Book Review By Stefanie Johnson
If your child stopped speaking, wouldn't look you in the eye and completely ignored the world around
them, what would you do? In the book, Louder than Words: A Mother's Journey in Healing Autism,
actress Jenny McCarthy shares her emotional story of diagnosis, hope, faith and recovery a journey
many thousands of parents now face.
Louder than Words was a very informative book on the faith Jenny had in facing autism and how to
overcome it. Jenny believes that there is a way to "control" autism using alternative approaches in diet
and way of life such as being on wheat, dairy, and yeast free diet. Only after Evan experienced countless
seizures and many different prescriptions did Jenny discover the diet and its success it had on Evan.
Learning that her son was diagnosed with autism was hard on Jenny. She thought that the curiosity
of how a toy worked and the arm flapping and spinning was just how Evan was. She would call him
her little bird and comment on how when he gets excited he flaps his arms. Jenny soon found out that
this was Evans "stim" or self-stimulated behavior which is an autistic trait. Jenny also learned how to
communicate with Evan with words he would understand and how to give him the words to use when
communicating with her. This added ease to their lives, which snowballed into great success for Evan and
his mom in the battle against autism.
New Books
Bulls Island by Dorothea Benton Frank
Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner
Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie
Kinsella
Dear to Me by Wanda Brunstetter
Double Blind by Hannah Alexander
Fancy Pants by Cathy Marie Hacke
Fearless Fourteen by Janet Evanovich
Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch
Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by
Julie Andrews
The Justice Riders by Chuck Norris
The Missing by Chris Mooney
The Parting by Beverly Lewis
The Perfect Life by Robin Lee Hatcher
Queen of Babble by Meg Cabot
Quiet Please: Dispatches from a Public
Librarian by Scott Douglass
Sail by James Patterson
True Evil by Greg Iles
Twenty Wishes by Debbie Maccomber
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
White Chocolate Moments by Lori
Wick
A Wolf at the Table by Augusten
Burroughs
New DVDs
27 Dresses
Alvin and the Chipmunks
The backyardigans: High Flying
Adventures
The Bucket List
Enchanted
The Golden Compass
I am Legend
Juno
Mad Money
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets
No Country for Old Men
P.S. I Love You
Rebound
Gifts and Memorials
Ed and Laura Evans
Eau Claire Foundation (Cable Family)
Memorial for Paula Rosenthal's
grandmother from the Sherrard Library
What My Library Means to Me by Dennis Dean
My relationship with libraries would not be told well if I were to merely explain what they mean to me as
I sit here today. You see, my relationship with the library has a long history. As with any good history
lesson, one must go back in time, for there lies the beginning of the story.
I was in my youth and at a point where I had already learned a lot about life and how to survive a few
good adventures. One of my life's lessons had been creating ways for a lanky teenager to get out of the
house without being challenged. With two books tucked under my arm, I would report I was going to the
library. That was an acceptable tactic. Our front door was not a barrier, but a portal through which lay
my future. I did not stash the books and head for freedom...I went to the library. I did my homework
when I got there. The library became a favorite meeting place. We were always on our best behavior
while we were at the library. I was always impressed with the grandeur of the building and what it stood
for. There were some places that were simply above misbehavior and that bastion of solitude demanded
respect.
My next experience came during my military years. The library on base became a new type of haven.
While not much of a reader back then, I discovered a rich music collection as well as stereo components
that could be enjoyed. It provided a lot of comfort while I was so many miles from home. Among other
toys, they had large reel-to-reel stereo tape decks. Their quality was second to none and I found that I
could buy blank reels of tape and bring them into the library to record individual songs in any order of my
choosing. Thus, I was able to begin building my own music library which I stored until the time came
when I could purchase my own equipment.
Now that those events are far behind me, I have discovered an interesting new benefit provided by the
library. Years later I discovered you could actually get something to read at the library. Sometimes I feel
as if I have already read everything that the Sherrard Public Library has to offer. Fortunately, that is not
the case. Every time I visit the library I find new books I have yet to read.
Finally, another important feature at the library is the kids. It makes me so proud when I see them sitting
quietly surfing the net, doing homework, and kids just being kids. They are considerably younger than I
was when I first started `using' the library. It restores my faith in youth to see them in the environment of
the library.
In fact, the library could only be improved with the presence of more kids. I'm quite positive that there
is an important correlation. The more kids we see in the Sherrard Public library, the fewer we see on the
news.
Our library cannot be measured only by the number of books, magazines, newspapers, movies, games,
computers, and CDs it has to offer, but by the fulfillment of the lives that are touched. That is what my
library means to me!
PRAIRIE AREA LIBRARY SYSTEM
Dreams do happen at your library! The State Library and Secretary of State have granted a library system change for the Sherrard Library. Your
Sherrard Library will soon be a member of the Prairie Area Library System (PALS) in Coal Valley. There are several benefits to present and future
patrons of the Sherrard Library. Everyone will be able to order materials while sitting at your computer at home or from a computer at any library
within PALS. The Sherrard Library's collection will join all the PALS libraries and be completely on-line. As a patron you will be able to have
your ordered materials delivered to the Sherrard Library, or if you choose, you may have them sent to another library within PALS. When the
many details are completed you will receive an invitation to come to the Sherrard Library for training of the PALS system, and to receive
your
new library card with your special pin number.
Sherrard Library staff anticipates all of the necessary steps will be completed this summer. Stay
Tuned!
