A March of Kings

Rice, Morgan. A March of Kings. Book 2 of the Sorcerer’s Ring series. 2013. 232 p. ISBN 9781939416018. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Thrown in the dungeon for his clumsy attempt at saving King MacGil in A Quest of Heroes, Thor is facing death. However, Thor’s vision comes true, and the King is in fact assassinated. Unaware of this, Thor manages to escape the dungeon, but once back with Reece, he finds out that his vision realized despite his best efforts. The two of them head to the King’s room, and the King, sliding down towards death, apologizes for Thor, confessing that he was wrong and that Thor had in fact had the King’s interest at heart. Sending everyone out, he tells Thor that he is destined to greater things.

Gareth, meanwhile, becomes King following his father and the successful assassination attempt he had orchestrated through his sycophant lover. Now sitting on the throne, he plans on eliminating his siblings, starting with the former King’s eldest bastard son. This edges the kingdom towards civil war.

On the western border, the MacCloud muster their forces, ready to pounce on the other half of the Ring. With a possible alliance with the Empire, King MacCloud feels strong enough to attack MacGil while the succession is in disarray.

Finally, Thor manages to patch things up with Gwendolyn, but now the Legion is shipping out to the Isle of Mist for their Hundred Days of training, a dangerous time where only the brave and true survive. With the Kingdom in turmoil, civil war looming and his love left behind, and a vision from Gwendolyn that Thor will not come back, will the Kingdom’s savior even make it to the island?

The story continues in A Feast of Dragons.

Nazi War Criminals

Nardo, Don. Nazi War Criminals. 2016. 80p. ISBN 978-1-60152-850-6. Available at 341.6 NAR on the library shelves.

Part of the Understanding the Holocaust series, this book discusses the heinous actions the Nazis took during their reign of terror and in occupied countries during the Second World War. Even as the Allies were closing in on Germany, many high ranking German officers began to plot their escape from the justice the victors were sure to inflict on them.

Some hid in plain sight and were captured. Others surrendered. Many fled, with the help of fascist Italian bishops, and headed to Argentina, which was governed by a fascist dictator. Groups in Europe and in the United States organized and began tracking down these war criminals.

Allies conducted twelve separate trials in Nuremberg, as well several smaller ones throughout Europe to hold as many Nazis accountable as possible. The first trial in Nuremberg dealt with the highest ranked individuals within the Nazi party and the war machine. Most were found guilty and were hanged. A few received long prison sentences.

During the 1950s and 1960s, the hunt for German war criminals continued, and many were arrested and brought to justice. As the years went by, a trickle of former Nazis was dragged in front of a judge, but now, more than 70 years after the end of the Second World War, the Nazis that remain in hiding at in their 90s and unlikely to survive to the end of the decade.

These crimes have led to the recognition of crimes against humanity. Other crime of genocide, such those in Cambodia in the 1970s and in Rwanda in 1994 are also briefly discussed. This is a great book to understand some of the consequences of the Holocaust.

Waiscoats and Weaponry

Carriger, Gail. Waiscoats and Weaponry. Book 3 of the Finishing School series. 2014. 298p. ISBN 978-0-316-19027-5. Available at FIC CAR on the library shelves.

Still enrolled at Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality, Sophronia Temminnick continues her spy and assassin studies with the faculty. Spending time with her best friends Dimity, Sidheag, and Agatha, they are getting ready to attend the bethrothal of Sophronia’s eldest brother. This will be the perfect time to practice their new seduction skills.

When an emergency letter arrives for Lady Kingair, everything changes. Sidheag flees the flying school with Captain Niall, leaving Sophronia behind to cover her tracks. Meanwhile, things are heating up with Soap and with Lord Felix, and the two of them end up rivals for Sophronia’s affection as they both attend the party at the Teminnick’s estate. The mechanicals suddenly begin singing before being knocked out of commission. Sidhead and two werewolves show up at the estate and report that the Kingair alpha is no more and the pack must be protected at all costs. She must head to Scotland right away.

