Cover of Final Harry Potter Book Revealed

The cover of the final Harry Potter book was unveiled today! Take a look here.

Check out news and rumors about the final book at Mugglenet.

A Round of Applause!

If you're lucky enough to be in Perrot's Radcliffe Wing (Youth Services) when Christopher Lettich is working, you will know why the Perrot Library staff and patrons think that Chris "walks on water." Confirmation of the high esteem in which everyone holds Chris arrived via the Greenwich Time (3/27/07) in an article announcing that Chris has been awarded the President's Volunteer Service Silver Medal. He seems to be able to fit a lot into his life--volunteering over 175 hours in 2006, maintaining academic achievement that won him entrance to the College of William & Mary and, in general, winning friends wherever he goes! Applause! Applause! --Mrs. Mac

TEDDY BEAR, TEDDY BEAR, SAY WHAT?

Up for discussion:
On recent professional listservs relating to storytimes for children, concerns have been expressed over the following lines from a well-loved old favorite: "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, go upstairs/Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear, say your prayers." Among the suggested substitutions? Teddy Bear . . . fluff your hairs, and Teddy Bear . . . show who cares. No kidding! Do you care? Let us know what you think! --Mrs. K

WE’RE HERE--- WHERE ARE YOU?

Perrot is proud to offer live on-line help to our patrons via our new ASK PERROT service! Simply visit our website, hover over the word "Reference" at the top of the page, and select "AskPerrot." Presto! Then just type your question. If someone is online, you’ll get a prompt response. Otherwise, you may leave a message (you might want to leave your email address), and we’ll get back to you!

Books for March Madness

As March Madness is upon us, relive UCONN's storied history with The Same River Twice: A Season with Geno Auriemma and the Connecticut Huskies, or reminisce about the record-setting 2004 championships men's and women's championships captured in the pictorials Top Dogs and Excellence3, respectively. Get the coaches' view from Jim Calhoun’s Dare to Dream or Geno Auriemma’s Geno: In Pursuit of Perfection.

As you study the ascent to the NCAA championships, pick up a copy of The Enlightened Bracketologist: The Final Four of Everything. While this book may not help you win the office pool, it is “the foolproof system for determining what we really love or hate– and why.” Find out the best ad slogans, misheard lyrics and top sins against the English language– and in an homage to NCAA basketball, without which there would be no brackets and no book to celebrate them, see page 1 for the best of March Madness Moments. --Mirja

Book Review: The Watchman

The Watchman: A Joe Pike Novel, by Robert Crais
[Mystery] Robert Crais has written a new novel featuring a character from his bestselling Elvis Cole series. Larkin Barkley, a young, hard-partying heiress of Lohanian stature, T-bones a Mercedes while speeding through L.A. in the early morning hours. No one is injured, but a man riding in the back takes off on foot, while the Benz speeds off in the other direction. She writes the plate numbers down in lipstick on her forearm, calls 911-- and all hell breaks loose. Suddenly, the FBI is involved, attempts have been made on her life, and someone is leaking info to her would-be killers. Enter Joe Pike: former Marine Sniper, ex-LAPD, and sometime professional soldier. An old debt is called in and Joe takes the job; he will protect Larkin Barkley no matter what. He calls on old friends Elvis Cole and crime scene investigator John Chen for help, but ultimately Joe Pike does things his way, and his way is the hard way. This novel takes us through many twists and turns, from Columbian drug cartels and terrorist financiers to shady real estate deals and soiled father figures. The story wraps itself up nicely with what may be a new twist on the old warhorse “the butler did it!” Highly recommended. --Nick

Wanted: Your Used Paperbacks

Perrot Library is collecting gently-used paperback books in good condition for the Book Boxes at Greenwich Point and the Old Greenwich Train Station. You may drop off your donation at the library via our drive-up book return.

Perrot Policy Update

The following policy was approved and adopted by Perrot Memorial Library’s Board of Directors on March 15th, 2007:

The Radcliffe Wing of Perrot Library is intended for the use of children, their parents or responsible adult caregivers, and for adults who are actively using our children’s literature collection. Out of concern for the safety of young patrons, adults unaccompanied by a child or children may be asked by staff to leave the Radcliffe Wing and to move to another area of the Library.

Library Event: "Splendid Legacy" Lecture

Hugh R. Crean, Professor of Art History at Adelphi University, will present a lecture entitled "Splendid Legacy: The Art Collections of Louisine and Henry Osborne Havemeyer," on Thursday, March 29th, 2007 at 7:30 P.M. in the library. The lecture, which includes slides, will run approximately one hour in length.

Mr. Crean is a regular lecturer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He was the founder and chair of the Department of Art Restoration and Conservation at the State University of New York for 18 years before taking up his current position at Adelphi. Mr. Crean is also in the midst of producing a television and internet series on art collecting in the United States.

