City of Orphans

City of Orphans by Avi
Youth New Book Shelves - Lower Level - AVI

Also available in audio book form:
City of Orphans by Avi
Teen Zone CD Books - Main Level - AVI

The audio version of this book is exceptional. The reader is fantastic! I love all of Avi's books, and this is one of my favorites.

The setting is New York City in 1893. The city is filled with immigrants and the streets are filled with orphaned children. Times are tough, and families are just trying to get by. The Geless family are from Denmark, and their oldest children have jobs - including Maks. Maks is a 13-year-old "newsy," selling World News newspapers and trying to steer clear of the Plug Ugly gang. The Plug Uglies are violent and nasty, and have been known to shake down newsies for their paper money.

One night, the Plug Uglies come after him. A street orphan named Willa comes to his rescue, beating the gang off with her stick. Maks owes her for her help, and takes her home to be fed by his mother.

When they get home, they find out that Maks's sister Emma has been arrested for stealing. Maks and the family know she would never have done such a thing, and embark on a plan to prove her innocence. Willa and Maks are particularly helpful, enlisting the help of a private investigator who teaches them how to find clues.

This is a fast-paced story, and highly recommended to upper-elementary and middle schoolers!

Wild: From lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Wild: From lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail
by Cheryl Strayed

New Adult Nonfiction 813.6 S


No stranger to impulsive decisions, Cheryl Strayed, a young woman from Minnesota with zero backpacking experience decided to solo hike 1100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail. The PCT is the lesser know cousin of the Appalachian Trail, running from Mexico to Canada. Although the reader gets a pretty good sense of the trail and all its challenges – yes, there are bears and rattlesnakes -- this is not a travel guide. It is about her personal journey. And it’s a stunner.


Cheryl was a woman lost. She was 22 when her mother died, her remaining family crumbled, and her marriage disintegrated. She dabbled in all the dangerous things that lost people dabble in and she comes clean about all of it. A few years later, as she was hitting bottom, she decided that while she had done and been many things “A woman who walks alone in the wilderness for eleven hundred miles? I’d never been anything like that before. I had nothing to lose by giving it a whirl.” Nothing to lose? That might sound crazy to most people but Cheryl sold all her possessions, learned everything that the good folks at REI could teach her, and sent boxes with provisions ahead to all the outposts of civilization she would be near. And then she strapped on the backpack she refers to as “Monster” and headed off on the trail.


Cheryl quickly came to the conclusion that while she felt like an experienced backpacker due to all the advice she had received at REI, she really was ill-prepared for the journey. Her boots were too small; her backpack, too weighty; the money she sent ahead, too little. And yet… this woman has a fighting spirit that is just amazing. She endures.


Cheryl has a writing style that makes you feel like you are right there with her, every painful step of the way. Hers is a fascinating story of courage. And proof that, if you want to badly enough, you can change your life.

Laundry Day

Continuing with the immigrants in the city theme, here is a cheerful look at the city of old and its residents aimed at the younger set.

Laundry Day by Maurie J. Manning.
Youth Graphic Novels – Lower Level - MAN

Laundry Day falls somewhere between a graphic novel and a picture book, with a comic book-style layout of cells in a picture book size and target age. Our hero is a little shoeshine boy in a big city, probably around the 1910s. He’s looking fruitlessly for customers when a bright red cloth drops down on him from the tall buildings above. One level up, he sees a Chinese laundress, so he climbs up to ask if it’s hers. It isn’t, but she offers him a moon cake and sends him to a neighbor whom she thinks might be the owner. The little boy’s journey goes on, as he climbs up balconies and across laundry lines, meeting and helping neighbors in small ways. In one case, he takes a penny to an Italian organ grinder from a Ukrainian mother with a crying baby, to see if some music will calm the baby. They are Chinese, Italian, Polish, Jamaican, Ukrainian, and Jewish, as revealed by their hanging laundry and tiny bits of their native languages sprinkled in (pronunciations and definitions given in a glossary at the end). Not until he reaches the roof of the building does he meet the owner. Once he is down on the ground again, the neighborhood is filled with friends instead of strangers and his shoeshine business is booming. One of my youth librarians points out that this is a rare book for preschool/early elementary that takes place during the “Olden Days” in a city rather than on the frontier. This is joyous celebration of the New World and of community.

