New Books - 10/16/09

600
We beat the street : how a friendship pact led to success / by the three doctors : Drs. Sampson Davis, George Jenkins, and Rameck Hunt with Sharon M. Draper
The story of how three teenage boys from a tough neighborhood in Newark, N.J., avoided gangs and crime and encouraged and challenged each other to pursue medical degrees. (replacement copy)

700
Cathedral (DVD) / hosted by David Macaulay
Depicts the construction and design of medieval a French cathedral.

800
Half broke horses : a true-life novel / Jeannette Walls
Walls tells the story of Lily Casey Smith, her spirited maternal grandmother. Smith was a teacher, horse-breaker, rancher, and ruthless poker player. (by the author of The Glass Castle).

The surrender tree : Poems of Cuba’s struggle for freedom / Margarita Engle
Engle’s poems construct a narrative woven around Cuba’s Wars for Independence, 1850-1899. The poems are narrated by Rosa, a freed slave and healer; Teniente Muerte or Lieutenant Death, son of a slave hunter ; Jose, Rosa’s husband; and Silvia, an escapee from a Cuban reconcentration camp.

Biography
Look me in the eye : my life with Asperger’s / John E. Robison
Diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome at age forty, Robison tells the painful story of longing to connect with other people. As a child, his quirky behavior marked his as a social deviant. As a middle-school student, he discovered a gift for repairing machines and circuitry; he now owns a successful company dedicated to repairing and restoring high-end European cars. “In the end, Robison succeeds in his goal of helping those who are struggling to grow up or live with Asperger's to see how it is not a disease but a way of being that needs no cure except understanding and encouragement from others.”(Amazon.com ; 10/16/09)

Fiction
Does my head look big in this? / Randa Abdel-Fattah
Sixteen year old Amal is an Australian-born, Muslim Palestinian. A typical teenager, she is also serious about her Muslim faith and decides to wear a hijab, the traditional Muslim headdress. A funny, heart-warming book that addresses issues of faith, culture and values.

And another thing : Douglas Adams’s hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy : part six of three / Eoin Colfer
“The rather unexpected, but very welcome, sixth installment of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. It features a pantheon of unemployed gods, everyone's favorite renegade Galactic President, a lovestruck green alien, an irritating computer, and at least one very large slab of cheese.” (Amazon.com ; 10/19/09)