King Lear

Shakespeare, William. King Lear. 2007. 215p. ISBN 0-300-12200-4. Available at 822.3 SHA on the library shelves.

Slowly descending into madness, Lear, King of Britain, decides to split his kingdom into three pieces, one for each of his daughters. As a price, however, he asks them to describe in glowing terms why they love him most. HIs two oldest daughters readily participates, but Cordelia, the youngest one, honestly replies that words alone cannot express how much she loves him. Enraged at what Lear perceives to be her lack of enthusiasm, he disinherits her, and grants her part to her two older sisters. The Duke of Kent opposes this move by Lear, so the King banishes him as well. Despite having lost her inheritance, Cordelia marries the King of France, who appreciates her honesty.

Lear then decide to live with his two daughters, alternating between one and the other. However, he brings with him a hundred knights which each must support while they are there, incurring significant expenses. Both daughters do not really love their father but consider him a old fool. Forced to disband his knights, Lear soon find himself alone with his Fool and the Duke of Kent, who has returned from exile and disguised himself as a servant to protect his King. Powerless against the daughters who have now turned against him, Lear looks to a French invasion to restore him to his throne.

His daughters have other plans, however, and they discover the plot against them. They assemble their armies and march on. Following the confrontation, the two sisters are victorious against Cordelia, but not without much bloodshed and double crossing. In the end all three sisters end up dead, and King Lear is left with only his madness before he succumbs to the trials he has lived through.

Shakespeare’s best known tragedy, King Lear remains relevant today for its presentation of greed and madness and for its discussion of the important of nature and reason.

In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer

Opdyke, Irene Gut and Jennifer Armstrong. In My Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer. 2008. 304p. ISBN 9780553494112. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Growing up in Poland, Irene never thought her country would be attacked. But when German tanks roll across the border on September 1, 1939, she decides to fight for her country. A nurse in training, Irene joins the tatters of the Polish Army and hides in the forest until she is captured by the Soviets, who have invaded the eastern side of Poland. Raped by the soldiers, she is sent to a Russian hospital as a prisoner. When her body heals enough, Irene resumes her work as a nurse and helps the wounded. When sexually assaulted by the hospital director, Irene manages to run away with the help of a kind doctor, and finds refuge with one of his colleagues deep in Russia.

When Irene gets wind that Polish prisoners are allowed by German authorities to return to Poland, she makes the dangerous trek back to the border and after another arrest by the Soviets manages to board a train taking her back home. She is soon reunited with her family, and everyone has survived the conflict. Because she looks and speaks German, she gets a job working in a hotel for German officers. She begins to witness atrocities against the Jews, with the local ghetto abutting the hotel. Irene decides she must help the Jews as much as she can, and she provides them with food.

Her life changes again when Germany invades Russia in 1941. At first the front moves forward quickly, and Irene finds herself returning to the site of her first imprisonment. Working for the major in charge of the ammunition plant, Irene manages to move several Jews in comfortable working positions so that they can escape the harshest work. She soon discovers that Hitler’s Final Solution is about to strike, and she saves many of her friends by having them live in the basement of the major’s house. She continues to help local Jews and partisans, but as the Russians begin pushing back and the front moves closer, Irene is forced to withdraw.

When the war ends, she manages to return home, only to be arrested by the Soviets again as being an enemy of the state for her partisan activities. Escaping one more time, she first arrives in Germany, then eventually emigrates to the United States.

Not Jewish herself, and considered not dangerous because she was a simple girl, Irene manages to not only save herself, but also many others. Her legacy of courage and dedication in the face of evil continues to inspire to this day.

The Great Fire

Murphy, Jim. The Great Fire. 1995. 144p. 151 mins. ISBN 9780439203074. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Sunday October 8, 1871 was a day like any other in the great town of Chicago. People had been out enjoying church, spending time with their families, or working in one of the many industries scattered through town. The weather had been extremely hot and dry for this time of year, and no measurable precipitation had fallen in months. With most of the city built of wood, fires were a constant danger and several procedures had been developed over the years to prevent widespread destruction. When a fire erupted in the barn of the O’Leary family in the southern part of Chicago, it spread quickly to adjoining structures, but all witnesses assumed that it would be put out quickly like the fire that had struck the city the previous day.