Accompanied by Soap, Lord Felix, Sidhead and Dimity, Sophronia uses her small air dirigeable and lands on a moving train, hoping to reach Scotland. But then, her old nemesis Monique, now in the service of the vampires, is on board for some nefarious purpose. And the train seem to be following a flywayman airship allied with the Picklemen. What is going on here? Soon, Sophronia and her friends uncover a conspiracy that could destroy the British Empire. Finally, Sophronia will have to make difficult decisions: To whom should she give her heart? Where does her loyalty lie? And, most importantly, can she protect all of her friends?

The story concludes in Manners and Mutiny.

The Subtle Knife

Pullman, Philip. The Subtle Knife. Book 2 of His Dark Materials trilogy. 1997. 326p. ISBN 9780679879251. Available at FIC PUL on the library shelves.

Will has been protecting his mother for years now. Still a young teen, he’s shouldered the responsibility years ago when he noticed that the games of hide and seek his mother played with him were not games, but rather something in her mother’s head. This chase, however, doesn’t make it any less real.

So when men begin showing up at the house, looking for secrets his missing father left behind, Will realizes that he must hide his mother in a safe location before he himself goes in search of his father. Unfortunately, while searching his own home the two men return. During a confrontation, Will accidentally kills one of the men but he manages to escape and begins to roam the streets of Oxford.

Coming upon a cat, he sees the cat go through a dimensional door to another place. Seeing safety at last, Will goes through and appears in another world, a safe place where his pursuers will not chase him. He comes face to face with Lyra and her daemon, and she is shocked to see he does not have a daemon yet he still is able to function. A truce of sorts associates the two of them, and Lyra becomes fascinated by Will’s Oxford.

Crossing over several times, Lyra and Will are ambushed by an old enemy and put to a task. They must retrieve the Subtle Knife from its rightful guardian or risk losing everything. With Lyra’s mother. Mrs. Coulter not far behind and with Lord Asrael moving forward with his plan to bring the fight to God, both children are about to find themselves pawns in a holy war.

The story concludes in The Amber Spyglass.

Tips & Tricks for Determining Point of View and Purpose

Athans, Sandra K. and Robin W. Parente. Tips & Tricks for Determining Point of View and Purpose. 2015. 64p. ISBN 978-1-4777-7555-4. Available at 372.47 ATH on the library shelves.

The arrival of the Common Core State Standards has changed the way we teach reading, placing a greater emphasis on reacting to a reading by finding textual evidence to support one’s argument. In this series, the authors demonstrate tips and tricks the reader can use to analyze the text. This particular book is focused on detecting the author’s point of view and the purpose in writing.

Four texts are examined. Two literary texts examined are the famous painting the fence incident from the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and an introduction to H.G. Well’s Time Machine. The purpose and the point of view are clearly identified through techniques described by the expert reader. The second set of two informational texts are a section of Theodore Roosevelt’s biography and an editorial penned by Arthur Brisbane on the value of working hard for one’s own sake. The purpose and point of view of these texts is also examined by the expert reader.

This book provides the readers the opportunity to refresh their reading techniques as well as acquire new ones and examine how reflecting on their own reading skills can help them become better readers.

Other books in this series include:

• Tips & Tricks for Comparing and Contrasting Text
• Tips & Tricks for Analyzing Ideas, Events, and Individuals
• Tips & Tricks for Evaluating an Argument and its Claims
• Tips & Tricks for Analyzing Structure and Evaluating Ideas
• Tips & Tricks for Analyzing Text and Citing Evidence
• Tips & Tricks for Determining Point of View and Purpose
• Tips & Tricks for Evaluating Multimedia Content
• Tips & Tricks for Summarizing Text

Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad

Anderson, M.T. Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad. 2015. 456p. ISBN 9780763668181. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

The most successful Russian composer of the 20th century, Dmitri Shostakovich found himself at the center of three momentous events in Russian history. He was a young child in St. Petersburg when the October Revolution dethroned the Tsar and eventually enshrined Lenin and the Communist Party. He continued living in renamed Leningrad through the Soviet purges of the late 1920s and the Great Terror of Stalin in the 1930s. He wrote his first symphony at the age of 18, and kept on writing music for the rest of his life. Living in a totalitarian state, Shostakovich had to be very guarded and careful in what he wrote, and several times his music was judged as reactionary, an accusation passable with death. He came close numerous times to being arrested or executed by the regime, but managed to escape through luck or the intervention of others.