New to America

Here are two new adult graphic novels that look at recent immigrants in old New York City, two very different takes on the same dilemma: how to survive in a country that isn’t entirely sure it wants your kind here, especially if you don’t have a husband to support you. In both cases, the graphic novel format brings the place vividly to life.

Gone to Amerikay by Derek McCullough. Art by Colleen Doran.
Adult Graphic Novels – Main Level - GON

This graphic novel interweaves the story of three periods of Irish people coming to America. In 1870, Ciara O’Dwyer comes with her young daughter Maire, expecting her husband Fintan to follow soon. She moves in with family in the slums of New York and starts working as a laundress to support herself. Months pass, and even though a letter arrives saying that Fintan is on his way, he never turns up. Only Tim O’Shea, an altar boy with her husband when they were small, comes. Tim tells Ciara that Fintan changed his mind, joined the military, and might turn up in a few years. Meanwhile, he gets involved with the Irish gangs in New York and starts drawing Ciara into his Life of Crime. Meanwhile, in 1960, Johnny McCormack, a young would-be actor, immigrates to New York and finds work performing traditional and original Irish music instead. He falls in love with another Irish boy, a less recent immigrant, who introduces him to the right people but also breaks his heart. Finally, in 2010, businessman Lewis Healy, made rich by the Celtic Tiger, comes with his assistant who is giving him a tour of the origins of “Ciara’s Song.” This was the least interesting story for me – nothing really happens to Lewis himself – but it holds key information to both of the other stories. There is a wee bit of ghost story mixed into this – really just one creepy spread - but lots and lots of Irish song lyrics and an old story or two. I never really got a feel for the modern character, but both Ciara and Johnny have for me a deep inner integrity that lifted them out of their sordid circumstances and gave the story, despite its many distressing elements, an overall upbeat feeling. I never lost confidence that both Ciara and Johnny would live out their American dreams, despite the many setbacks. Colleen Doran, famous for her work on Sandman, does not disappoint with the beautiful work that captures the people and places of all the different times. There is some violence that might make this unsuitable for young children, but overall, this is an uplifting tale of the Irish immigrants in America.


Unterzakhn by Leela Corman.
Adult Graphic Novels – Main Level - UNT

“Unterzakhn” is Yiddish for “underthings”, which seems to refer both to our main characters, on the bottom end of the social ladder, tied together with views of laundry lines drying underthings between chapters. This story takes follows two girls growing up in the tenements of New York, from 1909 to 1923. Fanya and Esther are six when we meet them, according to the back cover. Fanya is sent to find Bronia, the Lady-Doctor, because Mrs. Gold is bleeding out in the street. Unfortunately, Bronia is too late, and she refuses to tell Fanya just what has happened, despite her persistent questions. However, Bronia comes back to their mother to ask for permission to teach the girls to read. Permission is granted only for Fanya, as the mother doesn’t really think learning necessary for girls, and wants help still with their little sister Feigl. Even so, Esther finds herself drawn to the nearby burlesque and whorehouse. She’s interested in the dancing, and starts learning despite teasing from some of the other dancing about her Jewish looks. As the girls grow older, Fanya starts helping Bronia more with her work of helping women with childbirth, while also providing illegal abortions (mostly very early on, via herbal teas) and family planning training, just as controversial. In this world where death in childbirth is frequent and those who survive end up with more children than they can feed, Bronia’s advocacy for total celibacy seems reasonable. Meanwhile, Esther starts working on both sides of the House. After their father dies, a flashback shows us his journey to America from Russia, forced out by a regime willing to kill any Jews who won’t leave on their own. After his death, Fanya and Esther’s lives diverge further, as Esther gains fame and wealthy patrons, while Fanya’s work starts gaining her enemies. Spoiler alert: by the end of the book, only one member of the original family of five is still alive.

