Anne-Marie Delupy – Library Assistant
Attack and Release by the Black Keys
Last year, Gnarls Barkley’s sound scientist, Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton, asked the Black Keys to write songs for an album by Ike Turner. When Turner died in December, so did the project, but its ideas took root. The Black Keys went ahead with the music and Danger Mouse signed on to produce the album. Attack and Release is a psychedelic hybrid of vintage Southern R&B, British Invasion rock, and country blues. This is a whole new direction for the Black Keys, but they still have their strong blues/rock roots. I recommend putting it on without expectations and just enjoying the multicolored set.
Lisa Monteiro – Library Assistant
The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music
By Steve Lopez
I became familiar with Steve Lopez’s column in the L.A. Times while I was living in Long Beach. I would scan the papers for updates on a story about a homeless man he had befriended that was once a promising musician who was classically trained at Juilliard. The Soloist tells the story of Nathaniel Ayers, of a love for music, and how despite his battle with schizophrenia Lopez is able to slowly take steps to try and get Nathaniel off the devastating streets of Skid Row. “Relationship is primary,” a doctor tells Lopez. “It is possible to cause seemingly biochemical changes through human emotional involvement. You literally have changed his chemistry by being his friend.” Lopez creates a story of compassion, of struggle, of growth, and improvement — not just for Nathaniel, but also for himself.
Heidi Clark – Librarian
Bronx Masquerade*
By Nikki Grimes
Told from the unique and individual points of view of 18 students in a high school English class, Grimes reminds us all that beneath the surface, we are more alike than different. Mr. Ward and his class have been studying poetry from the Harlem Renaissance. In response the students began to write and then perform their own poetry. White, Black, and Hispanic, many of these young people find respect and validation for the first time in their lives. They also find the strength to be themselves in a world that looks down on them. Each student has a voice in the text, and in the poems that follow their stories. Watching these young people grow reminds me that while we have so much to be grateful for, we need to continue supporting the next generations, and create a world worthy of them.
*Ask at the front desk how you can get a copy!





