EXILES by Ron Hansen

I first discovered Ron Hansen when I stumbled across his 1992 title, Mariette in Ecstasy, an exquisitely evoked novel which takes place in a convent in rural upstate New York just after the turn of the century. In Exiles, Hansen returns to a portrayal of religious community, presenting an interwoven tale of the Jesuit poet Gerard Manley Hopkins and the five exiled nuns whose deaths compelled him to write his poem, The Wreck of the Deutschland. I loved Exiles. It is at once the drama of a shipwreck, the study of a vocation, and a meticulously researched historical inquiry.

THE GOOD THIEF by Hannah Tinti

I really enjoyed this tale set in the dark woods and gritty city streets of 19th century New England. Our protagonist is a scrappy twelve year old, the one-handed orphan named Ren, who we first meet while he is still living among his fellow orphans in St. Anthony's orphanage for boys. Early in the story, Ren is adopted by a mysterious young man named Benjamin Nab who claims to be Ren's long lost older brother. Nab is a shameless con artist and it isn't long before he employs Ren as a prop to advance his less than honest schemes. This rich and rollicking fable is a deeply satisfying and highly entertaining read. It has its darker moments, including grave robberies and beatings, murder and bar-room violence, and yet there is a wistful gentleness about the story, injected via the character and conscience of Ren. In her Acknowledgments, the author thanks her mother for coming up with the title of this book. It is a title aptly chosen, and one that left me pondering the actual identity of Tinti's "Good Thief."

The Confessions of Max Tivoli by Andrew Sean Greer

Set in late 19th and early 20th century San Francisco, The Confessions of Max Tivoli is the remarkable story of a man born with a 70-year-old body that ages backwards. Opening with the statement, "We are each the love of someone's life," Max's tale is told as a long love letter to a woman named Alice, who he first falls in love with as a lad of 17 (looking at the time like a 53-year-old man) and continues to love throughout the remaining years of his achingly sad and occasionally comical life. Max's real age and his apparent age will always add up to 70, thus at 17 he has the countenance of a stately older gentleman and at 58 he inhabits the body of a gangly boy. It is only at the midpoint of his life that Max, for a few brief years, is close to the age he appears to be. The tragedy of Max's life is that he can never truly be himself. Following the adage imparted by his mother, to "Be what they think you are," Max does not share his secret with many in the outside world. Tivoli's novel bears many similarities to a 1922 short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," in which the protagonist is born with the body of a seventy-year-old man. A film adaptation of the Fitzgerald story is scheduled for release in December 2008, featuring Brad Pitt in the title role.

Becky: the Life and Loves of Becky Thatcher

Samuel Clemens didn't make up his stories of Tom, Huck and Becky. He lived with them in Hannibal. He was the sickly kid who spied on everyone and twisted the events into his classic novels. Lenore Hart gives Becky time to tell her side of the now famous story-- the true story. It is no secret she loved Tom, and loving him cost her plenty throughout her life.

This revisioning of the Twain novels adds depth to his secondary characters and carries them all into a future he didn't provide. Hart doesn't change the original story; she simply looks at their world from a woman's perspective.

Once upon a Time in the North

Philip Pullman fills in back story of His Dark Materials trilogy for his appreciative fans with Once Upon a Time in the North. Lee Scoresby and Iroek Byrnison meeting in this classic western adventure with plenty of action, gunfights and bad guys. Best of all, Pullman includes news, maps and odd bits of interesting papers for perusing. Find some friends to play Peril of the Pole. Last balloonist flying wins!

Epic by Conor Kostick

One of the 2009-2009 Black-Eyed Susan Nominees for 6th-9th grades, Epic is the story of the planet New Earth, whose inhabitants' lives are determined by how well they play a role-playing computer game called Epic. The better your character does in the game, the better you do in your daily life. If your character is killed, you lose all of your social standing and must do back-breaking menial labor. New Earth is run by the all-powerful Central Allocations Committee, made up of a group of people who use their successful characters to further enhance their domination over society. This system has endured for generations, until young Erik's father is sent to exile, and he and his friends attempt to right this wrong by slaying a dragon and thus, accumulating power for themselves. The journey the group of friends undertakes has serious ramifications not only for them, but for the entire world.

This would be a great book to recommend for reluctant readers, especially boys, who love video games but aren't so interested in books. It is fast-paced, plot-driven, and full of interesting creatures and battles. Kostick was a designer for the world's first role-playing fantasy game, and his insider knowledge shows. In the flap blurb, Kostick is quoted: "The idea for Epic came about from wondering: What would it be like to live in a world entirely dominated by one game; where everyone had to log in and a person's wealth, political voice, future were shaped by how well he was doing in the game?" It is an interesting question, and one that he addresses ably in this novel.

Relentless Pursuit by Donna Foote

Non-fiction can occasionally be as interesting as fiction which is the case with this book. Although the title makes you think of something criminal, chasing a suspect down perhaps, it's actually about the Teach for America program and its relentless pursuit to teach children in the worst American schools. Recent graduates from any field but with leadership attributes are recruited heavily, then given an intensive five week course on teaching and thrown into schools where being able to control a class is just as important as coming up with exciting ways to hold the interest of complicated and desperate teens.

This book follows four very different teachers in a Watts, Los Angeles high school through all the highs and lows from the beginning when they have to learn QUICKLY how to handle chaotic classrooms to the end when they've learned to enjoy and value their students. Observing the teachers, how they handled situations, how they took on challenges I would run from made for exciting, interesting reading! There are a few duller parts on the history, funding, etc. of Teach for America...they are easy to skip if you are so inclined.

Birgit

The Last Apprentice: Wrath of the Bloodeye - Joseph Delaney

I know I'd said I was going to take a break from YA/J-Fic for awhile, but when I received an advance reader's copy of this one, I couldn't resist.

Readers of the previous Last Apprentice books will know the basics: Tom Ward continues his apprenticeship to the Spook, a master foe of witches and other evil beings who practice the dark arts. As Wrath of the Bloodeye opens, the wicked Fiend is at large terrorizing the county by any and all means, including war. After Tom has a close call with a press-gang looking to kidnap potential soldiers, the Spook sends him to train with another spook, former apprentice Bill Arkwright. Although Arkwright's methods are extremely intense and demanding, the Spook feels Tom will be relatively safe from the Fiend. Of course, that's when the trouble really starts.

Fans of the series will no doubt enjoy this volume. Like the previous books, Wrath of the Bloodeye is scary, exciting and non-stop. Delaney generally does a good job of creating creepy atmospheres and settings while moving the reader along at a brisk pace. Those familiar with the series expecting scenes of grisly and sometimes gross-out horror will not be disappointed. What was disappointing to me, at least in this volume, is a lack of focus. The plot and changes in setting seem to meander and wander, especially in the last half of the book. As a narrator, Tom often seems to be capable of a whole litany of extended thoughts and ruminations during the middle of nail-biting action scenes. I won't give away any important details, but some of the confrontations were a bit disappointing.

