Oaks Park LRC

  Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked...' To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably-priced furniture, making a life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver's Row don't approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it's still home. Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger and bigger all the time. Harlem Shuffle  is driven by an ingeniously intricate plot that plays out in a beautifully recreated Harlem of the early 1960s.  It's a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem. Publisher:  Little, Brown Book Group   ISBN:  9780708899441   Number of pages:  336  

  In the mid-nineteenth century, the Harvard College Observatory began employing women as calculators, or "human computers," to interpret the observations their male counterparts made via telescope each night. As photography transformed the practice of astronomy, the women turned to studying images of the stars captured on glass photographic plates, making extraordinary discoveries that attracted worldwide acclaim. They helped discern what the stars were made of, divided them into meaningful categories for further research, and even found a way to measure distances across space by starlight. Elegantly written and enriched by excerpts from letters, diaries, and memoirs, The Glass Universe is the hidden history of a group of remarkable women whose vital contributions to the burgeoning field of astronomy forever changed our understanding of the stars and our place in the universe. Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers   ISBN:  9780007548187   Number of pages:  336  

  Rule number one: Always be prepared . . . Billy's mum isn't like other mums. All she wants is to teach him the Rules of Survival - how to make fire, build shelter and find food. She likes to test Billy on the rules until one day she goes too far, and Billy is sent to live with a dad he barely knows. Then the world changes forever as people begin to be infected with a mysterious virus that turns their skin grey. As chaos breaks out, Billy has to flee the city. Suddenly he realises that this is what his mum was preparing him for - not just to save his family, but to save the whole world. Publisher:  Simon & Schuster Ltd   ISBN:  9781471193545   Number of pages:  384  

  Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfill his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear. Publisher:  Bloomsbury Publishing PLC   ISBN:  9781526648174   Number of pages:  384  

  It is 20 years in 2021 since Malorie Blackman's groundbreaking series began with Noughts & Crosses, which charted the deeply forbidden romance between Sephy (a Cross) and Callum (a nought) - which had repercussions for their families for generations. Endgame , the breathtaking conclusion to the series, influenced by the unprecedented global events of recent years, is full of twists and turns and emotions, with its incredible characters reaching a dramatic conclusion to their story. Publisher:  Penguin Random House Children's UK   ISBN:  9780241443989   Number of pages:  480  

  A captivating, powerful and luminous story from a bestselling, award-winning author about a mother, a daughter and the great Greenland shark.  The shark was beneath my bed, growing large as the room, large as the lighthouse, rising from unfathomable depths until it ripped the whole island from its roots. The bed was a boat, the shark a tide, and it pulled me so far out to sea I was only a speck, a spot, a mote, a dying star in an unending sky... Julia has followed her mum and dad to live on a remote island for the summer - her dad, for work; her mother, on a determined mission to find the elusive Greenland shark. But when her mother's obsession threatens to submerge them all, Julia finds herself on an adventure with dark depths and a lighthouse full of hope... A beautiful, lyrical, uplifting story about a mother, a daughter, and love - with timely themes of the importance of science and the environment. Publisher:  Hachette Children's Group   ISBN:  9781510110212   Number of

  A Bricklayer's Guide to the Galaxy . . . The inspirational memoir of a former brickie who followed his passion for the stars and built his own observatory.  Perfect for readers of Robert Macfarlane, Helen Macdonald and James Rebanks - as well as fans of Brian Cox and the BBC's Sky at Night. Gary Fildes left school at sixteen, got a trade like most of his mates and was soon married with four kids. His life seemed set. But he had a secret. Something he only practised late at night with a few like-minded friends. Then one day, middle age approaching alarmingly, he acted on his lifelong passion. He finally came out. As an astronomer.  Today, Gary is the founder and lead astronomer of Kielder Observatory, one of the top ten stargazing sites in the world, which he also helped to build. Situated in the beautiful forests of Kielder, Northumberland, within Europe's largest protected dark sky park, it offers some of the UK's most spectacular views of stars, planets and galaxies

  Journey  from one extreme to the other  as you turn the page to discover what record-breaker is next. This is a high-octane  tour around the world , stopping off at every continent to  marvel at natural and human phenomena . From the  highest waterfall  to the  deepest underground city , the  largest primate  to the  smelliest flower , this is an adventure that can't be beaten. Whether you're exploring the hottest place on Earth in Ethiopia, the world's largest cave in Vietnam, or riding the longest railway across Russia, adventure is all around you in this fun-packed atlas.Richly detailed illustrations by Lucy Letherland bring every adventure to life - as well as some quirky characters hiding among all the excitement.Emily Hawkins' expertise provides all you need to know to plan your next adventure - or whisk you there from the comfort of your sofa! With  over 30 scenes to explore , you will find  hundreds of things to spot , with facts about our astonishing planet t

  Stories for Boys Who Dare to Be Different   offers a welcome alternative narrative. From Salvador Dali to Barack Obama, welcome to an extraordinary compilation of 100 stories of famous and not-so-famous men from the past to the present day. All saw and dealt with the world differently. All are rule-breakers and innovators; all have achieved amazing things. For those who need the courage to reject peer pressure and go against the grain, this book seeks to inspire. The must-have book for all those boys who worry about stuff and all those parents who worry about their boys who worry about stuff. Publisher:  Quercus Publishing   ISBN:  9781787471986   Number of pages:  208   Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls 2  is an entirely new collection of one hundred bedtime stories that celebrate extraordinary women from Nefertiti to Beyoncé, Rosalind Franklin to J.K. Rowling. Queens and activists, ballerinas and lawyers, pirates and computer scientists, astronauts and inventors – a stunning juxta

  The OPHS Library Online Newsletter September 2021  #2 Welcome back to our New Online Monthly Newsletter Welcome back to School!! Every month, in our new Library Newsletter, we will have reviews on wonderful books that we have in our Library, snippets of new books on the horizon and interesting information about lovely Authors and books-to-movies information. There will be links to access upcoming books that are in The Library and lots of book information that you will enjoy.  We will have competitions, winner announcements, links to short stories, poems and other interesting literacy information all in one Newsletter!   If you would like to add a contribution to our next Newsletter (October issue), such as, what did you read over the summer?  What were your favourite and/or worst books that you have ever read?  Would you like to send in a book review and/or a literacy picture? Can you think of anything else that would look great in our newsletter?  Then please email: ltaylor@oakspark