Fabulous Fiction Firsts #646 “Horror was rooted in sympathy . . . in understanding what it would be like to suffer the worst.” ~ Joe Hill

Mon, 07/17/2017 - 8:16am by muffy

World Fantasy Award–winner Theodora Goss's debut The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter * is reworked from an earlier short story, bringing her "Gothic-inflected fantasies roaring into the steampunk era." (Publishers Weekly)

Mary Jekyll, alone and penniless after her mother's death, found among her mother's ledger monthly payment to the Magdalen Society for the upkeep of "Hyde". Curious and eager to claim the reward for the capture of Edward Hyde, her father’s former friend and a murderer, Mary enlisted the help of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, who were somewhat distracted in consulting for Inspector Lestrade in a series of gruesome murders of Whitechapel prostitutes.

Their hunt led them to Hyde’s daughter, Diana, and soon to Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherine Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein - other “monstrous” daughters of infamous scientists. This quintet of remarkable women took us on "a delightful romp through Victorian gothic literature, with a decidedly feminist slant", (Library Journal) and eventually to the Société des Alchimistes, a secret society of power-crazed scientists.

Winner of Best Horror Novel at the British Fantasy Awards 2016 The Girl from Rawblood * by Catriona Ward is set in an isolated mansion on Dartmoor called Rawblood (raw from sraw means the 'flowing' Dart River, blood from bont, a bridge), home to the only surviving members of the Villarca family - Iris and her father, Alonso.

For generations, the Villarcas have been haunted. When a Villarca marries, when they love, when they have a child, death follows. Thus Alonso made Iris promise to remain alone all her life. But at 15, Iris breaks that promise by falling in love, and the consequences of her choice are immediate and devastating. The narrative opens in 1910 with young Iris Villarca recounting "This is how I come to kill my father."

"Ward's layered and skillfully crafted novel weaves elements of classic gothic and horror into a remarkable story populated by unforgettable characters, palpable atmosphere, and rich lyricism. Imagine the darkest and goriest undertones of Edgar Allan Poe, the Brontës, Charles Dickens, and Shirley Jackson, and you'll have an idea of what Ward offers here." (Library Journal)

* = Starred review

Badge Drop #5: Badge Drop Spectacular!!

Fri, 07/14/2017 - 7:02pm by Sara W

Happy Summer Game Spectacular Eve, everyone! This is the day BEFORE the day we have all been waiting for! Tomorrow is the SUMMER GAME SPECTACULAR at VETERANS PARK!



There's gonna be points! There's going to be jaw-dropping, hair-raising AERIAL ENTERTAINMENT!!! There's gonna be GIANT GAMES - Tumble Towers and Connect 4 and CHECKERS! There's gonna be metal detectors AND METAL TO DETECT! There's gonna be FACE PAINTING, PHOTO BOOTHS, and FRIENDS - with FRIEND CODES!!!! HULA HOOPS! BUBBLES! FOOD TRUCKS! There will be PEOPLE, PLACES, AND THINGS! All the nouns! All the verbs! Adverbs, even!! Yes! Excitedly we tell you, also, POINTS!



But of course, that's all happening JULY 15.



And here we are on JULY 14. It's only Summer Game Spectacular EVE! You probably won't be able to fall asleep tonight thinking of the AMAZING SUMMER SPECTACLE awaiting you on Saturday from 1-4 pm. So, since you've got some hours to kill before the POINTS-AND-FUN-BONANZA that will be the Summer Game Spectacular, here are some BADGES FOR YOU!!!!

So badge it up, beloved Gamers! We'll see YOU tomorrow at Veterans Park. Bring suncreen and friends with you to the Spectacular, but no need to bring extra AWESOME, we'll have PLENTY of it there for you.



THANKS FOR PLAYING!!!

Happy Birthday Gustav Klimt!

Fri, 07/14/2017 - 12:50am by PhoebeH

Today is artist Gustav Klimt’s 155th birthday! What better way to celebrate, than to appreciate some of his incredible work. We have a selection of his paintings in our art print collection available to check out, including my favorite, and one of his most popular pieces, The Kiss. The Kiss is a glowing portrait of two lovers in a tight embrace, painted using oil paints and layers of gold leaf - actual gold that has been hammered down into thin, delicate sheets used for gilding.