Harry Potter's Publishing Record

The last Harry Potter book will break publishing records with its first printing-- a mind-numbing 12 million copies!

The previous Harry Potter book had an initial printing of 10.8 million copies, and it sold 6.9 million copies in the first 24 hours alone.

DVD Diva: Robert DeNiro

Little-Known Facts About Robert DeNiro

• DeNiro first discovered his love of acting at age 10 when he portrayed the Cowardly Lion in a local production of The Wizard of Oz


• He dropped out of high school to join a gang
  
• He formerly held the world record for Most Weight Gained for a Movie, in gaining over 60 pounds for his role in Raging Bull (1980). But seven years later, Vincent D'Onofrio eclipsed him by gaining 70 pounds for his role in Full Metal Jacket (1987)


• Three movies (at least) that DeNiro has appeared in have the song "Gimme Shelter" by The Rolling Stones noticeably featured in the soundtrack-- The Fan (1996), Casino (1995) and Goodfellas (1990)

You can learn more about Mr. DeNiro at: http://imdb.com/name/nm0000134/bio

These are just a few of the movies starring Robert DeNiro that we have here at Perrot:

Mean Streets
Charlie, a 27-year-old, tries to work his way up the bottom rungs of organized crime's ladder. Amy Robinson is Teresa, the girlfriend Charlie's family declares "unsuitable" because she has epilepsy.

More at Internet Movie Database (IMDb)





Midnight Run
A bounty hunter is charged with delivering an embezzling, bail-jumping accountant to Los Angeles. What he doesn't know is that the Mob is also after said accountant for embezzling the money in the first place.

More at IMDb






The Score
Persuaded to help a desperate friend for a $6 million payday, an expert safecracker postpones his retirement to pull off one last heist with a novice thief. Their foolproof plan turns into a high risk gamble when a clash of egos threatens to bring them both down.

More at IMDb

Book Review: In the Country of Men

In the Country of Men, by Hisham Matar
The setting of this novel is Libya, the author's homeland, in the year 1979, during Gaddafi's totalitarian regime. The nine-year-old narrator, Suleiman, is an only child enjoying summer vacation, but bewildered by what is happening around him. A neighborhood friend's father is arrested and executed on TV. His own father is threatened and his mother seeks solace in her "medicine." Deeply troubled, Suleiman becomes angry and commits acts of betrayal that haunt him. This is a sad and beautifully told story of the effects such a regime can have on the young in any country. --Mary B.

Our Children's CD Collection Has Moved

After a purge of many of our feature videos, we have moved our Children's music CDs from the Children's Room to the Watt Room downstairs. The Watt Room houses most of Perrot's other multimedia materials. Now both Children's and Adult CDs are together in one place. Please let a staff member know if you need help locating anything!

National Book Critics Circle Award Winners

As a book reviewer myself, I especially value the opinion of fellow reviewers… readers all! Check out the new National Book Critics Circle Award winners! The National Book Critics Circle is made up up of nearly 700 active book reviewers who are interested in honoring quality writing each year with their awards for the finest books published in English. --Kate McClelland


FICTION AWARD WINNER:
The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai

This novel is set in the nineteen-eighties in the northeast corner of India, where the borders of several Himalayan states—Bhutan and Sikkim, Nepal and Tibet—meet. The New Yorker says, "Briskly paced and sumptuously written, the novel ponders questions of nationhood, modernity, and class, in ways both moving and revelatory."



GENERAL NONFICTION AWARD WINNER:
Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution, by Simon Schama
Rough Crossings turns on a single huge question: if you were black in America at the start of the Revolutionary War, who would you want to win? Tens of thousands gave their answer, voting with their feet for Britain and King George, in response to a declaration by the last governor of Virginia that any rebel-owned slave who escaped and served the King would be emancipated. Kirkus says, "An important contribution to the history of the Revolution, and of slavery in America."



BIOGRAPHY AWARD WINNER:
James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon, by Julie Phillips
Julie Phillips has given us with this spellbinding portrait of Alice Sheldon, the extraordinary woman who created stunning works of science fiction under the pen name of James Tiptree, Jr. Sheldon, whose unconventional life included a childhood filled with exotic adventure, a stint in the CIA, and an eventual murder-suicide. Kirkus says, "Readers saw Tiptree as a manly man's writer, dealing with issues of sex and death, but one with an unusual talent for creating sympathetic female characters. Phillips is more than adept at plumbing Sheldon's writing to expose her anger at the role gender plays in sex, creativity and power."



AUTOBIOGRAPHY AWARD WINNER:
The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million, by Daniel Mendelsohn
A writer's search for the truth behind his family's tragic past in World War II becomes a remarkably original epic-- part memoir, part reportage, part mystery, and part scholarly detective work. Elie Wiesel says, "It's a vast, highly colored tapestry. . . A reader cannot help but follow the trail breathlessly— first the suspense, doubt, surprise and, finally, the discovery. We share his anger, commend his hopes. And, when tears choke his voice, we, too, long to cry."

