ALA Notable Books 2006/2007 - a Book Talk (full text)

Pat L., head of the library's Youth Services department, and an ardent reader, gave a talk on some of her favorite books from the 2006 and 2007 American Library Association's Notable Books lists, as part of our Courtyard Book Chats series. You can visit that list on the BookGuide website by clicking the title of the list below, or use any of the links in this blogged version of the list to connect to these books in our online catalog.

ALA Notable Books - Best of 2006 and 2007
Courtyard Book Chats, June 12, 2007
Pat L.

From the 2007 list:

The Whistling Season
by Ivan Doig
Rural Montana in 1909 is the central character in this humorous novel of life on the prairie. Change moves in with a widow from Minneapolis.

The Road
by Cormac McCarthy
In McCarthy's unrelenting tale, a father and son struggle to survive on their journey through the deadly, rempty winter of a postapocalyptic America.

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic
by Alison Bechdel [741.5 Bec]
Bechdel's memoir, done in graphic-novel form, masterfully illustrated her relationship with her closeted homosexual father.

There Is No Me Without You: One Woman's Odyssey to Rescue Africa's Children
by Melissa Fay Greene [362.73 Gre]
The scope of the AIDS epidemic is illustrated through the heartwarming story of Haregewoin Teferra, a humanitarian who runs an orphanage in Ethiopia.

Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present
by Peter Hessler [951.06 Hes]
An American journalist compellingly contrasts China's past, as revealed through ancient artifacts, with the fiercely competitive spirit of the new generation.

From the 2006 list:

Midnight at the Dragon Cafe
by Judy Fong Bates
In this deeply moving coming-of-age story, a young Chinese girl and her family struggle to adapt to life in a small Ontario community.

Gilead
by Marilynne Robinson
A small-town Iowa minister weaves together issues of conscience and commitment with family secrets in a rich tapestry of American life.

A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City
by Anonymous [940.534 Ano]
This disturbing diary, written after the fall of Berlin, recalls the mass rape perpetrated by Russian forces and the harrowing choices a woman had to make to survive.

Shockwave: Count-down to Hiroshima
by Stephen Walker [940.542 Wal]
History is brought dramatically alive in this moment-by-moment account of the events immediately surrounding the bombing of Hiroshima.