Also available for check out is The Woman in Gold, a 2014 film starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds, that tells the story of Klimt’s famous Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which was stolen by Nazi’s during the second World War, and Adele's niece, Maria Altmann's decade long fight to reclaim the precious artwork. To read more about the true story, you can check out The Lady in Gold, or for a fictionalized version, be sure to read the novel Stolen Beauty.

"Bear Says Thanks" Storytime and Craft

Saturday November 18, 2017: 1:00pm to 1:30pm
Downtown Library: Youth Story Corner
Preschool

"T" is for Trickster

Wed, 07/12/2017 - 4:05pm by ryanikoglu

Ms. Rachel brought African trickster stories to Storytime.
WHO'S IN RABBIT'S HOUSE?... We see the footprints outside the door. Who's inside?
Rachel led a copycat rhythm from Ghana "Kye Kye Kule" ... a versions can be found on the CD WORLD TRAVELS: World Music For Kids and you can see and hear clips on youtube.
Then we found Anansi up to his usual tricks in ANANSI And the MOSS-COVERED ROCK.

For more troicky stories try the following favorites:
ANANSI And The TALKING MELON ... another Anansi story by the author/illustrator team of Eric Kimmel and Janet Stevens.
COYOTE And The LAUGHING BUTTERFLIES ... a Native American trickster tale with Coyote.
The GRUFFALO ... a small mouse develops this trick.
MUNCHA! MUNCHA! MUNCHA! ... rascally rabbits are in the garden! Can the farmer trick them?
PIRATE GIRL ... knows some tricks.
The RUNAWAY TORTILLA ...
GOHA The WISE FOOL ... iconic "wise fool" from middle eastern folklore.
SIX SHEEP SIP THICK SHAKES: And Other Tricky Tongue Twisters ... can you train your tricky tongue?
DON'T WAKE UP The TIGER! ... but how?
The REAL STORY OF STONE SOUP

Fabulous Fiction Firsts #645 “...we are all sorry when loss comes for us. The test of our character comes not in how many tears we shed but in how we act after those tears have dried.” ~ Michelle Moran

Sun, 07/09/2017 - 8:19pm by muffy

The Reminders *, a debut novel by writer, singer-songwriter, and actor Val Emmich (Vinyl and Ugly Betty) is the unlikely friendship between a gifted child who remembers everything and a grieving man who is trying to forget.

10 year-old Joan Lennon (her father's favorite songwriter) Scully has HSAM (highly superior autobiographical memory). While she can recall every minute detail of her life, she is frustrated that everyone else forgets, even the most important things and people in their lives. She thinks winning a local songwriting contest might make her unforgettable.

Their house guest Gavin Winters is a grief-stricken TV actor who recently lost his partner Sydney. Caught on a neighbor's camera (the video went viral) setting fire to everything the couple own, Gavin, embarrassed and humiliated, accepts Paige and Ollie's invitation to visit New Jersey. Gavin and Ollie were college band-mates while Paige grew up with Sydney, and introduced the two. Gradually, Gavin is comforted by Joan's many cinematic and precise memories of Uncle Sydney through the years. As a trade-off, Gavin agrees to help Joan write the "perfect song" for the contest.

Told in the alternating voices of Joan and Gavin, we witness how this quirky friendship takes them on a few wild adventures, and eventually heals them both in heartfelt and unusual ways. "(A)chingly sweet, and unexpectedly nuanced. " (Kirkus Reviews)

In Rabbit Cake * * by Annie Hartnett, Elvis (she shares the king's birthday) Babbitt's Mom marked every milestone and holiday by baking a rabbit-shaped cake. According to the Chinese zodiac, rabbit represents longevity and good luck. Thinking back, Elvis thought the first sign of danger was when her mother burned the ears of the rabbit cake for Elvis's 10th birthday. Six months later, her Mom, an accomplished swimmer, sleepwalked into a river and drowned.

Before she could get on with grieving her mother (she was told it would take 18 months), Elvis seemed to be the only one in the family concerned with 15 year-old Lizzie's increasingly bizarre and dangerous sleep-eating behavior. Her father was no help - taking to walking around the house in her mother's silk kimono, wearing lipstick, and adopting a pet parrot that talks like her mother.

Like her mother, a biologist, Elvis finds comfort in facts and figures. She continues to investigate the strange circumstances of her mother's death, and tries to complete the research for the book her mother was writing on the sleep habits of animals, while coming to terms with her fractured family.

