In the book stacks Atlantic County Library News

The Atlantic County Library System/Hammonton is located at 451 S. Egg Harbor Rd. and may be reached by calling (609) 561-2264. Follow the Atlantic County Library System on Facebook (facebook.com/atlanticlibrary), Twitter (@ACLSLibrarian) and Instagram (instagram.com/aclslibrarian).

Many library services are available 24/7 at www.atlanticlibrary.org.

To view their full calendar of events, visit atlanticlibrary.org. Registration required for all programs.

Masks are optional, but social distancing is still in effect. All programs are subject to change or cancellation.

The library will be closed on July 4.

Craft for Adults-All Together Now-DIY Body Scrub: Wednesday, July 5 at 6:30 p.m. Open to adults. Registration required. Enjoy an evening creating your own soothing body scrubs and salts using essential oils, sugar, and salt.

Toddler Storytime and Craft: All children ages 1.5 to 3 are invited on Tuesdays, July 11, 18 and 25 at 10:30 a.m. Registration required. The latest books & some old favorites will help introduce new vocabulary & reinforce learning. Children and their caregivers will enjoy stories, songs, crafts, games and movement while building language and literacy skills.

Lego Club: Tuesday, July 11 at 6:30 p.m. Open to ages 5 and older. Registration required. Join our Lego Club and create your own Lego designs. All supplies are provided.

SRP-All Together Now-Shrink Film Art: Wednesday, July 19 at 6:30 p.m. Open to all ages. Parental supervision is required. Registration is required. DIY shrink film art charms are a great way to bond with your children while also teaching them a new art & craft. Make your own art creations, then watch them shrink. All materials are provided.

Family Movie Night: Wednesday, July 25 at 6 p.m. Movie TBD. Open to all. Registration required. Join us for movies on the big screen. Refreshments will be provided; please advise staff of any food allergies. Check with the branch for upcoming titles. Guardians must remain with children age 9 and under.

Recommended Reading: Upcoming titles that will be circulating in our collection soon:

Crook Manifesto

A Novel by Colson Whitehead

It’s 1971. Trash piles up on the streets, crime is at an all-time high, the city is careening towards bankruptcy, and a shooting war has broken out between the NYPD and the Black Liberation Army. Amidst this collective nervous breakdown furniture store owner and ex-fence Ray Carney tries to keep his head down and his business thriving. His days moving stolen goods around the city are over. It’s strictly the straight-and-narrow for him — until he needs Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter May and he decides to hit up his old police contact Munson, fixer extraordinaire. But Munson has his own favors to ask of Carney and staying out of the game gets a lot more complicated—and deadly.

1973. The counter-culture has created a new generation, the old ways are being overthrown, but there is one constant, Pepper, Carney’s endearingly violent partner in crime.

It’s getting harder to put together a reliable crew for hijackings, heists and assorted felonies, so Pepper takes on a side gig doing security on a Blaxploitation shoot in Harlem. He finds himself in a freaky world of Hollywood stars, up-and-coming comedians and celebrity drug dealers, in addition to the usual cast of hustlers, mobsters and hit men. These adversaries underestimate the seasoned crook – to their regret.

1976. Harlem is burning, block by block, while the whole country is gearing up for Bicentennial celebrations.

Carney is trying to come up with a July 4th ad he can live with. ("Two Hundred Years of Getting Away with It!"), while his wife Elizabeth is campaigning for her childhood friend, the former assistant D.A and rising politician Alexander Oakes.

When a fire severely injures one of Carney’s tenants, he enlists Pepper to look into who may be behind it. Our crooked duo have to battle their way through a crumbling metropolis run by the shady, the violent and the utterly corrupted.

Hello Stranger

A Novel by Katherine Center

Sadie Montgomery never saw what was coming . . . Literally! One minute she’s celebrating the biggest achievement of her life―placing as a finalist in the North American Portrait Society competition―the next, she’s lying in a hospital bed diagnosed with a “probably temporary” condition known as face blindness.

She can see, but every face she looks at is now a jumbled puzzle of disconnected features. Imagine trying to read a book upside down and in another language. This is Sadie’s new reality with every face she sees.

But, as she struggles to cope, hang on to her artistic dream, work through major family issues, and take care of her beloved dog, Peanut, she falls into―love? Lust? A temporary obsession to distract from the real problems in her life?―with not one man but two very different ones. The timing couldn’t be worse.

If only her life were a little more in focus, Sadie might be able to find her way. But perceiving anything clearly right now seems impossible. Even though there are things we can only find when we aren’t looking. And there are people who show up when we least expect them. And there are always, always other ways of seeing.