Sutherland Shire Libraries News

To read or not to read...

This is a debut novel that was longlisted for the 2012 Manbooker prize. Taking its epigraph from Paul Bunyan's  Pilgrims Progress, this is regarded as a modern reworking of this classic novel. The parallels are unmistakable, with certain sites, events, and characters corresponding at times one-for-one with Christian’s journey to the Celestial City. 



 Read the opening paragraphs of this novel, and you decide whether to read or not to read....the rest of the book!


The letter that would change everything arrived on a Tuesday. It was an ordinary morning in mid-April that smelled of clean washing and grass cuttings. Harold Fry sat at the breakfast table, freshly shaved, in a clean shirt and tie, with a slice of toast that he wasn't eating. He gazed beyond the kitchen window at the clipped lawn, which was spiked in the middle by Maureen's telescopic washing line, and trapped on three sides by the neighbours stockade fencing. 
"Harold" called Maureen above the vacuum cleaner. "Post!"
He thought he might like to go out, but the only thing to do was to mow the lawn and he had done that yesterday. The vacuum tumbled into silence, and his wife appeared, looking cross, with a letter. She sat opposite Harold. 
Maureen was a slight woman with a cap of silver hair and a brisk walk. When they had first met, nothing had pleased him more than to make her laugh. To watch her neat frame collapse into unruly happiness. "Its for you," she said. He didn't know what she meant until she slid the envelope across the table, and stopped it just short of Harold's elbow. They both looked at the letter as if they had never seen one before. It was pink. "The postmark says Berwick-upon-Tweed."
He didn't know anyone in Berwick. He didn't know many people anywhere. "Maybe it's a mistake."
"I think not. They don't get something like a postmark wrong."
She took toast from the rack. She liked it cold and crisp. 
Harlod studied the mysterious envelope. Its pink was not the colour of the bathroom suite, or the matching towels and  fluffed cover for the toilet seat. That was a vivid shade that made Harold feel he shouldn't be there. But this was delicate. A Turkish Delight pink. His name and address were scribbled in ballpoint, the clumsy letters collapsing into one another as if a child had dashed them off in a hurry: Mr.H.Fry, 13 Fossebridge Road, KNightsbridge, South Hams. He didn't recognise the handwriting. 
"Well?" said Maureen, passing a knife. He held it to the corner of the envelope, and tugged it through the fold. "Careful," she warned. 

 To keep reading this book, request a copy from the Library. 

SEPTEMBER - HistoryReads for Teens

My Australian Story - Surviving Sydney Cove

by Goldie Alexander
Lizzie Harvey, a convict transported to Sydney Cove, is starving and overworked. She can barely find time to dream about the way things used to be, let alone write in her diary. But write she must. It is her only hope of reaching out to the home she has left behind, all those thousands of miles away across the sea.

My Australian Story - The Phar Lap Mystery

Without a doubt, it's an iconic Australian story. Phar Lap is not only a winner, he is a real star. Millions of Australians love him. But that's not enough for Mr Davis. He wants to make Big Red into a world star. Sally's dad is a private detective, and he's just been offered the case of a lifetime-investigating who tried to shoot Phar Lap before the 1930 Melbourne Cup. Helping her dad investigate, Sally begins to feel a sense of mounting dread as Phar Lap goes from victory to victory-and collects not only millions of friends, but also some dangerous enemies.

Daughter of the Regiment  by Jackie French

There was a light in the corner of the chook-house, just below the perches. It was bright and strangely piercing, like a bit of sun had wandered in by mistake. Who is the girl through the hole in the chook-house? Is it a hole in time? And how can you help someone who lived more than 150 years ago? Harry dreads leaving the farm to go to boarding school next year. Cissie is an orphaned girl living with the soldiers at the garrison 150 years ago. Something more powerful than time has drawn them both together.