"This is the moving and often funny story of a family trying to figure out what to do next now that their touchstone is gone. The narrator’s voice is a stunning combination of youthful and astute....How a whip-smart young girl handles the loss of her mother and the reorientation of her family; charming and beautifully written." (Kirkus Reviews)

Suggested read-alikes: Carol Rifka Brunt's debut Tell the Wolves I'm Home; The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender; and Invincible Summers, Ann Arbor area author Robin Gaines' debut.

A friend also suggests Option B: facing adversity, building resilience, and finding joy * by Sheryl Sandberg that "explore how a broad range of people have overcome hardships... Their stories reveal the capacity of the human spirit to persevere and to rediscover joy."

* = Starred review
* * = 2 starred reviews

A Portrait of Bowie

Sat, 07/08/2017 - 1:36pm by howarde

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It’s mid-2017 and I still find myself missing David Bowie. After his death in January of last year, we read a lot about him in my household—a lot. Several books on Bowie were published in 2016 alone, in addition to lengthy tributes in magazines and online. One book escaped my notice until recently—A Portrait of Bowie: A Tribute to Bowie by his Artistic Collaborators & Contemporaries. This collection of interviews, art, and photographs was edited by Brian Hiatt, a senior writer for Rolling Stone. Honestly, my hopes for this book weren’t too high. I figured it would contain some slap-dash Bowie-themed art and a bunch of sentimental sound bites from famous people. But I put myself on the hold list for it anyway.

A Portrait actually surprised me by how good it is. The unexpected strength of the book is that Hiatt shifts the focus away from Bowie’s more famous collaborators like Brian Eno, Robert Fripp, and Tony Visconti—who have already said a lot about working with Bowie. Instead, he interviews people you may not have heard of, but who have been key to Bowie’s sound and success in the studio and on tour: Mike Garson, Carlos Alomar, Earl Slick, and Gail Ann Dorsey, for instance. Hiatt also interviews photographers other artists who have worked with Bowie over the years. There are a few appearances by artists who never worked with Bowie but were influenced by him, and these are fun to read but didn't add much to my knowledge about Bowie.

And, as promised, A Portrait contains a lot of visual art too, most of which was done in collaboration with Bowie himself. For me, most of the art is hit or miss. But I especially enjoyed Hiatt’s choice of photographs, which cover Bowie’s career from the mid-1960s to the 2000s, many of which I had never seen before.

The truism about Bowie is that he was a shape-shifter, that he was constantly re-inventing himself as an artist. But these interviews give us insight into why and how Bowie performed his transformations. A Portrait of Bowie shows us David Bowie as a person, but goes further in revealing his creative process and how he managed his public image.

If you’re a Bowie fan, don’t pass this one up. The artist Derek Boshier, who painted Bowie and worked on his album covers, says, "I always tell people that we think we know what we look like, and we know each other by looking in the mirror and photographs and films, but David knew what he looked like from every angle, from the back of his head even. He knew every part."

A Portrait helps us know Bowie in that way, too.

Badge Drop #4: Drop til you SHOP!

Fri, 07/07/2017 - 6:04pm by nicole

The world is full of pesky price tags, but we believe that there are some things in the world so BONKERS AWESOME that money just can't buy 'em! Like SPACESHIPS, SUPERNOVAS, SHINY POKEMON, BASICALLY ALL CATS and a whole mess of other things that are PRICELESS and IMPOSSIBLE TO CATCH!



You see, here in the Official Summer-Game-Bubble-of-Bonkers-Awesomeness (working title) we don't think you need to have FUNDS to have FUN, so put away your wallets! Toss out your tender! Because NOW for a LIMITED TIME ONLY you can feast your eyes on this excellent selection of deluxe edition, top-of-the-line, high quality, grass-fed, free range, featherlight, waterproof, weatherproof, whatever-forever-and-ever-proof BADGES!

For the low, low price of ABSOLUTELY NOTHING these beautiful badges could be YOURS, shopper! Branch Explorer Badges are on SALE for just ten quick-and-easy payments of ZIPTY-TWO doubloons! Monsters and majestic cakes and high-flying females are half-off of ZILCH MONIES! And this fine selection of Spectacular Event Badges that you can get just for horsing around outdoors at our SUMMER GAME SPECTACULAR on July 15th, well those are ALL ON CLEARANCE and you can have 'em, you clever bargain-hunting haggler, you, for just BUPKIS PLUS TAX!



YOU WON'T FIND A BETTER DEAL ON MADE-UP STUFF ANYWHERE!



