A Few Defining Stories from Olympic Games’ History

As the Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXXII Olympiad) rapidly approaches from Tokyo, Japan, we’re looking back on historic and defining moments throughout Olympics history — stories of hope, perseverance, bravery, and strength. The Summer Olympics begin July 23rd!

 

All of the titles featured here in this booklist we have in our collection or are available via SWAN! To see if an item is available to check out or to place a hold, click on the cover image or button to the right of the description.

Chariots of Fire

DVD

In the class-obsessed and religiously divided United Kingdom of the early 1920s, two determined young runners train for the 1924 Paris Olympics. Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson), a devout Christian born to Scottish missionaries in China, sees running as part of his worship of God’s glory and refuses to train or compete on the Sabbath. Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) overcomes anti-Semitism and class bias, but neglects his beloved sweetheart Sybil (Alice Krige) in his quest.

Race

DVD

This excellent bio-drama based on true events focuses on legendary black athlete Jesse Owens and his inspiring journey to overcome racism at home and abroad, culminating in his triumphant track-and-field performance at the 1936 Berlin

The Best of Men

DVD

The story of one remarkable doctor as he transforms the standards of care for paraplegics. Arriving at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in 1944, Dr. Ludwig Guttmann reinvigorates the lives of his staff and patients : he introduces athletics into the rehabilitation plan of his patients, paralyzed soldiers who have been cast-off and are facing death from neglect. Using sports, his patients learn to build not only physical strength, but self-respect and a sense of fulfillment. Dr. Guttmann established the Stoke Mandeville Games, the sporting event for the disabled that evolved into the Paralympic Games.

Triumph: the untold story of Jesse Owens and Hitler's Olympics

Book by Jeremy Schaap

In 1936, against a backdrop of swastikas flying & storm troopers an African-American son of sharecroppers won a staggering four Olympic gold medals and single-handedly crushed Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy. The story of Jesse Owens at the 1936 games is that of a high-profile athlete giving a performance that transcends sports. But it is also the intimate and complex tale of the courage of one remarkable man.

The boys in the boat: nine Americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

Book by Daniel James Brown

Traces the amazing story of the rowing team that defeated elite rivals at Hitler’s 1936 Berlin Olympics, sharing the experiences of their enigmatic coach, a visionary boat builder, and a homeless teen rower.

Fire on the track: Betty Robinson and the triumph of the early Olympic women

Book by Roseanne Montillo

The inspiring and irresistible true story of the women who broke barriers and finish-line ribbons in pursuit of Olympic Gold.

Want more recommendations?

 

You can check out all of our online booklists (for kids and for adults), or reach out to us! Our staff is ready and willing to make reading, listening, or viewing recommendations to you! Email us at reference@benlib.org or contact us via our online form!

Penny’s Picks: Young Adult Reads

Miss Penny from the Youth Services Department has hand-picked a selection of her current favorite books — and there’s something for a range of ages!

  • All of the titles featured here we have in our collection. To see if an item is available to check out or place on hold, click the cover image or button to the right of the description.

Kate in Waiting

by Becky Albertalli

Contrary to popular belief, best friends Kate Garfield and Anderson Walker are not codependent. Carpooling to and from theater rehearsals? Environmentally sound and efficient. Consulting each other on every single life decision? Basic good judgment. Pining for the same guys from afar? Shared crushes are more fun anyway. But when Kate and Andy’s latest long-distance crush shows up at their school, everything goes off-script. Matt Olsson is talented and sweet, and Kate likes him. She really likes him. The only problem? So does Anderson. Turns out, communal crushes aren’t so fun when real feelings are involved. This one might even bring the curtains down on Kate and Anderson’s friendship.

Perfectly Parvin

by Olivia Abtahi

Parvin Mohammadi has just been dumped–only days after receiving official girlfriend status. Not only is she heartbroken, she’s humiliated. Enter high school heartthrob Matty Fumero, who just might be the smoking-hot cure to all her boy problems. If Parvin can get Matty to ask her to Homecoming, she’s positive it will prove to herself and her ex that she’s girlfriend material after all. There’s just one problem: Matty is definitely too cool for bassoon-playing, frizzy-haired, Cheeto-eating Parvin. Since being herself hasn’t worked for her in the past (see aforementioned dumping), she decides to start acting like the women in her favorite rom-coms. But Parvin discovers that being a rom-com dream girl is much harder than it looks. Also hard? The parent-mandated Farsi lessons. A confusing friendship with a boy who’s definitely not supposed to like her. And hardest of all, the ramifications of the Muslim ban on her family in Iran. Suddenly, being herself has never been more important.

Tokyo Ever After

by Emiko Jean

Izumi Tanaka has never really felt like she fit in―it isn’t easy being Japanese American in her small, mostly white, northern California town. Raised by a single mother, it’s always been Izumi―or Izzy, because “It’s easier this way”―and her mom against the world. But then Izumi discovers a clue to her previously unknown father’s identity…and he’s none other than the Crown Prince of Japan. Which means outspoken, irreverent Izzy is literally a princess. In a whirlwind, Izumi travels to Japan to meet the father she never knew and discover the country she always dreamed of. But being a princess isn’t all ball gowns and tiaras. There are conniving cousins, a hungry press, a scowling but handsome bodyguard who just might be her soulmate, and thousands of years of tradition and customs to learn practically overnight.

Izumi soon finds herself caught between worlds, and between versions of herself―back home, she was never “American” enough, and in Japan, she must prove she’s “Japanese” enough. Will Izumi crumble under the weight of the crown, or will she live out her fairy tale, happily ever after?

Where Secrets Lie

by Eva V. Gibson

Amy Larsen has spent every summer with her cousin Ben and their best friend Teddy in River Run, Kentucky, loving country life and welcoming the break from her intensive ambitions and overbearing mother—until the summer she and Teddy confront the changing feelings and simmering sexual tension growing between them, destroying the threesome’s friendship in a dramatic face-off.

