Penny from Heaven

Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm.
Youth Cd Books - Lower Level - HOLM

Penny from Heaven by Jennifer L. Holm is a very sweet novel. Barbara Falucci, better known as Penny, is an 11 year old girl growing up in New Jersey in 1950s America. Her Italian father is deceased so Penny lives with her American mother and grandparents. While she loves them, she really enjoys spending time with her father's eccentric extended family. From really delicious meals to her favorite Uncle Dominic, spending time with the Falucci's and all of their cousins is a true treat!

The summer Penny turns 12 is filled with time working at Uncle Ralphie's store, adventures with her sarcastic yet loving cousin Frankie, bad hair days, Nonni's food, her cat passing away, her mother dating the milk man, and baseball games. One unfortunate event causes Penny to be in the hospital for many weeks. It is during this time that Penny truly grows as a person and receives needed answers about her father.

Penny from Heaven is a nostalgic read with great well-rounded characters. It is also a 2007 Newbery Honor Book. If you have any Italian heritage, then you will really connect with this story because the characters are so authentic. I listened to this story on Audio CD, and Amber Sealey does a wonderful job with the Eastern and Italian accents. This is a fun and well-written historical fiction novel...enjoy!

Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher
Teen Zone CD Books - Main Level - Asher

Before 17-year-old Hannah Baker committed suicide, she recorded thirteen cassette tapes. Each one explains one of the reasons why she did it. She names a different classmate on each tape, and has instructed each person to pass the tapes to the person named after them. If they don’t, another classmate has been instructed to go public with the tapes. The story is told from Clay Jensen’s perspective. He, of course, is one of the people named on the tapes. You may be thinking that this is a depressing story –and it is – but it is told in such an intriguing way that the reader can’t help but empathize. I listened to this book on audio, and found myself both dreading and yearning to know who the next named person would be and how that person affected Hannah’s life. Ultimately, this book is a lesson in hope, reminding us that nothing (and no one) is beyond repair or redemption if we just open ourselves to those around us with honesty and humility.

Batman: Arkham Asylum

Batman: Arkham Asylum for Playstation 3
Video games - Main Level - VG BAT

Batman: Arkham Asylum for Xbox 360
Video Games - Main Level - VG BAT

It’s been a long and painful road for video game adaptations of the caped crusader. For over twenty years there has been a Batman game for systems spanning the entirety of home console history. Whether that system was a Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, Nintendo Entertainment System, Genesis, Playstation, Gamecube, Xbox, or Gameboy there has been some iteration of Batman getting defiled on it. As is commonly the case with high profile licensed material such as comic book characters or movie adaptations, the games tend to suffer because their development is based on a quick cash grab. Just make a quick Google search for E.T. for the Atari 2600, and you’ll understand why there is a landfill somewhere that consists solely of that game.

Um phone home?

However, every once in awhile there is an exception to the rule, Batman: Arkham Asylum is that exception. After capturing the Joker for one might assume the millionth time, you hand deliver him to Arkham only to be caught in the middle of a breakout where the lunatics start running the place. What makes this title so great besides the stellar graphics, top notch voice acting, and compelling story is that for the first time you actually act like Batman. You actually “gasp” do some detective work, you hide in the shadows and swoop down to take out your prey, and of course you get to use all the “wonderful toys” like the batarang. The version for Nintendo actually had Batman with a gun! Any Batman nerd will tell you how sacrilegious that is.

Ahem, well usually anyway.

All of this delivered with a pretty straightforward control scheme. Of course the game isn’t perfect but it’s pretty close. Some of the boss fights were a bit underwhelming and while you do get to take on some of the classic villains there are quite a few missed opportunities. One can only hope for a sequel that takes place in Gotham to remedy these small issues.

So who cares if it took twenty-three years for someone to develop a good Batman game, I’m still eagerly awaiting that E.T. follow-up

Vision in White

Vision in White by Nora Roberts
Adult New Book Display-Main Level – PB ROBERTS

Mackensie (Mac) Elliot and her three best friends turned their childhood playtime activity into a reality. Together they founded Vows, which is a full service wedding venue complete with a florist, baker, and a photographer. Mac is the women behind the camera and her photographs have appeared in numerous magazines and advertisements across the state. Mac loves the ability to capture the happy moments in life that she has never experienced. Her father abandoned her when she was 2 and started a new family that does not include her. Her mother begs for attention and money without a second thought. While planning the wedding of a high school acquaintance she runs into the bride-to-be’s brother. Carter Maguire is not Mac’s type. Mac is not looking for any type of relationship since she has too much going on in her life already. Carter is crazy about Mac and would do anything for her. Nora Robert’s plays a nice twist making the woman afraid of saying “I do”. Go ahead and read Visions in White to see if Mac and Carter have their happily ever after. Also look for Bed of Roses, the next in The Wedding Quartet series due out October 27, 2009.