The alarm was triggered, and firefighters responded. A series of human errors led them to the wrong place, and by the time an effective firefighting force was assembled it was too late. Despite their best efforts, the harsh winds quickly spread fire from house to house, even leaping over the river to the other side. By Monday morning, the extent of the destruction was clear to everyone. Chicago had been ravaged by the fire, which continued to burn. It would take 36 hours to finally control and put of the fire, but by then over 79,000 buildings had been destroyed and more than 100,000 people were homeless. More than 300 people perished.

With the city devastated and winter fast approaching, measures were needed to ensure that food, water, and shelter were available to the residents who had lost everything. A profound economic recession stopped the rebuilding of the city, and by the time the economy improved six years later new fire and construction codes were in place, ensuring that new buildings would be fireproof.

The riveting story of the Great Fire of 1871 will fascinate readers of history as well as those who are interested in catastrophes and disasters. Fans of this book should take a look at Blizzard of Glass, the destruction of Halifax, Canada, during the First World War by what was at the time the largest man-made explosion in history.

The Haunted House Project

Clasen, Tricia. The Haunted House Project. 2017. 215p. ISBN 978-1-5107-0712-2. Available at FIC CLA on the library shelves.

A year ago, Andie’s mother was hit by a truck and was instantly killed. The tragedy has impacted her family life. Her father has lost his job and is gambling away the insurance settlement. Her older sister Paige now works full time on top of going to school, not so she can afford to go to college but so she can buy groceries for her family. And Andie still miss her mom terribly every day, and her friends have long lost any semblance of commiseration for her and are now just plain annoyed she is no longer the fun free spirited girl she used to be.

At school Andie sees a counselor during the week, sometimes in group sessions, sometimes one on one. Andie is scared that the school counselor will discover how bad her homelife is, and that she will be wrestled from her father, who hasn’t done much fathering in the last year. Still, what you know is better than what you don’t. When she and her partner Isaiah are assigned a project in science, they decide to investigate ghosts. Andie has always read ghost stories, and she often feels like her mother is right here with her. As they discuss the project, a brilliant idea occurs to Andie. What if their project involved faking ghostly communication? Could she pull off making it seem like her mother is talking to Paige and to her father? She could document their reactions and keep track of what happens next.

As Andie and Isaiah begin implementing their haunting project, Andie realizes that her mother truly was the glue that held the family together. She sprays her mother’s perfume on the couch. She moves a picture slightly so it is more visible. She changes the television channel and the radio station. All subtle signs, but they all seem to have an impact on her sister and father.

Meanwhile, her own social life is crumbling as her friends, led by beautiful Becky, snub Isaiah and make demands on Andie she can’t fulfill. Plus, what exactly is the nature of her relationship to Isaiah? As she brings back her mother’s memory from the grave, can Andie save herself as well? A well written story about broken family dynamics, readers will appreciate Andie’s efforts at restarting the pulse of her own family and ensuring that it has a future.

Macbeth

Shakespeare, William. Macbeth. 2005. 210p. 138 mins. ISBN 0-300-10654-8 . Available at 822.3 SHA on the library shelves and as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Following their great victory over the forces of Norway and Ireland, general Macbeth and his friend Banquo travel through woods when they are confronted by three witches. These witches predict that Macbeth will become King of Scotland, while Banquo will not reach as high yet will be much happier, and his own son will be royalty. Macbeth doubts the witches’ pronouncement, yet when he is proclaimed Thain by King Duncan as a reward for valor in the recent war, he realizes that the witches’ prediction will come true. Not content to wait for the crown, Macbeth conspires with his wife, Lady Macbeth, to kill King Duncan and seize the throne.

Now worried about his own fragile position, Macbeth turns on Banquo and slays his friend. Banquo returns and haunts Macbeth, causing him to lose face in front of his lords and nobles. Meeting with the witches once more, Macbeth is goaded into eliminating yet more enemies, killing entire castles in the hope of securing his throne. Those who survive regroup and launch an assault on Scotland with a multinational force. In an ultimate confrontation, Macbeth is killed and beheaded, while Lady Macbeth commits suicide.

Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy, Macbeth illustrates the perils that naked ambition generates in the hearts of men. A classic of Western literature, Macbeth continues to be read and studied for the lessons that it imparts.

Thornhill

Smy, Pam. Thornhill. 2017. 533p. ISBN 978-1-62672-654-3. Available at FIC SMY on the library shelves.