One year later, Amy returns to River Run dreading what she might find. But when Teddy’s sister disappears, Amy, Ben, and Teddy agree to put aside their differences to search for her. As they dig deeper into the dark history of their small town, all three friends must unearth the truths that tie their families to tragedy, cope with their own toxic upbringings and beliefs, and atone for the damage done to each other and themselves.

It’s Kind of a Cheesy Love Story

by Lauren Morrill

After her mother gave birth to her in the bathroom of a local pizzeria, Beck has been given the dubious privilege of having minor fame, free pizza for life, and a guaranteed job when she turns sixteen―a job she unfortunately can’t afford to turn down.

Now she’s stuck with her geeky co-workers instead of taking Instagram-ready shots with her best friends (and her epic crush).

But maybe the pizza people aren’t all bad. Maybe that pizza delivery guy is kind of cute. And maybe there’s a way to make this Bathroom Baby thing work for her. Because when disaster strikes the beloved pizza place that’s started to feel like home, she’s going to need a miracle―one that might even mean bringing her two worlds together.

Indivisible

by Daniel Aleman

Mateo Garcia and his younger sister, Sophie, have been taught to fear one word for as long as they can remember: deportation. Over the past few years, however, the fear that their undocumented immigrant parents could be sent back to Mexico has started to fade. Ma and Pa have been in the United States for so long, they have American-born children, and they’re hard workers and good neighbors. When Mateo returns from school one day to find that his parents have been taken by ICE, he realizes that his family’s worst nightmare has become a reality. With his parents’ fate and his own future hanging in the balance, Mateo must figure out who he is and what he is capable of, even as he’s forced to question what it means to be an American.

Things That Grow

by Meredith Goldstein

When Lori’s Dorothy Parker–loving grandmother dies, Lori’s world is turned upside down. Grandma Sheryl was everything to Lori—and not just because Sheryl raised Lori when Lori’s mom got a job out of town. Now Lori’s mom is insisting on moving her away from her beloved Boston right before senior year. Desperate to stay for as long as possible, Lori insists on honoring her grandmother’s last request before she moves: to scatter Sheryl’s ashes near things that grow.

Along with her uncle Seth and Chris, best friend and love-of-her-life crush, Lori sets off on a road trip to visit her grandmother’s favorite gardens. Dodging forest bathers, scandalized volunteers, and angry homeowners, they come to terms with the shape of life after Grandma Sheryl. Saying goodbye isn’t easy, but Lori might just find a way to move forward surrounded by the people she loves.

List of Ten

by Halli Gomez

Ten: three little letters, one ordinary number. No big deal, right? But for Troy Hayes, a 16-year-old suffering from Tourette Syndrome and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, the number ten dictates his life, forcing him to do everything by its exacting rhythm. Finally, fed up with the daily humiliation, loneliness, and physical pain he endures, Troy writes a list of ten things to do by the tenth anniversary of his diagnosis—culminating in suicide on the actual day. But the process of working his way through the list changes Troy’s life: he becomes friends with Khory, a smart, beautiful classmate who has her own troubled history. Khory unwittingly helps Troy cross off items on his list, moving him ever closer to his grand finale, even as she shows him that life may have more possibilities than he imagined. This is a dark, intense story, but it’s also realistic, hopeful, and deeply authentic.

House of Hollow

by Krystal Sutherland

Iris Hollow and her two older sisters are unquestionably strange. Ever since they disappeared on a suburban street in Scotland as children only to return a month a later with no memory of what happened to them, odd, eerie occurrences seem to follow in their wake. And they’re changing. First, their dark hair turned white. Then, their blue eyes slowly turned black. They have insatiable appetites yet never gain weight. People find them disturbingly intoxicating, unbearably beautiful, and inexplicably dangerous.

But now, ten years later, seventeen-year-old Iris Hollow is doing all she can to fit in and graduate high school on time—something her two famously glamourous globe-trotting older sisters, Grey and Vivi, never managed to do. But when Grey goes missing without a trace, leaving behind bizarre clues as to what might have happened, Iris and Vivi are left to trace her last few days. They aren’t the only ones looking for her though. As they brush against the supernatural they realize that the story they’ve been told about their past is unraveling and the world that returned them seemingly unharmed ten years ago, might just be calling them home.

Fade Away

by E. B. Vickers

At 8:53 pm, thousands of people watched as Jake Foster secured the state title for his basketball team with his signature fadeaway. But by the next morning, he’s disappeared without a trace. Nobody has any idea where he is: not his best friend who knows him better than anyone else, not his ex-girlfriend who may still have feelings for him, not even his little brother who never expected Jake to abandon him. Rumors abound regarding Jake’s whereabouts. Was he abducted? Did he run away to try to take his game to the next level? Or is it something else, something darker–something they should have seen coming?

Told from the points of view of those closest to Jake, this gripping, suspenseful novel reminds us that the people we think we know best are sometimes hiding the most painful secrets.

Somewhere Between Bitter and Sweet

by Laekan Zea Kemp

Penelope Prado has always dreamed of opening her own pastelería next to her father’s restaurant, Nacho’s Tacos. But her mom and dad have different plans—leaving Pen to choose between not disappointing her traditional Mexican American parents or following her own path. When she confesses a secret she’s been keeping, her world is sent into a tailspin. But then she meets a cute new hire at Nacho’s who sees through her hard exterior and asks the questions she’s been too afraid to ask herself. Xander Amaro has been searching for home since he was a little boy. For him, a job at Nacho’s is an opportunity for just that—a chance at a normal life, to settle in at his abuelo’s, and to find the father who left him behind. But when both the restaurant and Xander’s immigrant status are threatened, he will do whatever it takes to protect his newfound family and himself. Together, Pen and Xander must navigate first love and discovering where they belong in order to save the place they all call home. This stunning and poignant novel from debut author Laekan Zea Kemp explores identity, found families and the power of food, all nestled within a courageous and intensely loyal Chicanx community.

Want more recommendations?

