Valentine’s Day is fast approaching. Are you the first in line to buy teddy bears and greeting cards, or do you hold your nose at the scent of flowers and heart-shaped candy? If you are the latter, and you cringe at hyperbolic celebrations of romantic love, you are in luck because the Feast of Saint Valentinus is also a day to celebrate friendship. So, unless you are sworn to absolute misanthropy, you can still allow yourself to share some delicious chocolate with your true pals. Curb your curmudgeonly ways and ponder the value of friendship by reading one of these inspiring titles:
PACT: THREE YOUNG MEN MAKE A PROMISE AND FULFILL A DREAM by SAMPSON DAVIS. (2002) DB 54458 DLD DX 54458 RC 54458
Three twenty-nine-year-old African American doctors–two physicians
and a dentist–describe how their friendship helped them to overcome
obstacles and to pursue their career goals. They share how they
motivated each other to leave problem neighborhoods of Newark, enroll
in college, and enter professions. For senior high and older readers.
FIVE SKIES by RON CARLSON (2007)
BR 17520 DB 65452 DLD RC 65452
Three men share their life stories while working on a construction
project in Idaho. Carpenter Arthur Key, who left California after a
betrayal, and Ronnie Panelli, charming but shiftless, are led by ranch
foreman Darwin Gallegos–angry at man, God, and life. Strong language.
JOY LUCK CLUB by AMY TAN (1989)
BR 07747 DB 29021 DLD RC 29021
In 1949 four Chinese women living in San Francisco founded the Joy
Luck Club where they met to play mah-jongg, tell stories, and “feast”
on scraps. Forty years later one of the women dies, her daughter
takes her place at the club, and a secret is revealed that unleashes
in each person the need to reach back and remember. Bestseller.
TRUTH AND BEAUTY: A FRIENDSHIP by ANN PATCHETT (2004)
DB 62610 DLD RC 62610
Author reminisces about her long-term friendship with Lucy Grealy,
whom she met in college at Sarah Lawrence and who wrote Autobiography of a Face (RC 40052) describing her battle with facial cancer. Patchett describes their relationship until Grealy’s 2002 death from a heroin overdose.