This is a much darker view of life in New York City than we see in Gone to Amerikay. There’s a lot of blood and unglamorous nudity, though not as much actual sex shown as one might expect for a book starring a prostitute. In spite of this, Corman’s characters are so full of life and joy, her strong black-and-white drawings so vibrant, that the book comes across as a celebration of the strong people of the tenements, determined to live their life to the fullest, no matter how shoddy the hand they are dealt.

The Wind

The Wind by Warren Zevon
Cd Bins - Rock Z



The best songwriters and musicians always seek to leave a legacy in their field that will hopefully be inspiring for those that come after them. Rocker Warren Zevon had a very successful career filled with multiple accomplishments that included the album The Wind. The album would be the last artistic achievement of Zevon as he would pass away from an inoperable form of cancer mere weeks after it was released in 2003. He began recording the album shortly after his diagnosis and many of the songs paint the picture of a man coming to terms with the end of his life but still trying to fight on and enjoy what he still could. On any other album, a cover of the song “Knocking on Heaven’s Door” might seem as a simple tribute to Bob Dylan but knowing the circumstances surrounding Zevon’s health gives the song extra poignancy.

Not all the offerings on the album deal with sentimentality as tracks such as “The Rest of the Night” show Warren was still a rocker at heart. But it is the final song that is the most impactful and moving on the album. “Keep Me in Your Heart” was written by Warren Zevon especially for his family members. The song is a testament to how easily good music can convey the emotions we feel regarding personal loss and the desire to be remembered by the people who were special in our lives. It is a shame that we will never know what else Warren Zevon could have contributed to the music industry but his legacy is already one that will most likely influence future musicians.

The Sisters Club

The Sisters Club by Megan McDonald
Youth Cd Books - Lower Level - McDonald

The Sisters Club by Megan McDonald is a very humorous and sweet tale. It tells the story of three sisters: the oldest Alex, the middle child Stevie, and the youngest Joey. All of the sisters are very different. Alex is almost 13 and loves acting. Stevie is 10-years-old and is "the glue" of the family. She always tries to make things better. Finally there is 8-year-old Joey. Sweet yet mischievous Joey loves homework, writing in her journal, and pioneers.

The three sisters engage in typical fights about parental affection, missing items, and crushes. Yet they also share sweet and tender times where they play the "remembering game" and have Sister's Club meetings with a sock monkey puppet. The sibling relationships are absolutely believable and hilarious. While their parents are included in the story, the real stars of the novel are the sisters.

The Sisters Club is the first book in a series. The other titles include The Rule of Three and Cloudy with a Chance of Boys. I listened to the title on Cd, and the narrators were absolutely wonderful in capturing the different personalities of each sister. It is an absolutely fantastic listen for parents and children alike. I guarantee that you will be laughing and smiling the whole time!

Collected Stories by Amy Hempel

Collected Stories by Amy Hempel

Adult Fiction Shelves
HEMPEL

In Collected Stories by Amy Hempel, one is reminded what words can do when written by a capable hand. The collection features Hempel’s previously published work starting with her first, “Reasons to Live” first published in 1985 and follows her publications to her most recent, “The Dog of the Marriage” published in 2005. Hempel writes of longing and the desire to connect to others; she writes of grief and of happiness, of the observations of characters who notice what others may not. Hempel’s stories range from just a few pages to longer pieces but they all offer up to the reader stories that, though short, will stay with the reader long into the following days. In one story Hempel writes, “The other day I was playing Scrabble. I saw that I could close the space in D-E- -Y. I had an N and an F. Which do you think I chose? What was the word I made?” Hempel’s language and superb ability to tell a story with a small economy of words has left a lasting impression on this reader.

Other Short Story Collections I would suggest:

We Others: new and selected stories by Steve Milhauser
We Others recently won the Story Prize.

The Angel Esmeralda: Nine Stories by Don Delillo
The Angel Esmeralda was a finalist for the Story Prize.

Binocular Vision: new and selected stories by Edith Pearlman
Binocular Vision was a finalist for the Story Prize, National Book Award, and was the Winner for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction 2012.

Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature

Evolution, Me, and Other Freaks of Nature by Robin Brande
Teen Zone Fiction-Main Level - Brande

Mena Reese has a rough start to high school. Her old friends hate her. Even her parents won't talk to her. The worst part, though, is that she believes she did the right thing. It's just that her church disagrees. Church is the most important thing to Mena's friends and family, and to be kicked out hurts her deeply. (You'll have to read the book to find out what she did!)

Enter Casey Connor, who has been assigned by biology teacher Ms. Shepherd to be Mena's lab partner. He is a super-smart science geek, and Mena quickly learns to trust him. His family is warm and friendly, and she loves hanging out with them. She has to lie to her parents, who won't allow her to socialize with a boy, but she thinks it's worth it. One of the lessons Mena learns throughout the story is that lying is never a good idea. As Ms. Shepherd says, "Lying is for the weak-minded. If you can’t think of a truthful way to solve your problems, you’re not thinking hard enough.”

When Ms. Shepherd starts teaching a unit on evolution, Mena's ex-church friends revolt. Mena begins to see things a little differently, influenced by the Connors. Things she never would have questioned in the past are now not so clear to her. How can she hold on to her beliefs without the support system of her church, but also accept the science that now seems so obvious to her? Can she have both?

While religion is a major theme in this book, the lessons Mena learns about respect and tolerance are universal. Anyone of any belief (or non-belief) affiliation can appreciate this story.

Women's Health Big Book of 15 Minute Workouts

The Women’s Health Big Book of 15 Minute Workouts by Selene Yeager.
New Book Shelves – Upper Level – 613.7 Y

I waited several months for this book, as I was not the only person in the library who thought that 15 minute workouts were a fabulous idea. For your benefit, dear reader, as well as my own, once I got my hands on the book, I decided to follow their program for the full three weeks that I was allowed the book (there is still a wait list on it, so I couldn’t keep it longer) and then report on it. Their program is to do their workouts every other day for a total of three days in the week, alternating with light aerobic activity and/or stretching on days 2 and 4. Day 6 is high intensity aerobics from the book – I did jump roping, as it was the only one I could do from home with equipment I already had. I developed a love-hate relationship with this book:

Love
- The workouts are designed to be done in 15 minutes. This is a stretch with my schedule, but it seems to be mostly possible.
- They make a very good case for 15 minutes of their routines being better for you than hours of less intense routines.
- The workouts have clear color photos with easy-to-follow written instructions under the photo of each step.
- The focus is on strength training with large muscle groups doubled up, making it hard enough work to count as cardio as well.
- There is a good variety of workouts – 85, grouped into the categories of lower body, upper body, core, fat-burning, by body type, anywhere, special gear, better sex, healing, sports, stretch and strengthen. You will not get bored, you’ll develop broader strength, and if you don’t like one workout on a topic, you can pick from several others.
- The models are a variety of different ethnicities.

Hate
-The models are all extremely fit, naturally small twenty-somethings.
- The workouts assume a pretty high fitness level – for example, assuming that you not only can do a full push-up, but that you’d like to make it even harder. And that you can assume a fairly challenging pose and hold it while lifting weights. They have few to no notes on adapting the exercises to a lower fitness level. If I can’t hold a full plank pose while lifting weights up to shoulder level.
- They use a lot of equipment, even within a workout, from free weights, therabands, and an exercise/birth ball, which I have, to medicine balls, aerobic steps of different heights, weight benches, a bosu, and even a cable pull-down station for the Michelle Obama Arms workout. Though the equipment list at the beginning says you don’t need all of this, it isn’t prioritized in any way, and they seem to assume that money and space are no object, and that most people have easy access to an already stocked gym. However, I was able to do almost everything using what I have, substituting a large squash for the medicine ball (until we ate it) and my son’s spooner board for the bosu in some exercises. Still, I would really have appreciated a “get started for under $100” list, and instruction on adapting the exercises for less equipment.
-Though Yeager’s bio says she’s a mother, she seems never to have heard of a diastasis recti, the separation of the vertical abdominal muscles that most mothers get. Crunches, especially cross-crunches & bicycles, double leg-lifts, and the Pilates V all make a diastasis worse and the tummy more rather than less poochy. These exercises appear in almost every workout.

