Ferndale Library Staff Recommends: Chris' Picks

This is not your ordinary "not-your-ordinary-librarian" type intro: Chris Walny has experience working as a producer for PBS, once hosted annual documentary film festivals, worked with WDET-Music Host Ann Delisi and went into labor with her now-4-year-old-daughter during one of her Library Sciences classes at Wayne State University.

Pick her brain on movies or music, or, really, just shuffle your way into any easygoing conversation with her on culture (as she is, herself, inherently easygoing) and one can see why "the teens" at the Hazel Park Library "just latched onto" her; she's just one of those who make libraries cool, cooler, even. 

Walny worked as a producer at PBS for 10 years, four of which she spent running a non-profit documentary film series (Detroit Docs). Her favorite past non-library work experiences include founding the Doc-film festival (which attracted up to 10,000 attendees one year, screening across five different venues) as well as working on Backstage Pass, a program featuring insightful segments on arts and culture in the city, with interviews and in-studio performances of various artists.

At the Hazel Park Library, she has a board of teen-readers that meet bi-monthly, "partly a book-club, partly, also to help pick out materials like CDs for the collection and other teen-friendly stuff." The board also helps this producer/librarian plan programs like their "Indie Prom" for kids who weren't going to prom this year. 

"We had a prom dress giveaway," Walny said. "With 200 prom dresses donated to the library! We gave away 35 of them, two girls cried." 

Walny loves coming to the . "It's like walking into a big hug. This is a beautiful library and I really enjoy the community and the patrons."

Working in libraries, sometimes, can feel like "being with grown-ups on some vacation," calm, cool, with plenty to read. "I love libraries!"

Chris' Picks - complete with "disclaimer" 

"Disclaimer: If you are generally a happy person who blinds people with your sparkly smile, these books might mess with your mind. Skip them; the world needs you to stay gold.

Either that, or read them all and channel the horror you now feel for the future into making the world a better place.

~'Dystopian Delights' (I’m not picking the Hunger Games series for this list, because even my cat has read it. To Suzanne Collins' great credit, she did a lot to get this dystopian disco started. So let’s move on…):

• Divergent, (a trilogy, the second book, Insurgent, came out this spring) by Veronica Roth

This trilogy offers the same thrills of government gone mad, but adds fun elements like evil virtual mind control and brutal initiations into chosen “personality” factions. 16-year old Beatrice has entered Dauntless and must face tests of bravery and strength before she even enters the compound. She is cunning and tough and inspires readers to question whether they are brave enough to be true to their calling. Chill your eye mask before you start this one; you’ll definitely be up all night.

• Delirium, (trilogy, the second book, Pandemonium is available) by Lauren Oliver

Love is the cause of almost all human suffering. If society can simply eliminate this pesky problem then the world will become an ideal place to live. Teens are given “the cure” when they reach 18 and then assigned to an appropriate and well matched life partner. Lena can’t wait for her cure; already she is feeling confused and tempted by the evils of romance. This is no Hunger Games. Less blood, fewer freaks, and more making out. But it’s not just a teen romance mush fest either. It is a pretty profound look into what it means to be free and how humans define themselves by the way they choose to live and love.

•  Starters, (the first in a series) by Lissa Price

Deadly spores almost killed the planet’s entire population, but there were just enough vaccinations to save the most vulnerable people; those under age 20, over age 60 and a few super lucky VIPs in the middle. Chaos now reigns, as the older folks have taken over all of the remaining resources and left the kiddies to fend for themselves in the streets. Nice. Callie is 16 and caring for her ailing orphan brother in a vacant building. Desperate to afford his medicine, she makes the chilling choice to rent her youthful body out as a virtual fountain of youth to an elder looking for a teenage joy ride. Cah-reepy!

•  Matched, (trilogy, the second book, Crossed is available) by Ally Condie

Society has become perfectly balanced and at peace; everyone’s basic needs are met, careers are well suited, even death is prearranged and painless at age 80. Marriage is the seamless match of two humans statistically compatible as decided by a flawless database. Or is it? Cassia is stunned when she receives her match and the questions that arise unleash a flood of rebellion at a utopian wall beginning to crack.

~

Thanks, Chris.

Ferndale Patch thanks Chris Walny and Jeff Milo at the Ferndale Public Library for contributing to Patch! Check back soon for more ideas from library staff. Are you looking for recommendations on something specific? Email jessica.schrader@patch.com, and we'll pass on your questions to the library.