November 2001 RETURN TO HOME PAGE FEEDBACK

Noe Valley ­ Sally Brunn Library, 451 Jersey St. * 695-5095

Readings for Peace

- Cary Friedman hosts Readings for Peace, Love, and Understanding, a chance for the community to "come together and share ideas to comfort, heal, and find a pathway to peace of heart and mind." Bring your own poems, writings, and thoughts to the Noe Valley Library, from 7 to 9 p.m., on Wednesday, Nov. 14.

Preschool Story Time

- Children ages 3 to 5 can hear short and tall tales at the library's preschool story time,
at 10 a.m., Tuesdays, Nov. 6, 13, and 20.

Movie Tuesday

- Preschoolers 3 to 5 are invited to watch films at 10 and 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 27.

Wednesday Lapsits

- Come enjoy stories, songs, and fingerplay with your baby or toddler at the lapsits, on Wednesdays, Nov. 7, 14, and 28, at 7 p.m.

This month's new books list, provided by librarians Roberta Greifer, Carol Small, and Charlotte Sanders, features an analysis of the Clinton years, the tale of an Australian Kelpie dog, and a retelling of the Rumpelstiltskin story. To check out a book's availability, call 695-5095, or visit the Noe Valley­Sally Brunn Library at 451 Jersey Street (near Castro Street). Besides books, the branch offers magazines, CDs, videos, an outside deck, Internet access, and the archives and index to the Noe Valley Voice. Hours are Tuesdays, 10 to 9; Wednesdays, 1 to 9; Thursdays, 10 to 6; Fridays, 1 to 6; and Saturdays, 10 to 6.

Adult Fiction

- National Book Award­winner (for Dale Loves Sophie to Death, 1982) Robb Forman Dew returns after a nearly 10-year hiatus with The Evidence Against Her, a story of three generations of families in the small town of Washburne, Ohio.

- Louis De Bernieres, author of Corelli's Mandolin, chronicles the adventures of a clever, courageous, and highly independent Australian Kelpie stray in Red Dog.

- In Still She Haunts Me, Katie Roiphe imagines the mysterious relationship between the shy, stuttering Oxford mathematician and children's author Charles Dodgson (otherwise known as Lewis Carroll), and his muse Alice Liddell, the daughter of the dean of Oxford.

- Christine Lincoln, recipient of the Sophie Kerr Prize, allows readers to explore the lives of African Americans in her collection of short, poetic stories titled Sap Rising.

Adult Nonfiction

- Using the latest research on brain development, Winifred Conkling outlines ways for parents to foster emotional health and intelligence in a baby's first three years, in Smart-Wiring Your Baby's Brain.

- In the tradition of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Dr. Janette Sherman discusses the environmental causes and means of prevention of a national epidemic, breast cancer, in Life's Delicate Balance.

- In the travelogue Sorcerer's Apprentice, Tahir Shah, the son of Afghan nobility, describes his travels across India as an apprentice to an Indian magician/healer.

- Haynes Johnson, a Pulitzer Prize­winning journalist and television commentator, recalls the Wall Street boom, the rise of the dot-com, and the Election 2000 fiasco in The Best of Times: America in the Clinton Years.

Annotations by Charlotte Sanders

Librarian, Noe Valley Branch

Children's Fiction

- An artistic boy watches a hummingbird and describes it in a unique way in Keith Baker's book Little Green. Ages 3 to 5.

- In The Night Worker, by Kate Banks (illustrated by Georg Hallensleben), a young boy's wish is granted when he is allowed to spend time with his father at the construction site where he works. Ages 3 to 5.

- Carol Diggory Shields portrays a wonderful relationship between a man and "his favorite person," his grandson, in Lucky Pennies and Hot Chocolate. Ages 4 to 6.

- In Covered Wagons, Bumpy Trails, author Verla Kay and illustrator S.D. Schindler describe the long and difficult journey of a pioneer family traveling west to the Sacramento Valley. Ages 4 to 6.

- Virginia Hamilton provides a version of the Rumpelstiltskin story, complemented by illustrations by Leo and Diane Dillon, in The Girl Who Spun Gold. Ages 8 and up.

- In Little Women Next Door, by Sheila Solomon Klass, a girl in Massachusetts becomes friends with Louisa May Alcott and spends time in the cooperative community founded by her parents, Bronson and Abigail Alcott. Ages 10 and up.

Children's Nonfiction

- Many interesting details of the everyday life of the Kennedy family are provided by Laurie Coulter in When John & Caroline Lived in the White House. Ages 8 to 10.

- In Fighting for Honor: Japanese Americans and World War II, Michael L. Cooper describes how thousands of Americans were forced to leave their homes and livelihoods and move to internment camps, even as some members of their families were in Europe, fighting bravely in the U.S. Armed Services. Ages 8 to 11.

Annotations by Carol Small
Librarian, Noe Valley Branch