I was able to stick with the program, which is in itself amazing, and am already noticing benefits in my increased strength and fitness. Even though I was frustrated with some of the aspects of the book, I found I enjoyed the challenge of doing lots of new things that I wasn’t able to master right away. You might enjoy it if you want a book with a good choice of challenging and intense but short work-outs with clear instructions. If you are a mother, I’d recommend looking at Julie Tupler’s Lose Your Mummy Tummy either instead or for alternative ab exercises that do take the diastasis into account.

A men’s version of this book, The Men’s Health Big Book of 15 Minute Workouts, by the same author, is also available.

Fracture

Fracture by Megan Miranda
Teen Zone New Fiction - MainLevel - MIRANDA

17-year-old Delaney Maxwell was pulled from an icy lake, dead. Somehow, they revived her and she was in a coma for a week. When she awoke, her brain scans showed irreparable damage...and yet, she seemed perfectly fine. She could walk, talk, and understand everything just as she did before the accident. Repeated brain scans showed the same thing: a brain in a basically vegetative state.

Even stranger, though, is the "itching" and "pulling" that Delaney feels sometimes. She finds herself drawn to certain places: places with dying people. She begins to think she's either predicting those deaths or causing them. Then she meets Troy Varga, who emerged from a coma with the same ability. Delaney is relieved to have a kindred spirit to figure this all out with.

Is it a gift? A miracle? Or maybe it's more of a curse...

The Night Tourist

The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh
Youth Fiction-Lower Level MARSH


The hallmark of an excellent mythology is the ability to be retold in various ways. The stories from classic Greek mythology endure because of their timeless characters and themes. With The Night Tourist,author Katherine Marsh tells a tale inspired by the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. While Orpheus traveled to the underworld to rescue his beloved Eurydice, Marsh’s main character Jack journeys into the spirit underworld of New York City to find his deceased mother. He meets a young ghost named Euri who acts as his guide while trying to avoid being caught by the underworld authorities and their dog Cerberus.

Youths looking for a supernatural tale will find much to offer with this novel. There are naturally many references and parallels to the Orpheus legend but readers will also learn about some of New York City’s famous locations, history, geography, and people. Marsh clearly has a love for the city. Young readers do not need to already be aware of the Orpheus myth as the characters do bring up the story and how their situation mirrors it. I was surprised that the ending followed through on the myth from which it was based but the characters still manage to mostly find a happy state of mind in the end. Readers who enjoy this story might also want to check out the sequel entitled The Twilight Prisoner.

A Wrinkle in Time

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle.
Youth Fiction – Lower Level – L’Engle

2012 year marks the 50th anniversary of one of my all-time favorite books. There was even a whole blog tour about it, to go along with the new 50th Anniversary Commemorative Edition. This has yummy extras, such as a brief bio and memories of L’Engle by her granddaughter Charlotte Voiklis, photos, a facsimile of the manuscript for the first chapter with corrections, and L’Engle’s Newbery acceptance speech.

When I was ten, I got into a fierce argument with my best friend about which was better, Wrinkle or A Wind in the Door and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. I had not read the second and third books yet, but loved Wrinkle so much that I wouldn’t believe her that the second two were as good or better. I saw her point when I finally did get around to reading them, though Mari Ness’s thoughts on A Swiftly Tilting Planet felt like unwelcome disillusion, with criticisms of the book that I couldn’t really disagree with, despite having loved it so hard since childhood. Though Robin McKinley’s Beauty still has to be my most re-read comfort book of all time, I am likely to pick up any of the first three time trilogy books during stressful times.