I'm not telling you anything you don't already know: kids ask for these books all the time at all the branches I've worked. The books are marketed to ages 10 and up (or grade 5 and up), although they may be too intense for some young readers. Anyone who enjoys the first book will probably enjoy them all, although Wrath of the Bloodeye is not the strongest entry in the series.

(Anyone who wants to read it before the kids put 726 holds on it, just let me know.)

Cicada Summer by Andrea Beaty

Cicada Summer by Andrea Beaty is one of those books that has recently shown up on the murmurings of Newbery possibilities for this year, so of course I was curious. The title evoked a summer twilight atmosphere and I thought it the perfect book for the 4th of July weekend. In the end, this book was nothing like my expectations which were raised by the praise for this title.

This is the story of 12-ish year old girl named Lily who has been mute (yes another book about a mute child... how do I find these things??) for two years since the death of her older brother. The entire town, her father included (there is no mother in the picture) assumes that she has brain damage from the same event that killed her brother, but Lily is hiding another secret about that day. When a strange girl (Tinny- a name I couldn't really get past), also mother-less and also garnering the sympathy of the small town that was once only for Lily, Lily's world changes dramatically. Like the Nancy Drew books she so loves, Lily is swept up in the mystery of this strange girl, a mystery that ends in the climax of the story.

I was more affected by the story of the brother's death than the mystery that shrouded the Tinny. I was also a little disappointed by the way the story ended so easily. This was a short novel- 167 pages that I read in less than an hour. In my mind, this is not a Newbery winner, but it was a fine book for summer reading.

I would recommend this book for reluctant readers in 4th or 5th grade because of the small size of the book and because most kids like a mystery.

Darkside (YA 2007) - Tom Becker: Where Does It Belong?

In the first book of a proposed series, Becker creates a dark, underground counterpart to the normal, everyday "Lightside" of London, a place full of werewolves, vampires, and garden-variety nasty folk called (you guessed it) Darkside. As the book opens, a young boy named Ricky has been kidnapped and taken to Darkside by bounty hunter Marianne and her henchmen. Marianne delivers him to Grimshaw, the leader of an entertainment exhibition called Beastilia Exotica. But Grimshaw plans a show consisting of jackals eating two boys in front of a live audience. The other boy, Jonathan, discovers that his father has some sort of strange connection to Darkside. Maybe that's why his dad has been living in a mental hospital.... Jonathan makes several discoveries about Darkside and thinks one of his dad's friends, Carnegie, may be able to help. But Jonathan's going to have to travel to Darkside to find him, all the while avoiding capture by Marianne.

Darkside promises an exciting, action-filled read and on those terms, it delivers. But the book (which is in the YA section of our system) seems better suited to J-Fiction, what I would consider grades 5-7 or maybe even younger. Both the length and vocabulary are on the level of other J-Fiction books I've read, so the only reason I can think of for placing the book in YA is the dark subject matter. Even so, Darkside is actually not very graphic or bloody, not nearly as much as a book like Joseph Delaney's The Last Apprentice: Revenge of the Witch, which is in our J-Fiction section. Amazon labels Delaney's book as appropriate for ages 9-12 and Darkside as YA, yet VOYA labels Darkside "J" (a designation they reserve for grades 7-9). Apprentice is also about 100 pages longer than Darkside, but page count is probably no longer a deciding factor in where a book should be placed.

I think Apprentice is in the right place; it belongs in J-Fic. But so does Darkside. Of course YA is a large category and encompasses a broad range of writing and reading levels. It's conceivable that Darkside could be at the lower edge (not in quality, but in reading level) of YA.

And of course, it could be all about selling books. Would the book sell better as YA or as J-Fic?

Which opens up a whole haunted houseful of doors I'm not ready to go into right now. Just something to think about. Too bad we don't have comments available. I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts on where/how books are appropriately placed.

Skin Hunger (YA 2007) - Kathleen Duey

Understand that I read a lot of weird books and stories, so when I say that Skin Hunger is one of the strangest books I’ve read in some time, I really mean it. What I’m less certain of is how to describe the book, but here goes:

Skin Hunger (the first volume in a planned trilogy called A Resurrection of Magic) is narrated by two characters in alternating chapters. Sadina, who communicates with animals, keeps house for an intense, abusive scholar named Somiss, headmaster of a secret school (which is about as different from Hogwarts as you can imagine) where boys learn the forbidden art of magic or die trying. Sadina falls in love with Franklin, an instructor who teaches magic largely through food deprivation. One of Franklin’s students, Hahp (born generations after Sadima) narrates his experiences at the school as he struggles to learn the magic arts before he starves to death.

The connections between the two protagonists remain unclear for a long time, which might frustrate readers. Also many scenes seem to repeat themselves without revealing any new insights into this strange world where magic has been outlawed. Be warned that the book ends abruptly with no apparent resolution. Although two sequels are forthcoming, they will probably need to contain more action than this first volume. Yet even with these potential drawbacks, the story itself and the strangeness of it kept me reading. Duey has done a fine job of creating an unusual world with unusual rules and plenty of mystery and weirdness.

This is a complex book, but for readers who’ve read the Harry Potter books and are ready for something more challenging, Skin Hunger may be just what they’re looking for.

Skin Hunger is a recent National Book Award finalist
368 pages

Escape from the Deep (NF 2008) - Alex Kershaw

In October, 1944, the U.S. Navy submarine Tang was on her fifth Pacific patrol led by Commander Richard O'Kane, a man whose hatred for the enemy was impossible to miss or ignore. He had, after all, sunk over 100,000 tons of Japanese vessels in his previous patrols and was always on the lookout for more. That October, O'Kane indeed found more, but at a great cost.

On October 24, the U.S.S. Tang found herself in the Formosa Strait surrounded by a convoy of Japanese vessels. Although O'Kane torpedoed some of the ships, one of the Tang's torpedoes misfired and struck itself, sending the sub and it's 87-man crew to the bottom of the South China Sea.

But the story's just beginning. Kershaw's gripping account, gathered mainly from the survivors themselves, takes the reader from the frantic moments when the crew realized their fate to the successful escape of a handful of the sailors to their rescue by a Japanese ship to a Japanese torture camp and beyond.

Escape from the Deep never lets up, not for a second. I was hooked from the first paragraph and felt like I never got a good breath until I'd finished the book. Even the person who absolutely hates history in any form will find the book hard to put down. Yes, it's an exciting page-turner and good history, but Escape from the Deep also leaves the reader with thoughts and questions that last beyond the initial excitement of the story: the nature and rules of war, the human capacity for inflicting suffering, concepts of forgiveness, revenge, brotherhood, understanding and survival. Highly recommended.

