National Poetry and Music Appreciation Month Recommendations

National Poetry Month

My Dog May Be a Genius by Jack Prelutsky - More than 100 silly poems with illustrations by James Stevenson.

Pizza, Pigs, and Poetry: How to Write a Poem by Jack Prelutsky - Book Description: "Have you ever tried to write a poem about a pizza? How about a pig? How about a pigeon, penguin, potato, Ping-Pong, parrot, puppy, pelican, porcupine, pie, pachyderm, or your parents? Jack Prelutsky has written more than one thousand poems about all of these things—and many others. In this book he gives you the inside scoop on writing poetry and shows you how you can turn your own experiences and stories about your family, your pets, and your friends into poems."

The Poet Slave of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle - Born a slave in Havana in 1797, he taught himself to read and write. His exceptional talent for poetry won him freedom. This collection of poems includes a short biography.

The Scented Fox by Laynie Browne - Browne is the 2005 Winner of the Contemporary Poetry Series. She lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Seven Notebooks: Poems by Campbell McGrath - Called a "later-day Whitman," this collection lyrically narrates three seasons.

Sixty Poems by Charles Simic - Current Poet Laureate of the United States, these sixty poems are selected from previously published collections.


National Music Appreciation Month

Just Before Sunrise by Nathan Gunn - "…a collection of songs that will remind everyone of the beauty that surrounds them in their lives." Songs include Tom Waits, Gene Sheer, Yeats and Auden.

Buffy Sainte-Marie by Buffy Sainte-Marie - One of the Vanguard Visionaries series, this compilation includes her most influential songs. The younger generation not familiar with her work will find this recording an excellent introduction.

Unglamorous by Lori McKenna - New songs about life, love, and family, produced by Tim McGraw

New Impossibilities by Yo-Yo Ma - The Silk Road Ensemble fuses Eastern and Western musical sensibilities. Compositions are from the Silk Road performances in Chicago.

Complete Sonatas for Keyboard and Violin, v. 4 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart - Interpreted and performed by the extraordinary young British duo Rachel Podger on violin and Gary Cooper on piano.

April Recommendations for Kids

Fiction

Smash! Crash! by Jon Scieszka - Just like the title says this book is packed with trucks in a world of action and humor. All the characters are trucks where playing is work and working is playing, and getting dirty or being loud is perfectly all right. Wonderful illustrations and rhythmic text make this an accessible book for boys and girls alike!

A Kitten Tale by Eric Rohmann - Here is a great tale of four kittens that have never experienced snow. Three kittens are unsure but one is excited and wants to share its excitement with the others. This title has great charm; it is an especially good choice for children who approach the unknown with fear rather than pleasure.

Little Eagle by Chen Jiang Hong - This wonderful tale from ancient China tells the story of a young boy who is interested in martial arts and is taken in by a Kung Fu Master. The resulting tale contains lessons everyone should learn about power and responsibility. Illustrated with fantastic watercolors in a traditional Chinese style that really brings the story to life and can take readers young and old off to another place and time.

Deep and Dark and Dangerous: A Ghost Story by Mary Downing Hahn - Thirteen-year-old Ali is looking forward to spending the summer vacationing in Maine with her Aunt Dulcie and her four-year-old cousin Emma. She plans on learning more about an old photo she found in the attic of her home, especially since the picture is torn and a person is missing from it. However, after arriving at the family's lakeside cottage, Ali meets Sissy, a mysterious and manipulative girl that influences Ali into defiant and dangerous behavior. Who is this girl and what does she want with Ali? What does she have to do with the photograph? This book fits the bill for a spine tingly tale guaranteed to send chills down the spines of readers.

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson - Henry York, 12, is sent to live with relatives when his parents are kidnapped while biking in South America. One night, while sleeping in the attic (his new bedroom), Henry is startled by a noise in the wall above him but shakes it off as an unfamiliar noise in a strange house he isn't used to yet. During the next night however, Henry wakes up with pieces of plaster in his hair and notices two knobs have broken through the wall and one of them is slowly turning. Henry starts scraping off the plaster on the wall and soon discovers ninety-nine cupboards of various shapes and sizes. But these aren't your average cupboards– oh no, these cupboards are gateways to other worlds and Henry soon realizes the important role he plays when his sister becomes trapped in one. 100 Cupboards is the first book in a projected trilogy and will surely be a hit among those who crave fantasy and adventure.

The Rising Star of Rusty Nail by Lesley M. M. Blume - Ten-year-old Franny Hansen is a piano prodigy living in Rusty Nail, Minnesota– a "one of everything" type of town: one store, one church, one stoplight. It's 1953 and not much happens in Rusty Nail, but Franny and her best friend Sandy somehow always manage to think of something to keep them busy. Most of the time, they enjoy pestering Nancy, the spoiled brat of Rusty Nail who also happens to play the piano. When Franny outplays Nancy at a school assembly, she begins to realize how talented she really is. And then a mysterious Russian woman, Olga Malenkov, moves into town. When Franny learns that Olga plays the piano magnificently, she decides that it is Olga who will nurture her talent. Will Olga teach piano to Franny? Or is she the "Commie" who moved into town to change their way of life? Set against small-town America during the 1950s, Lesley M. M. Blume deftly uses history and humor to spin an enjoyable story of hilarity and hope through the eyes of a ten-year-old piano prodigy.


