Top Shelf Choices

Librarian Sonja Hannah, Children's Libarian Vivienne Khan, and Young Adults' Librarian Patsy Tuck provide Patch with their recommendations for Eagle Rock readers.

1. The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins is a riveting young adult series that is part fantasy, part science fiction, part action, part adventure, and all exhilarating.

2. For children, Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid takes top honors among the librarians. This series bemoans the woes of middle school, what with homework, bodily functions, parental stirs and girls. A perfect series for tweens.

3. A Child Called 'It': One Child's Courage to Survive is Dave Pelzer's memoir of a childhood spent tortured and abused by an alcoholic mother. It is, in the end, a hopeful tale, but not for the faint of heart.

4. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption, by Laura Hillenbrand is a non-fiction novel chronicling the life of Louie Zamperini, a rebel youth, Olympian and military hero.

5. Stieg Larsson's The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is the inaugural title in a dark and violent trilogy that explores crimes against the incomparable Lisbeth Salander, not to mention crimes committed by Salander herself. A gritty narrative set in Sweden.