 

You can check out all of our online booklists (for kids and for adults), or reach out to us! Our staff is ready and willing to make reading, listening, or viewing recommendations to you! Email us at reference@benlib.org or contact us via our online form!

Prawdziwe historie

Masz dość czytania opowiadań? To jest lista książek o prawdziwych wydarzeniach i ludziach!

Wszystkie tytuły z tej listy książek mamy w naszej kolekcji! Aby sprawdzić, czy dany przedmiot jest dostępny do wypisania lub wstrzymania, kliknij zdjęcie okładki lub przycisk po prawej stronie opisu.

Franciszek : papież, który się uśmiecha

“Już od pierwszej chwili gdy pojawił się na najważniejszym balkonie na placu Świętego Piotra – Jego proste i szczere pozdrowienie „dobry wieczór” trafiło do serc milionów wiernych. Choć od tamtego czasu minęło wiele miesięcy – entuzjazm wobec Jego osoby nie słabnie – a wręcz umacnia się, docierając również do niewierzących. To opowieść o Papieżu, który odrzuca wszelki zbytek i blichtr, decydując się na skromne mieszkanie, by nie stracić bezpośredniego kontaktu z wiernymi i który swoim przykładem dał początek reformie Kościoła. To wielki Papież – wysłaniec Ewangelii, który wciąż jednak pozostaje skromnym proboszczem, przyjmując w darze stare renault 4 od pewnego księdza z prowincjonalnej parafii. To w końcu Papież, który się uśmiecha.”–Lubimyczytac.pl

Droga do wolnosci: rdzen nauk buddyzmu tybetanskiego

“Droga do wolnosci” Dalajlamy, otwierająca jego autorską serię \”Ścieżka ku oswieceniu\”, to subtelny i nacechowany wymowną głębią wykład nauk i pouczeń Buddy. Przebywający na uchodźstwie duchowy i polityczny przywódca Tybetu z niezrównaną prostotą i wdziękiem odkrywa istotę buddyzmu tybetańskiego zarówno przed nowicjuszami, jak i oddanymi wyznawcami.Dzieli się spokojnymi, prostymi refleksjami na temat smierci, reinkarnacji, karmy, Czterech Szlachetnych Prawd oraz kultywowania ideału bodhisattwy i dobrych uczynków: szczeroci, cierpliwosci, wysiłku, koncentracji i mądrosci. — nakanapie.pl

Becoming : moja historia

Michelle Obama opisuje doświadczenia, które ją ukształtowały– od dzieciństwa w południowym Chicago, przez lata pracy na kierowniczym stanowisku, kiedy godziła macierzyństwo z karierą, aż do czasu spędzonego w najsłynniejszym domu świata. Pisząc z niebywałą szczerością, odwagą i humorem, odkrywa kulisy swojego życia rodzinnego. Opisuje, jak Obamowie znaleźli się w centrum zainteresowania światowych mediów i jak wyglądało ich życie w Białym Domu przez osiem kluczowych lat, kiedy poznawała Amerykę, zaś Ameryka poznawała ją. To zaskakująco intymny rozrachunek życia kobiety wrażliwej i stanowczej, która konsekwentnie odmawiała spełniania oczekiwań innych i której historia zachęca, by pójść w jej ślady.

W szoku : moja droga od lekarki do pacjentki - cała prawda o służbie zdrowia

Wstrząsająca historia lekarki, która została pacjentką i odkryła skalę lekarskiej znieczulicy. Czego lekarze nam nie mówią? Czy zawsze podają nam właściwe leki? Czy przejmują się naszym stanem? Co tak naprawdę myślą o nas – pacjentach?

Lion : droga do domu

Piecioletni Saroo zostaje sam na dworcu kolejowym Szukajac starszego brata wsiada do przypadkowego pociagu i zmeczonyS zasypia Budzi sie poltora tysiaca kilometrow od domu w pieciomilionowej Kalkucie Nie pamieta skad pochodzi nie wie jak wrocic Walczy o przetrwanie w jednym z najbardziej przerazajacych miast swiata Spi na brudnych ulicach ucieka przed gangami zebrakow Adoptowany trafia do dalekiej Australii Mija dwadziescia piec lat Mysl o odnalezieniu prawdziwej rodziny nie daje Saroo spokoju Ma jednak tylko okruchy wspomnien I technologie XXI wieku ktora przyjdzie mu z pomoca

Sprzedana

“Kiedy Sophie Hayes spotkał tajemniczego nieznajomego bledi i uroczy, wiedziała chciał zmienić jej life– ale nie miała pojęcia, jak dużo. Na początku to było typowe wicher romans. Ale pewnego dnia bledi powiedziała Sophie, że miłość zawsze przychodzi na cena. bledi oszukane Sophie do podróży do Włoch, gdzie przymusowe ją sprzedaje swoje ciało na ulicach, aby pomóc mu spłacić duże zadłużenie. Kiedy odmówiła, bił ją, ukradł jej paszport i zamknął drzwi. Przerażona i zawstydzony Zofia pracowała niebezpieczne włoskie ulice bez reszty, skoro aż 30 klientów w nocy. była całkowicie na łasce bledi za żywności, odzieży i schronienia. bez pieniędzy, bez przyjaciół i bez rodziny, była w pułapce. Ale Sophie znaleźć siłę, by iść naprzód, przywiązanie do życia przez pojedynczą nić nadziei. że w jakiś sposób że ona znaleźć sposób na ucieczkę “

Małżeństwa królewskie. Jagiellonowie

Barwnie napisane dzieje miłości małżeństw dynastii Jagiellonów, wywodzącej się od Władysława II Jagiełły, wielkiego księcia litewskiego i króla Polski. W szczytowym okresie Jagiellonowie byli jedną z najpotężniejszych dynastii w Europie i w państwach, których sprawowali władzę, nastąpił też rozkwit kulturalny i gospodarczy.

