Blog Post
"WRITE Here . . . in our Own Backyard"
by annevm
The Ann Arbor Book Festival will present the Fall Writer's Conference on Saturday, Nov. 14 at Pioneer High. The $95 fee includes coffee, three sessions, lunch, and a participant reading time; fulltime students age 17 and older may register for $50. Among accomplished, locally-based authors leading sessions will be Susan Hutton, Michael Byers, Scott Beal, Jeff Kass, Eileen Pollack, and Keith Taylor. To read about these writers and their work -- and to register for the conference -- click here.
Blog Post
Rite of Fall: Jewish Book Festival
by annevm
The 22nd Annual Jewish Book Festival is coming up Tuesday, November 3 through Sunday, November 15. Twenty authors are scheduled to speak. Events are free and public; lunch may be bought separately for some events. Among authors lined up are Dan Senor, Carol Leifer and Bruce Feiler. Opening the festival on November 3 at 7:30 p.m. is columnist Jeffrey Zaslow, who wrote The Girls from Ames and co-authored The Last Lecture. The local authors' brunch on Sunday, November 15 will feature 11 authors - check it out! Heads up also for the Afternoon Tea introducing Rebecca Rubin, the first Jewish American Girl doll on Sunday, November 8. For complete information, click here.
Blog Post
The Wild Rumpus Has Already Begun
by manz
The Wild Things, written by Dave Eggers, is loosely based on Sendak's Where The Wild Things Are and the new film’s screenplay co-written by Spike Jonze and Eggers. I saw the film thinking, “how did they make Sendak’s short book into a feature length film?” Then I read Eggers’ book thinking, “they didn’t put that in the movie!” All three items tell the same story in a different way, and all are delightful. Eggers’ book is pleasant to read because it’s written in typical Eggers prose, where the wonderful words quickly melt like butter and drip off the page as you read along. Only now you’re laughing and smiling as you read about a little boy named Max who believes he’s half wolf & half wind, all while the buttery words keep dripping down the pages as Max is onto the next adventure.
The Wild Things is a fantastic tale, and a quick read. A story of a boy who goes unnoticed by those around him, a boy who wants someone to live with him in his fantasyland of wolves and wild things and childhood. The film and this novelization speak to adults of a childhood long ago.
* The McSweeney's collector’s edition of this book has a furry cover! See funny pics of it here.
Blog Post
Off with her head!
by Maxine
On October 16, 1793, Marie Antoinette, Queen of France under Louis XIV, was beheaded by the French citizenry who were angered by her extravagance. The statement: "Let them eat cake" was credited to her. As the French Revolution raged, she was taken to prison where after several failed escape attempts, was led to the guillotine.
The novel, Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund describes her rise and fall in rich, evocative language. "The French Revolution Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité, A New Republic Is Born is an excellent film that includes quite a bit on the tragic queen.
Blog Post
2009 NBA Finalists Announced
by K.C.
This year’s finalists for the National Book Award have been announced. The winners will be announced November 18. Five books are vying for the Young People’s Literature Award. They include:
Charles and Emma: The Darwins’ Leap of Faith, a personal look at the man behind evolutionary theory and how his thinking impacted his marriage to Emma, a deeply religious woman.
Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, the story of a teen who in 1955 refused to give up her seat to a white person on a Montgomery, Alabama bus nine months before Rosa Parks did the same. Read why she is not remembered like the celebrated Rosa Parks.
Stitches: A Memoir is author David Small's graphic novel account of growing up under the watchless eyes of parents who gave him cancer (his radiologist father subjected him to unscrupulous x-rays for minor ailments) and let it develop untreated for years.
Lips Touch: Three Times presents three tales of supernatural love, each pivoting on a kiss that is no mere kiss, but an action with profound consequences for the kissers' souls.
Jumped intertwines the lives of three very different teens in this fast-paced, gritty narrative about choices and the impact that even the most seemingly insignificant ones can have.
Blog Post
Hidden Gems: Books Unjustly Dusty #5
by cecile
Readers of mysteries know that a good mystery writer is a rare find. Even though we’ll put up with mid-grade “who done its” to find out what happened in the end; the feeling left is similar to drinking flat ginger ale.
Philip Kerr a well known author of chidren’s books has also written a series of novels based in Berlin during the 1920's and 30's with a character named Bernard Gunther. Bernie is a former homicide inspector turned private detective trying to survive while the Nazis are taking over. Kerr is a master at intertwining a good story it into this fascinating, grim period. Try solving a crime when the biggest crime in world history is happening all around you.