Still the Same Me

Still the Same Me by Sweet Honey in the Rock
Youth CD Bins – Music, General

When looking for music to listen to with my child, I want several things. The songs need to appeal to kids without being tedious for adults, and the music needs to be good, authentic music performed by real musicians. Sweet Honey in the Rock is a long-standing all-women, all-black a capella group better known for their music for adults. This is their third album for children, all of them beautifully done. Still the Same Me features a mix of spirituals, contemporary songs, and traditional African music, all of them hard to sit still for. It also has a recurring theme of improvisation, with regular tracks each encouraging kids to join in on a different style. Like most of their work, Still the Same Me is fun, thought-provoking and just plain fabulous music.

Thank You For All Things

Thank You For All Things by Sandra Kring
Adult Paperbacks Main Level - KRING

11-year-old Lucy McGowan and her twin brother Milo have genius IQ's. They are home schooled by their mother, Tess, in Chicago. When Tess's father's health declines, the family goes to Tess's childhood home in Wisconsin to help out. Tess has always refused to talk to the children about their father, and they know equally little about their grandfather. Lucy dreams of having a father figure in her life, and loves her new-found grandfather too. She is very perceptive, though, and realizes that there are secrets between her mother and her grandfather. Lucy finds some old journals of her mother's, and puts the pieces together of her grandfather's abusive past - this old man that she has come to adore. She begins to understand why her mother has been hesitant to bring a father figure into their lives, but still yearns for it. Sandra Kring's books are all wonderfully emotional with precocious children characters that readers love.

Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass Phase

Pretty in Plaid: A Life, a Witch, and a Wardrobe, or, the Wonder Years Before the Condescending, Egomaniacal, Self-Centered Smart-Ass Phase by Jen Lancaster
New Book Shelves-Upper Level – 814.54 L

Pretty in Plaid is Jen Lancaster’s fourth memoir. She writes about different experiences her from childhood up until she penned this book. Jen started off as Jeni, a Brownie that could not wait to be in Girl Scouts because she liked the uniform better. Once she sums up her early years and drops the “i” she moves onto the best stories; which are from her college years. She wants to be a sorority girl in the best sorority on campus but does not understand why some girls call their purses “Louis” (Louis Vuitton handbag) or why anyone would carry around bags with “C’s” (Coach handbag) on them. Once she gets older and discovers the loveliness of designer handbags she vows that one day she will buy one. She will also say it is never a good idea to stand in the unemployment line carrying one! Jen is very excited to get her first real job once she finally completed college. Yet on her first day she feels clueless because she has never used a fax machine or collated anything in her life. Jen tells hilarious but insightful stories, if you want to laugh out loud and enjoy some easy reading check out Jen Lancaster’s books.

Bitter is the New Black: Confessions of a Condescending, Egomanical, Self-Centered, Smartass, or Why You Should Never Carry a Prada Bag to the Unemployment Office by Jen Lancaster
Adult Paperbacks-Main Level – LANCASTER

Bright Lights, Big Ass: A Self-Indulgent, Surly Ex-Sorority Girl's Guide to Why it Often Sucks in the City, or Who Are All These Idiots and Why Do They Live Next Door to Me?

Such a Pretty Fat: One Narcissist's Quest to Discover If Her Life Makes Her Ass Look Big; Or, Why Pie Is Not the Answer by Jen Lancaster
Adult Non-Fiction-Upper Level – 814.54 L

At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream

 At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream By Wade Rouse
Adult Biography - Upper Level - Rouse


David Sedaris channels Thoreau. If this concept intrigues you, you must read At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream by Wade Rouse. Flamboyantly gay, city loving Wade turns 40 and realizes he is disillusioned with his life. He hates his job and dreams of becoming a writer. Wade decides to change his life and sets new goals that match the tenets and principles that Thoreau set forth in Walden, the book that Wade’s beloved Grandmother read to him during his childhood. While on a vacation in Saugatuck, Wade and his partner Gary spontaneously decide to sell their home in St. Louis and move to rural Michigan, where Wade is sure he will be inspired to write. This always funny, often moving story recounts the misadventures that inevitably ensue in his trying to adapt to country life. A fun, lighthearted read.