Ameryka.pl : opowieści o polakach w USA

Każdy z nich miał własny American dream. Każdy musiał wziąć los w swoje ręce i ruszyć na podbój Dzikiego Zachodu naszych czasów. Uciekinierzy, wariaci, niespokojne dusze– Polacy, którzy w pogoni za marzeniami lub uciekając przed dotychczasowym życiem, wyjechali do Stanów. By spotkać bohaterów tej książki, autorka pokonała tysiące kilometrów amerykańskich dróg. Poznała Sebka, od dziesięciu lat szukającego żony w kastowym środowisku Chicago, gdzie obywatelstwo jest ważniejsze od miłości. Spotkała Marka, niegdyś króla disco polo, obecnie bezdomnego przesiadującego w nowojorskim Starbucksie. Rozmawiała z genialną prawniczką Olą, tropiącą największe błędy amerykańskiego sądownictwa. Odwiedziła właściciela najmodniejszej nowojorskiej restauracji, który w latach 80. przybył tu z Lublina z jednym plecakiem– a dziś, jak głoszą plotki, zdarza mu się odmówić stolika Seanowi Pennowi.

Want more recommendations?

 

You can check out all of our online booklists (for kids and for adults), or reach out to us! Our staff is ready and willing to make reading, listening, or viewing recommendations to you! Email us at reference@benlib.org or contact us via our online form!

Juneteenth: Reads for Everyone

On Thursday, June 17, 2021, the “Juneteenth National Independence Day Act” was signed into law, designating Juneteenth National Independence Day (June 19) as a federal public holiday.

Juneteenth (a combination of “June” and “nineteenth”) commemorates the day in 1865 when slaves in Galveston, Texas finally learned that the Emancipation Proclamation had declared them free more than two years earlier. Annual celebrations of the occasion—parades, fireworks, cookouts, community gatherings, dances—spread beyond Texas as African Americans migrated across the country and traditions were passed on from family to family and community to community.

The books below, both fiction and nonfiction and for a a variety of ages, explore the Juneteenth holiday directly or take place during the joyous, yet tumultuous time period as slavery officially ended and freed Black people faced new forms of economic, legal, and societal barriers rooted in racism.

  • To see if an item is available to check out or place on hold, click the cover image or button to the right of the description

Kids

Juneteenth for Mazie

by Floyd Cooper

Little Mazie wants the freedom to stay up late, but her father explains what freedom really means in the story of Juneteenth, and how her ancestors celebrated their true freedom.

 

Juneteenth: Traditions and Celebrations

by Lisa A. Crayton

Juneteenth celebrates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States. Across the country, people observe the day with speeches, poetry readings, festivals, picnics, street fairs, and family reunions. It is a day for people to come together and continue working toward equality. Readers will discover how a shared holiday can have multiple traditions and be celebrated in all sorts of ways.

Juneteenth

by Drew Nelson

June 19th, 1865, began as another hot day in Texas. Enslaved African Americans worked in fields, in barns, and in the homes of the white people who owned them. Then a message arrived. Freedom! Slavery had ended! The Civil War had actually ended in April. It took two months for word to reach Texas. Still the joy of that amazing day has never been forgotten. Every year, people all over the United States come together on June 19th to celebrate the end of slavery. Join in the celebration of Juneteenth, a day to remember and honor freedom for all people.

The Story of Juneteenth: An Interactive History Adventure

by Steven Otfinoski

The Emancipation Proclamation and the Civil War have brought an official end to slavery, yet some Southern slave owners are refusing to comply. The road to freedom is still long and hard for many African Americans, but you’re not giving up. Will you: Overcome obstacles as you make your way north from Texas, looking to begin a new life of freedom? Seek out your family, from whom you were separated as a child, after emancipation? Fight back when you take work as an apprentice but find that you’re still treated as a slave? YOU CHOOSE offers multiple perspectives on history, supporting Common Core reading standards and providing readers a front-row seat to the past.

Teens

Come Juneteenth

by Ann Rinaldi

Although born a slave to Luli’s family, Goose feels loved and respected by the family to which she is attached, but when Union soldiers arrive and tell her that slavery ended more than two years prior, Goose feels betrayed like never before and runs away to experience real freedom for the first time in her life.

A Sitting in St. James

by Rita Williams-Garcia

1860, Louisiana. After serving as mistress of Le Petit Cottage for more than six decades, Madame Sylvie Guilbert has decided, in spite of her family’s objections, to sit for a portrait.

While Madame plots her last hurrah, stories that span generations—from the big house to out in the fields—of routine horrors, secrets buried as deep as the family fortune, and the tangled bonds of descendants and enslaved, come to light to reveal a true portrait of the Guilberts.

This astonishing novel from three-time National Book Award finalist Rita Williams-Garcia about the interwoven lives of those bound to a plantation in antebellum America is an epic masterwork—empathetic, brutal, and entirely human—and essential reading for both teens and adults grappling with the long history of American racism.

Daughters of Jubilation

by Kara Lee Corthron

In the Jim Crow South, white supremacy reigns and tensions are high. But Evalene Deschamps has other things to worry about. She has two little sisters to look after, an overworked single mother, and a longtime crush who is finally making a move.

On top of all that, Evvie’s magic abilities are growing stronger by the day. Her family calls it jubilation—a gift passed down from generations of black women since the time of slavery. And as Evvie’s talents waken, something dark comes loose and threatens to resurface…

And when the demons of Evvie’s past finally shake free, she must embrace her mighty lineage, and summon the power that lies within her.

Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You

by Jason Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi

The construct of race has always been used to gain and keep power, to create dynamics that separate and silence. This remarkable reimagining of Dr. Ibram X. Kendi’s National Book Award-winning Stamped from the Beginning reveals the history of racist ideas in America, and inspires hope for an antiracist future. It takes you on a race journey from then to now, shows you why we feel how we feel, and why the poison of racism lingers. It also proves that while racist ideas have always been easy to fabricate and distribute, they can also be discredited.

Through a gripping, fast-paced, and energizing narrative written by beloved award-winner Jason Reynolds, this book shines a light on the many insidious forms of racist ideas–and on ways readers can identify and stamp out racist thoughts in their daily lives.

