Patch Picks: Best Reads

This week, “Patch Picks” five books for you and your child to read together. But you don’t have to take our word for it, we have enlisted the help of three librarians from the 

Helen’s Eyes by Marfe Delano Ferguson.  Helen’s Eyes is about the epic story of Annie Sullivan's perseverance and triumph in teaching Helen Keller. This pioneering teacher overcame disability and misfortune before achieving her success as one of the most famous educators of all time. Juvenile biography. Author Marfe Delano Ferguson moved to Alexandria after she married. Recommended by Cathy Noonan, Youth Services Manager.  

Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus.  Shipwrecks, whaling, a search for home and a delightful exploration of cultures create a swashbuckling adventure. This historical novel is based on the true story of Manjiro (later John Mung), the young fisherman believed to be the first Japanese person to visit America, who against all odds, becomes a samurai.  Young adult fiction. Recommended by Ellen Abramson, Youth Services Librarian. 

All the Seasons of the Year by Deborah Lee Rose. A rhyming story about chronicles a mother cat’s life-long love for her kitten.  Ex.: “I love you when the winter blows..when wind chills our faces, fingers, toes.” Recommended by Ellen Abramson, Youth Services Librarian.

One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia.  In 1968 when three very proper sisters are sent from Brooklyn to Oakland, CA to visit the mother they barely remember, they find she resents their intrusion in her life.  All but ignoring them, she sends them to a neighborhood Black Panther summer camp. Newbery Honor Book, Coretta Scott King Award 2011. Juvenile fiction. Recommended by Ellen Abramson, Youth Services Librarian.

Three Hands in the Fountain by Lindsey Davis.  You know the expression, In vino, Veritas.  This story is set in Rome, 72 A.D., where in the fountains of Rome lies a gruesome discovery.  First, a hand (small and female).  Next....?  That's the mystery for Marcus Didius Falco to solve. Recommended by Denise Morgan, Manager of Sherwood Regional Library.

Ragtime by E.L. Doctorow.  Just before World War I, Harry Houdini drives his car into a telephone pole in New Rochelle, New York outside the home of an affluent family.  What happens next, and over the next years, involves Emma Goldman, Henry Ford, ragtime pianist Coalhouse Walker, and the chorus girl Evelyn Nesbit in events both real and invented. Recommended by Denise Morgan, Manager of Sherwood Regional Library.

The Power of One by Bryce Courtney.  Peekay is a boy in South Africa during World War II.  He encounters heroes and villains in his brutal boarding school and while travelling  through lands of tribal superstitions and/or pro-Nazi sympathies. Recommended by Denise Morgan, Manager of Sherwood Regional Library.

Hot Night in the City by Trevanian. This book of short stories takes the reader from American big cities to Paris, the Holy Land, mythic Britain, modern London and back to the start, but with a different finish!  Recommended by Denise Morgan, Manager of Sherwood Regional Library.

The Hounds and the Fury by Rita Mae Brown. Set in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the master of the Jefferson Hunt Club, is following the trail of embezzled funds and shattered hound-and hunt etiquette.  The author is an Emmy-nominated screenwriter and resident of Virginia. Recommended by Denise Morgan, Manager of Sherwood Regional Library.