Discover@RRPL

EmmaLeave a comment

The Berlin Girl

by Mandy Robotham

It’s 1938 when London journalists Georgie Young and Max Spencer are assigned to Berlin. Their job is to report on events as Hitler’s Germany marches toward war. The freedoms and rights of the Jewish people are quickly disappearing. Georgie hires Rubin Amsel as her driver. Rubin and his wife Sara are Jewish. Sara’s brother Elias is handicapped, and the Nazis are anxious to house those they consider undesirable in prison camps like Sachsenhausen near Berlin. When Elias is taken away, Rubin and his wife Sara send their children away to England to keep them safe. Soon Georgie captures the attention of Kasper, a Nazi officer. They go out a few times and Georgie hopes to garner information to obtain freedom for Elias. When Max is taken into Nazi custody and as he is being transferred to Sachsenhausen, Georgie helps him escape.

Georgie and Max recognized the danger of the Nazi government and tried to warn what was to come in their articles sent back to London. Many turned a blind eye. This is a book for anyone interested in pre-war Germany.

~Emma

New Books Tuesday @ RRPL

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Here some of the new exciting releases for you to take a look at this week!

Better to Have Gone: Love, Death, and the Quest for Utopia in Auroville by Akash Kapur – Explores the lives, and ultimate deaths, of two people in a utopian community in India.

When We Were Young by Richard Roper – In order to find their way back to the truth and to their friendship, two long-lost friends honor a promise they made years ago to walk all 184 miles of the Thames Path.

False Witness by Karin Slaughter – Defense attorney Leigh Collier is taken aback when she discovers her new, high profile case will be defending her childhood abuser in the new novel from the New York Times best-selling author of Pieces of Her.

The Man With the Silver Saab by Alexander McCall Smith – A detective in Malmo’s Department of Sensitive Crimes, Ulf Varg, while dealing with surprising new cases, struggles with his feelings for a colleague.

For Your Own Good by Samantha Downing – Belmont Academy’s Teacher of the Year, Teddy Crutcher is frustrated by his colleagues and endlessly meddlesome parents who begin digging a bit too deeply into his affairs after the death of an Academy parent and his seemingly missing wife.

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker Chan – When the Zhu family’s eighth-born son, Zhu Chongban, given the fate of greatness, dies during a brutal attack, his sister, escaping her own fated death, uses her brother’s identity to claim another future altogether—her brother’s abandoned greatness.

Intimacies by Katie Kitamura – Seeking a fresh start an interpreter takes a position at the International Court at The Hague and is drawn into numerous personal dramas, including her lover’s ongoing entanglement in his marriage and her friend witnessing a random act of violence.

A Woman of Intelligence by Karin Tanabe – A former translator at the United Nations who has become a bored 1950s housewife is asked to join the FBI as an informant after a man from her past has become a high-level Soviet spy.

What Strange Paradise by Omar El Akkad – Looking at the global refugee crisis through the eyes of a child, this dramatic story follows Vänna who comes to the rescue of a 9-year-old Syrian boy who has washed up on the shores of her small island and is determined to do whatever it takes to save him.

Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine by Geoff Manaugh & Nicola Twilley – Helping us make sense of our new reality, this timely book tracks the history and future of quarantine around the globe, chasing the story of emergency isolation through time and space.

~Semanur

Endangered, Vulnerable or Threatened, Oh My!

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Like Sara Dykman’s journey in her book, Bicycling with Butterflies, monarch butterflies face a perilous journey of survival. If you’ve followed our blog this past month, you might wonder if monarch butterflies are an endangered species.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a bureau within the Department of the Interior and the premier government agency dedicated to the conservation, protection, and enhancement of fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats, the answer is, sadly, not yet.

On December 15, 2020, the bureau announced that while listing the Monarch as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act is warranted, the Monarch is still just a candidate in this process and its status remains under review annually until a decision is made.

Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), plant and animal species may be listed as either endangered or threatened. “Endangered” means a species is in danger of extinction. “Threatened” means a species is likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future.’

You can read the latest about the status of Monarchs here: News Releases – U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (fws.gov) and learn more about the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s conservation efforts here: Assessing the status of the monarch butterfly (fws.gov)

Knowledge is power. Consider yourself armed with it and decide what you can do to help protect monarch butterflies!

Visiting the Monarchs

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I saw my first Monarch yesterday, floating over my flower beds, landing on my milkweed, maybe (fingers crossed) laying an egg that will start the cycle of the Monarch all over again, from egg, to chrysalis, to butterfly, to Mexico!

In Bicycling with Butterflies, the author Sara Dykman begins her journey in Mexico where the Monarchs overwinter, and follows the Monarchs as they start their 3,000 mile journey north to reproduce and start new generations. The Monarchs have been at their overwintering sites in Mexico since early November, roosting in high altitude, tropical fir forests. Mexico has created monarch sanctuaries to protect these overwintering grounds, the Cerro Pelon and Piedra Herrada sanctuaries in the State of Mexico, and El Rosario and Sierra Chincua on the eastern edge of Michoacán state.

If you want to visit these sanctuaries from November to March, you’d fly into Mexico City and travel to Zitácuaro, Michoacán, the closest major city. Be forewarned, however: monarch roosts are at high altitude, and you need to hike or ride a horse to see the sites closely.

Monarch butterflies and their sanctuaries are threatened by climate change, loss of habitat, the eradication of milkweed, and toxic pesticides. There has also been concern that violence and illegal logging in the area will affect those who work and support the sanctuaries.

