Star light, star bright, what books give us delight? At the Central Library’s Light City festivities on Friday, November 1, customers wrote the names of books they loved on paper stars and hung the stars on a community mural.
Here are most of the titles. How many of these have you read?
Children and Young Adult Books:
Adult Books:
It’s starting to get chilly out so it’s a great time to cuddle up with a cup of tea and a brand new book. Take a look at what’s new in the fiction section this month #atthepratt.
The Confession Club
By Elizabeth Berg
When a group of friends decide to start a monthly supper club, they get more than they bargained for. The plan for congenial evenings abruptly changes course one night when one of the women reveals something startlingly intimate.
Twisted Twenty-Six
By Janet Evanovich
Things get complicated when Grandma Mazur decides to marry a local gangster, so Stephanie Plum has to get involved. How far will she go to protect the one person who means the most to her? The stakes have never been higher in this latest adventure from the #1 New York Times bestselling author.
From the author of the Dexter series comes a new, mesmerizing bad guy we can root for: Riley Wolfe. Riley aims to take on the impossible challenge of stealing the Crown Jewels of Iran. But this challenge may be more than even he can handle. Aside from the impenetrable security, Riley is also pursued by a brilliant and relentless cop who is barely a step behind him.
Cilka’s Journey
By Heather Morris
Her beauty saved her — and condemned her. Cilka is just sixteen years old when she is taken to Auschwitz-Birkenau Concentration Camp in 1942, where the commandant immediately notices how beautiful she is. Forcibly separated from the other women prisoners, Cilka learns quickly that power, even unwillingly taken, equals survival.
Also new this November:
There’s plenty of great new Children’s books available at the Pratt this month. Stop by your nearby branch and check one out!
In this stunning debut picture book, Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o creates a whimsical and heartwarming story to inspire children to see their own unique beauty. Sulwe has skin the color of midnight. Sulwe just wants to be beautiful and bright, like her mother and sister. Then a magical journey in the night sky opens her eyes and changes everything.
Emergency Kittens!
By Jody Jensen Shaffer
Meet the Emergency Kittens, a trio of furry, gentle superheroes who come to the rescue with their incredible cuteness when the going gets tough. Pages of silly, good-natured giggles await any kid who loves superheroes, cats, or really funny read-alouds.
This big-hearted middle grade debut tells the story of an irrepressible girl with cerebral palsy whose life takes an unexpected turn when she moves to a new town. Ellie has to start all over again in a new town at a new school. It all feels like one challenge too many, until Ellie starts to make her first-ever friends!
For Black Girls Like Me
By Mariama J. Lockington
Makeda June Kirkland is eleven-years-old, adopted, and black. Her parents and big sister are white, and even though she loves her family very much, Makeda often feels left out. This book is for anyone who has ever asked themselves: How do you figure out where you are going if you don’t know where you came from?
Also new for kids:
By Vianey Beccera, Program and Social Media Associate
This November, we pay tribute to Native American heritage and history. Observed throughout the entire month, Native American Heritage Month commemorates the significant contributions and achievements made by Native Americans. The Pratt Library will have several upcoming programs at the Central Library to honor Native American culture, traditions, and ancestry.
Revisiting the Reservation: Baltimore’s Lumbee Indian Community
Tuesday, November 5, 6:30pm at the Central Library, France-Merrick Creative Arts Center
Popular narratives of the Great Migration, remembered as a mass movement of southern African Americans to northern cities, do not generally include the multitude of southern American Indians who migrated north as well. Following WWII, thousands of Lumbee Indians moved from rural North Carolina to Baltimore City, seeking employment and a better quality of life. They formed a large satellite community on the east side of town, referred to as “the reservation” in its heyday. Today, only two active American Indian community-owned sites remain in the area, where there were once more than thirty. Many of the sites have been erased beyond recognition. Entire city blocks have disappeared as this area has been continually redeveloped. Knowledge of these historic sites and their significance to Baltimore’s Lumbee people exists now primarily in the memories of the elders and in the archives.
Through ethnography and archival research, and in collaboration with the elders, Ashley Minner is mapping the historic Lumbee community and developing a walking tour. Her study asks: What is the relationship between identity and place?
How has the identity of the Baltimore Lumbee community been shaped by the place our people have inhabited for the past 70+ years? How has the presence of our people shaped the place? What will it mean if we no longer inhabit the place?
Eaglefeather Dance Troop
Wednesday, November 6, 6:00pm at the Central Library, France-Merrick Creative Arts Center
Join Ray and Brenda Silva of the Eaglefeather Dance Troop as they perform live and share stories and the art of native songs and dance. Performance includes songs accompanied by a handdrum, live stories, and hands-on dancing with audiences.
For more events honoring Native American Heritage Month at Pratt Library branches, please visit here.