Adults

On Juneteenth

by Annette Gordon-Reed

Combining personal anecdotes with poignant facts gleaned from the annals of American history, Gordon-Reed shows how, from the earliest presence of Black people in Texas to the day in Galveston on June 19, 1865, when Major General Gordon Granger announced the end of legalized slavery in the state, African Americans played an integral role in the Texas story. Reworking the traditional “Alamo” framework, she powerfully demonstrates, among other things, that the slave- and race-based economy not only defined the fractious era of Texas independence but precipitated the Mexican-American War and, indeed, the Civil War itself.

Juneteenth

by Ralph Ellison

From the author of bestselling Invisible Man—the classic novel of African-American experience—this long-awaited second novel tells an evocative tale of a prodigal of the twentieth century. Brilliantly crafted, moving, and wise, Juneteenth is the work of an American master.

“Tell me what happened while there’s still time,” demands the dying Senator Adam Sunraider to the itinerate preacher whom he calls Daddy Hickman. As a young man, Sunraider was Bliss, an orphan taken in by Hickman and raised to be a preacher like himself. Bliss’s history encompasses the joys of young southern boyhood; bucolic days as a filmmaker, lovemaking in a field in the Oklahoma sun. And behind it all lies a mystery: how did this chosen child become the man who would deny everything to achieve his goals?

The Underground Railroad

by Colson Whitehead

Cora is a slave on a cotton plantation in Georgia. An outcast even among her fellow Africans, she is on the cusp of womanhood—where greater pain awaits. And so when Caesar, a slave who has recently arrived from Virginia, urges her to join him on the Underground Railroad, she seizes the opportunity and escapes with him.

In Colson Whitehead’s ingenious conception, the Underground Railroad is no mere metaphor: engineers and conductors operate a secret network of actual tracks and tunnels beneath the Southern soil. Cora embarks on a harrowing flight from one state to the next, encountering, like Gulliver, strange yet familiar iterations of her own world at each stop.

Beloved

by Toni Morrison

Sethe, its protagonist, was born a slave and escaped to Ohio, but eighteen years later she is still not free. She has too many memories of Sweet Home, the beautiful farm where so many hideous things happened. And Sethe’s new home is haunted by the ghost of her baby, who died nameless and whose tombstone is engraved with a single word: Beloved. Filled with bitter poetry and suspense as taut as a rope, Beloved is a towering achievement.

Want more recommendations?

 

You can check out all of our online booklists (for kids and for adults), or reach out to us! Our staff is ready and willing to make reading, listening, or viewing recommendations to you! Email us at reference@benlib.org or contact us via our online form!

June is Zoo & Aquarium Month!

Celebrate National Zoo and Aquarium Month with some great reads from our youth non-fiction collection. (And remember, you can check out a pass to the Brookfield Zoo through the library’s Museum Adventure Pass program!)

National Zoo and Aquarium Month is celebrated annually to honor the role of zoos and aquariums in conservation, education, recreation, and research. It is also intended to promote and encourage more individuals to visit zoos and aquariums.

  • All of the titles featured here we have in our collection. To see if an item is available to check out or place on hold, click the cover image or button to the right of the description.

My Visit to the Aquarium

by Aliki

Come along on a trip to a wonderful place where you can visit aquatic creatures from all over the world-all in one very special day!

My Visit to the Zoo

by Aliki

Meet your favorite animals as a boy and his cousin visit the zoo and see how animals really live in the wild —from the tropical rain forests to the African plains.

Baby Dolphin's First Swim

by American Museum of Natural History

Meet a baby dolphin and see how he spends his first day in the ocean! This picture book follows a dolphin from birth as he swims with his mom; learns to eat, jump, and play with his pod; and even escapes a shark.

Ivan

by Katherine Applegate

The true story of Ivan, known as the Shopping Mall Gorilla, who lived alone in a small cage for almost 30 years before being relocated to the gorilla habitat at ZooAtlanta.

Tiger Time

by Kama Einhorn

Go inside Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado, where you will meet a tiger named Kamal, one of 500 animals who has been rescued and now lives in safety.

Jack Hanna's Wild But True

by Jack Hanna

Jack Hanna offers 200 really delightful facts and anecdotes about wild animals. Stories include animal friends, endangered animals, hilarious stories, surprising animal species, and crazy, unbelievable animal stories that will warm your heart.

First Big Book of the Ocean

by Catherine D. Hughes

National Geographic Kids First Big Book of the Ocean is an adorable animal reference that includes the sea’s high-interest animals, such as dolphins, sharks, sea otters, and penguins, and introduces kids to some of its lesser-known creatures.

I Wish I Was a Lion

by Sandra Markle

Dig into the lives of lions in this beginning reader with full-color photos of lions in the wild! What if you wished you were a lion? And then you became one? Could you eat like a lion? Sleep like a lion? Live in a lion family? And would you want to? Find out!

Giraffes

by Laura Marsh

Explore the African savanna with giraffes in this exciting National Geographic Kids reader. Packed with beautiful and engaging photos, kids will learn all about these amazing animals.

Pierre the Penguin

by Jean Marzollo

Rhyming text and colorful illustrations describe the efforts of aquatic biologist Pam to help Pierre, an African penguin living at the California Academy of Sciences, when he begins to go bald.

Finding Winnie

by Lindsay Mattick

A woman tells her young son the true story of how his great-great-grandfather, Captain Harry Colebourn, rescued and learned to love a bear cub that he named Winnie in 1914 as he was on his way to take care of soldiers’ horses during World War I. He finally brings her to the London Zoo, where Winnie made another new friend: a real boy named Christopher Robin.

A Trip to the Zoo

by Karen Wallace

Join Billy and Matt for a day at the zoo. It’s a chance to see and learn about all kinds of animals—from a hungry giraffe to performing sea lions!

Want more recommendations?

 

You can check out all of our online booklists (for kids and for adults), or reach out to us! Our staff is ready and willing to make reading, listening, or viewing recommendations to you! Email us at reference@benlib.org or contact us via our online form!