A Book Recommendation from the Young Young Critics' Club

The Book of One Hundred Truths, by Julie Schumacher
Thea (short for Theodora) is a normal girl except for one thing: she is a liar. Her parents think that she should start telling the truth, so when she goes to her grandparents’ house for the summer, her mom makes her take a notebook where she must write exactly 100 true things. She starts with little truths like: “My father doesn’t like goodbyes.” But her truths become more complicated, especially the ones about Gwen, her ex-friend. Something happened between them, and Thea hasn’t told anyone . . . until she jots it down in her notebook. What did she write? Read the book to find out! --Asami

Book Review: The White Darkness

The White Darkness, by Geraldine McCaughrean

Vacation Questionnaire
What’s your idea of a hot destination!?!?
A. Paris
B. The Polar Plateau
C. The Underworld

What foreign languages might you need on your vacation?
A. Norwegian
B. Swearing
C. Lying

The story of the vacation of a lifetime gone horribly wrong. Sym’s eccentric Uncle Victor follows his mad obsession to prove the discredited Hollow Earth Theory and, with Sym, discover the portal to the center of the earth at the Antarctic Pole. Readers, will be drawn into Victor’s spiral into insanity and Sym’s survival in the Earth’s most hostile setting. A page-turner for young adults, Antarctica enthusiasts, historians of Scott’s doomed 1911 expedition and believers in the crackpot John Cleeves Symmes! --Mrs. Mac

Book Review: A Perfect Mess

A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder-- How Crammed Closets, Cluttered Offices, and On-The-Fly Planning Make the World a Better Place, by Eric Abrahamson and David H. Freedman
[Non-Fiction] Did you ever spot a book that called out to you in a deep and profound way? Well, this isn't that book, but it did call out to the messier side of me. How great to think there would be benefits to having a less-than-perfect organizing scheme. It turns out that the authors found quite a cost savings in not being overly structured in one's house or business. Citing examples from business, government, and individuals, they relate stories of success in an outwardly disorganized system. Obviously, they differentiate between ordinary, harmless messiness in which the person has learned to prioritize well, and can always find what that want, and the disastrous hoarding that has had some people literally drown in their clutter: ". . .moderately disorganized people, institutions, and systems frequently turn out to be more efficient, more resilient, more creative, and in general more effective than highly organized ones. . ." --Unsigned to protect the organizationally-challenged in the Reference Department

Book Review: Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name

Let the Northern Lights Erase Your Name, by Vendela Vida

[Fiction] Clarissa Iverton's father has just died, and now she is all alone in the world, save for her mentally retarded brother, and her fiance, about whom she seems rather unenthusiastic. Her unstable mother walked out when Clarissa was fourteen, and she hasn't been heard from since. While going through her father's belongings, Clarissa finds her birth certificate, and surprise!-- her father's name is not on it. As her fiance has apparently known all along (the two have known each other since childhood), Clarissa's mother was married before, to a native of Lapland. Clarissa takes off within days (and without telling anyone) to search for her real father. As Clarissa travels, her character is revealed to us-- yes, she is smart, sassy, and sarcastic, but also extremely immature. After a long, bitterly cold, and confusing search, she discovers the truth about her origins, and even confronts her long-lost mother. Without giving away too much of the plot, the moral of this story seems to be that we cannot escape our past, and are doomed to repeat it. Instead of growing through her pain, Clarissa becomes more and more like her mother, who she loathes. I can't imagine the rationale behind ending the story this way, unless it is supposed to be a sort of feminist outcry, showing how violence against women ruins the world. The book is well-written, and a quick read at 226 pages, but it left me with a very bad taste in my mouth. It depressed me, and made me wonder if the author had some sort of long-buried rage similar to the main character's which caused her to write this book (if that were true it would depress me even more!). By the way, Vida is married to author Dave Eggers. --Vicky

Cleaning House

We're doing some spring cleaning here at Perrot....

Check out the selection of discarded videos and books on our Sale Shelf. Videos are only $1 each and books are a mere quarter each (pay at the Adult Circulation Desk).

Book Review: The Trap

The Trap, by John Smelcer
Voted one of the top ten books of 2006 on the American Library Association’s Best Books for Young Adults List, this is a small gem not to be missed. Told in alternating chapters from the point of view of Grandfather Albert Least-Weasel and grandson Johnny Least-Weasel (Athabaskan Indians), the story is a race-against-the-clock survival story set in the Alaskan wilderness. Alaska itself is one of the main characters, a place where there are over 100 words for snow… a place with a voice that “… seemed to ring out from its highest mountains, to be carried by the wind off glaciers down toward the sea, and to say that it could kill you in a second.” Spare and poetic, but steeped in portent, this book, by the only surviving speaker of the Ahtna Athabaskan language, is a rare discovery. Recommended for young adults and adults. -Mrs. Mac