Oldest Rookie: Big League Dreams from a Small-Town Guy by Jim Morris

Did you see the Disney movie The Rookie with Dennis Quaid? Well this is the true story behind the movie. It takes a lot of guts to pursue a dream that you've given up, especially when the pieces of your life are finally starting to fit together. Jim had a family, a good job and an ideal coaching job, but he took a chance and followed his dream to play Major League Baseball and in the process became the oldest rookie ever to play in the majors. His major league career wasn't long, but he took that chance and followed his childhood dream.

Coal Tattoo by Silas House

A fantastic book by Silas House. It follows the lives of two sisters who had been orphaned at an early age and raised by their grandmothers. Their lives intertwine with each other and the Sixties and the coal-mining town that they live in. It focuses on how sisters are always sisters though the good times and the bad.

Assassin by Anna Myers

Assassin by Anna Myers (a children's chapter book)

Bella Getchel has always longed to be an actress. So when John Wilkes Booth befriends her, she does not realize until too late that Booth is using her to access the President. As an apprentice to the White House seamstress, Bella has a unique and compelling view of the times and events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. This fictional portrayal does an excellent job of bringing to life the tensions of the time.

Reviewed by Ray Arnett, Director of the Fremont Area District Library

Future Homemakers of America by Laurie Graham

I am almost finished with The Future Homemakers of America. It is great. There are very short chapters, so you can pick it up and put down easily. The trick is keeping the women straight--in the beginning, at least. They are all wives of Air Force pilots, except Kath who is an English woman who lives close to the base. As the book progesses through the next 4 decades of their lives, they experience cross country moves, death, sickness, children, and divorce and each woman faces the challenges in her own way.

Aubrey/Maturin Series

I really enjoyed the movie "Master and Commander" so I've recently been reading Post Captain by Patrick O'Brian. It is the second in the series (after Master and Commander). Highly recommended for anyone who likes historical novels and the sea!