Following the invasion of the Soviet Union by Germany in 1941, Shostakovich and 2.5 million other people were surrounded in Leningrad. The longest siege in history, the city of Leningrad was cut off on all sides by attacking German and Finnish armies, and, especially through the first winter, hundred of thousands died of hunger or fell under the relentless rain of bombs and artillery shells. Considered one of the prominent composers, Shostakovich was eventually evacuated with his immediate family and the rest of the Leningrad Conservatory towards safety east of the Urals. There, he completed his 7th Symphony, which he had begun writing in Leningrad.

What became known as the Leningrad Symphony was eventually played around the world, and premiered in Leningrad itself on August 9, 1943, still under siege. One of the most inspirational piece of music ever written, it gave the population hope that they would triumph over the German invaders.

This book is thus the story of Shostakovich and of his Seventh Symphony. But it is so much more than that. It is the story of an enduring people under incredible hardship and violence. It is the story of hope in the face of overwhelming odds. And it is the story of music’s power to motivate and celebrate life.

Interviews with M. T. Anderson

 

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 2005. 160p. ISBN 1416500219. Available at FIC STE on the library shelves.

Can man ever separate himself from his baser instincts and become wholly good? Dr. Jekyll is a most appreciated doctor, whose company is sought out by everyone. Yet, he has a terrible secret. Mr. Hyde is a violent, vicious and deformed man. Every time he meets someone, that individual feels an air of evilness about him. He, too, has a secret.

This is a tale of danger and warning about the dual nature of humankind, the fight between good and evil that takes place inside all of us. An instant success when it was first published in 1866, this story endures and remains read today because of its appeal and of the universal truths it contains.

Falling Hard: 100 Love Poems by Teenagers

Franco, Besty, ed. Falling Hard: 100 Love Poems by Teenagers. 2008. 144p. ISBN 978-0-7636-3437-7. Available at 811 FAL on the library shelves.

Coming from all parts of the world and in varied personal, social, and educational situations, all of these poems have in common are the theme of love and the fact that they were written by teenagers. Love runs through the gauntlet of emotions, and includes angst, depression, and hope. Love can be about other people, objects, or ideas. And each teen, in their own way, share what love means to them.

A short yet very powerful read, this collection will have poems for everyone. Keep coming back, you will always read something new.

Fullmetal Alchemist. Vol 7

Arakawa, Hiromu. Fullmetal Alchemist. Vol 7. 2003. 188p. ISBN 978-1-4215-0458-2. Available in the graphic section of the library.

Slowly nursed back to health by Ishbalan refugees, Scar must once again leave relative safety to pursue his campaign of vengeance. Meanwhile, following their plans from Vol. 6, Greed and his gang kidnap Alphonse, seeking to understand how he was created and where his soul went for the few minutes he did not exist.

When Alphonse does not return, Izumi discovers that he has been taken. She goes to Greed’s lair and confronts his goons. She fights Greed to a stalemate, and agrees to return with Elric. In Central, Elric passes the state alchemist exam, then returns to Dublith accompanied by the Fuhrer King President Bradley.

Elric agrees to save Alphonse, so he goes to confront Greed. As they fight, Elric realizes that Greed can’t maintain both his shield and heal at the same time, and his tactics force Greed to flee, but he then falls in the hands of Bradley ...

The story continues in Fullmetal Alchemist, Vol. 8.

Around the World in Eighty Days

Vernes, Jules. Around the World in Eighty Days. 2007. 160p. ISBN 978-1-40277615-1. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Phileas Fogg is a marvel of English self-control and quiet dignity. He leads a life regulated like clockwork, having his meals at precisely the same time every day, attending the Reform Club, and playing his favorite card game, Whist.

On this particular day, Fogg has just hired a new manservant, a Frenchman named Passepartout. He provides him the schedule, then leaves for the Reform Club at the appointed time. There, other members of the Reform Club are engaged in a vigorous discussion about how long it would take to go around the world. Fogg tells them that it would take precisely 80 days, no more, no less. His friends are impressed. Surely, they argue, it would take longer as Fogg’s schedule is dependent on everything working like clockwork. On the contrary, replies Fogg, his schedule makes allowances for such delays.