Nonfiction

Encyclopedia Horrifica by Joshua Gee - Ghosts, vampires, zombies, and phantom ferrets haunt the pages of this museum of fantastic beings, the real and the unexplained.

Extreme Balloon Tying: More than 40 Over-the-Top Projects by Shar Levine & Michael Ouchi - Levine and Ouchi explain how to create improbable sculptures entirely from balloons. From the simple Roll and Lock to a Human Skeleton, supply lists and easy to follow directions suitable for all ages. Check out the giant dragon (p. 63) made entirely from balloons for the International Balloon Arts Convention.

Surfer of the Century: The Life of Duke Kahanamoku by Ellie Crowe - Duke grew up in Honolulu learning to surf and swim at Waikiki Beach. Olympic champion, Hollywood actor, Hawaiian folk hero, and sheriff of Honolulu for over 30 years, this remarkable athlete made surfing the international sport it is today.

April Recommendations for Teens

Fiction

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie - Renowned author of books and screenplays about Native Americans in the modern world, this is Alexie's first YA novel. Arnold Spirit enters a high school off the rez and confronts the issues all adolescents face with the added insult of being the one of two Indians on campus, the other one being the school mascot. Arnold is portrayed with all the heartache and humor of an author who has lived the story.

Blood and Chocolate by Annette Klause - Sixteen year old girl werewolf Vivian falls in love with a human boy and faces the ageless question: when and how to reveal her true nature to him? First she must answer a few questions herself such as which is sweeter, blood or chocolate?

The God of Animals by Aryn Kyle - A wise and astonishing debut novel about the different guises of love and the often steep tolls on the road to adulthood. Kyle deftly captures not only the complexity of love and loss but also the powerful bond between horses and humans.

Kiss Me, Kill Me by Lauren Henderson - The author of Jane Austen's Guide to Dating introduces Scarlett Wakefield, glamorous girl sleuth. While attending a ritzy private school in London, 16 year old Scarlett is flattered to be invited to a party with all the big names in British high society. A magical night and a dream-come-true kiss with Dan McAndrew definitely does not end in happily ever after. He immediately drops dead and though she is not accused of murder, suspicions linger. She must uncover Dan's real killer to clear her name (and live to kiss again). Recognize the title? It is lifted from the title of a U2 single from the 1995 movie Batman Forever.

The New Policeman by Kate Thompson - Who knows where the time goes? There is never enough of it in Kinvara, or anywhere else in Ireland for that matter. When J.J. Liddy's mother says that what she really wants for her birthday is more time in her day, J.J. decides to find her some.

Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan - Margo Lanagan's electrifying stories take place in worlds not quite our own, and yet each one illuminates what it is to be human. This dazzling new collection of short fiction by a master storyteller and Printz Honor winner is sure to leave readers surprised, touched, unsettled, intrigued, or scared senseless.

Swim to Me by Betsy Carter - At seventeen, Dolores Walker leaves the Bronx for a mermaid job in a failing Tampa water show. When the mermaids put on their own version of The Godfather called The Merfather, a show you will not see at the nearby Disney World, business definitely picks up. Great storytelling about family, chasing dreams, and finding your way.

What Happened by Peter Johnson - A hit and run accident reveals old rivalries between two families. Written with lyrical prose and with a haunting sensibility, this was reviewed by Michael Cart as the "most gorgeously written YA of 2007."


Nonfiction

Fifteen Candles: 15 Tales of Taffeta, Hairspray, Drunk Uncles, and Other Quinceanera Stories, edited by Adriana Lopez - In this original anthology, fifteen of the brightest and funniest Latino writers, men and women alike, share their own memories of these moving and often absurd extravaganzas.

Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring by Richard Preston - Preston's amazing account of scientific and spiritual passion for the tallest trees in the world, the redwood, and three champions who are committed to preserving the trees and the unique forest canopy 300 feet above the ground.

April Recommendations for Adults

Fiction

Curse of the Spellmans by Lisa Lutz - Barnes & Noble: "Their first caper, The Spellman Files, was a New York Times bestseller and earned comparisons to the books of Carl Hiaasen and Janet Evanovich. Now the Spellmans, a highly functioning yet supremely dysfunctional family of private investigators, return in a sidesplittingly funny story of suspicion, surveillance, and surprise."

Deep Dish by Mary Kay Andrews - Gina Foxton, chef and beauty queen, is now the host of her own local Georgia television show called "Fresh Start," and she's dating the show's producer. But when her show gets canceled--and she catches her boyfriend with the boss's wife--Gina realizes that it's time for a gig on national television. There is only one problem: her competitor "Kill It and Grill It" Tate Moody, the star of a hunting, fishing, and cooking show named "Vittles."

