Holiday Closings

The library will be closed December 24th - 27th. We will reopen on Monday, December 28th at 9:30am.

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

New Louisa May Alcott Biography

The new Louisa May Alcott biography, which was released in October of this year, now has a film counterpart.

About the book: Louisa May Alcott: the Woman Behind Little Women by Harriet Reisen.
Explores Alcott's life in the context of her works, in a modern take on a remarkable and prolific writer--who secretly authored pulp fiction, harbored radical abolitionist views, and served as a Civil War nurse--that is also a story of how the beloved classic Little Women came to be (taken from the publisher).

About the movie: From the film's official website - To make Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind Little Women, Producer-Writer Harriet Reisen and Producer-Director Nancy Porter worked from a script drawn from primary sources and filmed in many original locations, using documentary and dramatic techniques of the historical documentary, as well as experimental and flash animation, green-screen, and digital effects. The result is an inventive, entertaining, and intimate portrait of the surprising Miss Alcott.

This film biography will premiere on PBS December 28th, 2009. Visit APT's website for the complete listing.

Click on the video below for a sneak peek:

Staff Favorites of 2009 - Teen Books

Here are our favorite teen/young adult titles of 2009!

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson. Eighteen-year-old Lia comes to terms with her best friend's death from anorexia as she struggles with the same disorder.

Along For the Ride by Sarah Dessen. When Auden goes to stay with her father, stepmother, and new baby sister the summer before she starts college, all the trauma of her parents' divorce is revived, even as she is making new friends and having fun new experiences.

If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser. As he grows up in the inner-city projects, DeShawn is reluctantly forced into the gang world by circumstances beyond his control.

Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan. Three New York City teens express their reactions to the bombing of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, and its impact on their lives and the world.

Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott. After being abducted when she was ten and abused for five years by her kidnapper, Ray, Alice's only hope of freedom is in death, but her only way to achieve such an escape is to help Ray find the next girl for his collection.

Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia. When one girl decides to jump an innocent victim, a third girl becomes a witness to the event and an important decision must be made in this moving tale about bullying set in an urban high school.

Intensely Alice by Phyllis Reynolds Naylor. During the summer between her junior and senior years of high school, Alice volunteers at a soup kitchen and tries to do "something wild" without getting arrested.

The Orange Houses by Paul Griffin. Unable to find anything in common with her classmates at West Bronx high school, smart and artistic loner Tamika is more than happy to just be at home with her drawings, but an unlikely friendship with a teenage refugee named Fatima and their spontaneous plan to befriend Jimmi, a homeless vet, brings meaningful change to all their lives.

Come check out one of these fantastic books today!

*summaries were taken from publisher's websites

Staff Favorites of 2009 - Children's Books

Here are some of the staff's favorite children's books this year:

I'm Your Peanut Butter Big Brother by Selina Alko. Excerpt from the book, a poem to a boy's yet to be born sibling: Baby brother or sister, will you look like me? I blend from semisweet dark. Daddy chocolate bar and strawberry cream. Mama’s milk. My hair is soft crunchy billows of cotton candy. I’m your peanut butter big-brother-to-be.

Also Known As Harper by Ann Haywood Leal. Harper Lee Morgan, who is named after the famous author, is herself an aspiring poet/author. But she is trying to balance school with her family's hardships: being evicted from home and her dad leaving.

Fancy Nancy: The Dazzling Book Report by Jane O'Connor. Nancy is so busy making her book report cover "fancy", she runs out of time to write about her book.

Bobby vs. Girls (Accidentially) by Lisa Yee. Bobby gets into a fight with his best friend Holly, their disagreement turns into a boys against girls war with their entire fourth-grade class.

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days by Jeff Kinney. In the latest installment in the series, Greg Heffley records in his diary his attempts to spend his summer vacation inside playing video games and watching TV.

Dewey: there's a cat in the library! by Vickie Myron. A picture book adaption of an adult book by the same author about a cat who resided at a library in Iowa for almost 18 years.

Up next will be our favorite teen/young adult titles of 2009!

Staff Favorites of 2009

Well, the year is drawing to a close and all of the "best books of 2009" lists are coming out. You may have already seen Oprah's or the NYT's list, so we decided to throw our two cents in and compile a list of the library staff's favorite books of 2009.

The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Believe the hype - it is even better than you have heard! With a fresh voice, this debut author tells the story of 3 women in 1960's Mississippi and the relationship between the white middle-class and their black maids, "the help".

Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster. This author has been described as "like David Sedaris with pearls and a super-cute handbag" by Jennifer Coburn. This is a light read guaranteed to give tons of laughs.

Push by Sapphire. Heartbreaking, yet uplifting story of an illiterate, obese, abused Harlem teenager. This book was the basis for the movie "Precious" that is out in theaters now.

Floodmarkers by Nic Brown. This debut novel by a former musician is a moving story that tells of intersecting lives when Hurricane Hugo hits North Carolina in 1989.

Ravens by George Dawes Green. Think winning a $318 million dollar lottery will make all your dreams come true? This thriller shows why it is the beginning of a nightmare.

Postsecret: confessions on life, death and God by Frank Warren. The latest book compiled from postcards submitted to the Postsecret website. Anonymous secrets in the form of art have been sent in from all over the world.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. A tale that is told through letters set during WWII in England. This is a good companion for 84, Charing Cross Road by Helen Hanff.

Columbine by Dave Cullen. The author spent 10 years meticulously researching and analyzing the events of that day which subsequently disproved many of the Columbine myths that have been perpetuated by the media.

Eat This, Not That: supermarket survival guide by David Zinczenko. The latest in the Eat This, Not That series offers practical, useful advice for navigating the grocery aisles.

Resurrecting Midnight by Eric Jerome Dickey. Hitman Gideon is back and this time his name is on the hit list!

Did we leave your favorite book of the year off of our list? Tell us - we would love to hear from you :-)

Tomorrow we will post our favorite books of 2009 for teens/children!

2010 Book Club Selections

We have chosen the titles we will read for book club for the first half of 2010!

Check out the list:

January 11th - Julie & Julia by Julie Powell

February 8th - The Help by Kathryn Stockett

March 15th - Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson

April 12th - The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

May 10th - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larrson

June 14th - The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett

The Irondale Library Book Club meets on the second Monday of each month. The meetings start at 6:30pm in the meeting room and usually last about an hour or so. For more information please call us (951-1415) or email us (irondalelibrary@gmail.com). We hope to see you at our next meeting in January!

PJ Storytime - Monday December 7th

Join us this Monday, December 7th, 2009 for PJ Storytime! Families are invited to come to the library for holiday stories and a snack. Kids can wear their favorite pajamas :)

Storytime will begin at 6:30 in the library's meeting room.

Give us a call at 951-1415 if you need more information. It is going to be a fun night - hope to see you there!

Book Signing with Local Author

Irondale's very own Vanessa Davis Griggs will be signing her new book this Saturday, December 5th at Sam's Club in Irondale. An excerpt from Goodness and Mercy (book 5 of the Blessed Trinity Series) from the author's official website:

Gabrielle Mercedes has dreamed of being a dancer since she was a little girl. But when her life takes a very different turn, it's not the future she'd envisioned for herself. Feeling a void she can't fill, she finds the salvation she's been seeking in church and decides to start anew. Learning that her church has a dance ministry, she's thrilled to have her first love back in her life. Then she meets handsome and the professionally accomplished Zachary Wayne Morgan, and finally everything seems to be falling into place--until a past secret threatens to tear it all apart, and her newfound faith is put to the ultimate test...

The book signing will take place from 1pm - 3 pm. Call 956-5087 for more information.