Happy Thanksgiving from the West Allis PublicLibrary!

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at the West Allis Public Library! The West Allis Public Library Staff Reads blog is taking a break over the Thanksgiving holiday. Remember that we're closed today Friday, November 27th, but we'll reopen tomorrow Saturday, November 28th with our normal hours. Take today to snuggle up and read a great book.

Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner

Rachel Blum has had a congenital heart defect from birth, one which she says has left her with a broken heart. Born into a loving family with parents who loving dote on her, Rachel can be a bit spoiled. After spending time in and out of the hospital until she was eight years old, Rachel became a "pro at this hospital thing." Her life will change forever the night she tells a story to a scared boy with a broken arm who is all alone in the hospital ER.

Andy Landis is the only child to a single parent, sometimes absent mother. Andy, whose father is African American and whose mother is white, doesn't quite fit in. With a father who is presumed dead and a mother who works all the time, but can never seem to make ends meet, Andy is often forced to wear clothing from the donation pile at church--even if it winds up being from his arch enemy in school. Headed down the wrong path, Andy meets his neighbor Mr. Sills who acts as a stand-in father.  After throwing a brick through a car windshield one night, Andy's mom suggests he channel all of his anger into running. From then on, Andy runs.

Little did Rachel and Andy know that their meeting in a hospital ER would change the course of their lives. Told in alternating view points for the next thirty years, the stories of Rachel and Andy lives begin to unfold. Coming from different walks of life, Rachel and Andy's love seems to defy it all. Weiner once again does a great job telling the story in Who Do you Love and leaves the reader questioning what true love really feels like.

Lagoon by Nnedi Okorafor

It sounds like the opening of a joke: marine biologist, soldier and famous rapper are all on a beach… These three strangers are all walking on a Bar Beach in Lagos, Nigeria when they are interrupted by the sound of an explosion followed by a rising wall of water from the ocean.  The three are sucked out to sea and miraculously, re-deposited on the sand later unharmed.  Then, the unthinkable happens: the representative of an alien race makes first contact with Earth. 

The story of the three strangers picks up pace as we meet the alien envoy herself: a being who can change her appearance at will; a “woman” the biologist names Ayodele.  Soon, everyone is trying to meet the alien and use her for their own ends: young men hoping for money, priests who want to “convert” the entire alien race, crazies who are convinced the world is ending.  Panic engulfs the masses and we see the three strangers and Ayodele fighting to convince people that the aliens are here because they love the potential of Nigeria and they want to live among humans. 

Okorafor does a great job of describing the invisible anxiety that lies underneath all of Lagos in these new, uncertain times.  She describes people from all walks of life who are just living their lives and then have to figure out how to live now that everything has suddenly changed.  The pages of this book are charged with superstition and old-world magic; with the unknown and unknowable.  This is an examination of contemporary society under the guise of a science fiction novel.

Lagoon is available now.  

The Cherry Harvest by Lucy Sanna

Set during World War II in Wisconsin's beautiful Door County peninsula, The Cherry Harvest follows the story of Thomas, Charlotte, and Kate Christiansen, the owners of a cherry farm. With their son Ben and most of the men on the peninsula sent away to fight the Nazis, Thomas and Charlotte worry how they're going to survive the harvest season, until the mention of German POWs enter the picture. Many in Door County fear that these German POWs are nothing more than Nazi sympathizers. With enemies on Wisconsin soil, many living in Door County fear for their safety. Even though it's unpopular, the Christiansens, needing all the help they can get to make this cherry harvest successful, agree to have the POWs work on their property.

Much of this story focuses on the relationship between Kate and her mother Charlotte. Their relationship is not rooted in love. Kate is a typical teen, interested in fashion, her friends, and boys, particularly Clay the son of an Illinois senator vacationing in Door County for the summer. When a secret threatens to tear the family apart, Kate and Charlotte are forced to deepen their relationship.

The Cherry Harvest is written by the Wisconsin-born Lucy Sanna. Although this is a work of fiction, there were in fact German POWs who worked the cherry orchards of Door County. During 1944 and 1945, Wisconsin was in fact a harboring place for many German POWs. POW camps were scattered throughout the state from Door County to Eau Claire and Rockfield, just outside of the Cedarburg/Germantown area.