The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine

I don't often scour Fortune magazine for book recommendations. However, as I was doing my usual search for subscription cards on a batch of magazines a few weeks ago, this title caught my eye. I grew up in a wine-friendly household, where family vacations to California were split between Disneyland and the wine country. Wine auctions? No way. I found the world presented in this book to be fascinating.

The "World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine" went up for auction in 1985. A 1787 Château Lafite Bordeaux that had been in Thomas Jefferson's collection, it sold for an astounding $156,000 at Christie's of London to Christopher "Kip" Forbes of the Forbes media empire. Many mysteries surrounded this bottle and the other "Jefferson bottles" that had been found with it. Jefferson's meticulous records showed no definite evidence that he had owned these bottles. The collector who brought them to Christie's, Hardy Rodenstock, withheld details about the bottles, including where he had gotten them, or even the exact number of bottles that he had. It looked more and more like Rodenstock was, at best, peddling fakes to the collecting world, and at worst, deliberately forging wines.

The cast of characters involved is like something out of Dickens. I periodically had to remind myself that this was a non-fiction book, and I wasn't all that surprised to learn that the movie rights have already been optioned.

The Sea

(2005)

~John Banville~

In this his fourteenth novel, Dublin writer John Banville gets inside the very soul of his narrator, middle-aged Irishman and newly bereaved widower Max Borden. The loss of his wife has left Max anguished and angry, and in an attempt to assuage his grief, he goes back to the seaside village of Ballyless, where he vacationed with his parents as a child, and moves into a boarding house called The Cedars.

Throughout the novel, Max travels back and forth in time, alternately recounting his childhood summers, the last year of his wife, Anna's, life, and various episodes from the time he spends as an adult lodger at The Cedars.

The opening scene places an eleven-year-old Max at Ballyless, watching the arrival of a new family to the shore. This family, aptly named the Graces (for the mother, daughter, and governess each figure boldly in Max's story), rent the largest summer house in the village, The Cedars, the very house to which Max returns more than fifty years later.

In many ways this novel is as much about literary structure as it is about story. Banville is a master craftsman - I marveled at the way he seamlessly moved from one time frame to the next. It was almost like being in conversation with someone, when you are talking first about the day you've had at work and then chatting about that odd uncle who used to come for Christmas dinner. Banville writes in an immediate and intimate voice that assumes, and rightly so, that the reader has been included in the hushed whisperings. You are always an insider with this novel: connected, drawn-in, aware. And the language is hauntingly beautiful, - when Max first moves into The Cedars he remarks that the past beats inside him "like a second heart," later in the story he describes a violent thunderstorm as "the sky stamping up and down in a fury, breaking its bones."

This novel is at once a coming-of-age and a growing-older story, for in its telling Max moves both through early adolescence and into late middle age. Its ending is tragic, revelatory, and ultimately consoling.

This is my third foray into the works of contemporary Dublin writers, following Anne Enright's The Gathering and Roddy Doyle's The Woman Who Walked Into Doors. I am finding these titles each a bit disquieting but equally lyrical, moving, and intelligent - sustenance for the mind and the spirit.

Banville's The Sea was awarded the 2005 Man Booker Prize.

The Puzzling World of Winston Breen by Eric Berlin

A 2008-2009 Black-Eyed Susan Nominee for 6th-9th grades, The Puzzling World of Winston Breen will appeal to lovers of mysteries, puzzles, codes, and treasure-hunting. When Winston buys a box in an antique store for his sister's birthday, he doesn't know that, hidden inside the box, are the first pieces of a puzzle leading to an unknown treasure. He teams up with the town librarian, a burly ex-cop, two shady treasure hunters, a reporter, his sister, and two buddies in search of the elusive treasure. But someone wants the treasure all to themselves--who could it be?

The neat thing about this book is all the puzzles sprinkled throughout the text for the reader to solve. You don't have to solve them in order to follow the story (and answers are provided in the back), but it's fun to try. It's also fun to attempt to solve the larger puzzle of the missing treasure as the team finds more and more clues, all the way up to the exciting conclusion that will have readers turning pages quickly to see what happens.

This was an enjoyable read, and I think people of many ages would like it as well. Recommended for 5th grade and up, both boys and girls, especially those who love mysteries and puzzles.

Catherine

The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski

I hesitate to review this title because, as I revel in the completion of it, I feel that I am not enough of a writer to do Wroblewski justice in writing a critique. So, bear with me as I try to translate the beauty of this book.

Last week, Jean suggested that I read the review of The Story of Edgar Sawtelle in the Post's Bookworld. I had already read Bookworld but went back to take in the review that I had skipped. It was a glowing review that had also garnered the front cover, so you could sense that this must be the "next big thing." And indeed it is.

While the story centers on a farm where a unique breed of dogs has been lovingly raised by the Sawtelle family for three generations, this is not merely another dog novel. This is the story of a mute boy named Edgar and the bond he has formed with his family members, including a few select Sawtelle dogs. When his uncle moves back to the farm, Edgar's life is thrown out of balance, a tragedy befalls his father, and in trying to come to terms with these changes, he finds that his dogs are his true family- the ones that understand him and are loyal to him even when he has trouble communicating. The reader is taken on a journey- through the state of Wisconsin as well as through the maturation of Edgar Sawtelle and his dogs. This truly is THE story of Edgar Sawtelle. Edgar's heart is the heart of the story.

David Wroblewski's prose is astounding, there were many points when I read a sentence again to marvel at his word choice (“One evening, as Edgar was crossing the lawn, in that dialated moment after sunset when the sky holds all the light..."). It has been a long time since I felt so compelled to find out what happened in the next chapter, even up to the end which I found more surprising with each sentence.

This book is long, I admit that, but its summertime right?

I WANT YOU TO READ THIS BOOK. Then tell me what you think, ok?

Tamar: A Novel of Espionage, Passion, and Betrayal (YA 2007) - Mal Peet

You hear a lot these days that YA books are flying off the shelves and they are, but what a lot of people fail to realize is that a huge number of adults are reading YA. Apparently many grownups have become frustrated with adult fiction and just want "a good story," something that keeps the pages turning and wraps up nicely at the end. That's not to say that it has to be simple. It can be well-written, intellectually and emotionally satisfying, challenging, creative, descriptive, effective, powerful and still appeal to both YAs and adults. Tamar is one of those novels.

The odd thing about Tamar (and possibly a selling point for adults) is that most of the book is not written from a teenage point of view. William Hyde, a former WWII British undercover operative in Holland, has apparently committed suicide in 1995, fifty years after the end of the war. Before his death, he leaves a box for his 15-year-old granddaughter Tamar (also Hyde's code name in WWII). Inside, Tamar finds maps, coded messages, photos and other seemingly unrelated objects from her grandfather's past. Slowly she begins to unravel the mystery of why her grandfather, a war hero who helped liberate Holland from the Nazis, would kill himself.