Hitler's Daughter  by Jackie French
It began on a rainy morning in Australia, as part of a game played by Mark and his friends. It was a storytelling game, and the four friends took turns weaving tales about fairies and mermaids and horses. But Anna's story was different this time: it was not a fairy tale or an adventure story. The story was about a young girl who lived during World War II. Her name was Heidi, and she was Hitler's daughter. As Anna's story unfolds, Mark is haunted by the image of Hitler's daughter. He wonders what he would have done in her place if he had known his father was an evil man leading the world into a war that was destroying millions of lives. And if Mark had known, would he have had the power and determination to stop him?

Author Talk with Paul Ham at Sutherland Library

Paul Ham, Author talk/book signing
Tuesday, 15th October
6.30pm-7.30pm
Sutherland Library

Book online or call 9710 0351

Acclaimed historian Paul Ham will be at Sutherland  Library talking about his new book 1914: The Year the World Ended. Paul will reveal the many tipping points that led us to the dawn of the Great War, and into the bloodiest century the world has ever seen. 




On the eve of the 100th anniversary of WW1, 1914 leads the reader to envisage a time when nationalism was born out of a complex game of geo-political bargaining. A time when war was not a last resort - or ‘inevitable’, as they later claimed - but a path willingly chosen or weakly accepted by the men who ran the governments of Europe.Seamlessly interlinking a broad range of perspectives, cultures, histories and politics that offer the reader an inimitable insight into the subject, 1914 asks not only what happened, but more importantly why it happened, how it could happen, and just who was at the helm. 

Paul Ham is the author of Hiroshima Nagasaki, Vietnam: The Australian War and Kokoda. Vietnam won the New South Wales Premier’s Prize for Australian History and was shortlisted for the Prime Minister’s Prize for Non-Fiction (2008). Kokoda was shortlisted for the Walkley Award for Non-Fiction and the New South Wales Premier’s Prize for Non-Fiction. His most recent book, Sandakan: The Untold Story of the Sandakan Death Marches, was published in 2012 and was shortlisted for the 2013 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for History. A former Sunday Times correspondent, with a Master’s degree in Economic History from the London School of Economics, Paul now devotes most of his time to writing history.

Notice Regarding Overdrive Media Console and iOS7 Upgrade

Apple released iOS 7 yesterday and many of your Apple users may have upgraded their device(s) or will be upgrading in the near future.

When an existing OverDrive Media Console (OMC) user upgrades to iOS 7, the app will fail when trying to open a DRM-protected eBook. New or first time users of OMC are unaffected by this issue.

We are resolving the issue but in the meantime, here are immediate remedies for users:
1) Re-authenticate the app with their existing or a new Adobe ID. Refer to the iOS section of this Help article for assistance. (Recommended)
2) Uninstall and re-install OMC which will also require the user to re-authorize with Adobe. IMPORTANT NOTE: A re-install will clear a user's bookshelf, history, and app settings.

Audiobook users won't notice that anything is different unless they attempt to download parts of audiobooks they already downloaded to OMC before upgrading to iOS 7. A user will receive an error message informing them to download the title again.

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Regards,
OverDrive's Partner Services

There is a winner.....Indigenous Literacy!

The Indigenous Art Silent auction is over and the winning bid was for $450.00 a very pleasing total.

Congratulations to Maggie Dillon who won the beautiful art work, painted & donated by Deanna Schreiber. Maggie informed her parents of the auction when they came to pick her up from an afternoon at the library. She made them get out of the car under the argument "you've got to see this very important event at the library", and they got hooked. The painting is now hung in a very special place in their lounge room.

Thanks to everyone who contributed to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF) during September in the library collection boxes, raising $100, and through the donation forms made available for direct personal donations.

So far this year $360,000 has been raised with 100,000 books being supplied to 230 remote communities, an excellent achievement, and yet there is always more that can be done.

As well as supplying books to remote communities, the Foundation responds to and works with requests from the community on how these resources may best be used, providing support to the early literacy programs. The Foundation works with partners to support local authors and illustrators create and publish specific literacy resources for children in first language.

