Diary of a Wimpy Kid #6: Cabin Fever

Kinney, Jeff. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever. Book 6 of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. 2010. 218p. ISBN 978-0-8109-8491-2. Available at FIC KIN on the library shelves.

Greg Heffley’s school year continues relentlessly towards the Christmas break, but this time most of the action takes place outside of school. Greg needs money to feed his Net Kritterz habit and to purchase Christmas presents, so he comes up with several money making schemes. But when Greg and Rodney discover that the delicious drummies they buy at the school holiday fair are sold at incredible markups and that they can be bought in the grocery store, they decide to hold their own holiday fair. It will be the source of all of their income. But to do that they need to advertise, so they create their own newspaper and begin selling ads.

But when Greg and Rodney hang green poster boards on the school wall and the rain leeches the dye and stain the walls, the school and the police get involved. Who would vandalize the school this way? With Christmas fast approaching, with Santa and the police on the lookout, and with the biggest blizzard coming in years, Greg’s life as he knows it is about to end...

Phoenix

Said, S. F. Phoenix. 2016. 496p. ISBN 978-0763688509. Available at FIC SAI on the library shelves.

Lucky has always been uncomfortable in his own body. It’s almost like it doesn’t fit right. His father, a major in the army, is missing somewhere in the galaxy. His mother possesses so many secrets it is impossible to know who she really is. Ever since he was a child, Lucky has been longing to go offworld and travel among the stars. In a dream, he swims towards a star, only to wake up covered with ashes. In his sleep, he incinerated both his clothes and his bedsheets sheets without harming himself. His mother recognizes the danger and they flee, for Shadow Guards, government agents, are now after them.

Lucky and his mother secure passage offworld aboard an Axxa ship, not a small feat given that there is now a complete grounding of the entire space fleet following a terrorist attack. The alien Axxa have cloven hooves and tall horns, and are considered devils. Axxa and humans are at war, and the Axxa who live in human-controlled space are displaced refugees with no rights. Lucky meets Frollix and Bixa, an Axxa brother and sister team ready to escape the planet. As Shadow Guards desperately chase Lucky, he must control his strange fire curse before the fire consumes him, while finding his missing father at the far end of the galaxy to finally get the answers he so deeply crave. With enemies on both sides, can Lucky count on Bixa and Frollix?

Readers of this book will also enjoy Game Slaves about videogame characters who seek to escape their virtual environment.

Future Shock

Briggs, Elizabeth. Future Shock. 2016. 265p. ISBN 0-8075-2682-7. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Elena Martinez has bounced from foster home to foster home ever since her alcoholic father killed her mother in a fit of rage when she was seven. Now two months away from turning eighteen, Elena knows she needs to find work and quick, otherwise there will be no future for her. Elena possesses an eidetic memory, which means she remembers everything she sees, does, or read. This capability scares others, however, so she rarely reveals it.

Life in the foster system is rough, so when she is approached by Aether Corporation to participate in a secret project that will pay her handsomely, she is thorn. On one hand the money would set her up to do pretty much anything she wanted, including going to college. On the other hand, the risks involved are very high. Aether wants her and four other foster kids to travel to the future, retrieve any technology and information they can, then travel back. They will be travel 10 years ahead, and stay there for 24 hours. The only restriction? They can’t contact themselves otherwise  it could cause future shock and break their present selves.

Now Elena must depend on four other kids, including gorgeous and mysterious Adam, to keep safe for 24 hours. But many things can change in one day, and knowledge of the future will forever alter her perception of the present.

Fans of time traveling stories will enjoy the tight storyline and hints that are dropped throughout the book but only comprehensible in hindsight. Traveling to the future is an interesting twist on the time travel theme. Recommend this book to readers who liked Ruby Red.

Lit Up: One Reporter, Three Schools, Twenty-Four Books that Can Change Lives

Denby, David. Lit Up: One Reporter, Three Schools, Twenty-Four Books that Can Change Lives. 2016. 613 minutes. 288p. ISBN 9780805095852. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

One of the most important challenges school librarians face everywhere is the decline in reading. Students who read up a storm in elementary school still bring that enthusiasm to middle school but by 8th or 9th grade the number of active readers decline precipitously. Denby decided to sit on a 10th grade English class at a New York City magnet school for a year to examine this phenomenon and to see how English teachers everywhere try to counteract it.

His qualitative findings suggest that students can overcome their aversion of sustained reading, which they too often associate with school work or requirements and regain the reading for pleasure that many of them had when they were younger. Teachers who are able to inspire their students re-ignite a love of reading that has gone missing from the current testing all the time environment. Denby identifies several laddering strategies the teachers employ to help students access harder literature, and suggests that even if students only read popular novels, at least they are reading.

A great food for thought, this book would make an excellent faculty read or book club read. It challenges preconceived notions about students and their reading habits and it suggests some possible steps to take and counteract the decline of reading.

