Adult Fiction
Playing for Pizza by John Grisham.
Overnight, he became a
national laughingstock and, of course, was immediately cut by the Browns and
shunned by all other teams. But all Rick knows is football, and he insists that
his agent, Arnie, find a team that needs him. Against enormous odds Arnie
finally locates just such a team and informs Rick that, miraculously, he can in
fact now be a starting quarterback. Great, says Rick--for which team?
The mighty Panthers of Parma, Italy. Yes, Italians do play American football,
to one degree or another, and the Parma Panthers desperately want a former NFL
player--any former NFL player--at their helm. So Rick reluctantly agrees to
play for the Panthers--at least until a better offer comes along--and heads off
to Italy. He knows nothing about Parma--not even where it is--has never been to
Europe, and doesn't speak or understand a word of Italian. To say that
Italy--the land of opera, fine wines, extremely small cars, romance,
and Football Americano-- holds a few surprises for Rick Dockery would be
something of an understatement.
Life is Amazing by John Mihalyo.
Jake Million has just
returned back to his hometown of Follansville after spending the winter months
in Florida. His plans are to live life to the fullest emphasizing the Four F's,
his faith, his family, his friends and having fun.
Murder, She Wrote:
Killing in a Koi Pond by Jessica
Fletcher & Terrie Farley Moran.
After traveling to
Bethesda for a mystery writers' conference, Jessica Fletcher decides she's
earned a vacation and takes a train to Columbia, South Carolina, to visit her
old college friend Dolores, who has recently married her third husband, Willis
Nickens, a wealthy and cutthroat businessman. They've moved into an opulent
historic home with plenty of space for guests, and Jessica is ready for a week
of shopping, gossiping, and relaxing at the grand estate. But the morning after
she arrives, Jessica discovers Willis face down in the koi pond, and despite
what the police think, she's sure foul play is involved. She hadn't known
Willis long, but it's clear to her that he didn't concern himself with making
friends. The question isn't if her friend's husband was murdered but by whom.
Adult Non-Fiction
James Madison by Jay Cost.
How do you solve a problem
like James Madison? The fourth president is one of the most confounding figures
in early American history -- his political trajectory seems almost
intentionally inconsistent. He was both for and against a strong federal
government. He wrote about the dangers of political parties in
the Federalist papers and then helped to found the Republican party
just a few years later. And though he has frequently been celebrated as the
"father of the constitution," his contributions to our founding
document were subtler than many have supposed. This so-called "Madison
problem" has occupied scholars for ages. Previous biographies have made
sense of Madison's mixed record by breaking his life into discrete periods. But
this approach falls short. Madison was, of course, a single person -- a
brilliant thinker whose life's work was to forge a stronger Union around
principles of limited government, individual rights, and above all, justice. As
Jay Cost argues in this incisive new biography, we cannot comprehend Madison's
legacy without understanding him as a working politician. We tend to focus on
his accomplishments as a statesman and theorist -- but the same ideals that
guided his thinking in these arenas shaped his practice of politics, where they
were arguably more influential. Indeed, Madison was the original American
politician. Whereas other founders split their time between politics and other
vocations, Madison dedicated himself singularly to the work of politics and
ultimately developed it into a distinctly American idiom. Bringing together the
full range of his intellectual life, Cost shows us Madison as we've never seen
him before: not as a man with uncertain opinions and inconstant views -- but as
a coherent and unified thinker, a skilled strategist, and a key contributor to
the ideals that have shaped our history. He was, in short, the first American
politician.
The Other Madisons by Bettye Kearse.
For thousands of years,
West African griots (men) and griottes (women) have recited
the stories of their people. Without this tradition Bettye Kearse would
not have known that she is a descendant of President James Madison
and his slave, and half-sister, Coreen. In 1990, Bettye became the
eighth-generation griotte for her family. Their credo--"Always
remember--you're a Madison. You come from African slaves and a
president"--was intended to be a source of pride, but for her, it echoed
with abuses of slavery, including rape and incest. Confronting those
abuses, Bettye embarked on a journey of discovery--of her ancestors, the
nation, and herself. She learned that wherever African slaves walked, recorded
history silenced their voices and buried their footsteps: beside a
slave-holding fortress in Ghana; below a federal building in New York
City; and under a brick walkway at James Madison's Virginia plantation.
When Bettye tried to confirm the information her ancestors had passed
down, she encountered obstacles at every turn.
Easy/Juvenile/Young Adult/Graphic Novel
Little People, Big
Dreams: Jesse Owens by Maria Isabel
Sanchez Vegara. J NF
The youngest of ten
children, Jesse grew up working in the cotton fields of Alabama. Discovered by
his high school track and field coach, Jesse quickly rose to fame as an
athlete. He went on to challenge racism on the world stage at the 1936 Berlin
Olympics and made new world records. This inspiring story of the athlete and
activist's life features a fact and photos section at the back.
Storm Warning by Elizabeth Raum.
J
No matter how hard
twelve-year-old North Olson tries to do what's right, he can't seem to please
his dad. When a major flood threatens to destroy his hometown, North is left in
charge of his little sister Rosie. A blizzard blows in and his
great-grandmother disappears. Can North find his great-grandmother and keep
Rosie safe as the flood waters continue to rise? Will he finally make his dad
proud?
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please keep comments respectful and geared towards the review, new arrival post only. The library does reserve the right to remove any negative posts that it deems inappropriate.