Donation forms are still available in the libraries and the Indigenous Literacy website is always open for donations.

SEPTEMBER - HistoryReads for Kids

Horrible Histories
Horrible Histories is a series of illustrated history books designed to engage children in history by presenting the unusual, gory, or unpleasant aspects in a tongue-in-cheek manner in contrast to the formality of lessons taught in school. The series has proved exceptionally successful in terms of commercial revenue. The books are written by Terry Deary, Peter Hepplewhite and Neil Tonge.

Lady Grace Mysteries (mixed)
The Lady Grace Mysteries is a detective fiction series about the escapades of Lady Grace Cavendish, a maid of honour to Queen Elizabeth I. The books are written in the style of a diary. Each book sees her trying to solve a mystery of the royal court. The stories are set in 1569 and 1570, and there are twelve books so far.  


Littlenose  by John Grant

Littlenose lived long, long, ago, when fierce wild animals roam the land, and it is very cold. His home is a cave, his clothes are made of fur, and his pet is a woolly mammoth called Two-Eyes. 

Wherever he goes, Littlenose the Neanderthal finds himself amid all sorts of entertaining antics. He doesn't go to school but still has plenty to learn: how to track animals, how to find his way through the forest and which berries are good to eat, and which are poisonous. But whether he's exploring caves, taking a trip down the river, or rescuing his father from a deep pit, somehow Littlenose always seems to end up in trouble in this collection of informative and humourous stories.

Battle Boy  by Charlie Carter
These books are designed to engage reluctant readers (high interest, low-level reading), and anyone interested in battles, history, time travel, adventure, great stories and gadgets galore...

Scarlet Silver  by Sarah McConnell
Ahoy, it's the very first thrilling high seas adventure with young pirate Scarlet Silver. Long Joan Silver has been accidentally eaten by a giant shrimp and the Silver family have only recently discovered they're pirates. Can they solve Lipstick the parrot's riddle and find the tremendous treasure that's been promised before that vile villain Gilbert Gauntlet catches up with them?

International Big Library Read

When: 16th to 30th Sept
Who: Library card holders

How: via Overdrive

Devices: iPhone®, iPad®, Android™

Why not participate in the ‘The Big Library Read’ program by downloading this cute ebook or audiobook.

All library users will be allowed unlimited access to this popular children’s title called ‘Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth’ by Jane O’Connor during this two week period.

The Big Library Read is an International program that gives libraries and library patrons unlimited simultaneous access to a popular title, creating a virtual, global book club. Interested patrons will be able borrow book one in the Nancy Clancy series using a valid library card that enables you to download to most major computers and devices. No wait lists or holds. Titles will automatically expire at the end of the lending period. 
There are no late fees!

Nancy Clancy, Super Sleuth  by Jane O'Connor

Nancy and her best friend, Bree, have everything they need to solve a mystery... including their totally professional trench coats to their top-secret code. But when crime strikes in their classroom, will these super sleuths be able to crack the case?

Read Nancy Clancy to your kids - TODAY!

To read or not to read?

This is a cautionary tale,  a parable and a  literary tale. Part science fiction and  part speculative fiction. It touches on  science, religion, the environment, love, desire, cannibalism and war. It is the second of a trilogy of books, but you don't need to read the first book before this one. The first two books can be read out of order, as they are more companion books,  with this second book  covering the same time period and overlapping in plot.  

Read the opening paragraphs of this extraordinary novel and you decide whether to read or not to read the rest of the book!

In the early morning Toby climbs up to the rooftop to watch the sunrise. She uses a mop handle for balance: the elevator stopped working some time ago and the back stairs are slick with damp, so if she slips and topples there won't be anyone to pick her up.