In case you haven’t read or don’t remember the book, here’s a brief summary of the plot: prickly teenager Meg Murry and her genius kid brother, Charles Wallace, meet up with the popular but surprisingly nice and very smart older boy Calvin in the woods near their property. They also meet with some strange old women who are clearly making a joke of pretending to be witches, but just as clearly really are much more than ordinary humans. These three – Mrs Whatsit, Mrs Who, and Mrs Which (much to Microsoft Word’s chagrin, I am leaving the periods off of the “Mrs”, British-style, as L’Engle intended) – send the three children off to find Mr. Murry, a physicist who went missing while researching the tesseract some years ago. This journey that takes them to many other planets, including ones where the inhabitants are sightless but still have better knowledge of the universe than humans. They see a dark shadow of evil over earth and even more heavily over the planet of Camazotz, where Mr. Murry is being held captive by a disembodied brain called IT. In the end, it’s up to Meg to save the day, Meg who has been used to relying on Charles Wallace for comfort. There’s also a grand mix of theology (implicitly Christian) and science, both real and invented. I love the strong and memorable characters, Meg’s journey to independence and acceptance of herself, and the easy relationship between science and religion, increasingly rare these days. Some people may find the science of the tesseract a little fuzzy, and others say that Charles Wallace’s character could be a little more fleshed out. They may be right, but this is still a book that does so very much well, with a story and characters that stand on their own and give plenty to chew on afterward. L’Engle’s world is one where the Dark is real and ever-present, filled with the knowledge that fight will be hard and still worth fighting, that love (to say it tritely) makes the world go around. Perhaps most importantly to my adolescent self, it shows an unpopular girl (in other ways rather unlike me) turning out OK in not-miraculous fashion and learning to accept herself.

Hope Was Here

Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer
Teen Zone Fiction - Main Level - Bauer
Youth Fiction - Lower Level - Bauer

Hope Was Here is a very touching book. If you like heartfelt fiction then this is the novel for you.

Young Hope Yancey is moving from New York City to Mulhoney, Wisconsin because an unscrupulous boss has cheated her and her Aunt Addie out of their jobs as a waitress and a cook. Now they are scheduled to work at a new restaurant named the Welcome Stairways in "dairy land" Wisconsin. Of course this is a frightening prospect for a 16-year-old. However, Hope is used to change and facing obstacles. She was born premature and abandoned by her mother to her aunt as an infant. Further, she has faced many moves in her life because of her aunt's job changes. Still this move is especially tough for Hope because she was happy in New York with good friends and a fun job. How will she deal with small town living?

When Hope arrives in Wisconsin, everything is so different. The town is small, there are dairy trucks everywhere, and she feels lost. Soon however, Hope becomes mired in a political campaign between the shady town mayor, Eli Millstone, and her new boss, caring G.T. Stoop. G.T. is the owner of the Welcome Stairways and is very ill with cancer. He decides that he must help his town overcome the underhanded dealings of the current mayor by running for office. The whole idea of a sick man running for office tests the town's beliefs in what is or isn't possible. Along the way, Hope learns that all things are possible if you have "hope" and "faith." She also reaffirms what she already knew about life, that it is messy and joyful all at the same time.

Hope Was Here by Joan Bauer won a Newbery Honor in 2001. While the novel definitely offers hope, it does not sugarcoat the highs and lows that come with living. It is a good read for those that enjoy facing life with a positive attitude.

The Coldest Winter

The Coldest Winter:A Stringer in Liberated Europe by Paula Fox
Adult Biography-Upper Level FOX


While the continent of Europe has an incredibly rich history, the Second World War era is one of the most prolifically written about in literature. The drama of the actual war and the immediate aftermath not only speaks to us on the horrific actions mankind is capable of, but also of the enduring hope and strength human beings have in the face of tragedy. In 1946, author Paula Fox visited various European countries and chronicled her experiences in The Coldest Winter: A Stringer in Liberated Europe. Her memoir glimpses into the lives of several ordinary people during her travels.

Paula Fox was only twenty-two years old when she visited Europe in 1946. Her diverse travels saw her visit London, Prague, Warsaw, Paris, and parts of Spain. This book is not for someone looking for in-depth political analysis or debate. While the political atmosphere of Europe was starting to heat up with the communists consolidating their control in several nations she visited, Fox’s comments deal more with the thoughts and outlook of the everyday people she interacted with during this period and her own struggle to understand the world. Many of the people she meets have hauntingly sad stories to tell. On the Polish border, Fox visits an orphanage which houses children who were born in the concentration camps. In Warsaw, she is told how dead bodies will continue to be discovered when the brutal winter season ends. Despite these terrible situations, there are some encounters that are more hopeful. An elderly man tells her how he made an effort to rescue a terrified stray dog stuck on a railroad track. An opera house in Yugoslavia plays a violin concerto so beautifully that the audience is completely enthralled. These kinds of anecdotes may rarely make the headlines or turn the course of human history on their own, but they are a reminder of how ordinary people can rediscover meaning and find hope in life despite catastrophic events. In the current era of uncertainty that is gripping Europe and the world, that is a message more people need to be reminded of.