It is 2016, and Ella and her father just moved to Midchester, in a house abutting the extensive grounds of an abandoned orphanage named Thornhill. Her father works a lot, and Ella often finds herself at home alone. She doesn’t know anyone in town, so she spends a lot of time looking out her window at the ruins that is Thornhill. When she spots a light in the top floor, Ella is curious. Who lives there?

In 1982, Mary is an orphan who lives in Thornhill. Suffering from selective mutism, Mary has no friends and spends most of her time in her top floor bedroom, creating masterful puppets out of fabric and clay. These are her true friends. Unfortunately for Mary, a bully she thought had been adopted for good has been returned to the orphanage for poor behavior. This unnamed bully has been harassing Mary and turning all of the other girls against her. When she was here Mary could not sleep at night and had to watch her every step. Now that she’s returning, Mary confides in her diary that she will never have a moment’s peace.

As Ella investigate the property next door, she finds old broken dolls. She begins fixing them, and eventually she meets Mary. Then Ella discovers that Mary died at Thornhill back in 1982. Mary, meanwhile, tries to deal with her bully but the conditions at the orphanage grow worse as kids are adopted out and the facility readies for closing. When Mary discovers that she and her bully will become roommates in a new institution, it is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. She needs to take matters into her own hands. Will present-day Ella assuages past Mary’s ghost and become her friend?

Mary’s perspective is told through a diary, while Ella’s view is presented through images only. The two stories combine in a beautifully written sad tale of bullying and its consequences.

Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel

Holt, Kimberly Willis. Blooming at the Texas Sunrise Motel. 2017. 325p. ISBN 978-1-62779-324-7. Available at FIC HOL on the library shelves.

Stevie and her parents live on a farm in New Mexico, and they sell plants and flowers for a living. She is very knowledgeable about gardens, and enjoys watching the plants grow. Unfortunately, when a car hits their farm stand both of her parents are killed. Stevie finds out while at school. The closest relative available to take her in is her mother’s father, someone she has had no contact with, and who lives in Texas.

Her grandfather is too busy to get her at the bus station, so she is welcomed by Arlo and Roy, her grandfather’s handyman and his middle-school aged son. Arriving at the Sunrise Motel, which her grandfather owns, she discovers that the place is rather dilapidated and run-down. He welcomes her stiffly, and takes her to her new bedroom, her mother’s old room. Roy is excited to meet her, and so is every other staffer and permanent residents at the motel. Winston, her grandfather, does not appear to be happy she’s here, however. Life at the motel is very quiet

Stevie’s parents never told her anything about their past, so Stevie is discovering for the first time bits and pieces of information about her mother and father’s journey through life. Sent to be homeschooled with Mrs. Crump, a very old teacher who also taught her mother, Stevie beings to reconstruct her parents’ lives. She uses her money to plant a garden next to the motel sign, and she looks forward to it blooming.

But when a sister of her father gets in touch with her and offers her to spend time in Louisiana, Stevie agrees to go visit. Now with two possible places to live, where will Stevie choose to go?

The Old Brown Suitcase

Boraks-Nemetz, Lillian. The Old Brown Suitcase. 2008. 202p. ISBN 9781553800576. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Slava leads a charmed life. She is loved at her house in Warsaw, Poland. She dances in music recitals. She has a younger sister. Her father is a prominent lawyer. But the Nazis have seized power in Germany, and war is threatening. When it finally breaks out, Slava and her parents soon find themselves in the Jewish ghetto, despite not being practicing Jews. As conditions worsen, her sister is smuggled out of the ghetto to a Christian family for safekeeping. Following Hitler’s decision to liquidate the ghetto, Slava herself is smuggled out of the ghetto and sent to the country to live with her grandmother, who married a Christian and is relatively safe. But Slava must pretend to be a niece, instead of a granddaughter.

Reunited after the war with her parents, Slava discovers that her sister did not survive. The family emigrates to Canada, and discovers that adapting to a new country is as hard, if not harder, than surviving the Nazi war machine. Not speaking the language, Slava becomes Elizabeth and enrolls in 9th grade, despite being the oldest student. She struggles with English, Math, and Science, but excels at Latin and French. Bullied for being different, and encountering anti semitism even in Canada, Slava eventually manages to catch up in her schooling. She meets a nice boy, and she discovers what her new life has to offer.

Slava’s story is told in alternating eras, her life in Canada as a teenager and her life in Poland as a child. Through it all she carries a brown suitcase, given to her by her father as a present. From her escape away from the ghetto to her arrival in Canada, Slava relies on the suitcase to carry her meager possessions until one day, she realizes she has outgrown it and no longer needs the security it provided.