As the first heat hits, mist rises from among the swathe of trees between her and the derelict city. The air smells faintly of burning, a smell of caramel and tar and rancid barbecues, and the ashy but greasy smell of a garbage-dump fire after it's been raining. The abandoned towers in the distance are like the coral of an ancient reef-bleached and colourless, devoid of life.

There still is life, however. Birds chirp; sparrows, they must be. Their small voices are clear and sharp, nails on glass: there's no longer any sound of traffic to drown them out. Do they notice that quietness, the absence of motors? If so, are they happier? Toby has no idea. Unlike some of the other Gardeners-the more wild-eyed or possibly overdosed ones-she has never been under the illusion that she can converse with birds.

The sun brightens in the east, reddening the blue-grey haze that marks the distant ocean. The vultures roosting on hydro poles fan out their wings to dry them, opening themselves like black umbrellas. One and then another lifts off on the thermals and spirals upwards. If they plummet suddenly, it means they've spotted carrion.

Vultures are our friends, the Gardeners used to teach. They purify the earth. They are God's necessary dark Angels of bodily dissolution. Imagine how terrible it would be if there were no death!

Do I still believe this? Toby wonders.

Everything is different up close.

To keep reading this book, request it from the Library. Listen to the audiobook to hear the hymns...

SEPTEMBER - HistoryReads for Kiddies

Memorial  by Gary Crew & Shaun Tan
Memorial is a story about a tree planted beside a war memorial monument, in a small country town by returned servicemen. Years on, the tree has grown to be huge and unruly, dislodging the statue next to it and creating a traffic hazard in what is now a much larger, busier town. A decision is made by a local council to cut the tree down. (will the statue be moved or will the tree be destroyed?)

The Boy, The Bear, The Baron, The Bard.  by Gregory Rogers
What happens when a boy bursts through the curtain of a deserted theatre and onto the world's most famous stage? He lands on the Bard himself and the chase is on - through the streets of Shakespeare's London. This is a rare and inventive visual feast-a runaway story about a curious boy, a magic cloak, a grumpy bard, a captive bear and a baron bound for the chopping block. It is also a richly illustrated, dramatic and very funny tale of adventure and friendship. (This is a graphic tale of adventure)

Meet ... Ned Kelly  
by Janeen Brian
Ned Kelly was a notorious bushranger.
He lived in Australia's earliest days.
He was daring and clever and bold.
In a suit made of iron he battled police.
And his story is still being told.

Hero of Little Street  by Gregory Rogers

Escaping from a gang of bullies, a Boy slips into a grand old gallery - the perfect hiding place, full of mystery and treasures. Enchanted by the magic of painting and befriended by a mischievous dog, the Boy ventures into the world of a famous Vermeer painting - and he and his new friend are transported to Little Street, Delft in seventeenth century Holland. But the streets of Delft are a dangerous place for a dog, and the Boy has to use every ounce of his ingenuity to rescue his canine mate from an untimely fate on the butcher's block. (This is a graphic tale of adventure)

Mammoth Pie  by Jeanne Willis & Tony Ross

"On top of a mountain there lived a fat mammoth. Down in the valley there lived a thin caveman. The caveman was hungry. Very, very hungry. He saw the mammoth and licked his lips." Fed up with eating seeds, fed up with eating weeds... a mammoth can start looking pretty delicious to a hungry caveman! But a mouthwatering Mammoth Pie turns out to be more difficult to come by than the caveman could ever imagine. (One for the pre-schoolers)

Get Reading Top 50 Books you can't put down 2013

The art of Barbara Fitzpatrick at Sutherland Library

An interesting art work titled 'Childhood' by local artist Barbara Fitzpatrick will be on display at Sutherland Library during September and October.

The triptych 'Childhood' is based on three old black and white family photographs.  This set of works is an exploration of the eventful and emotional experience of childhood that we all share.

This exploration began with three charcoal drawings on canvas followed by a sculpted layer of gesso and impasto to add texture and complication. Many glazes of acrylic paint were added and rubbed back to produce a depth of feeling.