Again, most of the book is told from the point of view of either Hyde or his partner Dart (both not much older than young adults themselves) as they parachute into Holland and work undercover, trying to send messages to the Allies while avoiding detection by the Nazis. Peet does a masterful job of linking the past with the present without falling into the traps and cliches of a multitude of wartime novels. The writing is fresh, the details vivid and the characters multi-dimensional. Highly recommended for YA and adults.

Winner of Britain's Carnegie Medal
424 pages

The Miracle at Speedy Motors

~Alexander McCall Smith~

(2008)

McCall Smith concludes each of the novels in his delightful No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series with a pointed and touching tribute to the country in which he sets his stories (africa, africa, africa...) . This title represents the ninth installment in a run which continues to serve up generous helpings of wisdom, comfort, humor and charm.

Back again is our female detective, Mma Ramotswe, the traditionally built lady with a kind heart and a mind for the higher path. Her husband, Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, a gentle soul himself, is in search of a cure for their adopted daughter's paralysis, and her assistant, Mma Makutsi, must deal with a careless mistake that may come between her and her fiancee.

Threaded through the intricacies of the characters' lives are many cups of steaming bush tea, the continual put-put-put of the engine on Mma's little white van, and the wide open skies of her native Botswana, a land so tenderly described as to become a character in its own right.

The audio presentation of these titles is truly delectable. Reader Lisette Lecat, who is herself a native of South Africa, delivers a delightful and spirited rendering of McCall Smith's tales.

BBC One has partnered with HBO to produce a thirteen episode television series based on these titles and filmed in Botswana. American actress and singer Jill Scott is playing the role of Mma Ramotswe and will be joined by Anika Noni Rose (Dreamgirls) as Mma Makutsi. A 90-minute pilot episode aired on BBC this past spring ~ I can't wait until the television series makes its way across the pond:).

Check out the following for an interesting video about "Sandy" McCall Smith, his allegiance to South Africa, and his mission to promote optimism and hopefulness through his work.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtHqqRkTQIs&feature=related

The Woman Who Walked Into Doors
~Roddy Doyle (1996)

Paula Spencer is a thirty-nine-year-old Dublin woman who makes her living cleaning houses. The mother of four children, Paula is recently divorced - she kicked her abusive husband out of the house on a Thursday morning after knocking him over the head with a frying pan. She had taken the abuse herself for years, but it was the way he looked at their adolescent daughter on that particular morning, the way he regarded her young face with seething hatred, that propelled the long suffering Paula into action.

Written as a compelling first-person narrative, The Woman Who Walked Into Doors is a contemporary portrait of a working class Irish woman. I found an awful lot to like in this story and in the anguished yet spirited voice of its narrator. It took me right into the heart of Paula Spencer, walked me through her childhood and adolescence, whisked me through her courtship with her husband, Charlo, whom she loved fearlessly for most of their marriage, and deposited me into the depths of her struggle with alcoholism. Roddy Doyle brilliantly sustains the voice of his female narrator. I came to know Paula Spencer in these 31 staccatoed chapters as one would know a sister or a best girlfriend. She's a real character - and I miss her now that my reading of this marvelous novel has concluded.

Roddy Doyle lives and writes in Dublin. His 1993 title, Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha, won the Booker Prize.

The Last Lecture

One interesting local connection is that the author, Randy Pausch, grew up in Columbia, Maryland.

Randy's no-whining positive attitude toward life is amazing. His advice on how to live when you know you are dying, how to give a proper apology, and how to show gratitude are just some of the points he makes on how to make the most of the time you have.

This is one of those books where you can just open to any page and read a few paragraphs and feel better about life.

Burger Wuss (YA 1999) - M.T. Anderson

Burger Wuss reminds me of some of those early John Hughes movies from the 80s like Sixteen Candles and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, only smarter and funnier. Anderson either remembers what it's like to be a teenager or he's very observant. Or maybe both.

Sixteen-year-old Anthony has just lost the love of his life to Turner, a sadistic four-time Employee-of-the-Month at a fast-food joint called O'Dermott's (which has many similarities to a certain unnamed franchise that features a large yellow letter of the alphabet between L and N). The best way to exact revenge, Anthony decides, is to get a job at O'Dermott's working right alongside Turner. But since this is not only fiction, but teen fiction, things can go wildly off-course.

It's not long before Anthony finds himself in the middle of a fierce rivalry between O'Dermott's and cross-town fast-food rival Burger Queen, in one of the funniest softball games ever captured in print. He also strikes up a friendship (or is it a partnership?) with Shunt, a homeless co-worker seeking to topple the restaurant's corporate structure, if at all possible, by anarchy. Add to the mix two clueless parents, two sickeningly in-love coworkers and a manager with way too much corporate spirit.

Burger Wuss is a hilarious, yet sympathetic look at teenage love and revenge, filled with clever dialogue and authenticity. All of Anderson's novels are wildly different from one another, but they all feature top-notch writing. For newcomers, Burger Wuss is a great, entertaining place to start.

192 pages

Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt and

Christ the Lord: The Road to Cana

by Anne Rice

If you have read any of Anne Rice's other books, these are nothing like them. These two books fictionalize 2 separate years in Christ's life. The first book, Out of Egypt, is about Jesus as an 8-year-old boy. This family is leaving Egypt and returning to Nazareth. Jesus is just becoming old enough to begin to understand who he is and what he is capable of. He has heard his family talk about some awful thing that happened when he was in Bethlehem, but he doesn't know what happened. Near the end of the book, he finds out. It broke my heart.

The second book, The Road to Cana is about the last few months before the wedding at Cana, his first public miracle. As the book begins, Jesus is an ordinary man and everyone around him is wondering (none too patiently) to see what all the fuss was about surrounding his birth. The scene when Jesus meets Satan in the desert was so well written. You could picture it happening just like that. You meet Peter, Andrew, James, John and Mary Magdelene. Sadly, you also see Joseph die. I loved the first book so much that I was afraid to start the second book. I was so afraid of being disappointed. I wasn't disappointed at all.

Most Catholics are afraid to read this book when I recommend it. But, you can assure anyone who asks that her fiction stays very much within the Catholic beliefs.

Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf

Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff
by Jennifer Holm (author) and Elicia Castaldi (illustrator)

I saw this one come across the circ desk, and I have to admit, I just loved the title (for the record, I love meatloaf). I started paging through it, and had read half of it before I even realized it. Ginny Davis is a seventh grade student, and this is the story of her year told entirely through scrapbook-style collages of "stuff". Poems and essays from English class, her evolving to-do list, report cards, IM screenshots, postcards, even receipts for such things as her salon treatment to correct a disastrous home hairdye experiment. Ginny deals with an older brother who goes from "neighborhood prankster" to "juvenile delinquent", a widowed mother who remarries, and all of the trials and tribulations of everyday life in middle school.

