Pioneer Library System

August often signals the end of the summer as school begins for many children and adults and the lazy days of summer are filled with activities. The Pioneer Library System staff have picked out some books that are great to squeeze in before the summer ends and you get busy. Find one you like and check it out today!

The Girl Who Chased the Moon by Sarah Addison Allen
Staff Reviewer: Julie Kreft, Moore Public Library

Emily Benedict had lived a fairly ordinary life, that is until her mother passed away and she was sent to live in a small Southern town with a grandfather she didn’t know existed. To make matters worse, this is definitely no ordinary town and no ordinary grandfather. Vance Shelby is a giant, ducking under door frames and causing stares everywhere he goes. Yet, Emily soon finds out that her grandfather’s height is not the strangest thing in town. From the Mullaby “giant” to the Mullaby “lights,” there is one after another unexplained yet accepted oddity in Emily’s new life. To make matters worse, everyone seems to dislike her based on the sins of her mother, a mother Emily knew to be kind and generous. Then there is her strange attraction to a boy with so much to hide, and so much to share. Luckily, Emily finds friendship and wisdom with Julia Winterspoon, a woman who knows the raw pain of being the outsider in this strange town. Together, they discover their places among a town of shadow and light, learning about themselves, their history, and the beauty surrounding them.

Memory by Philippe Grimbert
Staff Reviewer: Mark Heisey, Noble Public Library

If you’re looking for a book that is a quick read but will linger in your thoughts long after you’ve returned it, Memory may be the book for you.  I read this book in two short afternoons in March, but have been thinking about its little nuances the past four months resulting in this review.  The story involves the unraveling of a families’ past through the eyes of a quiet, reserved boy of fifteen.  The secrets he seeks to unlock involve his parents and their lives as Jews during WWII France.  Our protagonist has always had a sense that there was something else about his family, some silent “other” thing that was never discussed but was always present although not quite tangible.  This struggle to figure out what that “thing” is leads the boy to seek answers from family friends and journey into the past.  If you are thinking to yourself, “I’ve already read Night by Elie Wiesel” or “I’ve seen Schindler’s List; I don’t need to revisit that,” I ask that you think again.  This isn’t the same kind of work.  It isn’t as heavy in the same way although it is haunting in its own right.  What’s really interesting about this book is the way space works.  The book is full of short revelations and insights, often just a couple pages, some even less.  The space at the end of each of these acts almost as a breath, allowing you a chance to, in a sense, inhale the experience and think on it in the same manner as when you take a conscious breath.  This is one of those simple, concise works that pulls you in and then never quite lets you go…highly recommended.