A wager is quickly placed, and Fogg announces he will forthwith leave England for France, thence through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, India, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, and back to England, all in 80 days or less. Returning home, Fogg tells Passepartout to pack, they’re off on a round the world trip that will change both of their lives forever!

The Most Dangerous Game

Connell, Richard. The Most Dangerous Game. 1952. 48p. ISBN 978-1-58341-920-5. Available at FIC CON on the library shelves.

Sanger Rainsford is one of the world’s best hunters. He has hunted everything, from elephant to polar bear, and he has written several treatises on the subject. Finding himself in the Caribbean on a ship sailing to South America to hunt jaguar, he hears what sounds like a gunshot coming from afar. Straining to hear another sound, he accidentally falls into the sea and swims towards the sound he previously heard. As he nears the island, he hears more gunshots and the cries of pain of an animal he cannot recognize.

Landing on the island, he discovers a castle built by the shore. General Zaroff dwells within the walls. An eccentric Russian who fought in World War I, Zaroff’s passion, like that of Rainsford, is hunting. But Zaroff tired of hunting animals, which for him pose no challenges. No, now Zaroff hunts humans. And Rainsford the hunter is about to become the hunted ...

Tips & Tricks for Analyzing Ideas, Events, and Individuals

Athans, Sandra K. and Robin W. Parente. Tips & Tricks for Analyzing Ideas, Events, and Individuals. 2015. 64p. ISBN 978-1-4777-7531-8. Available at 428.4 ATH on the library shelves.

The Common Core Standards have changed the way we read in schools, moving away from literature and concentrating more on informational texts. And these texts require different skill sets to fully understand and appreciate them. Students are now asked to be able to recognize the central ideas that underpin a document, and consider the statements that support and defend these ideas.

This book provides the reader with specific techniques and advice on how to successfully understand and analyze the ideas embedded in both informational and literature texts. Two fiction experts are first taken apart and examined, before two informational pieces, Lincoln’s 1862 address to Congress and Roosevelt’s 1933 inaugural speech, are studied. The authors apply the techniques they described, from looking at the headings and the pictures included with a text to reflecting on their expert understanding of what was just read. The suggestions provided by the authors better prepare the reader for school and career readiness.

This is a great way for readers to refresh their reading techniques as well as acquire new ones and examine how reflecting on their own reading skills can help them become better readers.

Other books in this series include:

• Tips & Tricks for Comparing and Contrasting Text
• Tips & Tricks for Analyzing Ideas, Events, and Individuals
• Tips & Tricks for Evaluating an Argument and its Claims
• Tips & Tricks for Analyzing Structure and Evaluating Ideas
• Tips & Tricks for Analyzing Text and Citing Evidence
• Tips & Tricks for Determining Point of View and Purpose
• Tips & Tricks for Evaluating Multimedia Content
• Tips & Tricks for Summarizing Text

The Golden Compass

Pullman, Philip. The Golden Compass. Book 1 of His Dark Materials trilogy). 1995. 399p. ISBN 9780679879244. Available at FIC PUL on the library shelves.

Lyra Belacqua has always been a free spirit. At eleven years old, she rules the children of Jordan College, in Oxford, and her education has been spotty at best. Every human has a daemon, a creature that reflects their innermost self. Human and daemon are never separated and live in a symbiotic relationship.

When Lyra trespasses in the Master’s chambers, she’s only doing it for a lark. But then she secretly witnesses the Master poisoning the cup of Lord Asriel, her uncle who has just returned from an expedition to the north. Seeking more money to fund another expedition, Lord Asriel finds Lyra, who tells him what the Master of Jordan’s College did to the cup. Seeking to raise more money, Lord Asriel downplays the poisoning attempt and presents to the scholars more information about dust and an ethereal city beyond the northern lights, which he suspects is actually in another universe.

At the same time, Gobblers have been kidnapping children for some nefarious purposes. Left behind by her uncle, Lyra is suddenly entrusted to the care of Mrs. Coulter, a charismatic scholar who also seems to be investigating dust. Mrs. Coulter and her golden monkey daemon are in charge of the Ablation Board, an organization within the Church. But when Roger, Lyra’s friend, is kidnapped by the Gobblers, who work for the Ablation Board and Mrs. Coulter, Lyra realizes that the Ablation Board is involved in terrible experiments on these children. With the help of unexpected allies such as witches and armored bears, it is up to Lyra to save the children from the clutches of Mrs. Coulter and her ilk. The secrets she will discover, however, could destroy everything she knows...

