Animal, Vegetable, Mineral Display
Animal, Vegetable, Mineral? was a British television panel show which originally ran from 1952 to 1959. In the show, a panel of archaeologists, art historians, and natural history experts were asked to identify interesting objects or artifacts from museums. We don't have any museums here, but these library titles are definitely worth a study!
"Salt Houses" by Hala Alyan is a debut novel about a Palestinian family caught between present and past, between displacement and home. "On the eve of her daughter Alia's wedding, Salma reads the girl's future in a cup of coffee dregs. She sees an unsettled life for Alia and her children; she also sees travel, and luck. While she chooses to keep her predictions to herself that day, they will all soon come to pass when the family is up rooted in the wake of the Six-Day War of 1967. Salma is forced to leave her home in Nablus; Alia's brother gets pulled into a politically militarized world he can't escape; and Alia and her gentle-spirited husband move to Kuwait City, where they reluctantly build a life with their three children. When Saddam Hussein invades Kuwait in 1990, Alia and her family once again lose their home, their land, and their story as they know it, scattering to Beirut, Paris, Boston, and beyond. Soon Alia's children begin families of their own, once again navigating the burdens (and blessings) of assimilation in foreign cities." Lyrical and heartbreaking, "Salt Houses" is a remarkable debut novel that challenges and humanizes an age-old conflict we might think we understand--one that asks us to confront that most devastating of all truths: you can't go home again.
"Ella Minnow Pea" by Mark Dunn is "an epistolary novel set on the fictional island of Nollop, situated off the coast of South Carolina and home to the inventor of the pangram The Quick Brown Fox Jumps Over The Lazy Dog. The islanders have erected a monument to honor their late hero, but one day a tile with the letter "Z" falls from the statue. The leaders interpret the fallen tile as a message from beyond the grave and the letter is banned from use. On an island where the residents pride themselves on their love of language, this is seen as a tragedy. They are still reeling from the shock, when another tile falls and then another." Mark Dunn takes us on a journey against time through the eyes of Ella Minnow Pea and her family as they race to find another phrase containing all the letters of the alphabet to save them from being unable to communicate.
"The Dead Cat Tail Assassins" are not cats. Nor do they have tails. But they are most assuredly dead. Nebula and Alex Award winner P. Djeli Clark introduces a brand-new world and a fantastical city full of gods and assassins. "Eveen the Eviscerator is skilled, discreet, professional, and here for your most pressing needs in the ancient city of Tal Abisi. Her guild is strong, her blades are sharp, and her rules are simple. Those sworn to the Matron of Assassins-resurrected, deadly, wiped of their memories-have only three unbreakable vows. First, the contract must be just. That's above Eveen's pay grade. Second, even the most powerful assassin may only kill the contracted. Eveen's a professional. She's never missed her mark. The third and the simplest: once you accept a job, you must carry it out. And if you stray? A final death would be a mercy. When the Festival of the Clockwork King turns the city upside down, Eveen's newest mission brings her face-to-face with a past she isn't supposed to remember and a vow she can't forget."
"The Women of the Copper Country" by Mary Doria Russell is an inspiring historical novel about "America's Joan of Arc" Annie Clements--the courageous woman who started a rebellion by leading a strike against the largest copper mining company in the world. "In July 1913, twenty-five-year-old Annie Clements had seen enough of the world to know that it was unfair. She's spent her whole life in the coal-mining town of Calumet, Michigan where men risk their lives for meager salaries--and had barely enough to put food on the table and clothes on their backs. The women labor in the houses of the elite, and send their husbands and sons deep underground each day, dreading the fateful call of the company man telling them their loved ones aren't coming home. When Annie decides to stand up for herself, and the entire town of Calumet, nearly everyone believes she may have taken on more than she is prepared to handle."
You'll find these and lots of other titles in our "Animal, Vegetable, Mineral" display. For additional title suggestions, see the lists below:
