NEW TITLE: WHAT'S TOXIC, WHAT'S NOT

From the PublisherMold, lead, radon, asbestos, food additives, power lines, and more: what the risks are, and how to safeguard against them.
Arsenic. Mercury. Pesticides. Dioxin. Toxic gases. Your typical hazardous waste dump, right? Wrong. These materials can be found in the home. Every day, people work, live, and play amid potentially harmful toxins-things they might not even know are there. They are exposed to these toxic substances in their homes, neighborhoods, schools, workplaces, foods, and consumer products.
Now, two toxics experts with decades of experience in public health have created a book that separates the risks from the myths of everyday toxins. Comprehensive and easy-to-use, this guide provides scenarios and real-life examples-including important warning signs-that show how to identify problems and what to do about them. With Q&A segments, charts to help assess risk, and a special homebuyer's guide, What's Toxic, What's Not is a book no home should be without.
About the Author: Dr. Gary Ginsberg is a senior toxicologist at the Connecticut Department of Public Health and a member of a National Academy of Science.
Brian Toal supervises the Environmental and Occupational Health Assessment Program in the Connecticut Department of Public Health, where he works with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
From The Critics
Library Journal
Ginsberg and Toal-toxicologists for the Connecticut Department of Public Health-have created a comprehensive bible of hazardous substances that impact every individual in the United States. While explaining the major toxins of lead, radon, mold, and asbestos, they also delve into pesticides and chemicals in consumer products, food, water, air, and soil. Chapters describe each toxin, address the myths and realities surrounding it, and discuss how people come into contact with the substance and how to avoid it. Charts illustrate the toxicity, exposure, and risk index for each contaminant. Suggestions for testing one's own environment through the local health department, water service, and so forth are concrete and achievable; important points are boxed for emphasis. Tips are provided for diverse subjects such as how to microwave foods in plastic safely and how to make a homemade "green" bubble bath. A resources appendix provides Internet sites for more information. A fascinating, albeit somewhat frightening, account that should be available in most collections.-Janet M. Schneider, James A. Haley Veterans' Hosp., Tampa Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

NEW TITLE: DANCING WITH ROSE: FINDING LIFE IN THE LAND OF ALZHEIMER'S

Publishers Weekly
The growing number of readers who have relatives with Alzheimer's will warm to Kessler's excellent account of the months she worked as an unskilled resident assistant in an Alzheimer's facility on the West Coast. This facility, which she calls Maplewood, is a state-of-the-art institution, divided into small "neighborhoods" of 14 rooms with private baths, a common space and enclosed patios. The author of several nonfiction books, Kessler (Full Court Press) was attempting to resolve her feelings after her own mother, with whom she had a troubled relationship, died of Alzheimer's; bittersweet memories of her are scattered through the narrative. At Maplewood, Kessler feeds, toilets and converses with residents in varying stages of the illness. Marianne, for instance, an alert and well-dressed woman, appears not to belong at Maplewood. She still regards herself as a successful working woman, and the author treats her as such. Kessler becomes strongly attached to some of the other men and women in her neighborhood, feeling bereaved when several die during her tenure. She comes to regard Alzheimer's sufferers as individuals who can still enjoy life, given the care and recreational opportunities extended at this facility—a powerful lesson in the humanity of those we often see as tragically bereft of that quality. (June 4)Copyright 2007 Reed Business Information
What People Are SayingPart immersion reportage, part memoir, Lauren Kessler's book shows that people with Alzheimer's are still capable of love, friendship, and humor. Unflinching and smart, repentant and honest, Dancing With Rose offers ways for all of us to connect with people at the end of their lives. I loved this book. (Melissa Fay Greene, author of There's No Me Without You and Praying for Sheetrock
- Melissa Fay GreeneLauren Kessler has confronted the horror of Alzheimer's in the most direct and courageous way possible: After losing a mother to the disease, she went to work as a low-wage aide in an Alzheimer's facility. Dancing With Rose is itself a kind of miracle of caring: She manages to humanize the victims and shine a clear, compassionate, light on those who struggle to care for them. Anyone affected by the disease—and that's almost everyone—has to read this book! (Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Nickel and Dimed and Bait and Switch)
- Barbara EhrenreichLauren Kessler, who sent her parent away to a 'care facility' as so many of us do, here attempts a small act of atonement. But she achieves much more. In taking us on her months-long visit to the foreign land of Alzheimer's (a place which embodies so many of our fears), Kessler helps the reader to see that people with this disease are people we can touch, speak to, empathize with, and--more than I had known was possible--understand. (Ted Conover, Author of New Jack: Guarding Sing Sing and Coyotes)
- Ted ConoverAre you ready to step through the looking glass? Lauren Kessler's book gently walks you into the strange and unsettling world of middle and late-stage Alzheimer's. And she does it the way it should be done: with open eyes, complete honesty, and a true compassion -- no cornball sentimentality, no pulled punches. It takes a special quality to turn a subject this agonizing into an absorbing read, and this book has it. (David Shenk, author of The Forgetting)
- David Shenk

NEW TITLE: SIGNIFICANT GESTURES: A HISTORY OF AMERICAN SIGN LANGUAGE

From the PublisherTabak has created a fascinating exploration of a unique and uniquely beautiful North American language. The story begins in 18th century France in the first schools to use signed language as the language of instruction. Early in the 19th century a few individuals introduced a variant of this language into the United States and developed an educational system in which to use it. Out of these schools come members of a new American social class, the Deaf--with a capital D--who, united by a common signed language, create institutions through which they can participate in society on terms equal to those of other constituent groups. This strategy proved extremely controversial among all but the Deaf. The controversy lasted a century, during which time American Sign Language evolved along racial lines and in response to the pressures of those who sought to eliminate the use of American Sign Language.

