This year, we're expanding our wildly popular Featured Book of the Month program to include titles for readers of all ages! One fiction or nonfiction title will be chosen for adults, teens, and children each month. Here are the January selections:
Adult Title
Farewell My SubaruFarewell My Subaru by Doug Fine. “In this memoir of mishaps and lessons learned, Fine shares his yearlong trek to turn his newly bought New Mexico ranch into a green and sustainable environment with as little carbon fuel as possible. From using two very lovable goats for his organic food production to transitioning into a biofuel engine for his truck and even installing solar panels, Fine balances the troubling decisions Americans must consider while also revealing a host of unexpected benefits.” —Publishers Weekly
Author Visit
Mark your calendar! Doug Fine, the author of Farewell My Subaru, will be at the Main Library on Saturday, February 6 at 2:00 p.m.
Virtual Book Club
Be sure to check out our Featured Book of the Month blog. The blog—which is updated frequently with new content—includes background information about each month’s featured title for adults and some discussion questions. And of course, since it’s a blog, this gives you the opportunity to share your thoughts and opinions about Farewell My Subaru with other blog readers. So what are you waiting for? Jump into the conversation!
The Absolutely True Diaryof a Part-Time Indian
Teen Title
The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. “Fourteen-year-old Junior is a cartoonist and bookworm with a violent but protective best friend Rowdy. Soon after they start freshman year, Junior boldly transfers from a school on the Spokane reservation to one in a tiny white town 22 miles away. Despite his parents' frequent lack of gas money (they're a "poor-ass family"), racism at school and many crushing deaths at home, he manages the year. Rowdy rejects him, feeling betrayed, and their competing basketball teams take on mammoth symbolic proportions. The reservation's poverty and desolate alcoholism offer early mortality and broken dreams, but Junior's knowledge that he must leave is rooted in love and respect for his family and the Spokane tribe. He also realizes how many other tribes he has, from "the tribe of boys who really miss . . . their best friends" to "the tribe of tortilla chips-and-salsa lovers." Junior's keen cartoons sprinkle the pages as his fluid narration deftly mingles raw feeling with funny, sardonic insight..”— Kirkus Reviews
Children's Title
The UnderneathThe Underneath by Kathi Appelt. “Seeking shelter, a homeless pregnant cat responds to the “bluesy” baying of a hound named Ranger who lives chained under the porch of a shack in the woods of the East Texas bayou. He happily shares the Underneath with the cat and her two kittens, Sabine and Puck. The kittens are safe from Ranger's evil master Gar Face as long as they remain hidden, but Puck ventures out "straight into the terrible hands of Gar Face," who does his best to drown both the curious kitten and his mother. Somehow Puck escapes after promising his dying mother he will find Sabine and free Ranger, but he's on his own in a bayou teeming with mysterious creatures. Aided by Small's lively illustrations, Appelt intricately weaves these animals' ancient stories into Puck's survival saga to produce a magical tale of betrayal, revenge, love and the importance of keeping promises.”— Kirkus Reviews
Look for displays of all our Featured Book of the Month titles at your local branch and the Main Library!