Reads for Fans of the PBS series “World on Fire”

Love World on Fire on PBS? World on Fire is an adrenalized, emotionally gripping and resonant World War II drama that follows the intertwining fates of ordinary people in five countries as they grapple with the effects of the war on their everyday lives. 

 

All of the titles featured here in this booklist we have in our collection or are available via SWAN! To see if an item is available to check out or to place a hold, click on the cover image or button to the right of the description.

The Only Woman in the Room

by Marie Benedict

Marie Benedict’s novel tells the incredible true story of actress and inventor Austrian born Hedy Lamarr. Leaving an abusive husband in 1937 she fled to Paris and then the United States where she became an acclaimed film actress and inventor of a revolutionary radio guidance system.

Resistance Women

by Jennifer Chiaverini

Resistance Women tells the true story of Mildred Fish-Harnack, who after marrying a German economist, moved to Germany in 1929.  Not willing to be bystanders to the actions of the Nazi party, Mildred and her husband create the Red Orchestra, a group determined to bring down Hitler’s regime from within.

Everyone Brave is Forgiven

by Chris Cleave

This war drama, loosely based on Cleave’s grandparents’ story of love and conflicting loyalties, tells the story of three friends Mary, Tom and Alistair living in London during the Blitz.

The Ragged Edge of Night

by Olivia Hawker

This powerful story of a Franciscan friar, turned husband, turned resistance leader is an emotionally gripping, beautifully written historical novel about hope, redemption, and one man’s search for light during the darkest times of World War II.

We Were the Lucky Ones

by Georgia Hunter

Based on an inspiring true story, this novel follows the saga of the Kurc family during World War II. Three generations are torn from their home in the wake of the Nazi invasion and they, despite overwhelming hardships, will stop at nothing to be reunited.

The Lost Girls of Paris

by Pam Jenoff

When Grace Healey finds an abandoned suitcase in Grand Central Station containing the photos of twelve female secret agents during the war, she becomes obsessed with learning their stories and fates.

The Tattooist of Auschwitz

by Heather Morris

Based on the true story of the Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor, Slovakian Jew Lale Sokolov.  Fluent in several languages, Lale is made the infamous camp’s tattooist, a position he uses to aid his fellow prisoners. He finds love and vows to survive the horrific conditions of the camp.

The Huntress

by Kate Quinn

In this exciting story, brave Russian bomber pilot Nina Markova and British journalist Ian Graham unite to track down The Huntress one of the most vicious murderers in the Nazi party.

Beneath a Scarlet Sky

by Mark Sullivan

Despite Italian teenager Pino Lella’s intention to never become involved in war, he is drawn in after the destruction of his home in Milan. Beginning by assisting Jewish refugees escape through the Alps, Pino is later forced to enlist in the German army and soon takes on the dangerous mission of smuggling information to the Allies.

Want more recommendations?

 

You can check out all of our online booklists (for kids and for adults), or reach out to us! Our staff is ready and willing to make reading, listening, or viewing recommendations to you! Email us at reference@benlib.org or contact us via our online form!

Remembering Eric Carle

Eric Carle, beloved artist, illustrator, and writer, passed away on May 23, 2021. Eric was 91.

Eric Carle is renowned for his multi-dimensional practice, spanning a large body of fine art works in collage, painting, works on paper and fabric, and sculpture; theater and furniture design; and the stories he envisioned in over 70 brilliantly illustrated and designed children’s picture books. The books Eric created across more than 5 decades and include timeless classics such as Do You Want to Be My Friend? (1971), The Grouchy Ladybug (1977), Papa, Please Get the Moon for Me (1986), “Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” said the Sloth (2002), The Very Quiet Cricket (2017), and so many more. His best-known work, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, has been translated into over 70 languages and shared around the world since its publication in 1969.

  • All of the titles featured here we have in our collection. To see if an item is available to check out or place on hold, click the cover image or button to the right of the description.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

Carle’s classic tale of a voracious caterpillar who eats his way through the days of the week and then turns into a beautiful butterfly.

The Grouchy Lady Bug

As children follow the Grouchy Ladybug on her journey, they will learn the important concepts of time, size, and shape, as well as the benefits of friendship and good manners. For generations, The Grouchy Ladybug has delighted readers of all ages with the story of a bad-tempered bug who won’t say “please” or “thank you,” won’t share, and thinks she is bigger and better than anyone else. Readers will love how this testy ladybug introduces them to many new animals and learns that maybe being grouchy isn’t always the best option.

Hello Red Fox

It’s Little Frog’s birthday, and Mama Frog gets a big surprise when the guests show up for his party—all the animals are the wrong color! Little Frog tells her she’s not looking long enough, and he’s right.

Does A Kangaroo have a Mother, Too?

Does a Kangaroo Have a Mother, Too? answers curious kids who wonder whether lions, bears, and monkeys have mothers, too. Bright collage illustrations and simple text reinforce the theme that everyone has a mother, and every mother loves her child. Meet the little joey bouncing in mother kangaroo’s pouch. Watch little cubs prance around mother lion. Swim with a baby dolphin calf in the deep blue sea. Eric Carle’s classic, colorful collages of baby animals and their mothers will delight and comfort young readers.

The Very Quiet Cricket

One day, a little cricket is born and meets a big cricket who chirps his welcome. But the little cricket cannot make a sound. The cricket meets many insects, but it isn’t until he meets a beautiful female cricket that he can finally chirp “hello!”

From Head to Toe

Giraffes can bend their necks, monkeys can wave their hands, and donkeys can kick their legs. And so can you! Through Carle’s vibrant collages and simple instructions, children will learn the importance of listening, exercising, and taking on a new challenge. Join the giraffes, monkeys, donkeys, seals, and more for a frolicking, fun adventure!

"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly", Said the Sloth

Slowly, slowly, slowly . . . that’s the way the sloth moves. Slowly, it eats and then, slowly, it falls asleep. “What strange kind of creature is this?” the other animals wonder. Why doesn’t it run or fly or play or hunt like the rest of us? “Why are you so slow?” the howler monkey inquires. But the sloth doesn’t answer any questions until the jaguar asks, “Why are you so lazy?”