Ginny's personality comes through remarkably well, considering the presentation style of the book. She's funny, troubled, resilient, and very easy to relate to. Since everything is presented graphically rather than in traditional "chapter book" style, this book would probably appeal to our younger teens who enjoy comics or manga.

On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson

The title, and particularly the Monty Python-esque subtitle (Adventure. Peril. Lost Jewels. And the Fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree) inspired me to grab this from the new books shelf. The very first page made me laugh:

A Brief Introduction to the World of Aerwiar

The old stories tell that when the first person woke up on the first morning in the world where this tale takes place, he yawned, stretched, and said to the first thing he saw, "Well, here we are." The man's name was Dwayne, and the first thing he saw was a rock. Next to the rock, though, was a woman named Gladys, whom he would learn to get along with very well. In the many ages that followed, that first sentence was taught to children and their children's children and their children's parents' cousins and so on until, quite by accident, all speaking creatures referred to the world around them as Aerwiar . . . By the Fourth Epoch, the harsh land east of the sea had come to be known as Dang and has little to do with this tale (except for the Great Evil that came to exist there and waged a Great War on pretty much everybody). That evil was a nameless evil, an evil whose name was Gnag the Nameless.

The story focuses on the Igiby children, Janner, Tink and Leeli, their mother and grandfather Podo. Janner and Tink find a mysterious map that promises to lead them to a hidden treasure. They are eager to go searching, but first they must contend with the evil Fangs of Dang (loathsome reptilian creatures who have taken over the town), their sister Leeli going missing, Peet the Sock Man, and fears of the Black Carriage, which comes to town with regularity to whisk people away to slavery or worse.

The author populates his world with creatures like Thwaps, Cave Blats, Quill Diggles, Flabbits, Bumpy Digtoads, Ratbadgers, and of course, the Fearsome Toothy Cows of Skree. He fills in bits of the "history" of his fictional land with funny footnotes, including my favorite:

1. Snot wax is too repulsive a thing about which to write a proper footnote.

He also invents "books" from which the footnotes were taken, like Eezak Fencher's Comprehensive History of Sad, Sad Songs, and B'funerous Hwerq's Ready, Set, Chube! A Life in Gamery.

This is a light, quick, enjoyable read. I was actually surprised it is cataloged as adult fiction, since it reads and looks very much like a young adult fantasy. Other than some violence, there is nothing in this book that would keep me from recommending it to a teenager. The author identifies this as Book One of the Wingfeather Saga, so the Igiby's tale will continue. I will definitely tune in for the next installment!

Recommended for young adult/adult fans of light/humorous fantasy.

This is What I Did: (YA 2007) - Ann Dee Ellis

Eighth grader Logan Palorey has just moved to a different part of town, which means a new school and new friends. But a new environment can't change the terrible thing Logan witnessed several weeks ago, an incident involving his best friend Zyler. Logan is tight-lipped about the whole thing. His parents want to help but don't know how, his brothers could care less and all the kids at his new school think he's a freak. All, that is, except an odd girl named Laurel who wants to change her name to Laral because she loves palindromes.

Logan's mom suggests going to see a counselor. Logan's dad suggests Boy Scouts. Logan has his own idea: trying out for the school musical Peter Pan. (After all, Laurel's in the musical.) Each of these three situations provides learning experiences for Logan, but none of them turn out to be quite what he expected.

This is What I Did: reminded me a lot of the Laurie Halse Anderson novel Speak, another book about a troubled teen who doesn't want to talk to anyone. This is What I Did: is a quicker read with more humor, but it's definitely not a "light" version of Speak for boys. It packs a real punch and a satisfying ending.

157 pages

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

A Great and Terrible Beauty is the first book in the Gemma Doyle trilogy and was our latest Y Teen Book Club selection. Part Victorian Gothic romance, part fantasy and part chick lit made this a very interesting read. Four friends attending an English boarding school discover magical powers that take them into a place called The Realms to battle against a secret society of women, called The Order, and a secret men's society, called the Rakshana.

Did I like the trilogy? It was outside my comfort zone but it kept my attention and I respect Libba Bray's efforts. There was a lot to discuss, if only anyone were interested.

This trilogy is good for sophisticated Y readers who can handle the sexual fantasy scenes and the violence and the mystical elements. Don't be fooled by the covers and think it will work for an historical fiction assignment because the Victorian setting is outweighed by the fatastical otherworld.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Eat, Pray, Love is the selection for Crofton's upcoming adult book discussion group on May 28th. It is journalist Elizabeth Gilbert's account of the year she spent traveling in Italy, India and Indonesia, exploring her personal physical, emotional and spiritual dimensions against the distinctive cultural backdrop of each country.

We selected this title based on its popularity, availability, and potential for discussion. Reader reviews indicated that most people felt strongly about EPL - they either embraced it as the best thing they'd read in years or denounced it as irritating, whiny, and trite. We were also looking for something cheerful, as our prior book club selection, The Glass Castle, was a beautifully written yet searingly painful story.

My personal experiece of EPL lies somewhere between the "love it" and "ditch it" camps, tilting a bit toward the "ditch it" side. Gilbert is a capable writer and a talented storyteller. Her voice is breathlessly girlish, chatty, often funny and occasionally self-deprecating. She stockpiles her story with metaphors, anecdotes, and confidences shared. And her quest is admirable: finding herself unhappy with the life she is leading, she bravely sets out to discern the source of her misery.

But it all felt a bit contrived. Gilbert is obviously smart, resourceful, determined - however, the complete package of this tale wraps up just a tad too neatly. Everywhere she goes, she finds exactly what she is seeking. After four months in Italy, her pleasure site, she departs with glowing skin and a trunkful of expensive lingerie. While sitting with a meditation group in an Ashram in India, she attains the much desired state of turiya (the fourth level of human consciousness), a divine bliss that in her own words "is what everyone has come here for." And finally, artfully, masterfully, she finds love with a capital "L" in Bali, breaking her self-imposed year of celibacy in the arms of Felipe - the attentive Brazilian gentleman whom she ultimately marries.

Of course, it doesn't help my skepticism to know that Gilbert had already obtained a contract to write just this book prior to setting out on her year-long "disgruntled and depressed professional lady on a fantasy quest" journey. It doesn't help my ornery view of her whirlwind year to know that this very contract financed her journey (and that she slipped back to the states in between Italy and India for a change of clothes and a "Merry Christmas" shout-out to the home folks).

I find that I can think more kindly of this book if I take it less seriously, and therein lies my tipping point with regard to EPL. Gilbert tries to have it all, I think, not only in the passions she seeks during her year of travel and self-searching, but also in the rubric of the book itself, which poses as something genuinely spiritual but comes off feeling more than slightly pre-fabricated.

DOG YEARS by Mark Doty

I read this title a few months ago for the Readers' Advisory Nonfiction workshop and found it to be an absolutely splendid gem of a book.