An Irish Country Village by Patrick Taylor - The Irish Country series introduced Dr. Barry Laverty as he began his apprenticeship with Dr. Fingal Flahertie in Balleybucklebo. His story continues as modern choices threaten the turn-of-the-century charm of the village and he himself faces a malpractice suit.

Judas Horse: An FBI Special Agent Ana Grey Mystery by April Smith - Maverick FBI Special Agent Grey goes undercover to infiltrate the volatile core of a domestic terrorist cell in the Cascade Mountains. She must stop rogue FBI agent Dan Stone, aka Allfather, from igniting "the Big One." Fans of Michael Connelly will enjoy the realistic characters, fast pace, and deftly handled multiple plot lines.

Last Rituals: An Icelandic Novel of Secret Symbols, Medieval Witchcraft, and Modern Murder by Yrsa Sigurðardóttir - The spellbinding debut and international sensation being published in thirty countries featuring Thora Gudmundsdottir, a smart, sexy lawyer and investigator whose hunt for a modern murderer points to a very odd--and evil--chapter in Iceland's past.

The Misremembered Man by Christina McKenna - A prim schoolteacher takes out a personal ad in County Derry's newspaper for a date to a wedding. A local farmer answers her ad. Full of Irish charm and gentle humor, two emotionally repressed middle aged loners find a surprising affection for each other, proving that for those who wait the best is yet to come.

The Somnambulist by Jonathan Barnes - This extraordinary tale set in Victorian London involves Edward Moon, stage magician and detective, his silent sidekick the Somnambulist, and a devilish plot to re-create the apocalyptic prophecies of Samuel Taylor Coleridge and bring the British Empire crashing down.

Song Yet Sung by James McBride - A beautiful runaway slave, Liz Spocott, escapes from Patty Cannon's brutal gang of slave catchers hiding in the wild woods and swamps of the Tidewater region. McBride nails the horrors of slavery as well as he does the power of hope and redemption in this his second novel, set in pre-Civil War Maryland.

Super America by Anne Panning - Winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, Panning, an astute and empathetic observer, records the loss of love, broken dreams, and freak accidents on the characters in these nine stories and a novella.

Tracing the Shadow: Book One of the Alchymist’s Legacy by Sarah Ash - An alchymist's apprentice befriends a street urchin whose gift of song resurrects a lost magic. Dark partnerships are forged, some for control over the emerging magi forces, others for their souls.


Nonfiction

Be Happy Without Being Perfect: How to Break Free From the Perfection Deception by Alice Domar - Author of the bestseller Self-Nurture, women's health pioneer Dr. Domar uncovers why women's obsession with perfection is ruining their lives.

Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Meth Addiction by David Sheff - David's story chronicles his son's downward spiral into meth addiction and the harrowing effects on the entire family. Achingly honest, his son's drug abuse forces him to relive old family wounds about his own alcoholic father. Families coping with addicted relatives will find hope in his story of recovery.

10 Things Employers Want You to Learn in College: The Know-How You Need to Succeed by William D. Coplin - How to maximize your college experience to ensure post graduate success.

101 Ways to Say Thank You: Notes of Gratitude for All Occasions by Kelly Browne - The art of perfectly worded thank you notes for family, friends, business, or charitable occasions by two authorities on etiquette.

Insomniac by Gayle Greene - "The good news is that Gayle Greene's book is all you ever need to read on the subject of sleeplessness; the bad news for fellow insomniacs is that reading it --even in bed--will fail to lull you to sleep."--Billy Collins, former Poet Laureate of the U.S.

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food by Jennifer Lee - There are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonalds, Burger Kings, and Wendys combined. Lee exposes the indentured servitude Chinese restaurants expect from illegal immigrant chefs, investigates the relationship between Jews and Chinese food, and weaves a personal narrative about her own relationship with Chinese food. The Fortune Cookie Chronicles speaks to the immigrant experience as a whole, and the way it has shaped our country.

The Downhill Lie: A Hacker's Return to a Ruinous Sport by Carl Hiaasen - Hiaasen, the "Miami Herald" columnist and author of some hilarious fiction (e.g., "Striptease, Skinny Dip"), recounts how easy it is to get sucked into the sport, even when trying not to. (on order)

Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World by Samantha Power - Reveals Sergio Vieira de Mello's powerful legacy of humanity and ideological strength in the context of his troubleshooting attempts in Lebanon in the aftermath of Israel's 1982 invasion; in his taming of the Khmer Rouge and his repatriation of four-hundred-thousand Cambodian refugees in the early nineties; in his efforts to negotiate an end to the slaughter in Bosnia; in his struggle to nation-build in war-torn societies during his quasi-colonial governorships of Kosovo and East Timor; and through his tragic final posting as the UN representative in Baghdad, where he became the victim of the country's first-ever suicide bomb.