News From the Library
by Sherrie Simmons

Local South Burlington Watercolorist Lynn Tarbutton Cummings displays her brilliantly colored florals, botanicals and landscapes through the end of November. Many of her paintings are based on subjects from her travels throughout the United States, the Caribbean, Mexico and abroad.
Evening Program, Monday, October 26, 7 p.m. Author and gardener Ron Krupp will discuss his latest book, Lifting the Yoke: Local Solutions to America’s Farm and Food Crisis. His book deals with the timely topics of farm and food issues that are in the news on a daily basis and include globalization, hunger and obesity. This program is free of charge, and all are welcome.
Young Adult series reviews from Cheryl Sloan, Youth Services Librarian: Given the popularity of the Harry Potter series and currently the Twilight series, young adult readers often overlook time-tested series from the last 20 years. As librarians, we try to recommend these and often order newer copies as the older book covers begin to look unappealing to teen readers.
The Tillerman Cycle by Cynthia Voigt is one such series. Written in the early 80s, some of the facts are outdated, but the story is so compelling the reader soon finds that insubstantial.
The series begins with a family of four children being deserted by their mother in a mall parking lot in Massachussets. The children, ranging in age from six to 13, must take care of themselves and travel on foot to find a distant relative. They are on the road for most of the summer; some strangers are good to them, and many are not. The story and hardships do not end with their arrival at a second cousin’s house; there are six more books that tell of the next eight years of their lives.
Becoming a teen, the Vietnam War, absent fathers and mental illness are some of the topics broached in this series. Readers will also learn about family love, determination, self sufficiency and the rewards of hard work.
Other series worth taking a look at are:
His Dark Material series by Philip Pullman, consisting of The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass, are once again gaining popularity with the release of the movie from the first book. This is a richly painted fantasy series set in an alternate world, eerily similar to our own. Humans and animals interact very closely, both desperately needing each other to survive.
Tamora Pierce has written four series about strong females, Song of the Lioness Series, Protector of the Small, the Immortals, and Circle of Magic. These are full of history, swords, sorcery, magic and animals.
If science fiction is where your reading interests lie, the author Orson Scott Card is hard to beat. He has several series in the young adult section including the Ender Wiggin Series (a multiple series collection) in which a boy is trained in military strategy against alien invasion, and Tales of Alvin Maker about a first nation person with mystical powers.
These are just a few of the series we have in the library. The juvenile book area is FULL of some really great ones, too – more on those series at a later date.

New at the Library

New York Times Best Sellers
The Lost Symbol, Dan Brown
The Last Song, Nicholas Sparks
The Help, Kathryn Stockett
Alex Cross’s Trial, James Patterson
South of Broad, Pat Conroy
The White Queen, Phililippa Gregory (on order)
Dead and Gone, Charlaine Harris
The Girl Who Played with Fire, Stieg Larson
Dark Slayer, Christine Feehan
206 Bones, Kathy Reichs
Homer & Langley, E.L. Doctorow
That Old Cape Magic, Richard Russo

New York Times Editor’s Choice
Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger
Spooner, Pete Dexter
The Clinton Tapes: Wrestling History with the
President, Taylor Branch
The Will of the People, Barry Friedman (on order)