Month: September 2017

Series Starters: A Court of Thorns and Roses

Posted on by Shelby

I’ll admit it; I was leery to start Sarah J. Maas’s other series, A Court of Thorns and Roses. But I’m glad I stuck with it! As always, Maas did not disappoint!

A Court of Thorns and Roses is recommended for young adults and older; in fact, it is often categorized under New Adult, which is a fairly recent subgenre in which characters are between the ages of eighteen and thirty or so. There are strong themes of growing up and coming to terms with oneself, as well as some content that might not be suitable for younger or immature readers.

The series starts with nineteen-year-old Feyre hunting in the woods, trying to keep the promise she made to her mother on her deathbed to always take care of her father and two sisters. She spots a deer but as she’s going in for the kill, a wolf comes along and threatens to steal it away. She takes a chance and kills both the deer and the wolf, thinking her family can keep the meat and she’ll be able to sell the pelts in the village for money. A few days later, it turns out that the wolf was actually a faerie in animal form, and another faerie has come to collect the debt on his sentinel’s life. What Feyre finds is a magical land cursed by a mysterious blight, a beast and his court who cannot take off their masks, and freedom.

After a slow start that seemed nothing more than yet another take on Beauty and the Beast, the action picks up about halfway through and doesn’t stop until the very last page. I’ve found this to be typical of Maas’s books, but it’s definitely worth sticking out. After several twists and turns that you won’t see coming, you won’t be able to wait for the next book in the series. Fortunately, the Aurora Public Library District has the first three novels in the series available for you to check out as physical or digital copies!

Happy Reading!

 

Featuring the Books of Lois Ehlert

Posted on by Peggy

Our Fall Storytime programs will be featuring three picture book authors; we began on September 12th and 13th with Lois Ehlert. Ehlert is the author and illustrator of over 20 children’s books and has also illustrated books by other authors, including the iconic Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. Coming from a graphic design background, Ehlert creates illustrations from cut paper, cloth, feathers, rocks and much more.

Rain Fish by Lois Ehlert

Many of her books are written about plants and animals and are the perfect starting point for discussions or lessons about science. Others of her books use simple shapes and numbers and are wonderful for reinforcing math concepts. Educators love her books because they are so easy to adapt for classroom use, but kids love them for the bright colors and sly sense of humor. Some of the subjects addressed in her books include:

Planting a rainbow by Lois Ehlert

Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert

Waiting for Wings by Lois Ehlert

Color Farm by Lois Ehlert   Color Zoo by Lois Ehlert

Lots of Spots by Lois Ehlert

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

Ehlert attributes her success to parents who encouraged her creativity and who kept her supplied with tools and materials. Her parents’ influence is discussed in her autobiography The Scraps Book which is located in our juvenile biography area.

The Scraps Book by Lois Ehlert

If any teachers would like me to share some Lois Ehlert books with your classroom, just give me a call. I love to share these amazing books with kids!

Biographical Movies

Posted on by Shelby

Don’t let the title deter you! Biographical movies can be some of the most powerful and inspiring movies you will ever see.

Most of our first experiences with nonfiction (biographical or autobiographical) come from elementary or middle school, usually in the form of one research project or another. It’s almost like we’re taught from the beginning to believe that history and facts are boring, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes reading a nonfiction book filled with information and facts can be tedious or slow-going, but that’s why there are movies based on fact that bring the information to life right in front of your eyes.

 

Here are a few biographical movies you can check out from the Aurora Public Library District with their book counterpart:

Hidden Figures is based off of the book Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shetterly

Sully is based off of the book Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters by Captain Chesley B. Sullenberger, III.

Eat, Pray, Love is based off of the book Eat, Pray Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India, and Indonesia by Elizabeth Gilbert

Heaven is For Real is based off of the book Heaven is For Real: A Little Boy’s Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back by Todd Burpo and Lynn Vincent

The Theory of Everything is based off of the memoir Travelling to Infinity: My Life with Stephen by Jane Hawking

Julie & Julia is based off of the the memoir Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell

12 Years a Slave is based off of the memoir 12 Years a Slave by Solomon Northup

Schindler’s List is based off of the nonfiction novel Schindler’s List by Thomas Keneally

127 Hours is based off of the memoir Between a Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston

The Lost City of Z is based off of the life of Percy Fawcett, who disappeared during an expedition to find the fabled lost city in the Amazon.

