Want to know what it feels like to be a
hippopotamus? Or to work
as a kitchen maid for a family of aristocrats during the Great
War? Then take a
gander at the new book list compiled by Adult Services
Librarian Susan Higgins
and Children’s Librarian Catherine Starr, our experts at the
Noe Valley/Sally
Brunn Library.
You may find your favorites sitting on the shelf
at 451 Jersey
St., or they may be traveling between readers or other
branches in the public
library system. To track them down, drop by the library, call
415-355-5707, or
visit the San Francisco Public Library online at www.sfpl.org. Have
fun.
Adult
Fiction
¥ A journalist goes to Portugal to
report on
terrorism in The New Republic,the
latestby
Lionel Shriver, author of We Need to Talk About Kevin.
¥ Me and You, by best-selling
Italian author Niccol˜ Ammaniti, tells the story of a
14-year-old’s weeklong
retreat in the basement of the family’s apartment building.
¥ Inspector Thomas Lynley
investigates the death
of a wealthy industrialist’s nephew inBelieving the Lie, the
17th
in Elizabeth George’s popular mystery series.
Adult
Nonfiction
¥ Social psychologist Jonathan
Haidt examines how
morality shapes our perceptions of others in The
Righteous Mind: Why
Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion.
¥ Cronkiteishistorian
Douglas Brinkley’s new biography of the “most trusted man in
America.”
¥ First published in 1968, Below
Stairs: The
Classic Kitchen Maid’s Memoir That Inspired Upstairs,
Downstairs and Downton
Abbey, is Margaret Powell’s fascinating story.
Books for
Teens
¥ A teenage boy comes up with a
plan to impress
his girlfriend with the help of a famous writer, in Dying
to Know
Youby award-winning author Aidan Chambers.
¥ TeenBoat! The Angst of Being a Teen,
the Thrill of Being
a Boat!,by Dave Roman and John Green, is
a comic book
that takes a humorous look at high school.
Books for
Children
¥ A rabbit falls asleep while
waiting for the moon
to rise above his burrow, in Moonlightby
Helen V. Griffith,
with illustrations by Laura Dronzek. Ages 2 to 5.
¥ I Love My Daddy, by writer Giles
Andreae and illustrator Emma Dodd, shows in rhymes and
pictures why Dad is so
lovable. Ages 3 to 5.
¥ A little boy changes from a hippo
to a robot to
a monkey all in one day, in When I Woke Up, I Was a
Hippopotamus by
British scriptwriter Tom MacRae and Scottish illustrator Ross
Collins. Ages 4
to 9.
¥ Author-illustrator Gail Gibbons
unearths the
history of Ladybugs,the black-and-red
beetles that
live on every continent but Antarctica. Ages 5 to 8.
¥ Cold Cereal by Adam Rex is
made up of “adventure 75%, diabolical schemes 40%, danger 57%,
legend 20%,
magic 68%, humor 93%, puzzles 35%, mystery 49%, [and] may
contain nuts.” Ages 8
to 12.
¥ Barry Denenberg’s Titanic
Sinks!uses
old photos and diaries to tell the story of the luxury ship’s
doomed voyage.
Ages 10 and up.
¥ Lauren Child, creator of the
Clarice Bean
chapter books, introduces Ruby Redfort Look Into My
Eyes, the
first in a series starring Clarice’s favorite sleuth, Ruby
Redfort. Ages 10 to
13.
¥ Little Rock Girl 1957: How a
Photograph Changed the
Fight for Integration, by Shelley Tougas,
interviews the high students whose courageous steps led to the
end of public
school segregation in Arkansas and across the country. Ages 10
to 13.
LIBRARY EVENTS
Events for Adults
Social
Security: What Baby Boomers Need to Know
Are you about to retire? Starting to think about
when you can
retire? This presentation by the Social Security Administration
will
provide an overview of benefits and discuss how they’re
calculated, how to
find an estimate of your benefits, when and how to apply for
them, taxation,
and how working affects your benefits. Saturday, Sept. 15, 3
p.m.
Computer
Lab for Beginners
Learn how to find and save information, navigate
the Internet, and
set up and access your email account, at a Computer
Lab for
beginning users. Get assistance on a first-come, first-served
basis.
Wednesdays, Sept. 12, 19, and 26, from 3 to 4: 30 p.m.
A Great
Discussion
Each month, the Great Books Discussion
Group
reads and talks about a famous short story, essay, or speech.
Wednesday, Sept.
12, 6:15 p.m.
Events for Children
Toddler
Tales
Enjoy books, rhymes, music, and movement at Toddler
Tales story
time on Tuesday mornings at the library. For kids ages 18
months to 3 years,
with parent or caregiver. Tuesdays, Sept. 4, 11, and 25, from
10:15 to 10:45
a.m., and from 11 to 11:30 a.m.
Movies
and Animation
Live-action movies and animation shorts, many
based on children’s
picture stories, will be shown at our monthly Preschool
Films, for
ages 3 to 5 with parent or caregiver. Tuesday, Sept. 18, from
10:15 to 10:45
a.m., and 11 to 11:30 a.m.
The Art of Seeding
Join Victory Gardener Jonathan Silverman
for “The Art of
Seeding” on Saturday, Sept. 22, 3 to 4 p.m.
Children will learn how
seeds work, best ways to plant them, how to properly care for
seedlings, and
how to cultivate fresh produce or blossoms. For ages 5 to 10.
All events take place at the Noe Valley/Sally
Brunn Library, 451
Jersey St. near Castro Street. For information, call
415-355-5707 or go to www.sfpl.org.
