June 2003 RETURN TO HOME PAGE FEEDBACK

The June 2003 book list, chosen by Noe Valley librarians Roberta Greifer and Carol Small, features Jane Smiley's latest, a portrait of Frank O'Hara, and an alphabet book for kids written from the point of view of a garbage truck. To find out which books are available, go to www.sfpl.org, call 695-5095, or visit the Noe Valley­Sally Brunn Library at 451 Jersey Street, near Castro. Besides books, the branch offers magazines, videos, CDs, and the archives and index to the Noe Valley Voice. It also has the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, a collection of books in Spanish, a women's literature section, and a section devoted to career resources. Branch hours are Tuesdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Wednesdays, 1 to 9 p.m.; Thursdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Fridays, 1 to 6 p.m.; and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Adult Fiction

- Set in the rollercoaster 1980s, Good Faith by Jane Smiley explores what happens when a man who makes an honest living selling houses is seduced by a get-rich-quick scheme.

- In the thriller Good Morning, Killer, by April Smith, FBI agent Ana Grey, investigating a teenage abduction, shoots a Santa Monica detective.

- Set in 1930s wartime China and translated into English for the first time, Nanjing, 1937, by Ye Zharoyan, is both a love story and a historical novel.

- In The Spinning Man, a mystery by George Harrar, a philosophy professor is accused of kidnapping a local high school cheerleader.

Adult Nonfiction

- Richly illustrated, Bridges That Changed the World, by Bernhard Graf, describes more than 50 bridges from Budapest to Isfahan. The Golden Gate Bridge is on the cover.

- Spanning 150 years, The Chinese in America--by Chris Chang, best-selling author of The Rape of Nanking--chronicles the lives of Chinese settlers in this country.

- Digressions on Some Poems by Frank O'Hara, by Joe LeSueur, who lived with O'Hara for 10 years, is a portrait of the late poet and painter.

Children's Fiction

- A chance encounter with a bicycle leads to surprising results for all the barnyard animals in David Shannon's Duck on a Bike. Ages 3 to 6.

- An old woman warns a rider on a galloping horse that he will never reach the holy city of Lhasa by nightfall, yet reassures a boy walking his yak that he can make the same journey in that time, in Barbara Helen Berger's All the Way to Lhasa: A Tale from Tibet. Ages 4 to 8.

- Kids who delight in disgusting things will enjoy Kate and Jim McMullan's I Stink! which includes an alphabet of yucky objects that get "eaten" by a garbage truck on its daily rounds. Ages 4 to 8.

- Diane Siebert's Motorcycle Song is the latest in her series of colorful, poetic odes to children's favorite vehicles. Ages 4 to 8.

- Elizabeti, the Tasmanian girl first introduced in Stephanie Stuve-Bodeen's picture story Elizabeti's Doll, discovers that learning can be an adventure during her first day at Elizabeti's School. Ages 4 to 8.

- Patrol, written by Walter Dean Myers and illustrated with collages by Ann Grifalconi, gives a brief but compelling glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of a young American soldier in Vietnam. Ages 8 and up.

- In What Would Joey Do? by Jack Gantos (the final book in the trilogy about a loveable boy with ADHD), Joey makes the best of a home-schooling situation with "The Mistress of All Evil," comes to understand himself and his parents better, and has his first date. Ages 10 and up.

Children's Nonfiction

- Because little Juana Inés was "quite like a turtle," she was allowed to stay in the older girls' classroom, and she went on to become one of the greatest writers in the history of Mexico in A Library for Juana: The World of Sor Juana Inés by Pat Mora, illustrated by Beatriz Vidal. Ages 6 to 9.

LIBRARY EVENTS

Family Sing-along

- Award-winning singer and songwriter Lisa Atkinson offers a musical morning for children ages 2 to 5, and their parents, on Thursday, June 5, at 10 and 11 a.m.

Princess Moxie

- Jennifer Levine and her puppets tell a modern-day princess story for children ages 2 to 5 on Thursday, June 12, at 10 and 11 a.m.

Preschool Story Time

- Children ages 3 to 5 can hear stories read aloud at preschool story time, 10 a.m. on Tuesdays, June 10, 17, and 24.

Films in February

- The library invites preschoolers 3 to 5 to watch short films, including Changes, Changes, Curious George Rides a Bike, and Monty, on Tuesday, June 3, at 10 and 11 a.m.

Family Lapsits

- The library's lapsits offer stories, songs, and finger plays for infants and toddlers, at 10:30 a.m. on Saturdays, June 14 and 21.

Book Exhibit

- A selection of small press books, including publications by Skanky Possum, Habenicht Press, Sardines Press, and Leroy Press, will be on display through June.

For information about other library activities, visit the San Francisco Public Library's web site at www.sfpl.org.