Black Butler, Vol. 4

Toboso, Yana. Black Butler, Vol 4. 2011. 192p. ISBN 978-0-329-84157-7. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Following the Grimm Reaper case, Young Phantomhive has been called down to London to investigate a bizarre string of attacks against merchants, restaurant owners, and military personnel. All of them have been found strung up against buildings with dire warnings, but fortunately none of them have been killed. The one common trait they share is that they are all Anglo-Indians, meaning they served time in India. The Earl and his very capable butler, Sebastian, must investigate this matter to see if it is connected to the capital’s underworld organizations.

In the course of his investigation, Phantomhive meets young Prince Soma Asman Kadar of Bengal, who is here in London searching for his favorite servant girl, Mina. The Prince is a spoiled youth who has never worked in his life, but he comes with his own very dedicated butler, who, though human, is endowed with a gift from the Hindu goddess Kali. Sebastian’s master butler skills are about to be tested to their limits!

The story continues in Black Butler, Vol. 5.

Special Ops: Military Intelligence

Harmon, Daniel. Special Ops: Military Intelligence. Part of the Inside Special Forces series. 2015. 64p. ISBN 978-1-4777775875. Available at 355,34 HAR on the library shelves.

Military services everywhere have to make crucial decisions in time of peace and of war. These decisions are based on the information available to the service at the time, and the source of much information are the various intelligence services that support the nation’s leadership. Military intelligence provides our politicians and military leaders with an accurate count of forces arrayed around the world, objectives of other countries, and even the movements and organizations of terrorist forces.

In the United States there are 17 distinct intelligence services, from each of the military branches to the CIA, NSA, and even the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency. These services share information with each other and with allied nations to provide a global picture of activities around the world. The history of these intelligence services and the various techniques they use is presented. Recent actions involving military intelligence are examined, including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the killing of Osama Bin Laden, and the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Intelligence failures such as 9/11 are also explored.

Fans of secret agents and television shows like NCIS will enjoy this view into the otherwise secretive world of military intelligence.

Bog Child

Dowd, Siobhan. Bog Child. 2008. 322p. ISBN 978-0-385-75169-8. Available at FIC DOW on the library shelves.

The civil war is raging in Northern Ireland between Catholics and Protestant, and Belfast is a war zone with British army troops fighting insurgents from the Irish Republican Army. Fergus McCann, a student in his senior year, discovers a body in the peat bog near the border with Ireland. Fergus’ life is complicated. His brother has been imprisoned for being a member of the IRA, and is involved in a hunger strike. His final exams are stressing him out. And now with the body of a dead child, Fergus doesn’t feel like he could handle anything else.

Returning to the site where he found the body, Fergus meets Cora O’Brien and her mother Felicity. Felicity is an archaeologist sent with an excavation team to study the place where the girl’s body was found. The bog child had a noose tied around her neck, and carbon dating indicates that she lived around 80 CE. A rocky relationship starts with Cora, while at the same time he is blackmailed into moving secret packages across the border for another kid with possible IRA connections.

Fergus’ life is complicated, and there are so many things that could go wrong as he prepares to leave his home. Will he make the right decisions, or, like Mel the bog child, will he end up dead?

Fossil Fish Found Alive: Discovering the Coelacanth

Walker, Sally M. Fossil Fish Found Alive: Discovering the Coelacanth. 2002. 72p. ISBN 978-1-57505-536-8. Available at 597.3 WAL on the library shelves.

In the era of dinosaurs, a large fish with armored scales and a jaw able to spring forward and open wide enough to swallow a prey whole dwelled in the depths of the ocean. Fossils of this fish, named coelacanth, were found in several places. It had strange pelvic fins resembling legs, as well as two dorsal fins. It had an extra fin placed at the end of the tail. This fish would have moved slowly but could have been able to maneuver better than most. And, like most dinosaurs, it was thought to be extinct.

Until, that is, in 1938, Marjorie Courtenay-Latimer, the director of the East London Museum in South Africa, received a startling fish delivered from a local captain. With armored scales, extra fins that resembled legs, and a strange tail, she wasn’t sure what she was looking at, but she remembered from her studies she was looking at something very old, if not prehistoric. She tried to preserve the dead fish as well as she could, and she contacted a local ichthyologist, a fish expert. After examining what was left of the fish, as well as the pictures Courtenay-Latimer took, J. L. B. Smith knew he was looking at something truly unique: a coelacanth, a prehistoric fish that first appeared on Earth hundreds of millions of years ago. Here was the proof that this fish has somehow survived the death of the dinosaurs and the rise of humanity.

What followed over the next 60 years was the fascinating chase to discover more about the coelacanth. Even today, after nearly eight decades following its first recorded appearance in modern times, we know very little about this ancient fish. A strange but true story, this book demonstrates that discoveries remain to be found. It will also passionate readers with a scientific curiosity.