The library has the Berlin Noir Trilogy: the first of which, March Violets published in 1989, won the Prix du Roman d'Aventures, The Pale Criminal published in 1990 and A German Requiem published in 1993.
Philip Kerr returned to writing more Bernie Gunther mysteries in the past few years but they are not Unjustly Dusty so you have to find out about them on your own!
Blog Post
Nonfiction Finds -- Winter Stargazing
by MariaK
Expert astronomers know that in the winter the stars are clearer and brighter than they are in the summer. Several spectacular meteor showers will also take place in the upcoming months, so grab your overcoat and take advantage of the clear skies with some great nonfiction resources!
New arrival "Phases of the Moon" by Gillia Olson is a great place to start, including a list of websites for further information.
More experienced stargazers can graduate to Anton Vamplew's "Simple Stargazing" or Fran Lee's "Wishing on a Star". These guides to the constellations require no telescopes!
And once you're done and curled up with a cup of tea, you can read the stories behind the constellations with Jacqueline Mitton's "Zodiac", "Zoo in the Sky", and "Once Upon a Starry Night", all beautifully illustrated by Christina Balit.
Blog Post
The Only Verdict is Vengeance
by siobhan
Have you ever heard of kinetic typography? It is the art of moving text, and below is an amazing example using the famous alliterative speech by V in V for Vendetta.
Democracy has vanished in the world of V and Evey, a young woman he has saved from death. The two of them attempt to overthrow a totalitarian regime in a Britain of our not-to-distant future. With echoes of Orwell's 1984, the journey is one of vindication and vengeance.
Here at AADL we have the DVD and Blu-ray with Natalie Portman, the graphic novel by Alan Moore upon which it was based, and the novelization that was released after the film. There is also an audiobook of the novelization, if you are so inclined.
Blog Post
Help You Find Your Books in the Dewey Way
by siobhan
Have you ever wanted an awesome introduction to the Dewey Decimal system? Set to rap? Recorded in the 80's? Of course you did. And here you go.
For those dying to sing along, full text after the jump.
The Dewey Rap
By Joan McElfresh
It's the Dewey Rap!
Hit it, Mrs. Mac.
000-099
Oh, Oh, Oh to Oh ninety nine.
Please, lend and ear 'cause I'm here to say
I can help you find your books in the Dewey way.
If it's facts you need, then it's facts you get
When you check in our encyclopedia set.
Like, who was he: And when was she born?
Or, does Iowa really grow that much corn?
And the library, how should it be run?
And those lists in books about prizes won.
It's the Oh, Oh, Ohs. It'll be a snap.
Just remember this -- it's the Dewey Rap
100-199
One, Oh, Oh to one ninety-nine.
Are you scared of ghosts? What do witches do?
Are you feeling good? Are you feeling blue?
Is your future here in the palm of you hand?
Do the stars on high have you life all planned?
It's one, Oh, Oh to one ninety-nine.
You're getting it now, folks.
You're doing fine.
Mr. Dewey said, "It's the place to look
When what you want is a Philosophy book
200-299
Two, Oh, Oh to two ninety-none.
Better bow your head. Better say amen.
It's time to read the "good books" again.
we've got the testaments, both the Old and New,
And the books of faith for all the others, too.
And oh, those gods and goddesses from Greece and Rome!
It seems thay often strayed from their mountain home.
And they're in two, Oh, Oh to two ninety-nine.
Our Religion books could make your halo shine
300-399
Three, Oh, Oh to three ninety-nine
The books we come to next, now here's a big surprise.
There are so many kinds, you won't believe your eyes.
We'be got the government and the romance of trains.
We've got all kinds of school where pupils use their brains.
We've got the Army, Navy and Marines.
We've got the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts wearing greens.
We've got those Fairy Tales from both far and near.
We've got those holidays that people hold so dear.
We've got old Mother Goose and all her Nursery Rhymes.
We've got what people wore in other lands and times.
They're all in three, Oh, Oh to three ninety-nine.
The Social Sciences would need a big, big sign.
400-499
Four, Oh, Oh to four ninety-nine.
What is a mountebank? What makes it cordon blue?
And does aufweidersen mean I'll be seeing you?
Now when I'm leaving Juan, should I say adios?
And when I see finis, does it mean that's all folks?
The things in four, Oh, Oh to four ninety-nine
Are called the Language books as we move down the line.
