June 2007 RETURN TO HOME PAGE FEEDBACK

The June selection of books now available at the San Francisco Public Library comes to us from children's librarians Pam Ow and Carol Small and Voice bookworm Karol Barske. To reserve a book, call or stop by the Eureka, Glen Park, or Mission Branch, or visit the library online at www.sfpl.org. Be aware that the Noe Valley­Sally Brunn Library on Jersey Street is closed for renovation until 2008. For a renovation update, call 557-4400.

Children's Fiction

Carol Small recommends:

- A young boy, initially feeling pushed aside by the arrival of his baby brother, in time comes to feel "Well, maybe he can stay...." Then in a few years, he helps his younger brother adjust to the next new baby in the family, in It's All About Me!, written and illustrated by Nancy Cote. Ages 3-5.

- Nate endures many disparaging remarks by his older brother, but his parents encourage his interest in dance. He enjoys going to ballet class and has an opportunity to meet professional male dancers in Ballerino Nate, by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley, illustrated by R.W. Alley. Ages 3-6.

- Leo is called "sardine" and "fog boy" by his siblings, but has wonderful dreams for his future, and in reading his father's autobiography, finds some clues to realizing those dreams, in Replay: A New Book by Sharon Creech. Ages 10 and older.

Pam Ow recommends:

- A clever girl escapes from fearsome woodland animals with the help of her new go-to-town clothes, in Anne Isaacs' rollicking Pancakes for Supper, illustrated by Mark Teague's richly-colored paintings. Ages 4-8.

- Jennifer Armstrong's Magnus at the Fire, with paintings by local artist Owen Smith, tells of a brave, strong horse that pulls the heavy steam-pumper to fight fires until the arrival of a new motorized fire engine. Put out to pasture, Magnus heroically saves the day one more time. Ages 6-9.

Children's Nonfiction

Pam Ow recommends:

- Celeste Davidson Mannis offers a picture-book biography of California's first licensed woman architect, honoring her intelligence, perseverance, and skill, in Julia Morgan Built a Castle, illustrated with glowing pastels by Miles Hyman. Ages 6-10.

Adult Fiction

Karol Barske recommends:

- Noe Valley writer Cara Black's detective Aimée Leduc finds both a murder victim and a newborn baby on her doorstep in Murder on the Ile Saint-Louis.

- In When the Light Goes, Larry McMurtry continues the story of the tiny town of Thalia, Tex., and resident Duane Moore, who was introduced as a young man in the 1966 novel The Last Picture Show.

- The Nineteen Minutes of author Jodi Picoult's thriller are the duration of a high school shooting; flashbacks reveal the killer's motives and the events leading up to the massacre.

- J.R.R. Tolkien recounts a tale of family and interkingdom conflict during Middle Earth's First Age, in The Tale of the Children of Húrin, edited by Tolkien's son Christopher Tolkien.

Adult Nonfiction

- The ways the medical mind interprets symptoms and understands illness are outlined in How Doctors Think, by New Yorker essayist and physician Jerome Groopman.

- In Naked on the Page: The Misadventures of My Unmarried Midlife, San Francisco Chronicle columnist Jane Ganahl describes the last year of her 40s, "as she tries to reconcile her midlife body with her teenage heart."

- The Gospel According to Judas, by Judas' son Benjamin Iscariot, is recounted by storyteller Jeffrey Archer and scholar Francis Moloney.

- Lucy Jane Bledsoe's 11 essays describe her spectacular, often dangerous outdoor feats in The Ice Cave: A Woman's Adventures from the Mojave to the Antarctic.

Note: Our thanks to Carol Small, head librarian at the Noe Valley­Sally Brunn Library; Pam Ow, children's librarian at the Eureka Valley­Harvey Milk Branch; and Karol Barske, longtime contributor to the Voice.

LIBRARY EVENTS

Lapsits and Story Time

- Come enjoy stories, songs, and finger plays with your baby or toddler at lapsits sponsored by the S.F. Library on Tuesday, June 5, 10:15 a.m. Preschool story time, for children ages 3 to 5, follows at 11 a.m. Because the Noe Valley Library is closed for renovation, programs are held at Bethany Church, 1268 Sanchez St. at Clipper Street.

Heather the Magician

- Heather Rogers will thrill the crowd with magic tricks, juggling, and balloon-twisting, on Tuesday, June 26, 10:30 a.m. This event will also be at Bethany Church on Sanchez.