Female Serial Killers

Rauf, Don. Female Serial Killers. Part of the Psychology of Serial Killers series. 2016. 144p. ISBN 978-0-7660-7288-6. Available at 364.15 RAU on the library shelves.

The FBI defines a serial killer as someone who has killed three people at three different times. When thinking of the words “serial killer,” people have in mind a violent and psychotic man who kills then dismember his victim before moving on to the next. However, though not as numerous as male serial killers, there have been female serial killers who have been as prolific as their male counterparts. These women kill for the same reasons men do: the thrill of the hunt, revenge, sexual lust, or the acquisition of wealth. Unlike men serial killers, however, most women poison their victims over a period of time instead of a deadly attack.

This book describes some of the more infamous women serial killers. Their series of crime is presented, along with how they eventually got caught and how they were punished by society. Fans of the morbid and of the criminal mind will enjoy this look into the darker side of humanity. Other volumes in this series include Historical Serial Killers.

Everything, Everything

Yoon, Nicola. Everything, Everything. 2015. 310p. ISBN 978-0-553-49665-9. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Madeline suffers from Severe Combine Immune Deficiency, where anything and everything in the environment can affect her and make her sick. As a result, Madeline has been living in her house her whole life, never leaving and experiencing the outdoors. She’s a real-life bubble girl. Her mother, a doctor, works hard to ensure that Madeline is as comfortable as possible, and her nurse, Carla, takes care of her on a day to day basis. Madeline attends school online, and has an active virtual presence, but Carla and her mother are the only two people she sees in person. She doesn’t remember her brother and her father, both of whom died in a horrific car accident seventeen years ago, when Madeline was only six months old. Everyone else coming in the house has to go through the decontamination unit and experience an unpleasant cleaning cycle, and they must have a clean bill of health. Her life is an endless repetition of days, with lots of book reading, homework, movies, and games with her mother. Mainly, though, Madeline is lonely.

When a moving van arrives next door, Madeline’s life changes forever. She looks out her bedroom window only to see black-clad Olly and his sister, along with their mother and father. Madeline is immediately attracted to  Olly, but how can you communicate with someone outside the bubble? Slowly, the two of them figure how to talk to each other, and their relationship deepens. But the barrier remains, and breaching it could be deadly. What is worth more to Madeline? A safe protected life in the bubble, or the deadly risk of truly experiencing a relationship with someone? Her decision will change her life forever.

Fans of The Fault in Our Stars and All of the Bright Places will enjoy this coming of age tale where one of the participant’s health at first prevents a satisfying relationship.

This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents

Association for Middle Level Education. This We Believe: Keys to Educating Young Adolescents. 2010. 66p. ISBN 978-1-56090-232-4.

Over the last forty years, educational research has demonstrated that students in middle school are at a critical juncture in their growth as individuals. As they mature physically, emotionally, psychologically, socially, they also find themselves at the crossroad of an educational system not designed to facilitate their transition from elementary students to high schoolers and beyond. This book seeks to present the sixteen characteristics that enable a middle school to successfully help its students navigate the treacherous but rewarding years that are the middle.

These characteristics are regrouped in three main areas: curriculum, instruction and assessment; leadership and organization; and culture and community. All of these characteristics are necessary for a successful middle school program. This position paper from the Association for Middle Level Education provides educators everywhere with the information needed to transform their middle schools into places where the needs of all students are addressed.   

Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure

Castellucci, Cecil and Jason Fry. Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure. Part of the Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens series. 2015. 231p. ISBN 978-1-4847-2497-2. Available at FIC CAS on the library shelves.

The Empire destroyed the rebel base on the ice planet of Hoth and the Alliance fleet has scattered across the galaxy, trying to avoid the relentless hunt pursued by Imperial agents. As one of the Alliance leaders, Princess Leia is a special target worthy of every effort on the part of the Empire.

When the rebels discover that a second death star is being built, a desperate strategy is hatched to gather the fleet and attack before it becomes operational. But to accomplish this in secret, the Empire must be thrown off the scent. Princess Leia proposes a plan that will put her in danger by being bait for the Empire and taking their focus clear across the galaxy.

She embarks on a this mission in the guise of gathering more forces for the Alliance. Using rebe codes that are known to have been breached by the Empire, she and a small crew travel by space yacht to three planets, planting transmitters indicating where ships hoping to join the rebellion should meet. But the Empire is also listening, and a Star Destroyer is soon on their tracks, hoping to capture the elusive Princess. With the failure to complete her mission likely to lead to the Alliance fleet’s discovery and destruction, Leia and her crew must complete their objective at all costs … even if this means that innocent people will get hurt.

