Noe Valley Voice October 2001
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Books in our Branch

This month's new books list, provided by librarians Roberta Greifer, Carol Small, and Joseph Liebman, features a biography of Lady Caroline Blackwell, recipes from Ruth Reichl, and poetry about a person who turned into a carrot. To check out a book's availability, call 695-5095, or visit the Noe Valley­Sally Brunn Library at 451 Jersey Street, just off Castro Street. In addition to 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

- Simon Brett sets the tone for Death on the Downs in his description of "a village that hadn't changed since Agatha Christie set a murder there." The mystery begins when Carole Seddon, amateur sleuth, discovers a bag of bones (human) in an abandoned barn. It ends à la Christie, brimming with tea, fog, and nostalgia.

- "Sometimes one must accept what has happened without understanding it," says a Japanese proverb. In American Fuji, author Sara Backer explores this philosophy -- and the cultural clash between East and West -- with a protagonist who works for a funeral company called Gone With The Wind.

- Rural Arizona is the "paradise" in J. A. Jance's Paradise Lost, and the territory where Sheriff Joanna Brady tracks down a suspect who has targeted her daughter.

Adult Nonfiction

- Dangerous Muse, Nancy Schoenberger's biography of Lady Caroline Blackwell, depicts her as the inspiration and ultimate frustration, "both muse and anti-muse," to her three creative husbands: painter Lucien Freud, composer Israel Citkowitz, and poet Robert Lowell.

- In The Piano Shop on the Left Bank, Thad Carhart discovers a piano repair shop in Paris that inspires his reflections on the history and charms of the instrument.

- New York Times food critic Ruth Reichl shares recipes and tells about her encounters with delicacies from around the world, in Comfort Me with Apples.

Annotations by Joseph Liebman

Librarian, Noe Valley Branch

Children's Fiction

- Young children will receive a lesson about bedtime routines, but in a gentle and humorous way, from How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague. Ages 3 to 5.

- Mary Azarian expresses her love of gardening in A Gardener's Alphabet, which she has illustrated with woodcuts hand-tinted with watercolors. Ages 3 to 6.

- A young boy, discouraged about his small size but wanting to play basketball, gets just the right advice and encouragement from his family in Salt in His Shoes: Michael Jordan in Pursuit of a Dream, by Deloris and Roslyn M. Jordan. Ages 6 to 9.

- Using gifts from several of the animals, Desert Woman finds an innovative way to deal with a snake's difficult behavior in Roadrunner's Dance, by Rudolfo Anaya, with illustrations by Caldecott Award­winner David Diaz. Ages 6 to 9.

- Percival P. Puffinwiff, Titanic Timmy Tinkletunes, and a person who has turned into a carrot are all characters in It's Raining Pigs and Noodles, a collection of poetry by Jack Prelutzky, illustrated by James Stevenson. Ages 9 and up.

- Two men named Melvin, one a Civil War veteran and the other an orphaned teenager, form a strong friendship in Stick and Whittle, by Sid Hite. Ages 10 and up.

Children's Nonfiction

- A courageous art teacher and the children she knew in a concentration camp are movingly remembered in Fireflies in the Dark: The Story of Friedl Dicker-Brandeis and the Children of Terezin, by Susan Goldman Rubin. Ages 10 and up.

- Shelley Tanaka gives a glimpse into 12th-century European life in her biography of William Marshal, In the Time of Knights: The Real-Life Story of History's Greatest Knight. Ages 8 to 11.

Annotations by Carol Small
Librarian, Noe Valley Branch

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, Oct. 2, 9, 16, and 30.

Movie Tuesday

- Preschoolers 3 to 5 are invited to watch films at 10 and 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 23.

Wednesday Lapsits

- Come enjoy stories, songs, and fingerplay with your baby or toddler at the lapsits, on Wednesdays, Oct. 3, 10, 17, 24, and 31, at 7 p.m.