A stirring blend of philosophy and reminiscence, Dog Years presents a poetic narrative of the author's relationship with his beloved retrievers, Arden and Beau. This slender volume gifts the reader with meditations on life and loss, acceptance and gratitude.

In the concluding chapter, as the aging Beau approaches the end of his life, Doty reflects that "Animal presences remain for me, as they have always been, a door toward feeling and understanding." In Dog Years, Doty opens that door to those who turn the pages of his generous memoir.

I would recommend this title to animal lovers, nature lovers and readers of meditative literary nonfiction. In many ways, Dog Years is a study in grief and could therefore be recommended to those seeking a reflective narrative on this topic. Dog Years also deals with the loss of a loved one from HIV/AIDS, as the author relates the death of his partner, Wally, from this disease.

Author Mark Doty is a noted poet, memoirist and college writing professor.

The Bush Tragedy by Jacob Weisberg

Believe it or not, author Jacob Weisberg (editor-in-chief of Slate) does not have an ax to grind with The Bush Tragedy, even though he freely admits the failure of the George W. Bush presidency is a foregone conclusion. He's more interested in a serious examination of Bush's motivations than in bashing the 43rd president.

Before you laugh out loud at Weisberg's comparisons between Bush and Shakespeare's Henry V, thinking that the book's title should be The Bush Comedy, read just a few pages about George W.'s competition with his father George H.W. Bush and consider the son's eagerness in trying to avoid the father's mistakes (especially during the Gulf War). Then consider how a hard-drinking, low-ambition Yale student got religion, orchestrated a campaign that landed him in Austin, and mounted an unlikely run for the White House.

What really drives Bush? The sibling rivalry with his brother Jeb? His religious convictions? Or the advice of members of his inner circle such as Dick Cheney, whom Weisberg calls the most powerful vice-president in the history of the United States?

The Bush Tragedy is a fascinating read, regardless of your political affiliation.

304 pages

Tripping over the Lunch Lady and other School Stories edited by Nancy Mercado

As I was reading this fun collection of short stories for an elementary aged audience it occurred to me that these were great choices for parent guest readers at their children's schools. The stories, written by well known childrens' authors take on life in school and finish with a "school report" on the author including a picture of them as children plus answers to questions such as worst smell at school, favorite cafeteria meal, least favorite class, (why did no one like math?), etc. School kids will certainly recognize themselves in these humorous stories.

Birgit Gruenberg

Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn

On the fictional island of Nollop (named after Nevin Nollop, author of the pangram* "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"), all is right with the world...well, at least until the tiles bearing the letters of Nollop's creation start to fall from a memorial statue.

When the letter Z falls, the island's government decrees that this is a sign from the spirit of Nollop, a sign that the letter Z may no longer be used in writing or in speech. Those who violate the decree, whether accidentally or purposefully, will be banished from the island. This wouldn't be so bad, only more letters begin to fall...

Ella Minnow Pea is told through correspondence from various characters to each other as they try to communicate with fewer and fewer letters. The novel is more than just a clever exercise in writing. There's also humor, romance, mystery, espionage, totalitarian governments and more. Anyone who loves wordplay will have a great time with Ella Minnow Pea. (Thanks to Mindy at Linthicum for recommending this one!)

*Any sentence that uses all 26 letters of the alphabet

The Gathering by Anne Enright

Dublin writer Anne Enright's grimly pointed examination of an entangled and haunted family won the 2007 Man Booker Prize for Fiction. Established in 1969, the Man Booker is a prestigious award given each year to the best full-length novel written in English by a citizen of either the British Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. In winning the Booker, Ms. Enright joins the ranks of prior notables such as Iris Murdoch (The Sea, The Sea), Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient), Ian McEwan (Amsterdam), Yann Martel (Life of Pi), and Kiran Desai (The Inheritance of Loss).
I found this novel to be a difficult yet ultimately rewarding reading experience. Ms. Enright populates her novel with a grittily human and frequently unlikable cast of characters. The narrator, thrity-nine-year-old housewife Veronica Hegarty, is gathering with her nine remaining siblings and their mother for the funeral of her brother Liam, who has taken his own life by walking into the sea, his pockets weighted with stones. Veronica and Liam were close, with only eleven months between their births. As Veronica tells us early on, "We came out of her (their mother) on each other's tails; one after the other, as fast as a gang-bang, as fast as an infidelity. Sometimes I think we overlapped in there, he just left early, to wait outside."
Veronica and Liam shared a secret. For Liam, the truth of this secret may have been all too real; for Veronica, it has existed throughout her life as a question mark, and it is only and finally at the conclusion of Liam's too short and painfully endured life that Veronica begins to unearth "the seeds of my brother's death."

Home: A Memoir of My Early Years by Julie Andrews

For as long as I can remember, I've had nothing in my heart but love for Julie Andrews. Seriously, no exaggeration. I've seen The Sound of Music more times than I can count. Mary Poppins is my very favorite Disney movie (Julie Andrews, Dick Van Dyke, British accents and sidewalk chalk drawings? I mean COME ON!). I could go on and on about my love for her, despite the fact that Audrey Hepburn (a far second place) got to play Eliza in My Fair Lady. And now I know the story behind the My Fair Lady story and so many others.

Home, begins with Julia's birth and includes brief character sketches on the grandparents (great and otherwise) that she can recall. She tells the story so beautifully of her journey from a lower class household in rural England all the way to starring on Broadway. Julia experienced so many situations that made her doubt her talent and even her worth as a person, but she was able to persevere through those times and prove herself to everyone. She was also the primary support (emotionally, financially and otherwise) for her brothers and sisters and eventually her parents and step-parents from the time she was the age of 10.

This book was compelling and for the most part, well written. She made me care about her story and that of her family. I was disappointed when I came to the end that, as the title suggests, the story only extends into her late 20's. The stage is set for a second volume and I look forward to learning more about this talented woman.

Legacy of Ashes: A History of the CIA by Tim Weiner

According to Tim Weiner's history of the Central Intelligence Agency, the problem with American intelligence is two-fold:

#1 We don't know what we're doing.

#2 If you can't understand a situation, then change it.

Weiner's history of the Agency begins with its inception on the heels of Pearl Harbor, focusing on a livid President Harry Truman, vowing that such a surprise attack on U.S. soil would never happen again. Truman wanted intelligence from well-trained men and he wanted it quickly. What he got, says Weiner, wasn't quite what he wanted.

With the threat of Communism growing after the end of World War II, the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan and the CIA all became major players in the Cold War. The problem for the agency became one of intelligence. Far too often, field agents literally didn't know what they were doing. They didn't understand the languages and cultures they were in, a problem that only got worse in Korea, Vietnam, Central America and now, Iraq. (See #1) Rather than fixing the problem, the Agency spent billions on mostly failed covert operations, pumped money into foreign governments, and financed regimes that would champion U.S. interests. (See #2) Few lessons were learned from Vietnam and apparently no one in the CIA expected to see the Cold War end for economic (not military) reasons. Yet for all its failures, the Agency frequently enjoyed a stellar public reputation.

