Consider reading Art of (Urban) Cycling : a guide to bicycling in 21st-century America by Robert Hurst. Find it on the shelf at your library at 796.6 HUR. It's accessibly-written with helpful illustrations. It focuses on pragmatic (as opposed to dogmatic) solutions to everyday matters, including how to choose between sidewalk and street.
Picked this up from the library based suggestions in this thread. As a newbie myself, I'd definitely recommend this book. I'm just a little over half-way through but already feel that I've learned a lot. I really like the practical approach that the writer uses.