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man

The Astonishing Secret of Awesome Man by Michael Chabon. Illustrated by Jake Parker.
Youth New Book Shelves – Lower Level - CHA

Awesome Man himself takes through a day in the life of… Awesome Man. He describes his costumes, his powers (the “Awesome Power Grip,” aka hugging), and his sidekick dog, Moscowitz. We see Awesome Man beating villains like Radioactive Jell-o from Outer Space and Dr. Von Evil. And then, alas, Awesome Man is beaten by his arch nemesis. He must flee to his secret fortress, a small patch of suburbia in an undersea bubble. After some deep reflection huddled on his bed, Awesome Man realizes that the problem is that he’s out of positrons. He needs to eat to regain his strength! But once on the job again, will he ever stop long enough to reveal his secret identity to the reader? The ending is undeniably sweet. The bright, smooth pictures have occasional retro-feeling dot fills, giving a hint of old-school comics. There are just enough details to let you discover new details in subsequent readings. This is ideal for superhero-obsessed preschoolers and early elementary kids, with just the right blend of action and innocence.

The Ruins of Gorlan

Ranger’s Apprentice. Book 1: The Ruins of Gorlan. By John Flanagan.
Print : Teen Zone Fiction – Main Level – FLANAGAN
CD book: Teen Zone CD Books – Main Level – FLANAGAN
EBook: Visit our Download Page

Will has grown up an orphan, raised in a group of foundlings sponsored by the Baron at Castle Redmont. Now all five of them are 15, and it is Choosing Day, time for them to be chosen as apprentices. Will is small and mischievous, but, believing that his father was a hero knight who died in the battle against the evil Morgarath, his dearest wish is to go to Battleschool and train to be a knight himself. All the other four foundlings are given their wishes, but Will is apprenticed to the Ranger Halt. Rangers are mysterious and much distrusted, even suspected of using black magic. Will is less than thrilled about this assignment, but as the alternative is field labor, he takes it. Of course the apprenticeship itself is lots of hard work, taking care of the menial tasks around the Ranger’s cabin as well as learning volumes of new things. He is learning things like tracking, how to stay hidden moving or holding still, how to use range weapons and to stay out of the line of battle if possible. The Rangers, it turns out, are spies of sort, spending their time in the wilds and small villages in and around the kingdom, keeping track both of political tides and the lay of the physical land. They are, in short, very cool, in a subtle way completely opposed to the flashy, bashy knights. Early on, Will’s story alternates with that of his rival from the castle, the big boy who made it to Battleschool. This boy is bullied very badly, and then takes it out on Will whenever they meet. In a plot turn that seemed inevitable from the beginning, events conspire to make these two the best of friends. Eventually he will proceed to help Halt and a former apprentice defeat some new monsters that Morgarath has sent forth in his latest bid for power.

The intense bullying subplot makes this book in my view inappropriate for younger readers, but it isn’t really any more violent than many other books for older elementary kids and teens, and there are a lot of very good points to this book. It’s got constant action paired with a strong and likeable main character. Even though Will and his friends are all Above Average and it’s a fantasy, the skills are all ones that exist and could be useful in our world – no simple wand-waving here. This series is aimed squarely at teen and perhaps pre-teen boys. Although most of the characters are boys, two of the five foundlings are girls, and they are given real, important careers as well, making it less gender-imbalanced than, say, Lord of the Rings. So far, there’s only the smallest hint of romance. There are ten books in this very popular series, making it perfect for teens who want to be able to immerse themselves in a series before picking a new one. This book is available in print, audio and ebook formats.