I for one, would love to escape our Cleveland Winter in December for trip to see the Monarchs. There are so many ways to visit and support them from your doorstep as well – plant milkweed, plant a pollinator garden, advocate for habitat restoration, and, of course, keep informed! And register for our talk with author Sara Dykman, who, I’m sure, will have many more suggestions for ensuring that future generations experience the magic of Monarchs!

~ Dori

Review of She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

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She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan book cover and catalog link

In an exciting and fresh new historical fantasy debut, after an orphaned young girl is told that she is destined for nothingness by a fortune teller, she instead takes the fate of greatness that was meant for her deceased twin brother. Pretending to be a boy, the peasant girl Zhu becomes a monk, a soldier, and eventually a general in her quest to seize greatness and wrest control of ancient China from the Mongol Empire. 

Besides being a gripping feminist reimagining of Chinese history, the novel employs a refreshingly original magic system that is tied in with Chinese beliefs and historical facts. In an fascinating twist, the concept of the ‘mandate of heaven’ that defined who had the right to rule in historical ancient China becomes an actual flame that the chosen few can summon. The characters are complex and layered, especially Zhu, with robust queer representation and exploration of gender beyond the binary. Parker-Chan deftly explores what someone will do to survive, whether that is to compromise their values or even kill in cold blood, which is also tied in with the lure of power and womanhood in ancient China. The concept of immutable fate is central to the story – and in less-skilled hands could be boring – but Parker-Chan plays with the uncertainty of how Zhu’s fate will be achieved, and for how long she will keep the greatness she is promised. This is a top-notch historical fantasy novel (and the first installment of a duology) with a complicated, ruthless female lead – for anyone who enjoyed And I Darken by Kiersten White. 

Published on July 22, 2021.

ARC (advance reader copy) courtesy of NetGalley.

One Book, One City: Bicycling with Butterflies by Sara Dykman

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Buddy Read – Week Three

Gently gliding into week three of our One Book, One City program and there’s still plenty of time to catch up (if you’re behind) or do a little extra research (if you’re ahead) of the buddy read schedule! There are also still plenty of programs coming over the next two weeks, including the Live Q & A with Sara Dykman on Monday, August 2, at 6:00pm -register here to reserve your space!

If you want to read a book inspired by Bicycling with Butterflies, check out the digital collection or call the library 440.333.7610 x5501 for suggestions!

And don’t forget to check out what’s happening on the Children’s Department blog, RRPL Kid’s Depot, where you’ll find even more fun things to try out this Summer!!

Rocky River, are you ready to read together? Us too! Let’s get into it and turn that page

Week Three
Chapters 16-22
1. How would you have responded if you were the one riding by freshly cut wildflowers and weeds, knowing there was milkweed and monarch offspring included in the cuttings?

2. After learning how the monarchs and milkweed have continuously adapted in response to each other, monarchs trying to get around the milkweed plant’s ever-changing defenses, can you predict a final outcome in this tug-of-war?

3. Have you visited the pollinator garden at the library? What kinds of pollinators do you think we’ll be attracting? What would you plant in your own garden to tempt bees or butterflies?

4. Were you also surprised at how long it takes a monarch to grow from an egg to a butterfly? Do you think you’ll be able to spot the monarchs, in all the different stages, moving through Northeast Ohio more easily now? Where do you think it is a good place to start looking?

Programs happening soon:
BIKE SMARTS: FAMILY CYCLING
Tuesday, July 20 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Parents and children are invited to learn all about how to cycle safely together in this family focused bike education program. Helmet tips, child carrier information, and more will be shared. Presented by Bike Cleveland.

Tween Green Team: Bicycles and Butterflies Edition
For students completing grades 4-6
Wednesday, July 21 2:00 to 3:00 pm
Put on your helmet and join us for a bike ride to learn all about butterflies and their special role in our ecosystem! After the ride, take home a kit to make a butterfly feeding station and seeds to start your own butterfly garden.

Discover@RRPL

EmmaLeave a comment

The Sweet Taste of Muscadines

by Pamela Terry

Lila Breedlove, living in Maine, learns that her mother died. (Unfortunately, no one knew she was sick.) Geneva was found by daughter Abbey in the muscadine arbor in the backyard. Lila and brother Henry head to Wesleyan, Georgia for the funeral. Sadly, their mother left instructions stating that she did not want a funeral. Consequently, the three children decide to celebrate the life of their mother by holding a wake at the family home.

Days later Henry and Lila investigate the area where their mother’s body was found and discover a tin of old letters which Geneva must have been looking for. One of the letters was from their father which was dated after he was supposedly killed in Vietnam. In the letter he reveals his feelings for his family and others. He makes the decision to leave. Subsequently, Geneva plays the part of grieving widow for many years with the story she makes up of her husband’s death.

Henry and Lila head to Scotland to try and find their father. They hope to understand the truth behind all the family secrets and reestablish relationships.

This is a tale of family, lifelong secrets, forbidden love and too much time lost.

~Emma

Bicycling with Butterflies Read-alikes: One Book, One City

NicoleLeave a comment

Have you been loving Bicycling with Butterflies by Sara Dykman? Perhaps you finished it already and are looking for something similar to read? As someone who admittedly doesn’t read much non-fiction, this book inspired me to consider adding more nature focused non-fiction titles to my ever growing to-read pile.

Below you’ll find some suggested read-alike titles, including some stellar nature and travel writing.

You can request a title through our online catalog here or check out our digital collection offerings through OverDrive!