Anyone who has ever felt too busy will appreciate the sloth’s peaceful lifestyle and realize that it’s okay to take time to enjoy life. Eric Carle’ s dazzling collage illustrations introduce readers to the exotic beauty of the Amazon rain forest and the many unusual animals living there.

The Very Lonely Firefly

When a very lonely firefly goes out into the night searching for other fireflies, it sees a lantern, a candle, and the eyes of a dog, cat, and owl all glowing in the darkness. It even sees a surprise celebration of light. But it is not until it discovers other fireflies that it finds exactly what it’s looking for–a surprise sure to bring smiles to anyone who turn the final page!

Mister Seahorse

When Mrs. Seahorse lays her eggs, she does it on Mr. Seahorse’s belly! She knows he will take good care of them. While he swims waiting for the eggs to hatch, he meets other underwater fathers caring for their babies.

House for Hermit Crab

Join Hermit Crab as he learns an important lesson about growing up: For every friend and adventure left behind, there are new ones just ahead!

Want more recommendations?

 

You can check out all of our online booklists (for kids and for adults), or reach out to us! Our staff is ready and willing to make reading, listening, or viewing recommendations to you! Email us at reference@benlib.org or contact us via our online form!

Rock & Roll Fiction

All of the titles featured here in this booklist we have in our collection! To see if an item is available to check out or to place a hold, click on the cover image or button to the right of the description.

Daisy Jones & The Six

by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Daisy is a girl coming of age in L.A. in the late sixties, sneaking into clubs on the Sunset Strip, sleeping with rock stars, and dreaming of singing at the Whisky a Go Go. The sex and drugs are thrilling, but it’s the rock ’n’ roll she loves most. By the time she’s twenty, her voice is getting noticed, and she has the kind of heedless beauty that makes people do crazy things. Also getting noticed is The Six, a band led by the brooding Billy Dunne. On the eve of their first tour, his girlfriend Camila finds out she’s pregnant, and with the pressure of impending fatherhood and fame, Billy goes a little wild on the road. Daisy and Billy cross paths when a producer realizes that the key to supercharged success is to put the two together. What happens next will become the stuff of legend.

Utopia Avenue

by David Mitchell

Utopia Avenue is the strangest British band you’ve never heard of. Emerging from London’s psychedelic scene in 1967, and fronted by folk singer Elf Holloway, blues bassist Dean Moss and guitar virtuoso Jasper de Zoet, Utopia Avenue embarked on a meteoric journey from the seedy clubs of Soho, a TV debut on Top of the Pops, the cusp of chart success, glory in Amsterdam, prison in Rome, and a fateful American sojourn in the Chelsea Hotel, Laurel Canyon, and San Francisco during the autumn of ’68.

David Mitchell’s kaleidoscopic novel tells the unexpurgated story of Utopia Avenue’s turbulent life and times; of fame’s Faustian pact and stardom’s wobbly ladder; of the families we choose and the ones we don’t; of voices in the head, and the truths and lies they whisper; of music, madness, and idealism. Can we really change the world, or does the world change us?

A Song for a New Day

by Sarah Pinsker

In the Before, when the government didn’t prohibit large public gatherings, Luce Cannon was on top of the world. One of her songs had just taken off and she was on her way to becoming a star. Now, in the After, terror attacks and deadly viruses have led the government to ban concerts, and Luce’s connection to the world–her music, her purpose—is closed off forever. She does what she has to do: she performs in illegal concerts to a small but passionate community, always evading the law.

Rosemary Laws barely remembers the Before times. She spends her days in Hoodspace, helping customers order all of their goods online for drone delivery—no physical contact with humans needed. By lucky chance, she finds a new job and a new calling: discover amazing musicians and bring their concerts to everyone via virtual reality. The only catch is that she’ll have to do something she’s never done before and go out in public. Find the illegal concerts and bring musicians into the limelight they deserve. But when she sees how the world could actually be, that won’t be enough.

Loudmouth

by Robert Duncan

Thomas Ransom, born to a severely dysfunctional southern family transplanted to New York City, is left to his own devices by neglectful parents, and spends his childhood shadowing his criminally-inclined half-brother and roaming the city with hard-drinking teenage pals. He eventually finds an outlet as the flamboyant singer of a downtown rock band, and later as the young editor of the Detroit-based magazine that invented punk, only to return to New York, at the height of the 1970s bacchanal, and crash. But it isn’t music that saves him. It’s a soft-spoken painter, who turns out to be the most outrageous character of all. With echoes of Almost Famous and Just Kids, Loudmouth tracks an impassioned musician and writer out among the punks, hippies, and wild geniuses of rock when music was the center of the world.

A Visit from the Goon Squad

by Jennifer Egan

Bennie is an aging former punk rocker and record executive. Sasha is the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Here Jennifer Egan brilliantly reveals their pasts, along with the inner lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs. With music pulsing on every page, A Visit from the Goon Squad is a startling, exhilarating novel of self-destruction and redemption.

  • National Bestseller
  • National Book Critics Circle Award Winner
  • PEN/Faulkner Award Finalist
  • New York Times Book Review Best Book

Destroy All Monsters: The Last Rock Novel

by Jeff Jackson

An epidemic of violence is sweeping the country: musicians are being murdered onstage in the middle of their sets by members of their audience. Are these random copycat killings, or is something more sinister at work? Has music itself become corrupted in a culture where everything is available, everybody is a “creative,” and attention spans have dwindled to nothing?

With its cast of ambitious bands, yearning fans, and enigmatic killers, Destroy All Monsters tells a haunted and romantic story of overdue endings and unlikely beginnings that will resonate with anybody who’s ever loved rock and roll.

