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Sue Clifton

The Art of Racing in the Rain

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The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
Format: Book
Who It’s for: Adults and Young Adults

 

This story is about Denny Swift, a race-car driver and rep. for a BMW dealer in Seattle Washington and his dog Enzo. Told from Enzo’s perspective and his belief in the legend that a dog “who is prepared” will be reincarnated in his next life as a human. Enzo also loves watching T.V. documentaries and racing.
Denny adopts Enzo from a farm as a pup. Denny and Enzo begin their journey together where Enzo struggles to hone his humanness and Denny soon meets and marries Eve. Eventually they have a daughter named Zoe. Enzo is devoted to Denny, Eve and Zoe.
Life has many difficulties and sometimes the unthinkable happens. Enzo describes to the reader his life with Denny and his family, the bond he has with each of them and the great struggle they go through when Eve develops brain cancer. In addition, to a surprise and shocking custody struggle of Zoe with Eve’s parents and Denny.
Enzo gleans his knowledge through the television shows and documentaries that he watches. He has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, but cannot understand why a dog does not have thumbs. He does his best to communicate with his family even though he cannot talk.
Enzo sees that life, like racing, is not simply about going fast.

This book is one of the best I have ever read. The story told through Enzo’s point of view. It is happy, sad, traumatic and charmingly funny.
Find it in our catalog 

1-2-3 A Calmer Me: Helping Children Cope When Emotions Get Out of Control

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1-2-3-A Calmer Me: Helping Children Cope When Emotions Get Out of Control by Colleen A. Patterson and Brenda S. Miles
Format: Children’s Picture Book
Who It’s for: Children and Caregivers

In this story, a little girl explains how she can get angry and frustrated sometimes. Like when she loses her balloon in the park. It is OK to get mad, but when you do, you can recite this rhyme.
1-2-3 a calmer me, 1-2-3 I hug me, 1-2-3 relax and b-r-e-a-t-h-e, 1-2-3 a calmer me.
The story introduces children to a simple rhyme they can use to slow down their bodies and stop mad feelings from spinning out of control.
The mantra or rhyme appears several times throughout this picture book whenever the little girl finds herself becoming upset from conflicts with friends, family and even while playing sports.

By memorizing the simple mantra, a child can use it to slow down their immediate reactions and replace them with words that are more comforting. The idea is based on the psychological principles of relaxation and mindfulness.

Find it in the Catalog

The Next Person You Meet in Heaven

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The Next Person You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom   
Format: Book
Who’s it for: Adults and Young Adults

 

On the morning after Annie is married, she and her husband Paolo are involved in a shocking balloon ride accident leaving them in critical condition. Paolo needs a lung transplant and Annie donates one of hers.

At eight years old, Annie was the survivor of a terrible accident. A falling amusement car severed her arm.  Eddie, a maintenance man pushed her to safety but was killed by the falling car. Annie’s arm is reattached in a miraculous surgery.

Annie endures a lot of bullying until she meets a boy named Paolo. They become friends until he moves away with his family.  Annie, estranged from her Mom after high school, wonders about the mistakes she’s made and why she survived the accident.

Years later Annie meets Paolo again. Soon they get married.

Annie awakens after the lung surgery but where is she?

The Next Person You Meet in Heaven follows Annie as she meets five people in heaven. One of them is Eddie the maintenance man who saved her. “‘Mistakes,'” Eddie declares. “‘That’s what I’m here to teach you about.”

Annie learns from her five people in heaven that, lives are intertwined in many ways.

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Year One

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Year One by Nora Roberts 
Audio Book                         
Who its for: Adults

Lana and Max live in a New York apartment. They are learning how to practice and manage the magic they have discovered they possess. Their passionate relationship and practice of “witch craft” is emerging and evolving when the plaque began.

The virus hit on New Year’s Eve taking out almost 80 percent of the human population within a matter of weeks and months. Survivors must figure out how to live. Where to go to be safe. How to manage survival in the post-apocalyptic city, where a new magical paradigm exists and how to get out.

They along with some of the others who did not succumb to the plaque have made it out of the dangerous cities where much evil and bad magic is in control. The appearance of varied sets of magical abilities in a large part of the surviving population can be good or evil.

Along the way, Max and Lana eventually form a band with others like them, looking for refuge and a new place to live. Eventually they come upon a place where a new beginning is underway.

Lana is carrying Max’s child who she learns early on has magical abilities, and a special destiny.

After an attack on their new community, Lana realizes that she and her unborn child are hunted. She must find sanctuary away from the community, which eventually comes in the form of a remote farm.

This fast-paced thought provoking novel will keep you enthralled where survival, human kindness and evil exist along with magical abilities. Where good people combat evil.

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White Hot

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White Hot by Ilona Andrews
Format: CD Audio Book #2
Who It’s For: Adults

In this Hidden Legacy Series book, best-selling authors Ilona Andrews a pseudonym for a husband and wife writing team, have put out another magical detective story.

Nevada Baylor is the lead in a family owned detective agency. She possesses a unique secret magic skill –she knows when people are lying.

She has used this skill and good old-fashioned hard work to solve cases, which has built her family business up and kept it afloat. Her magic skill is a secret, in a time when magic users are the norm.

Conner Rogan is a billionaire prime, one of the highest-ranking magic users. They are working together to solve a mystery that has them pitted against powerful magic possessors. The sparks between Nevada and Rogan are undeniable but Nevada refuses to see them. As Nevada hones her magic skills, she and Rogan will soon discover that ice can burn.

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Whale in a Fishbowl

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Whale in a Fishbowl by Troy Howell & Richard Jones Illustrator
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Children & To All Who Are Waiting… Unknowingly to be Free!

Wednesday is a Whale who lives in a gigantic fishbowl in the middle of the city. She always watches the people hurrying, pedaling, wheeling and worrying around her. Wednesday can’t see anything but the busy city until she jumps up, then catches a glimpse of blue. Blue made heart soar and she loved leaping up to see it. The people around her thought she was doing tricks. But, Wednesday just wanted one more glimpse. When she wasn’t leaping, she stayed at the bottom. One day a little girl tapped on the glass,”Hey.” They gazed at each other. Her eyes were blue too. “My name is Piper. You don’t belong in there.” As Piper was leaving she called, “You belong in the sea!”
The sea. What is the sea? Thought Wednesday.
Because whales don’t belong in fishbowls do they?
Find it in the catalog.