This Friday also marks the momentous and much-awaited SUMMER GAME SHOP OPENING DAY--an event that is SURE to happen at a RANDOM FUTURE TIME that has yet to be determined but might almost certainly possibly totally be TODAY!



So earn yourself some POINTS, then point yourself toward the shop (or the Get Started page if you're a newbie) for AMAZING AADL PRIZES!



THANKS FOR PLAYING!!!

SPRING AWAKENING

Fri, 07/07/2017 - 2:58pm by shurand

Spring Awakening today is, for some, what Rent was in the ‘90s. Originally written as a German play by Frank Wedekind in the 19th century (and promptly banned), it resurfaced as a rock musical by Duncan Sheik in 2006. Starring Lea Michele and Jonathan Groff of future Glee fame, the show took home eight Tony Awards including Best Musical and Best Original Score. It was recently revived on Broadway by Deaf West Theater in 2015, receiving an additional three Tony nominations.

The story follows teens under oppressive boarding school and home regimes as they navigate a multitude of difficult topics including sexuality, pregnancy, abortion, suicide, neglect, and abuse – serious stuff! That’s why Ann Arbor in Concert – which is producing the show for one night only on Saturday, July 15th – is working to ensure that prospective patrons learn as much about the musical’s content and topics as they can before deciding if the show is right for them. The Ann Arbor District Library is presenting, “Spring Awakening: How a 19th-Century German Play Rocks with Relevance Today,” a talk and discussion led by Corner Health Center Health Educator, Social Worker, and Teen Peer Education Theatre Troupe Leader, Craig VanKempen, MSW, MPH. This event will take place on Monday, July 10, from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Library’s Downtown Branch.

The Library offers a plethora of additional resources for community members to educate themselves about Spring Awakening and its topics. Patrons can check out the musical score or soundtrack to hear the incredibly powerful music and decide if the more explicit lyrics are their cup of tea. Frank Wedekind’s Four Major Plays is also available for those interested in reading a translation of the original story.

One of the primary conflicts of the musical is that the adults prioritize avoiding their own discomfort over their children and students’ safety. Today we know that, although uncomfortable at times, understanding and talking about sex, consent, suicide, and bullying reduces shame, promotes accurate information, and enables people to access resources when they need help. How different would the story of Spring Awakening be if Wendla’s mother had talked to her the way that Grandma talks to her grandchild in Anastasia Higginbotham’s book, or if members of the entire community had been about to check out resources like Kate Bornstein’s book from their local library. Today we also have many excellent organizations in our community including Ele’s Place, Ozone House, SafeHouse Center, and Corner Health Center to provide additional support and resources to those who need them.

Spring Awakening is not a show for everyone, and Ann Arbor in Concert has posted a parental advisory to encourage prospective patrons, particularly those with younger family members, to learn more about the show before purchasing tickets.

AADL's Pulp has published a preview about the show.

Ann Arbor in Concert’s one-night-only performance of Spring Awakening will be on Saturday, July 15, 2017 at 8 p.m. at the Power Center. Tickets are on sale at www.a2ic.org or at the Michigan Union Ticket Office.

Fabulous Fiction Firsts #644

Sun, 07/02/2017 - 8:38pm by muffy

Michigan author Karen Dionne's hardcover debut The Marsh King's Daughter * transports her readers to the wilderness of Michigan's Upper Peninsula where a woman must risk everything she has and use every skill she learned to hunt down the dangerous criminal who taught her everything she knew - her father.

When Helena Pelletier heard on the news that the notorious murderer/kidnapper known as "The Marsh King" has killed two guards and escaped from Marquette maximum security prison, she knew she could no longer outrun her past.

Born in a primitive cabin to a 14 year-old kidnapped victim, Helena grew up without modern conveniences or human contact except for her aloof mother and Jacob, who held them captive. Despite his brutal behavior, Helene loved him, loved their life together, governed only by the seasons - farming, fishing, tracking, and hunting. But it was also a 13 year-old Helena who facilitated their rescue and put Jacob behind bars.

Twenty years later, married with two young daughters and a thriving business, Helena faces the daunting task of explaining to her husband why their family is at risk; why the police considers her a person of interest; and even more incredulous, why she is the only one with survivalist skills to track her father in the wild.

"Echoing Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale of the same title, Dionne's latest is a well-crafted, eerie, and unnerving psychological thriller." (Library Journal)

For fans of Still Missing by Chevy Stevens; Room by Emma Donoghue; and Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller.

* = starred review