Like a classic vinyl single, Destroy All Monsters has two sides, which can be read in either order. At the heart of Side A, “My Dark Ages,” is Xenie, a young woman who is repulsed by the violence of the epidemic but who still finds herself drawn deeper into the mystery. Side B, “Kill City,” follows an alternate history, featuring familiar characters in surprising roles, and burrows deeper into the methods and motivations of the murderers.

Hairstyles of the Damned

by Joe Meno

Hairstyles of the Damned is an honest, true-life depiction of growing up punk on Chicago’s south side: a study in the demons of racial intolerance, Catholic school conformism, and class repression. It is the story of the riotous exploits of Brian, a high school burnout, and his best friend, Gretchen, a punk rock girl fond of brawling. Based on the actual events surrounding a Chicago high school’s segregated prom, this work of fiction unflinchingly pursues the truth in discovering what it means to be your own person.

How to Build a Girl

by Caitlin Moran

What do you do in your teenage years when you realize what your parents taught you wasn’t enough? You must go out and find books and poetry and pop songs and bad heroes—and build yourself.

It’s 1990. Johanna Morrigan, fourteen, has shamed herself so badly on local TV that she decides that there’s no point in being Johanna anymore and reinvents herself as Dolly Wilde—fast-talking, hard-drinking Gothic hero and full-time Lady Sex Adventurer. She will save her poverty-stricken Bohemian family by becoming a writer—like Jo in Little Women, or the Bröntes—but without the dying young bit.

By sixteen, she’s smoking cigarettes, getting drunk and working for a music paper. She’s writing pornographic letters to rock-stars, having all the kinds of sex with all kinds of men, and eviscerating bands in reviews of 600 words or less.

But what happens when Johanna realizes she’s built Dolly with a fatal flaw? Is a box full of records, a wall full of posters, and a head full of paperbacks, enough to build a girl after all?

Imagine The Bell Jar written by Rizzo from Grease. How to Build a Girl is a funny, poignant, and heartbreakingly evocative story of self-discovery and invention, as only Caitlin Moran could tell it.

Want more recommendations?

 

You can check out all of our online booklists (for kids and for adults), or reach out to us! Our staff is ready and willing to make reading, listening, or viewing recommendations to you! Email us at reference@benlib.org or contact us via our online form!

What to read after you’ve watched Shadow and Bone on Netflix | YA High Fantasy

Netflix’s highly anticipated fantasy series Shadow and Bone, adapted from Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse books, draws fans into the world of Ravka, a country populated with element-manipulating powers and divided by a region of tangible darkness filled with monsters called the Shadow Fold. 

Loving season one so far? Check out these Young Adult fantasy read-alikes!

  • All of the titles featured here we have in our collection. To see if an item is available to check out or place on hold, click the cover image or button to the right of the description.

Shadow and Bone

by Leigh Bardugo

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee. Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his lifea power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free.  

Truthwitch

by Susan Dennard

On a continent ruled by three empires, some are born with a ‘witchery,’ a magical skill that sets them apart from others. In the Witchlands, there are almost as many types of magic as there are ways to get in troubleas two desperate young women know all too well. 

Throne of Glass

by Sarah J. Maas

After she has served a year of hard labor in the salt mines of Endovier for her crimes, Crown Prince Dorian offers eighteen-year-old assassin Celaena Sardothien her freedom on the condition that she act as his champion in a competition to find a new royal assassin. 

The Young Elites

by Marie Lu

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. A decade ago, the deadly illness swept through her nation. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites. 

There Will Come a Darkness

by Katy Rose Pool

For generations the Seven Prophets guided humanity with their visions, ending wars and uniting nations–until the day they vanished, leaving behind the promise of a looming Age of Darkness and the birth of a Prophet who could be the world’s salvation…or the cause of its destruction. 

Dance of Thieves

by Mary E. Pearson

A formidable outlaw family that claims to be the first among nations. A son destined to lead, thrust suddenly into power. Three fierce young women of the Rahtan, the queen’s premier guard. A legendary street thief leading a mission, determined to prove herself. A dark secret that is a threat to the entire continent. A dark secret that is a threat to the entire continent. When outlaw leader meets reformed thief, a cat-and-mouse game of false moves ensues, bringing them intimately together in a battle that may cost them their livesand their hearts. 

Falling Kingdoms

by Morgan Rhodes

In the three kingdoms of Mytica, magic has long been forgotten. And while hard-won peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest now simmers below the surface. As the rulers of each kingdom grapple for power, the lives of their subjects are brutally transformed…and four key players, royals and rebels alike, find their fates forever intertwined. Cleo, Jonas, Lucia, and Magnus are caught in a dizzying world of treacherous betrayals, shocking murders, secret alliances, and even unforeseen love. 

Children of Blood and Bone

by Tomi Adeyemi

Seventeen-year-old Zélie, her older brother Tzain, and rogue princess Amari fight to restore magic to the land and activate a new generation of magi, but they are ruthlessly pursued by the crown prince, who believes the return of magic will mean the end of the monarchy.

The Belles

by Dhonielle Clayton

In a world where Beauty is a commodity only a few control, one Belle will learn the dark secrets behind her powers, and rise up to change the world.

Want more recommendations?

 

You can check out all of our online booklists (for kids and for adults), or reach out to us! Our staff is ready and willing to make reading, listening, or viewing recommendations to you! Email us at reference@benlib.org or contact us via our online form!

Celebrating Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month

May is Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month! This is the celebration and recognition of the contributions and influence of Asian Americans and Pacific Islander Americans to the history, culture, and achievements of the United States.

The month of May was officially designated as Asian Pacific American Heritage Month by the U.S. Congress in 1992. Learn more at asianpacificheritage.gov.

Scroll through the titles below to explore a booklist compiled by our staff that honors AAPI characters, authors, history, and culture! There’s something for all age groups — picture books, graphic novels, fiction, and non-fiction.

Fiction | Adult

Non-Fiction | Adult

Picture Books | Kids

Graphic Novels | Youth and Teens

Fiction | Teens

Fiction | Youth

You can find all of the titles above available in either our collection via the online catalog, or through our digital resources, OverDrive and Axis360.