Staff Picks April 2015
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Now, let's dive into this month's staff picks:
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Virgie's Pick, April 2015: AVI says, “History is memory researched. Historical fiction is memory brought to live.”
AVI’s new historical fiction for kids brings to life the paranoia of the McCarthy era in the 1950’s.
Virgie's Pick April 2015: Twelve year old Pete is publicly mistreated by his teacher and classmates as a result of the rumor that his dad is a Communist. Pete gets into his “detective mode” to investigate his father’s complicated past, in hopes of finding his informant. The story is full of suspense and is a great introduction to historical fiction for kids.
The story kept me intrigued until the very end!
Syd's Staff Pick, April 2015: I have a deep love for Adichie’s works and showed her TED talk “The Danger of the Single Story” to my writing class last semester, but I was a little concerned going into this novel that it would be similar to Purple Hibiscus or Half of a Yellow Sun, and that I wasn’t branching out enough as a reader.
Well, maybe I’m not branching out enough, but that doesn’t make this book any less phenomenal.
She is witty, intelligent, and sharp as ever but I knew right away that I was in an entirely different story.
It is just as incredible as the critics say, Adichie is the kind of acute intelligence and awareness about the world to which I think we should all aspire.
Syd's Staff Pick, April 2015: My family and I adore this book!! It is vibrant and fun and whimsy and fabulous!
The Munching Machines are out to save the day (and the environment) in this wonderful story! They find themselves in the middle of a junkyard and they munch, and crunch, and chew and chomp up all of the boxcars and stinky fish oil and toxic waste! These destroyers are then inspired to become creators and turn the whole place into a beautiful park for everyone to enjoy!
This story has great rhythm to it, beautiful pictures, and a fantasic message about turning even the most desolate of places into a place of beauty, health, and FUN!
Jamie's Staff Pick, April 2015: I have a deep love for Adichie’s works and showed her TED talk “The Danger of the Single Story” to my writing class last semester, but I was a little concerned going into this novel that it would be similar to Purple Hibiscus or Half of a Yellow Sun, and that I wasn’t branching out enough as a reader.
Well, maybe I’m not branching out enough, but that doesn’t make this book any less phenomenal.
She is witty, intelligent, and sharp as ever but I knew right away that I was in an entirely different story.
It is just as incredible as the critics say, Adichie is the kind of acute intelligence and awareness about the world to which I think we should all aspire.
Shannon's Staff Pick, April 2015:An excellent gift to all fans of architecture and the movement of simple living; Hide and Seek showcases modern living in some of the most beautiful places in the world. The cabins and hideaways featured in Hide and Seek embody the simplicity and serenity of excellent architecture. This book is complied of the best “tiny homes” from places such as: Sweden, New Zealand, Spain, and the United States.
Be sure to check out Chapter 4: Open Range.
Emily's Pick, April 2015: This book is an old favorite of mine. Vaillant brilliantly synthesizes environmental history, cultural anthropology, and botany to tell the story of a 300-year old Sitka spruce and a logger-turned-eco-terrorist who felled the golden tree and disappeared into the wilds of British Columbia.
