Brooklyn Borough President

SPEND THE SUMMER READING BROOKLYN!

Some of Brooklyn’s best authors will read their work July 1st at Borough Hall

READ Brooklyn! is a great summer reading program organized by Borough President Marty Markowitz and Brooklyn Public Library. Brooklyn is blessed to have a vast amount of talented and prolific authors. Why not spend this summer reading some of their best work! One of life’s greatest joys is to pick up a fascinating book from any of the 60 Brooklyn Public Library branches around the borough to read on the beach at Coney Island, while you’re relaxing in one of Brooklyn’s beautiful parks, or even on trains and buses as you move around the borough.

On July 1st, from 11:00am – 2:00pm, Brooklyn authors will be reading some of their favorite works in Borough Hall Plaza. Denis Hamill, novelist and newspaper columnist, Michael Immerso, author of Coney Island: The People’s Playground, Joseph Trigoboff, prolific writer of Brooklyn detective novels, Paul Zelinsky, children’s book author, and many other great Brooklyn authors will be on hand at Borough Hall. Check out this special literary treat!

"Brooklynites, young and old, I want you to enjoy this summer by delving into at least one of these fantastic books," Borough President Markowitz said. "Brooklyn has the best writers in the world, the best library in the world, and, of course, the most interesting characters to read about! Every knows there's no place like Brooklyn, which is why our unique summer reading list filled with books about Brooklyn or by Brooklyn authors is something you won't want to miss. I guarantee that you won't be able to stop turning the pages when you READ Brooklyn! this summer."

Brooklyn Public Library continues the excitement of reading all summer long with a borough-wide Summer Reading program at all 60 Brooklyn Public Library community libraries. “Summer Reading is a great way to get children excited about learning,” says Ginnie Cooper, Executive Director, Brooklyn Public Library. “Brooklyn Public Library has a multitude of sensational summertime events to engage children in reading and continuing to learn over the summer months.”

READ Brooklyn! is a list of selections for both adults and children by Brooklynites or about Brooklyn. The list can be found at libraries throughout the borough. Choose one or more of these titles to read over the summer and tell us what you think. We’ll gather your reviews and post them at www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org after Labor Day. Please submit reviews to READ Brooklyn! at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street, Suite 330, Brooklyn, NY 11201.

READ Brooklyn! suggested reading list (many of these available at your local library):

Adult Books:
Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, Michael Chabon
Farming of Bones, Edwidge Danticat
Snow in August: a novel , Pete Hamill
Disappearing Acts, Terry McMillan
My Name is Asher Lev, Chaim Potok
Push: a novel, Sapphire
John Henry Days: a novel, Colson Whitehead
Complete Poems of Marianne Moore
Leaves of Grass, Walt Whitman
Fires in the Mirror, Anna Deavere Smith
When Brooklyn Was the World, Elliott Willensky

Young Adults
Life Is Funny, E.R. Frank
Annie on the Mind, Nancy Garden
Spellbound, Janet McDonald
Fresh Girl, Jaira Placide
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith
When I Was Puerto Rican, Esmeralda Santiago

Juvenile
Big Jimmy’s Kum Kau Chinese Take Out, Ted Lewin
Black Cat, Christopher A. Myers
Max Found Two Sticks, Brian J. Pinkney
Where the Wild Things Are, Maurice Sendak
Didi and the Daddy on the Promenade, Marilyn Singer
Subway Sparrow, Leyla Torres
Brooklyn Doesn’t Rhyme, Joan W. Blos
Marisol and Magdalena: The Sound of Our Sisterhood, Veronica Chambers
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, Bette Bao Lord
Last Summer With Maizon, Jacqueline Woodson

For more information about reading all summer long or for other great booklists for all ages, visit www.brooklynpubliclbrary.org, or call Brooklyn Public Library at (718) 230-2100.