The Butler is based off of the memoir The Butler: A Witness to History by Wil Haygood

The Blind Side is based off of the books The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis and I Beat the Odds: From Homelessness, to The Blind Side, and Beyond by Michael Oher

The Zookeeper’s Wife is based off of the book The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman

Captain Phillips is based off of the book A Captain’s Duty: Somali Pirates, Navy Seals, and My Dangerous Days at Sea by Richard Phillips and Stephen Talty

 

Here are some new biographical stories being made into films this year or that have already been released:

Dunkirk is based off of the rescue of thousands of French and British troops during World War II from the Nazi “blitzkrieg.” For more information, check out these titles: The Miracle of Dunkirk by Walter Lord and Dunkirk by R. Conrad Stein.

Darkest Hour is based off of the first few days of Winston Churchill’s term as Britain’s Prime Minister and how he stood up to fight the peace treaty with Nazi Germany.

The Greatest Showman is based off of the life of P.T. Barnum, the founder of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus.

The Glass Castle is based off of the memoir The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls.

The Founder is based off of the story of Ray Kroc, the man who gained a fortune from the restaurant chain McDonald’s by questionable means.

 

Biographical movies can be as entertaining as they are inspiring and truthful, and they should definitely be given a chance. Check out any of these titles, or look for The King’s Speech, Moonlight, Selma, Deepwater Horizon, and more on our DVD shelves at the Aurora and Dillsboro branches.

Happy Watching!

Look At What’s New!

Posted on by Peggy

We have a truly awesome selection of new pictures books in our collection. Where can you find them? Just look on the long wall outside the children’s room at the Aurora Public Library. The new picture books will have a pink label on the front cover. At the Dillsboro Public Library, Patty has the new books in a display on top of the children’s early literacy computer. At the end of this post, I’ll let you know how to find the “new stuff” in the online catalog.

These first highlighted books are like a stroll through the Hall of Fame of Children’s Literature. They were written and illustrated by some of the best in the business. They are by authors I watch for on the lists of “coming releases’, because I know the books will be entertaining and high quality.

Life by Cynthia Rylant   A Perfect Day by Lane Smith

Morris Mole by Dan Yaccarino   Round by Joyce Sidman

Jack and the Beanstalk and the French Fries by Mark Teague   The Only Fish in the Sea by Philip Stead

The rest of these titles are great in their own right, although the authors and illustrators may not be as widely known. As I select books for our collections, I read many, many professional book reviews. I follow book blogs by other librarians and work hard to select books that will appeal to all of our kids, keeping in mind special topics that are needed at our library. I love to get suggestions from the community, so please feel free to suggest books at the circulation desk or email me at peggy@eapld.org. If you haven’t figured it out yet, you can click on any of these book covers to learn more about the book.

The African Orchestra by Wendy Hartmann   Secrets I Know by Kallie George

Race! by Sue Fliess    Imagine That! by Yasmeen Ismail

I Am (Not) Scared by Anna Kang    Goodnight World by Debi Gliori

Found Dogs by Erica Sirotich   The Forever Garden by Laurel Snyder

Firefighter Duckies! by Frank W. Dormer   The Children's Garden by Carole Lexa Schaefer

A Cat is Better by Linda Joy Singleton  Blue Corn Soup by Caroline Stutson

Hello Goodbye Dog by Maria Gianferrari   The Artist and Me by Shane Peacock

To find our new titles in the on-line catalog, just follow the steps below. In a book is shown as being “In Processing”, that just means the book is not quite ready to be checked out. However, you can place a hold for these books by logging into your library account or by calling the library.

  1. Go to the website at www.eapld.org
  2. In the search frame, select the Online Catalog.
  3. Leave the search box blank and click “Go”.
  4. New titles will be shown on the carousel.

If you want to go further back in time for “new” books, try using the Classic Catalog.

