Library Loot ~ January 11-17

Kindred ~ by Octavia E. Butler, 1979, fiction

Dana, a modern black woman, is celebrating her twenty-sixth birthday with her new husband when she is snatched abruptly from her home in California and transported to the antebellum South.  Rufus, the white son of a plantation owner, is drowning, and Dana has been summoned to save him.  Dana is drawn back repeatedly through time to the slave quarters, and each time the stay grows longer, more arduous, and more dangerous until it is uncertain whether or not Dana's life will end, long before it has a chance to begin.

Zeitoun ~ by Dave Eggers, 2009, history (Louisiana)

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, longtime New Orleans residents Abdulrahman and Kathy Zeitoun are cast into an unthinkable struggle with forces beyond wind and water.  In this startling and deeply humane work of nonfiction, readers will witness our country's worst natural disaster through new eyes, encountering all the hope and contradiction of a unique moment in American history.

Because of Winn-Dixie ~ by Kate DiCamilla, 2000, middle grade fiction (Florida)

One summer day, Opal goes into a supermarket and comes out with a scraggly dog that she names Winn-Dixie.  Because of Winn-Dixie, her preacher father finally tells her ten things about her absentee mother, and Opal makes lots of unusual friends in her quirky Florida town.  And because of Winn-Dixie, Opal grows to learn that friendship — and forgiveness — can sneak up on you like a sudden storm.

The Paper Bag Princess: The Story Behind the Story ~ by Robert Munsch and Michael Martchenko, 2005 (25th anniversary edition)

Robert Munsch's tale — of a dragon, a princess named Elizabeth, and the bum of a prince she rescues — was first published in 1980.  It was an instant success and has since sold millions of copies in dozens of languages all over the world.  Readers will discover how Munsch — once on a path to becoming a priest — became one of the most famous children's authors of all time.  They'll learn how an extra space on a gallery wall landed Martchenko his first, and most legendary, children's book gig ever.  And they'll meet the real Elizabeth and see what she's up to today.  Never-before published sketches and paintings take readers through the process of the book's creation.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian ~ by Sherman Alexie, 2001, YA fiction

Junior is a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation.  Determined to take his future into his own hands, Junior leaves his troubled school on the rez to attend an all-white farm town high school where the only other Indian is the school mascot.  This story, based on the author's own experiences, chronicles the contemporary adolescence of one Native American boy as he attempts to break away from the life he thought he was destined to live.  Won the 2007 National Book Award for Young People's Literature.

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks ~ by Rebecca Skloot, 2010, science (Maryland)

Henrietta Lacks, a poor Southern tobacco farmer, was buried in an unmarked grave sixty years ago.  Yet her cells — taken without her knowledge — became one of the most important tools in medical research.  Known to science as HeLa, the first "immortal" human cells grown in culture are still alive today, and have been bought and sold by the millions.  Rebecca Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey from the "colored" ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to East Baltimore today, where Henrietta's family struggles with her legacy.

Library Loot is a weekly meme co-hosted by Claire from The Captive Reader and Marg from The Adventures of an Intrepid Reader that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.  If you would like to share a list of the loot you brought home from the library, Claire has the Mister Linky again this week.