Weiner's documentation of the early days of the CIA and it's operations seems stronger and more credible than in later years, possibly due to the large amounts of declassified documents from that time. In comparison, sections on Agency activity from the Reagan administration to the present are quite thin. And the author spends almost no time examining how the Agency interacted (or failed to interact) with other government agencies.

As you might expect, Weiner has faced an enormous amount of criticism as a result of Legacy of Ashes, including claims that he has misinterpreted much of the information from the 50,000 documents he examined (many of them recently declassified for the first time), dwelling on negatives and distorting agency achievements. Even so, this was both a fascinating and discouraging book to read. I've encountered very few people who have read it, but I hope they do, whether they agree or disagree with Weiner's findings.

702 pages, 154 of which are notes

The Ungarnished Truth: A Cooking Contest Memoir by Ellie Mathews

I saw this on the new books cart and was drawn in by the line "A Woman, A Chicken Dinner, A Million Dollars" on the cover. Having never realized cooking contests carried such large cash prizes, I was intrigued. Did someone really win a cool mill just by cooking some chicken? I had to find out.

Mathews starts her memoir by recounting her experiences with some minor cooking contests in her home state of Washington. Talking to some of her fellow contestants, she learns about the Pillsbury Bake-Off, a biennial competition where the contestants are treated "like queens" and a winning recipe can seriously pad your bank account. Mathews describes the process of experimenting in the kitchen, trying to come up with unique and tasty ways to showcase items from a list of various Pillsbury products. It's not long until one of Mathews' back-up recipes, submitted after others she felt more confident about, is selected for the Bake-Off, and Mathews is on her way to Orlando to compete. The last thing she expected was that her Salsa Couscous Chicken would take the top prize.

Knowing that she ultimately wins the contest does not detract from the enjoyment of reading her story. The author comes across as a very sensible, frugal woman, and her honesty about the kind of person she is (i.e., not the type to jump up and down and squeal in excitement, perhaps to the dismay of the Pillsbury P.R. folks) was refreshing. The sneak peek behind the scenes of this big-time cooking contest (imagine 100 ranges/countertops arrayed in a giant hotel ballroom, the smells of chocolate, sausage, tomato sauce, and all manner of vegetables competing for olfactory attention, Alex Trebek wandering around interviewing participants) was really fun to read, and was perhaps better served by Mathews' calm re-telling rather than a gushing, emotional style.

There are touching moments too, as Mathews' granddaughter was born at the same time that she was winning the contest; her descriptions of meeting the infant for the first time are quite sweet. Her account of her appearances on the Rosie O'Donnell show and Oprah provide more behind-the-scenes information and more of her honest reactions to the whole whirlwind of instant fame. This is a quick, fun read, perfect for fans of the Food Network, cooking, or memoirs in general.

Porcupine by Meg Tilly

Jack Cooper, nearly 13, with a ten year old sister and 8 year old brother, finds a hard new life on the Canadian prairie when their mother dumps them with a great grandmother they have never met, in a part of Canada they have never seen, shortly after their father is killed in Afghanistan by friendly fire. Jack (short for Jacqueline) is worried that this new Gran will leave them alone when she answers the brochures on Assisted Living. Meanwhile, there are new schools to ride the bus to, chickens to feed and coops to clean, cows to milk and thinking of a way to make friends when none seem to jump out in front of her. Oh yes, life is different with Gran! Rich

Kirby: King of Comics by Mark Evanier

When I was six or seven years old – too young to work in my dad's grocery store, but old enough to sit on the lower rim of the magazine rack, annoying customers reaching for copies of Newsweek or Sports Illustrated – I discovered Jack Kirby.

I didn't know who Kirby was, but I loved looking at the artwork in Fantastic Four, Captain America and other Kirby-drawn Marvel Comics titles. In those days (at least where I grew up), DC titles like Batman, Superman and Justice League of America were downright wimpy. Everyone knew that Marvel had the best comics and nobody drew them like Kirby, with cosmic characters leaping off the pages, explosive battle scenes, dazzling energy bolts and a whole showcase of seemingly unbeatable villains born of pure evil. But when you're a kid, you don't think about the men and women behind the comics.

Mark Evanier's new biography/art book Kirby: King of Comics gives Kirby his due, not in a comprehensive biography (only about 50,000 words), but rather a condensed tribute filled with some of Kirby's best work, published and unpublished. Longtime Kirby fans already know most of the story – Jack's Lower East Side upbringing, his slavish devotion to his craft, his awful contracts, his endless battles with editors and publishers would couldn't understand his work and the legions of adoring fans who did.

Perhaps Kirby's major battle was with longtime partner Stan Lee, the creative genius behind Marvel Comics. Just how much of that genius was usurped from Kirby? And what was the real story behind Kirby's leaving Marvel and signing on with competitor DC Comics in the early 70s? It's all here.

The only problem with the Kirby comics was in finishing them: you always wanted more. That's really the only weakness I found with Kirby: King of Comics. I would have liked a more comprehensive Kirby biography along with more of his artwork, especially from his amazingly productive Marvel years in the mid-60s. But with many of Kirby's works seeing reprints in new, affordable editions, Evanier's book doesn't leave much room for complaint.

Oversized art book, 219 pages

Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood by Mark Harris

In Pictures at a Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood, Mark Harris examines a tumultuous yet pivotal moment in American film: the 1967 Best Picture nominees and how they changed the motion picture landscape.

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and In the Heat of the Night (both starring Sidney Poitier) dealt with race relations, a very hot topic in 1967, yet still stood protected inside the relatively safe walls of the Hollywood studio system. The Graduate and Bonnie and Clyde pushed the envelope, challenging the existing views on morality, authority, sexuality and violence. But how in the world did a big-budget musical flop like Dr. Doolittle get nominated? (It's an interesting story!)

Pictures is more than a page-turning battle of old-school vs. New Wave filmmaking, it's a look at how our world was changing, the filmmakers who recognized it, those who didn't, and those who tried to ignore it.

It's also a great book for anyone interested in film history or simply how a film is put together. Ever wonder exactly what a film editor does? Speaking of Dede Allen, the editor for Bonnie and Clyde, Harris states,

Allen knew just how long she could hold a shot of Beatty to reveal the insecurity beneath Clyde's preening; she seemed to grasp instinctively that sudden cuts to Dunaway in motion would underscore the jagged, jumpy spirit of Bonnie Parker and that slow shots of Michael J. Pollard's C.W. Moss would mimic his two-steps-behind mental processes. And Allen cut Bonnie and Clyde with an eye and ear for the accelerating pace of the story, making the building of its panicky momentum her priority.