  1. In the search frame on our home page, click “Looking for the Classic Catalog.”
  2. Under Classic Catalog, leave the Search box blank and click Submit.
  3. On the next page, click the Search icon.
  4. Clicking the orange “New Items” tab will allow you to select a time period as well as allowing you to search only for books in a specific category like “Easy Books” or “Adult Fiction”.

Occasionally, you will see a book that has an extended due date. It might be that I am planning to use that book in a program or it might be checked out to a teacher. Just put your name on the waiting list and we’ll call you when the title is available.

For Dummies

Posted on by Shelby

What self-help, reference, and how-to books cover a wide range of topics, are authored by several knowledgeable collaborators, and are “the world’s best-selling reference brand,” with distinctive, bright yellow and black covers? Here’s a hint: these books cover about 2,500 titles with about 200 million books in print in dozens of languages across the world.

For Dummies reference books are advertised as guides for learners of every level because the information is broken down into easy to understand language. The Aurora Public Library District has several For Dummies titles over a wide variety of topics to help you learn without being intimidated by information or prose.

For Dummies is owned by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., which is a global publishing company founded in 1807. The company publishes online products, journals, encyclopedias, and books in print format as well as electronically. For Dummies books are printed in a similar format, with comics, icons, and lists to help you remember what you’ve read.

The first For Dummies title was published in 1991, and from there almost 2,500 titles have been published in dozens of languages over topics including the arts, photography, business, computers, hobbies, cooking, health, sports, music, pets, and so many more. For more topics, you can visit their website here.

The Library has acquired several new For Dummies titles, like Facebook For Dummies and Windows 10 For Dummies, that you can check out on the For Dummies display at the Aurora Public Library. Other titles include Bridge For Dummies, Guitar For Dummies, Job Interviews For Dummies, and Shakespeare For Dummies, just to name a few!

“Success is for dummies.”

Happy Learning!

Author Biographies: Winston Graham

Posted on by Shelby

Winston Graham was born Winston Grime on June 30, 1908 in Manchester, England. He changed his name to “Graham” after he began publishing his novels. At the age of seventeen, he moved the Cornwall where he lived for thirty-four years. He had always known he wanted to be a writer, so after his father died, his mother supported him while he wrote novels by hand and attempted to get them published. He published his first novel (a thriller), The House with the Stained Glass Windows, in 1925.

In 1939, he married Jean Williamson, whom he had known since she was thirteen years old. She helped him with book ideas and details until her death in 1992. It is said that his famous character Demelza, Ross Poldark’s wife, is based off of her. Graham died on July 10, 2003 in London at the age of ninety-five. His autobiography was published the same year as his death.

Graham is best-known for his Poldark series, a gripping family saga that begins just after the end of the American Revolution. The first book in the series was published in 1945, with the last book published in 2002. A remake of the popular television series has just finished its third season on PBS.  In addition to the twelve-book series, Graham also published thirty-two additional titles in his lifetime. His books have been translated in twenty-seven languages.

The Aurora Public Library District owns copies of the first two seasons of the television show on DVD, as well as many of the books as physical and digital copies on the Indiana Digital Download Center. If there’s a title you want that we don’t have, we would be happy to get it for you through our Interlibrary Loan services.

Happy Reading!

TV Shows From Books: Poldark

Posted on by Shelby

Winston Graham’s famous series, Poldark, is making a comeback with the popular television series that has recently ended its third season on PBS. If you’re looking for a gripping historical family saga, then Poldark is perfect for you!

The first novel in Graham’s twelve-book series is Ross Poldark, which the Aurora Public Library District has available as a physical copy as well as a digital copy from the Indiana Digital Download Center.

The title character has just returned home to England after the American Revolution to discover that the love of his life is now engaged to his cousin, his father is dead, and his home is in disarray. Ross Poldark must start over and make his own way in Cornwall by reopening the family tin mines. The twelve-book series spans family members and years, all the while gripping you with its characters, stories, and sweeping landscapes. The first seven novels are set in the eighteenth century, following main characters, with the final five novels set in the early nineteenth century and following main characters’ descendants.

