| About our
library Allegan
Community Links
Allegan
County Libraries
APL
Newsletter
APL
Board Minutes
Book
Sale Dates
Contact
Information & Hours
Genealogy
resources
General
Reference resources
How
do I get a library card
Library
History
Staff
Storytime
Upcoming
Teen Events
|
|
Call 673-4625 for login info
|
- Dark trends
in romance
Think romance
heroes are limited to cool cowboys,
dashing dukes
and hunky highwaymen? Then you probably haven’t
been to the romance section of the
library lately. Those tried-and-true
tropes have given way to darker
imaginings. Vampires, demons,
shape-shifting werewolves and other supernatural
creatures are the hottest things going in
romance and women’s fiction, thanks
to groundbreaking writers like Sherrilyn Kenyon and Laurell K. Hamilton. Romance stalwarts like Nora Roberts, Linda Lael Miller and Teresa Medeiros have come out with paranormal
series in recent years, and the trend has
continued into teen fiction with books
like Stephenie Meyer’s best-selling Twilight series. Give it a try—if you
dare.
- E.B. White
July 11 is the
birthday of legendary American writer E.B. White, who won the hearts of millions
of children with a book that was
originally intended for just one: his
niece, Jane. Stuart Little, published in 1945, was an
immediate success, and his two other
novels for children also became classics.
Perhaps the most famous is Charlotte’s Web, the moving story of an unusual
friendship between a pig and a spider,
which has sold more than 45 million
copies. Born in 1899 in Mount Vernon, New
York, White was a longtime staff writer
for the New Yorker. He famously
shared his writing tricks in his 1959
update to William Strunk Jr.’s The
Elements of Style. Check the library catalog to find books with more
information on the life and legacy of
this unique writer.
- Dog Days
If you
have a new puppy at your house, books
from the library can offer help and
advice on how to make him (or her) a
well-behaved member of the family.
Experts from Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan
to the Monks of New Skete give detailed
recommendations that take new pet owners
through the rigors of housebreaking,
walking your dog on a lead and of course,
keeping him off the furniture! Read all
about it, and get your new best friend
off on the right paw.
- Meet me at
the Fair
Now that technology and increased opportunities for
travel bring us into closer contact with
other cultures and nations, some of the
awe and wonder formerly associated with World’s Fairs might have diminished. The
fascination with fairs of old—the
architecture, the innovations, the
underlying international
tensions—doesn’t seem to fade,
however. This year marks the 50th
anniversary of the Brussels World’s Fair, which was the first fair of
the postwar era. Think cold war, Space
Age, Jetsons meets June Cleaver and you
get the picture. Books and films about World Fairs abound, so check the library
catalog and set your sights for a trip to
the Fair.
- Let the
wild rumpus begin!
June 10
marks the 80th birthday of
author-illustrator Maurice Sendak,
sometimes described as the Picasso of
children’s literature. The youngest
son of Polish immigrants, Sendak was born
in Brooklyn and first achieved
recognition as an artist for his
black-and-white illustrations in Ruth
Krauss’s A Hole Is to Dig
(1952). He is best known for Where the
Wild Things Are, a wildly original
look at a frustrated little boy that won
the Caldedott Medal in 1964 and is now
being adapted into a film by Spike Jonze.
Sendak’s books make great
read-alouds, and the creative energy
revealed in his art will delight children
and adults alike.
- Celebrating
Juneteenth
Two and
half years after the Emancipation
Proclamation, enslaved African Americans
in Texas still had not received word or
promise of their freedom. On June 19,
1865, Union General Gordon Granger
arrived in Galveston to announce and
enforce their emancipation, and the date
is now celebrated as Juneteenth. A
recognized holiday in more than half the
states, Juneteenth is marked by outdoor
festivities and other events that honor
freedom in America. Ralph Ellison’s
unfinished and posthumously published
novel, Juneteenth, recounts
traditions and stories of the day.
|
