They Still Draw Pictures

Geist, Anthony and Peter Carroll. They Still Draw Pictures: Children's Art in Wartime from the Spanish Civil War to Kosovo. 2002. (704.083 Geist.A)

Children in war zones draw pictures that are both familiar and haunting--simple, like those drawn by typical kids, but seared by violence. The pictures reproduced and critiqued in this slender volume reflect worlds of heartbreak.

Geist and Carroll are board members of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade Archives, active in preserving the history of U.S. citizens who fought against General Franco's fascists in the Spanish Civil War. Chicago's own Sol Sender, grandson of the Spanish novelist Ramon Sender, designed the book.  (Jeff B., Reader's Services)

Flight Behavior

Kingsolver, Barbara. Flight Behavior. 2012. (Fiction Kings.B)

With the lovely prose we've come to expect from her, Barbara Kingsolver tells the story of Dellarobia Turnbow, a young housewife in a stifling marriage, living in an even-more-stifling Evangelical community in Appalachia. Dellarobia's ambitions and world outlook begin to expand when climate change (something about which her family and community are deeply skeptical) disrupts the migration of millions of monarch butterflies and deposits them in the Turnbow's mountainous backyard. The preachy tone that sometimes slips into the novel is forgivable thanks to beautiful writing, engaging characters, and a message about climate change that definitely resonates. (Genevieve, Ref.)

Pride and Prejudice

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. 1813. (Fiction Austen.J)

Funny tongue-in-cheek writing that tests the reader's sense of irony.  If you don't laugh, you don't get it. Five daughters must marry in order to avoid penury or worse. The second daughter attracts Mr. Big Money but hates him at first sight.  How will it be resolved?  Savor this and find out.

(Nancy E., North Branch)

Alys, Always

Lane, Harriet. Alys, Always. 2012. (Fiction Lane.H)

Bland nondescript Frances, who leads a bland nondescript life in London, comes across a single car accident and stays with the dying woman until the police arrive.  The family wants to meet with her for "closure" which leads to this mousy woman slowly and slyly insinuating herself into their full, messy and wealthy lives. Is her intrusion in their lives going to be helpful or hurtful?  My discomfort did not stop me from racing to the end.

(Nancy E., North Branch)