Taft 2012: A Novel

Taft 2012: A Novel
by Jason Heller Main Level New Book - Heller

First a quick fact check. In the real world, William Howard Taft lost the Presidency to Woodrow Wilson and left the White House in 1913. He taught at Yale law school until 1921, when he became the first former President to become a Justice on the Supreme Court. He served as Chief Justice from 1921 until shortly before his death in 1930.

In Jason Heller's fanciful Taft 2012: A Novel Taft inexplicably disappears from the White House lawn on the day of Wilson's inauguration and reappears in 2011, disrupting an Obama press conference and getting himself wounded by a secret serviceman. Once he recovers and has his identity scientifically verified Taft begins discovering what he missed during his century's absence. Entranced by all the new technology (How DO they get the cream inside these Twinkies?) but appalled at the state of the country, Taft lets himself get talked into an independent bid for the 2012 Presidential election alongside his Congresswoman great-granddaughter.

Heller intersperses his main text with "tweets" and "television commentary" from fans, enemies, and journalists that serve as commentary on the reaction to Taft's return and struggle with modern political lunacy. Given that we are now in the midst of that lunacy, this entertaining reminder that things weren't always this way provides some much-needed perspective.

The Rope

The Rope  by Nevada Barr

Adult New Book - Mystery Barr

Fans of Nevada Barr’s Anna Pigeon series, rejoice! After the last couple of misses, Barr is back in top form. The Rope has the elements that make the Anna Pigeon series so special -- it features the dual lead characters of nature and a strong woman who appreciates it.
This book is a prequel to the series featuring National Park Service Ranger Anna Pigeon. We learn about her life before she was a Ranger and how her first foray into nature lead her to become one.


In an effort to move on after the loss of her husband, Zach, city girl Anna leaves New York City behind and takes a seasonal job at the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. One day she goes for a hike and doesn’t return. Her coworkers assume the job was too much for her and she simply packed up and left. Anna, however, finds herself trapped in the bottom of a solution hole, naked, and with no idea how she got there. And with no idea how to get out.


The suspense is constant in The Rope. I am normally a slow reader but I had to force myself to put this book down each night. As always, Barr interweaves glowing descriptions of the park with dark tales of humanity. You feel as if you are with her, on a very beautiful, very scary vacation.

Envy

Envy by Sandra Brown
Adult Fiction- Main Level– BROWN

Maris Matherly-Reed is the daughter of Daniel Matherly, the head of Matherly Press. She is also the wife of Noah Reed, second in command at Matherly Press. Maris is a well respected old fashioned editor, she still believes in going through the unsolicited manuscripts that get sent her way. She is immediately intrigued by the prologue to a book titled Envy and wants more. She takes the time to track down the author, who only sent in his initials (PME) with the manuscript. What Maris does not know is that the author has some unfinished business with Noah and will do anything to settle the score regardless of who gets hurt in the process. What the mysterious author did not count on was falling in love with Maris. Maris unravels the true story about Noah and PME. Will PME have his revenge and get the girl?

A Pair for the Queen

A Pair for the Queen by Barbara Comfort
Adult Mysteries-Main Level - COMFORT


Feisty seventy-seven year old Tish McWhinny tries to live a quiet life with her niece Sophie in the town of Lofton, Vermont in B. Comfort’s A Pair for the Queen. Tish’s serene existence is rattled when her friend Hilary Oats asks Tish for a personal favor. Hilary’s blunderer nephew Bruce is hoping to sell dog themed art at an upcoming dog show and hopes that Tish will create an original painting and try to pass it off as an older, more prestigious piece of work. Tish is hesitant to create a forgery but instead restores an older painting from a junk shop. The painting is a hit but the ruse is in danger of unraveling when the signature “Landseer” appears after Bruce cleans the painting’s corner at the show. Events take a turn for the worse when Bruce is soon found murdered and the painting is stolen. The book does offer up one too many red herrings such as Bruce’s former wife and her new husband, Bruce’s daughter, a city couple looking to manage the general store, and Sophie’s new boyfriend just to name a few. The relationship between the central characters, however, elevates the plot and makes the book a mystery well worth uncovering.