The story continues in The Subtle Knife.

The Adventures of Beanboy

Harkrader, Lisa. The Adventures of Beanboy. 2012. 236p. ISBN 978-0-547-55078-7. Available at FIC HAR on the library shelves.

Tucker MacBean is your regular 7th graders. He hangs out with his friend Noah and takes care of his disabled younger brother, Beecher, but what he loves most are comic books, especially his hero, H2O. Their father left, and now lives far away in Boston. Their mother struggles to be a single parent, and works hard at the bank, then spends her nights taking classes at the local university.

Tucker is invisible at school, and that’s how he likes it. Except for Sam Zawicki, the meanest girl at his school. Always wearing combat boots, always with a bad attitude, Sam is feared by most kids at Tucker’s school. So when he collides with her at the comic book store, he rightly is scared for his life. Instead, she throws his newly purchased H2) comic book into a puddle and stalks off.

Tucker discovers that the publisher of H2O is seeking a sidekick to help the superhero, and is holding a contest. The best sidekick will earn his creator a full scholarship. Something his mother could desperately use. But Tucker can’t really work on this at home, because of Beecher. Fortunately, there is the Art Club after school. Unfortunately, the babysitter his mother hires to take care of Beecher is none other than Sam Zawicki. What was previously a once sided relationship of fear becomes something more. And as Tucker develops the story and the plot of Beanboy, he is forced to reconsider his opinion and his connection to Sam.

Illustrated with Tucker’s drawings of his new super sidekick, readers will enjoy this coming of age story.

Fullmetal Alchemist. Vol 6

Arakawa, Hiromu. Fullmetal Alchemist. Vol 6. 2003. 188p. ISBN 978-1-4215-0319-6. Available in the graphic section of the library.

Edward continues to tell the story of the Elric brothers’ origin, starting with their stay on the an island for thirty days to discover the meaning of life. Finally, Izumi agrees to train them in the art of alchemy. But with knowledge comes a cost, and the Elric brothers step over a line when they attempt to bring their mother back. It costs Edward an arm and a leg, while Alphonse pays for this outrage with his whole body.

Found by the army, Edward and Alphonse are recruited by the State Alchemist program, and after training with his new arm and leg, Edward is tested by the Fuhrer President King Bradley, head of the military.

Back in the present, Colonel Mustang is transferred to Central, so he recruits his own staff to move with him. Meanwhile, Greed prepares a little surprise for Alphonse ...

The story continues in Fullmetal Alchemist Vol. 7.

The Death Cure

Dashner, James. The Death Cure. Book 3 of the Maze Runner trilogy. 2011. 325p. ISBN 9780385738774. Available at FIC DAS on the library shelves and as an eBook on Overdrive.

Having been captured at the end of the Scorch Trials, Thomas finds himself a prisoner of WICKED. Released by Rat Man, Thomas is told that a cure does in fact exist for the Flare, and that some of the Gladers are immune, whereas others are not. Offered the chance to regain their memories, Thomas and his friends Minho and Newt refuse. They manage to escape with Brenda and Jorge’s help, but in the process she reveals that she worked for WICKED while in the Scorch.

They travel to Denver aboard a Berg and discover that unlike Minho and Thomas, Newt is not immune to the Flare and is now infected. Thomas finds a man who removes the chip, and he also encounters Gally, who works for an outfit called the Right Arm, and who is dedicated to the destruction of the Flare trials and experiments. Gally also reveals that there is a drug, called Bliss, that can slow down the Flare’s progression.

The Gladers are once captured and taken to the Crank Palace, and Thomas and friends must rescue them. They find Newt and the others, but are turned away as they realize they will die soon. Thomas joins with the Right Arm and heads for WICKED’s headquarter, where Teresa and the other girls are kept. But the Right Arm plans to destroy WICKED’s facility, while Thomas’ friends are prisoners once again of the Maze. Can Thomas rescue his friends before it is too late?