Harris covers every aspect of the five films from pre-production all the way to Oscar night, but the actors' stories are the most telling. We follow Sidney Poitier's struggles to become the most important African-American actor of his time, only to find that he was caught in a different struggle which offered no easy answers. We also follow the unknown Dustin Hoffman and his self-doubt all the way through the filming of The Graduate until a woman comes up to him after the film's premiere to tell him "Your life from now on will never be the same."

Unfortunately, this book is not currently in the AACPL collection, but if Amazon sales are any indication (The book has been in or near Amazon's Top 500 for well over a month), this looks like a safe bet.

High Crimes: The Fate of Everest in an Age of Greed by Michael Kodas

I hate rollercoasters. I can't imagine skydiving, bungee jumping, or riding a motorcycle. I not a big fan of flying, or even driving fast. In short, I am NOT a thrill-seeker. So maybe that's why I LOVE books about high-altitude climbing. It's an activity so far removed from what I'd ever consider doing that I find it absolutely fascinating. The idea that people purposely spend weeks in a location where their bodies slowly die while forcing themselves up a mountain, in mortal danger the entire time, for a 30-minute visit to the summit, is just unfathomable to me. And that is why the stories of those who do it interest me so much.

Ever since I read Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air on the recommendation of a friend, I've read many books on this subject. I've seen all the documentaries on PBS and various cable outlets, and even watched the cheesy movie adaptation of Krakauer's most famous book (my recommendation: use those 2 hours of your life to read the book instead).

Therefore, it was a no-brainer to pick up Michael Kodas's High Crimes. Kodas, a Connecticut journalist and amateur climber, was part of an expedition to Mount Everest in 2004. During his time on the mountain, he found danger well beyond the type inherent in climbing at extreme high altitude. Kodas documents rampant theft, violence, death threats, crass commercialism, indifference to suffering, prostitution, fraud, suspicious deaths, and on and on. He interweaves the story of his own failed attempt at the summit with tales of other expeditions that turned dark and/or deadly, and in doing so reveals a side to the Everest phenomenon that is not widely known outside the climbing world (or, at least, to me). It is a sobering book, and not a little depressing.

Prominently featured is the suspicious death of a Maryland doctor, Nils Antezana, a native of Bolivia who learned to fly planes at the Lee Airport off Rt. 50 and who came to climbing late in life. He was 69 years old when he died on Everest, allegedly left to die by the man he had hired to safely get him to the summit and back. His family's search for the truth of what happened to Antezana is a major part of the story here, and is a heartbreaking and mystifying tale.

Because Kodas is writing about so many expeditions and happenings on Everest, he jumps around in time a lot and there are a ton of names to remember. It gets a bit confusing at times, but not enough to detract from the reading experience. Those who prefer a more straight-line narrative style might not enjoy this writing style, but I didn't mind it. I recommend this for other "armchair mountaineers" and for those interested in the sordid side of what is generally viewed as a fairly noble sport. It's not a happy tale , but one worth reading, if only in order to have a more complete view of the mountaineering industry on Everest and other high peaks.

The Black Book of Secrets by F.E. Higgins

This is a perfect example of how a book's packaging and a terrific first paragraph can really draw a reader in. I was attracted to the all-black, yet decorative cover (and the black-edged pages are nice as well). Once I read the first paragraph, I was hooked:

When I opened my eyes I knew that nothing in my miserable life prior to that moment could possibly be as bad as what was about to happen. I was lying on the cold earthen floor of a basement room lit by a single candle, no more than an hour's burning left. Instruments of a medical nature hung from hooks in the beams. Dark stains on the floor suggested blood. But it was the chair against the opposite wall that fully confirmed my suspicions. Thick leather straps attached to the arms and the legs were there for one purpose only: to hold down an unwilling patient. Ma and Pa were standing over me.

How awesome is that? I mean, if you like that kind of thing, that kind of gothic-y, mysterious, cobwebs-in-the-corner thing. Ludlow Fitch, abused by his thieving parents, runs away to a neighboring village, where he meets an enigmatic gentleman named Joe Zabbidou. Joe is a "Secret Pawnbroker." Joe pays people to tell him their deepest, darkest secrets, which he has Ludlow record in a (go figure) black book. How does this profit Joe? How does it profit the people of the village? How does the town's tyrannical rich guy feel about the whole thing? You'll have to read it to find out!

The author (in her first novel) says in the prologue that she found parts of Ludlow's diary and parts of the Black Book of Secrets hidden in a wooden leg. The text of the book alternates between excerpts from Ludlow's diary, and stories from the Black Book. This technique works quite well and I think the book would appeal to lovers of mystery and fantasy alike. This book is shelved in Young Adult fiction, but I think it could be appropriate for older J readers as well. Some of the stories are violent, and the abuse suffered by Ludlow at his parents hands could be frightening for kids below 5th or 6th grade. This would appeal to boys and girls alike.

The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu

Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu's The Shadow Speaker is one of those YA novels that could easily slip through the cracks into obscurity, which would be a real shame. Although Locus Magazine included the novel in its Recommended Reading List for 2007, few people in the genre community seem to know about it. Fewer still have read it, but they should.

Ejii is a 14-year-old girl in 2070 Niger, several years after a catastrophic event called The Great Change, which both brought magic back into existence and destroyed the barriers separating the five worlds. Ejii is just learning how to use her abilities as a shadow speaker, which include reading minds, seeing long distances, and hearing the voices of shadows. That in itself would be difficult, but she also has to live with half-brothers and half-sisters who despise Ejii and her abilities. And as if that wasn't bad enough, Ejii has been chosen to be groomed as the possible successor to the village leader Jaa ("The Red Queen of Niger"), who brutally executed Ejii's dictatorial father, who ruled in Jaa's absence.

Jaa has the ability to develop Ejii into a young woman who can develop her gifts for the good of her people, to avoid the emergence of future dictators like her father. Yes, Ejii hated him, but she can't avoid the mental images of her father beheaded at the hands of Jaa, the woman she both loathes and admires.

The first half of the book is largely an introspective look at Ejii, her culture and her conflicting emotions. Okorafor-Mbachu does a great job of getting inside the head of a 14-year-old with complex thoughts and emotions, never stooping to the levels of simplicity that fill too many YA novels. Yet it is the second half of the book where the author's imagination really takes off as Ejii meets and rescues a boy named Dikeogu from a sort of demonic sandstorm. It soon becomes clear that Dikeogu is withholding important information about himself, but that's the least of Ejii's worries as her journey to find Jaa becomes filled with strangeness and danger.

At some point, imagination becomes slightly more important than plot, but rest assured, the level of imagination found in The Shadow Speaker is far beyond that of most YA (or for that matter, adult) novels. Large concepts of ecology, family, trust, authority, justice, life and death are dealt with, mostly in subtle ways. This would be the perfect book for teens looking for a challenging read that goes past the boundaries of typical YA fantasy while still telling a great story.