A short but satisfying read, this book fills in some of the questions left in suspense between the movies The Empire Strikes Back and The Return of the Jedi. If you ever wondered how the Alliance discovered that another Death Star was being built by the Empire and how they gathered their fleet without the Empire knowing, this book will answer that question.

Other books in this series include The Weapon of a Jedi: A Luke Skywalker Adventure and Smuggler's Run: A Han Solo & Chewbacca Adventure.

Life in the War

Cooke, Tim. Life in the War. Part of the World War II: The Full Story series. 2015. 48p. ISBN 978-1-78121-233-2. Available at 940.53 LIF on the library shelves.

At times of war, life for the civilian population would be dramatically different. Civilians endured sieges, slaughters, pillages, and other violence. The Second World War, however, was unique in the way it affected the daily lives of just about every civilian in the world, from those caught in the bombing and destruction to those fleeing the front lines. Even civilians far from actual combat endured privations and worries about their love ones in the various military services.

Governments of both Axis and Allies nations attempted to make the lives of their civilian and military populations easier. Propaganda was used by both sides to boost the morale of their population while vilifying the other side. Movies, radios, newspapers, magazines, and leaflets were all employed by various government-sponsored entities to sway public opinion to continue the struggle against the enemy. Programs such as relocation, medical support, and food stamps ensured that civilians who were directly affected by destruction would be able to cope. Children were evacuated from cities. Women entered the workforce in record numbers. Rationing, various drives for resources, and blackouts were The exchange of letters continued apace, and even the German army, in its final collapse, delivered mail to its soldiers on May 7, 1945, the day Germany capitulated. Soldiers were also affected. Intense bouts of combat were followed by long periods of inactivity. Shows were organized to prop morale near the front line. Soldiers were generally better fed than the average civilian.

When the war finally came to an end, million of soldiers had to be demobilized and returned home. Allied soldiers benefited from programs such as the G.I. Bill to help them reintegrate civilian society. Axis soldiers were on their own. By the end of the war, an estimated 52 million people had died, forever changing the fabric of civil societies around the world.

Other books in this series include Home Front, War in the Pacific 1941-1945, and North Africa and Europe 1940-1945.

Rip Tide

Falls, Kat. Rip Tide. Book 2 of the Dark Life series. 2011. 320p. ISBN 9780545178433. Available at FIC FAL on the library shelves.

A few months after the events in Dark Life that allowed Gemma to find a new family, she has moved out of Ty’s family home and has returned to live on the surface at the trading station. Ty is disappointed, but Gemma admits she just can’t live in the ocean because she sees ghosts.

During one of his underwater swims off the continental shelf, Ty discovers a large underwater craft. The Nomad belongs to Surfs, and the ship itself has been sunk, and all of the doors have been chained … from the outside. The inhabitants were condemned to a freezing death far below the surface as their heat ran out faster than their oxygen.

At the same time, Ty’s parents are attempting to bypass the Commonwealth by securing a new market for their undersea agricultural goods. They have negotiated a deal with another group of Surfs that will allow farmers and Surfs to exchange goods and services, making each of them less dependent on the Commonwealth.

But when they are kidnapped by the same Surfs they were supposed to deal with, Ty and Gemma must discover where they are. Unfortunately, the first place to go look for clues is Riptide, a station filled with outlaws, criminals, Topsiders, and … the Seablite Gang. In a race against time, Ty and Gemma will need to make desperate choices and decide who they can trust. The lives of two communities depend on the answers they find ...

The Outcasts

Flanagan, John. The Outcasts. Book 1 of the Brotherband Chronicles series. 2012. 434p. ISBN 0-14-242194-4. Available at FIC FLA on the library shelves.

Skandians love the sea, and boys are trained from a young age to become the most fearsome mariners in the world. But even in tight-knit communities, there are always outsiders and outcasts. Hal’s mother was an Araluen who was captured and served as a slave before being granted her freedom. His father, Mikkel, was one of the most fearsome Skandian warrior but he was killed in a raid when Hal was very young. At death’s door, Mikkel got Thorn, his best friend, to promise to care for his boy. Though Thorn suffered his own accident and felled in despair and drink, he eventually came around and fulfilled his promise to Mikkel.

Hal is industrious and is always working on new inventions. He even purchases his own ship, the Heron, and designs a revolutionary set of sails that increase the ship’s speed and maneuverability. His friend Stig also has problems. His father stole from his wolfship before leaving, and the stigma has marked him as an undesirable by association.

Now it’s Brotherhood training, and all the boys of the village are called upon to participate in activities designed to test their endurance, agility, and ability to work together as a group. Hal, Stig, and the other village outcasts end up grouped together, and now they must learn to work as a unit so they can win and join the wolfship of their choice. But in this competition, not everyone is playing fair …

This companion story to the Ranger’s Apprentice will be appreciated by fans who love the world John Flanagan designed.