500-599
Five, Oh, Oh to five ninety-nine.
When Mr. Dewey said, "I like the birds and bees.
I like to see the moon. I like to feel the breeze.
I'll use my telescope to help me see the stars
And even planets, too. I think that one is Mars.
A storm is coming in. It might be snow or rain.
Oh, look! It's over now. Here come the sun again.
I'll sit here on this stone and count the butterflies.
The Natural Sciences have made my spirits rise.
I'll give them five, Oh, Oh to five ninety-nine.
I hope the people like this new idea of mine"
600-699
Six, Oh, Oh to six ninety-nine.
Then Mr. Dewey said, "I've got a problem here.
I've got some science left. What shall I do? Oh, dear!
The things that people sew or build or make or cook
Go on a different shelf. They are a different book.
For people use machines, their eyes, their brains, their hands.
Like when they're making glass by melting grains of sand.
Or when they heal the sick. Or build an aeroplane.
Or farmers grow their crops that need both sun and rain.
Yes! I think you'll agree. It cannot be denied.
These are the Sciences that you would call Applied.
And they're in six, Oh, Oh to six ninety-nine.
Yes, that takes care of that. I think it will be fine."
700-799
Seven, Oh, Oh to seven ninety-nine.
It's time to take a break from all the work we've done.
The Recreation books will help us have some fun.
They'll show us how to paint and all the notes to sing.
There is a carousel with horses in a ring.
They have the rules for games and how to catch a fish.
They have the plans to make most any craft you'd wish.
They're here to bring us joy.
No time to mope or pine.
And they're in seven, Oh, Oh to seven ninety-nine.
800-899
Eight, Oh, Oh to eight ninety-nine
When words come from the heart, as words from poets do.
Like Mr. Langston Hughes and Miss Giovanni, too. When Mr. Whitman wrote about life's joy and pain
And Mr. Longfellow brought Hiawatha fame.
When William Shakespeare told about great love and hate,
And Mr. Simon showed us that our laughter's great.
Or when your teacher needs a play for holidays
And every actor claims the world is just a stage,
We look in eight, Oh, Oh to eight ninety-nine.
We call that Literature. And it's the greatest kind.
900-999
Nine, Oh, Oh to nine ninety-nine.
We've really done a lot. We've come a long, long way,
But there's another group we need to learn today.
And its a big one, too. We'll go both far and wide.
We'll stop in Timbuktu. We'll meet Prince Charles's bride.
We'll see the pyramids. We'll ride with Paul Revere.
We'll meet the pros in sports. They're very popular here.
We'll hunt for buffalo with Indians in the West.
We'll learn how Doctor King and others stood the test.
We'll see where coffee grows. We might meet Juan Valdez.
We'll look in atlases and try to find Inez.
We'll sail with Pilgrims brave across a stormy sea.
We'll go to Gettysburg with Generals Meade and Lee.
We'll see a Hula dance and wear a wreath of flowers.
We'll visit abbeys where the monks would pray for hours.
We'll ride in caravans across the deserts bare.
We'll meet Elizabeth, the queen with gifts so rare.
And what to call these groups? Let's start with History-
Events from days gone by when life was hard, you see.
And next Geography-How people live and where.
And then Biography- The folks who bravely dare.
They fit in nin, Oh, Oh to nine ninety-nine.
And that's the Dewey Rap. His plan was reall fine.
Just do the Dewey Rap as you go home today.
And you will learn a lot, but it will seem like play.
You've got the secret now. It's like a golden key.
And where to find your book is not a mystery.
Just stop and think a while. Then you'll know where to look,
As Mr. Dewey helps you find your favorite book.
Blog Post
I Don't Explain My Head
by siobhan
Perhaps one of Shel Silverstein's most well-known and loved books, The Giving Tree (which we have in Chinese, French, and Spanish) continues to delight children new to its pages. It is the story of a tree that gives and gives to a little boy, even when it seems there is nothing left to give. Here, an animated version of the book read by the charismatic Silverstein himself, about ten years after publication.
One of my favorite books of all time, with a message that might be more relevant to adults than children, is Silverstein's The Missing Piece, which is the story of a circle trying to find a shape that matches his triangle-shaped void. Turns out it is not as easy as finding a triangle-shaped stranger.
And for an interesting tidbit from Shel Silverstein the man...
From a 1965 interview:
Question: "Do you shave your head for effect or to be different, or to strike back at the long-haired styles of today?"
Shel: "I don't explain my head."
Brilliant.