The television series follows Graham’s novels closely, beginning with Season 1, which first aired in 2015, and Season 2, which first aired in 2016. While we have many of the titles available both as physical and digital copies, some are only available through our Interlibrary Loan services. Season 3 is set to air soon, with Season 4 episodes set to air in 2018.

Happy Watching!

South Dearborn Online Newspaper: ‘The Knight Times’

Posted on by Ashton

Did you know that South Dearborn High School has an online newspaper? The newspaper first came into effect in 2015. After two long years of hassling and learning, the ‘Knight Times’ is ready to be pulled to the forefront and showed off to the world.  ‘The Knight Times’ staff try to include everything possible within the online newspaper, from prom to sports, from teacher information to student spotlights. The newspaper has just about everything for everyone and is a perfect way to see how students at South Dearborn are learning as well as celebrating! To visit the online newspaper, just click the picture!

Vietnam War Display

Posted on by Shelby

The Vietnam War might have been one of the most controversial chapters in United States history. For the first time, Americans at home had a front-row seat to brutal battles from their television set, newspapers, and magazines. Images from the war were everywhere, and tensions were mounting between those opposed to America’s involvement in the war and those who supported the fighting.

The conflict began when communist North Vietnam and non-communist South Vietnam fought for control of the whole country. Active American involvement in the war began in 1954 with President Dwight D. Eisenhower pledging his support to South Vietnam. The war spanned decades, finally ending with the withdrawal of U.S. forces in 1973, with more than 3 million people killed, including 58,200 American men and women killed or missing in action. More than half of the deaths were Vietnamese civilians. For a timeline and a more in-depth look into the history of the war, click here.

In preparation for the upcoming premiere of the ten-part, eighteen-hour documentary series on PBS, you can view a Vietnam War display on the upper level at the Aurora Public Library and check out books related to that era. The documentary premieres on Sunday, September 17 at 8 p.m. on PBS. To learn more, visit these websites:

Library of Congress

National Archives

Happy Learning!

TV Shows from Books: Outlander

Posted on by Shelby

I know you’re probably wondering if I talk/write about anything else except Diana Gabaldon’s amazing Outlander series, and the answer is: Not much else. But this is important! Season 3 of the television series premieres on Sunday, September 10 at 8 p.m. on Starz (Finally! No more #Droughtlander!).

I’m a slow reader, so I know I won’t have enough time between now and September 10 to reread Voyager (the third book in the series), but there are several ways around this with help from the Aurora Public Library District.

We have Seasons 1 and 2 of the television series available for check out! Re-watch your favorite episodes or binge-watch the first two seasons (No judgement here!) so you’ll be ready to go for Season 3! DVDs check out for one week without renewals, but if you need more time, you can always bring the DVD back to the branch and we’ll check it back out to you.

Reread your favorite scenes from Voyager by checking out a hard copy of the book or a digital copy from the Indiana Digital Download Center. You can also check out an audiobook if you don’t have the time to sit down and read. The Aurora Public Library District has recently acquired new paperback copies of the first four books that are just dying to be checked out by you!

Maybe you need to reread the last few chapters of Dragonfly in Amber to remind yourself what happened in the last few episodes (Because it’s been so long since the end of Season 2 and so much happened!) so you’ll be prepared for the first episode of Season 3!

The September 1 issue of Entertainment Weekly featured the cast of Outlander to make people like me even more excited for the new season. Magazines are available for checkout for two weeks with up to two renewals, just like books.

You can creep obsess scroll through the actors’ various social media accounts to see pictures, videos, and captions promoting the new season or what they’re up to in their day-to-day lives. I recommend searching Instagram and Twitter for the actors’ names.

If you want to take it to the next level of fandom, there is actually a Scottish festival in Columbus, Indiana during the same weekend (September 9 and 10). That will really get you in the mood for the premiere of Season 3! Follow the link for ticket information, driving directions, schedule of events, and more.

Season 1 follows the events of the first book, Season 2 follows the second book, and Season 3 will follow the third book. As far as I can tell, both seasons have followed the books rather closely and I’m sure Season 3 will be no different. I’m having a viewing party with some others who are as obsessed excited as me and I can’t wait!

Happy Watching!