Let JCPL Be Your Lucky Charm This August!

Reading the Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris, I am getting an education, learning the ins and outs of vampire life, werewolf drama and also getting the inside scoop about the lives of shape shifters. One of the most educational parts of reading this series, however, is that Sookie Stackhouse, the main character in the series, has a best friend who supplies her with a Word of the Day calendar each year, and occasionally, one of the words applies to the plot in the story. One morning, while taking breakfast orders from my three grandchildren, my two year old granddaughter requested "Chucky Arms." Hmmm...that wasn't part of the educational Word of the Day, and Sookie doesn't have kids, so the Vampire series would be no help in solving this mystery. Opening up the cabinet, I began to peruse the various foodstuffs that could translate to "Chucky Arms," and after a careful inspection, the light bulb above my head lit up and I asked her, "Do you want Lucky Charms?" BINGO! Mystery solved! And so, the breakfast mystery is solved, and our stomachs are full, so read on for some refreshing food for your mind and check out these new fiction titles from the Jasper County Public Library!

The Darling Dahlias is a Depression era, garden-club group of ladies from Darling, Alabama who welcome members from all walks of life. The ladylike behavior of the Darling Dahlias is challenged, however, when a set of sterling silver is found buried under the town's famous Cucumber Tree, and two members of the group claim ownership. The town and ladies club are further shaken by the discovery of the body of an unidentified young woman outside of town, and the mystery deepens in "The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree" by Susan Albert Wittig.

Seven year old Lavinia was orphaned on her journey to America from Ireland, and arrives on the steps of a tobacco plantation, working in the plantation's kitchen under the tutelage of Belle, the master's illegitimate daughter. As time goes on, Lavinia is accepted into the fold of the family in the Big House, but finds herself straddling two very different worlds in "The Kitchen House" by Kathleen Grissom.

The birth of a new baby daughter should be a happy occasion, but in a remote Indiana village where only sons are favored, the birth of a daughter is a tragedy. In "Secret Daughter" by Shilpi Somaya Gowder, Kavita and her husband struggle with the decision to give their newborn daughter, Asha, away. The decision to give the baby up haunts both parents, even after the birth of their son, but placing her in an orphanage is the only way to save her life. Meanwhile, across the globe, American doctor, Somer, and her husband, Krishnon, desperately want a child, but cannot have one of their own, and when they see a photo of baby Asha, decide to adopt the child. "Secret Daughter" weaves the lives and cultures of two families together, exploring the issues of culture and belonging, dramatically comparing the lives and cultures of two families who have the common goal of wanting only to be happy.

When nine year old Rose Edelstein bites into the lemon-chocolate cake prepared by her mother for her birthday, she discovers a magical gift; she can actually taste the emotions of her mother with every bite she takes. The gift, however, is not welcome when Rose discovers that the mother she has always seen as happy and cheerful is truly unhappy, desperate and full of despair. "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" by Aimee Bender brings to light the enormous burden of knowing too much and loving those closest to you anyway.

Sookie's Word of the Day in "Dead to the World," the fourth in the Southern Vampire Series, was "farrago," which the dictionary defines as "a jumble," and Sookie describes as "a confused mess." I'm not sure how I would use it in a sentence, but it could be a good replacement word for what's on the menu at our house for breakfast; Chucky Arms.