2008+Summer+Reading

"//Books let us into their souls and lay open to us the secrets of our own//." ~William Hazlitt (1778-1830), English essayist and literary critic

**Jill Clark recommends...** //** The Tipping Point: ** **How Little Things Can Make A Difference** // by Malcolm Gladwell Explains why major changes in society often happen suddenly and unexpectedly and describes the personality types who are natural originators of new ideas and trends.

**Randi Wall recommends...** // **The** **Thirteenth Tale** // by Diane Setterfield Aging, reclusive author Vida Winter, having given out multiple versions of her life story over the years, decides to finally set the record straight and engages Margaret Lea, a London bookseller's daughter, to write her biography, drawing the young woman into a tale of a governess, a ghost, a willful woman, feral twins, and a gothic mansion.

** Susan Greenwald recommends... ** **//Grayson//** by Lynne Cox In a simple but suspenseful narrative, the author recounts her mystical encounter with a baby whale and his mother on a March morning 30 years ago. Then 17 years old, Cox was just completing her swim off Seal Beach, CA, and heading toward shore when the ocean became unusually rough and swarming with small fish. A large animal that she at first mistook for a shark was swimming just beneath her. In fact, it was an 18-foot-long baby gray whale. Cox was frightened and then enchanted by the playful creature that seemed to want to follow her to shore, an act that would be fatal for him. She developed an emotional bond with the whale she calls Grayson, guiding him away from the shore. Both teen and calf were hungry, fatigued, and dehydrated, but Cox, frozen to the bone in 55-degree water, was determined to find the baby's mother. With incredible optimism and courage, and the guidance and encouragement of nearby fishermen and lifeguards, Cox finally united Grayson with his huge, barnacled parent. This true adventure is as breathtaking as the exotic underwater life that the author describes in vivid detail.//–Jackie Gropman, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA// Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

**Lisa Paul and Barbara Snyder recommend...** //** Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America **// by Erik Larson Tells the parallel stories of Daniel Burnham, the main architect of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, and serial killer Henry H. Holmes, discussing the challenges Burnham faced in creating the hugely successful White City, and looking at how Holmes used the opportunities afforded by the fair to lure victims to their deaths.

** Barbara Snyder recommends... ** **// March //** by Geraldine Brooks Follows the experiences of Mr. March, the father in Louisa May Alcott's "Little Women," as he witnesses the cruelty and racism of both Northern and Southern soldiers and the harsh realities of Civil War.
 * //2006 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction//**

Nemirovsky, a young Russian Jewish emigre, became a celebrated novelist in Paris at age 26 in 1929. She wrote eight more novels; then, even though she was certain that she wouldn't survive Germany's occupation of France, she embarked on a grandly symphonic, courageous, and scathing work about France's collaboration with the Nazis. She completed two of five planned movements before she was sent to Auschwitz, a heart-wrenching story meticulously documented in a supplemental section. As for Nemirovsky's masterpiece, it begins with the tumultuous "Storm in June,"in which diverse Parisians frantically evacuate Paris during the June 1940 German invasion. Nemirovsky's gift for combining the panoramic with the intimate, high emotion with stinging wit, is reminiscent of Turgenev, Babel, and Berberova. Acutely sensitive to class differences, and mordantly scornful of hypocrisy, she orchestrates a veritable carnival of cowardice, lies, larceny, and murder as a panicked populace drops all pretense of civilization. The second movement, "Dolce,"evokes the eye of the storm in the village of Bussy, where German officers are billeted in French homes, and life and love resume. //Suite Francaise// is a magnificent novel of the insidious devastation of occupation, and Nemirovsky is brilliant and heroic, summoning up profound empathy for all, including regretful German soldiers. Everything about this transcendent novel is miraculous.
 * Lori Cohen recommends... **
 * //Suite Francaise//** by Irene Nemisrovsky

** Rick Topper recommends... ** **// Deep Economy: The Wealth of Communities and the Durable Future //** by Bill McKibben In this powerful and provocative manifesto, Bill McKibben offers the biggest challenge in a generation to the prevailing view of our economy. //Deep Economy// makes the compelling case for moving beyond “growth” as the paramount economic ideal and pursuing prosperity in a more local direction, with regions producing more of their own food, generating more of their own energy, and even creating more of their own culture and entertainment. Our purchases need not be at odds with the things we truly value, McKibben argues, and the more we nurture the essential humanity of our economy, the more we will recapture our own.

** Kate Brenton recommends... ** //** Sky Burial **// : **An Epic Love Story of Tibet** by Xinran A true, stunning story, simply told, about a Chinese woman's love and dedication to her husband. The protagonist, Shu Wen, a Chinese doctor and newlywed, enlists in the Chinese Army to discover the truth behind the unsubstantiated death of her Beloved. Shu Wen finds what she is looking for and more in this stark beautiful tale of an independent woman who braved the Tibetan terrain - during the Chinese Liberation - to find what her heart was missing.

** Lynn Hindermyer recommends... ** The four novels follow the experiences of Bella Swan, a young woman who moves to Forks, Washington, and becomes caught up in the lives of the handsome vampire, Edward Cullen, and Jake, a werewolf. These books will give you something to talk about with your students, who are big fans of the series!
 * //The Twilight Saga (Twilight, New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn)//** by Stephenie Meyers

An excerpt to entice you: "Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course." "//Stay the course//? You've got to be kidding. This is //America//, not the damned //Titanic//. I'll give you a sound bite: //Throw the bums out!//"
 * Sue Boland recommends... **
 * //Where Have All the Leaders Gone?//** by Lee Iacocca

Specific topics the author discusses: Education: No Child Left Behind, Heathcare, Oil addiction, Democracy, Leadership, and many more poignant topics for Americans to consider.