New Hyde Park Patch asked a local librarian for her favorite picks of good books to read for your children and for yourself in light of March 2 being National Read Across America Day.
The following are five book recommendations from the reference librarian in the . She briefly explained each book below.
- Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. This compelling novel tells a story of star crossed lovers, circa 1932, set in the circus world. It is heightened by a sense of time and place and tells the story of a love between two people that overcomes unbelievable odds in a world where love seems to be just out of one’s grasp.
- The Help by Kathryn Stockett. In pitch-perfect voices, Kathryn Stockett creates three extraordinary women whose determination to start a movement of their own, during the Civil Rights Movement era, forever changes a town and the way women—mothers, daughters and friends—see one another. This novel is filled with poignancy and hope, though there is a quality of desperation throughout; it’s a story about the limits we set ourselves, and the ones in which we’re forced to abide.
- The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. The Glass Castle is a memoir of resilience that looks into a family that is at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. This memoir is permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family. Jeannette Walls has a story to tell and tells it brilliantly,without an ounce of self-pity.
- The Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick. This brooding tale which begins in mid October 1907 tells the haunting tale of Ralph Truitt and is in fact a journey on loneliness. This gothic-like novel has roots that reach far beyond the frigid Wisconsin landscape where the tale is set.
- The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan. This is a children's book. After their father's research experiment at the British Museum unleashes the Egyptian god Set, Carter and Sadie Kane embark on a dangerous journey across the globe -- a quest which brings them ever closer to the truth about their family and their links to a secret order that has existed since the time of the pharaohs.
Bonus Book: The following children's book was heard about but not personally read by the librarian -- A Sick Day for Amos McGee by Philip C. Stead