NEW TITLE: VIZCAYA: AN AMERICAN VILLA AND ITS MAKERS

Editorial Reviews
Book DescriptionThe Miami estate of Vizcaya, like its palatial contemporaries Biltmore and San Simeon, represents an achievement of the Gilded Age, when country houses and their gardens were a conspicuous measure of personal wealth and power.
In Vizcaya: An American Villa and Its Makers, a celebrated architecture critic and writer and an award-winning landscape architect explore the little-known story of Vizcaya, an extraordinary national treasure. Witold Rybczynski and Laurie Olin use a rich collection of illustrations, historic photographs, and narrative to document the creation of this stunning house and landscape. Vizcaya was completed in 1916 as the winter retreat of Chicago industrialist James Deering. The cosmopolitan bachelor, who chose Miami for its warm climate, enlisted the guidance of artist Paul Chalfin, with whom he traveled throughout Italy to survey houses and gardens. With the assistance of architect F. Burrall Hoffman, Jr., and garden designer Diego Suarez, the 180-acre site on Biscayne Bay was transformed into a grand estate, complete with lagoons, canals, citrus groves, a farm village, a yacht harbor, and a 40-room Baroque mansion.
The lure of this architectural and landscape masterpiece, named for a Spanish Basque province, is undeniable. John Singer Sargent planned a short visit in 1917 but stayed for several months, producing an inspired series of watercolors, many of which are reproduced here for the first time. The book is further enriched by archival material and by the color images of noted photographer Steven Brooke, paying homage to Vizcaya as a lens through which readers learn about architecture, landscape and garden design, interior decoration, and art.

HARRY POTTER BOOK ARRIVED

The latest Harry Potter books is now processed and on the shelf. You can find it at
PR 6068.093 H 337 2007.

NEW TITLE ORDERED 7/26/2007

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY GALLOWS (Book 7)
J. K. Rowling

Readers beware. The brilliant, breathtaking conclusion to J.K. Rowling's spellbinding series is not for the faint of heart--such revelations, battles, and betrayals await in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows that no fan will make it to the end unscathed. Luckily, Rowling has prepped loyal readers for the end of her series by doling out increasingly dark and dangerous tales of magic and mystery, shot through with lessons about honor and contempt, love and loss, and right and wrong. Fear not, you will find no spoilers in our review--to tell the plot would ruin the journey, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is an odyssey the likes of which Rowling's fans have not yet seen, and are not likely to forget. But we would be remiss if we did not offer one small suggestion before you embark on your final adventure with Harry--bring plenty of tissues.

The heart of Book 7 is a hero's mission--not just in Harry's quest for the Horcruxes, but in his journey from boy to man--and Harry faces more danger than that found in all six books combined, from the direct threat of the Death Eaters and you-know-who, to the subtle perils of losing faith in himself. Attentive readers would do well to remember Dumbledore's warning about making the choice between "what is right and what is easy," and know that Rowling applies the same difficult principle to the conclusion of her series. While fans will find the answers to hotly speculated questions about Dumbledore, Snape, and you-know-who, it is a testament to Rowling's skill as a storyteller that even the most astute and careful reader will be taken by surprise.

A spectacular finish to a phenomenal series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is a bittersweet read for fans. The journey is hard, filled with events both tragic and triumphant, the battlefield littered with the bodies of the dearest and despised, but the final chapter is as brilliant and blinding as a phoenix's flame, and fans and skeptics alike will emerge from the confines of the story with full but heavy hearts, giddy and grateful for the experience.

NEW TITLE AVAILABLE NOW!

USING BLOGS TO ENHANCE LITERACY: The Next Powerful Step in 21st Century Learning
By Diane Penrod

Adolescents spend an average of nearly six hours a day online, with much of this time focused on blogging. Whether they're writing on MySpace, Xanga, LiveJournal, or their own web page, these youngsters invest time and energy creating an online social identity. Using Blogs to Enhance Literacy examines this phenomenon and its relationship to education, offering solutions to issues such as bullying and the growing digital divide between students and their teachers and parents.

Contents:

Why Blog?
Blogging and new literacies
Gender and Blogging
Ethnicity and Blogging
Encouraging safe blogging practices
Integrating multiple intelligences and blogging
Creating a classroom ethics for blogging
Blogging matters

Call Number: PE1422 .P46 2007