx by Meg Cabot
4. Evernight by Claudia Gray
5. City of Bones by Cassandra Clare
6. The Chronicles of Vladimir Tod by Heather Brewer
7. Evermore by Alyson Noel
8. Keturah and Lord Death by Marine Leavitt
9. Vampire Academy by Michelle Reid
10. Tantalize by Cynthia Leitich Smith

For a complete list, visit the Hoover Public Library.