Readers who like Holocaust stories will appreciate Slava’s drive to survive as a child and thrive as a teenager.

Lucky Broken Girl

Behar, Ruth. Lucky Broken Girl. 2017. 242p. ISBN 978-0-399-54644-0. Available at FIC BEH on the library shelves.

Recently immigrants from Communist Cuba, the Mizrahi family has escaped the regime with a bare minimum of possessions. Finding themselves living in New York City, the extended family is enjoying freedom but life can be difficult at time. Ruthie’s father works six days a week to put food on the table, while her mother works around the house to ensure that everyone eats well and is clothed properly.

Ten-year-old Ruthie and her brother enjoy their lives in Queens, but she also misses many aspects of Cuba including the food and some of the customs. Living in a cosmopolitan building filled with recent immigrants, Ruthie shares her time with her brother and with friends, including Danielle, from Belgium, and Ravi, from India. First placed in the dumb class at school, she is soon promoted to the smart class once her English gets better.

Unfortunately for her, the Sunday before her move to her new class, the family visits an aunt and uncle on Staten Island in her father’s new car, but a tragic car accident that costs the lives of several teenagers sends her to the hospital with a broken leg. The doctor soon informs her that she will need to spend at least six months in a body cast stretching from her ankles to her chest. She will not be able to seat, move, or even go to the bathroom without help. Her mother now becomes her full-time care giver.

Stuck in bed with nothing to do, Ruthie suddenly has nothing but time on her hands. With a teacher coming to visit every other day, Ruthie soon catches up to her studies and improves her reading skills. But with no chance to experience life outside the four walls of her bedroom, Ruthie’s shrinking world forces her to develop a resilience she did not expect, and she realizes that friends and family are always there for her, even in the worst of times of one’s life.

For another story of Cuban children fleeing their island and integrating into life in the United States, take a look at The Red Umbrella, a story of adaptation in the face of adversity.

Felix Yz

Bunker, Lisa. Felix Yz. 2017. 282p. ISBN 978-0-425-28850-4. Available at FIC BUN on the library shelves.

Felix Yz (pronounced Is) was spending quality time with his father in his cutting edge laboratory when something went horribly wrong. During an experiment, a rift to the fourth dimension was opened, and an entity fused itself with Felix, provoking intense physical pain and modifying his genetic make up. His father was killed, and Felix was never the same again.

Now thirteen-year-old, Felix does not remember a time before the presence of Zyx, as the family has called the creature. Extremely intelligent and friendly, Zyx can easily communicate with Felix in his mind, but he can only express himself to the outside world through seizures or by using a keyboard to type messages. Zyx’s existence is known to only a few people, and must remain a secret to prevent government agencies from hearing about this new being.

The laboratory where the experiment took place has been rebuilt, and scientists have been working hard on finding a way to separate both entities. Knowing full well that there is a risk he could die during the separation, Felix is nevertheless willing to go through it. He will miss Zyx, but he’s ready to live the rest of his life without another presence in his mind.

So the countdown begins to the Procedure. With only thirty days left, Felix has to prepare for the worst as he hopes for the best. Family truths will be revealed, his interest in another boy explored, he will play chess against a Grandmaster, and he will experience a hint of the fourth dimension where Zyx lives. When it comes right down to it, what are the most important things in Felix’s life?

Written as a blog where Felix document the last thirty days of his life before the Procedure, his feelings and emotions are raw and uncensored. Fans of introspection will appreciate Felix’ outlook on life and his desire to live to the fullest despite his accident.

Between Shades of Gray

Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. 2011. 344p. ISBN 0-399-25412-9. Available at FIC SEP on the library shelves.

It is 1941, and Lithuania has just fallen into the Soviet sphere. When Eastern Europe was divided between Hitler and Stalin, the Russian dictator acquired all of the Baltic Republics and quickly invaded them. Now Communist rule has been imposed, and enemies of the State are disappearing.

Lina is an average teenager. At fifteen, she loves to draw and paint, and she has enough talent that a long career as an artist awaits her. Except that her father works at the University, and he is both educated and middle-class, two things that the Soviets hate. In the middle of one night, Soviet NKVD officers barge into their house and order Lina, her brother and her mother to pack up their things and be ready in 20 minutes. Her father has already disappeared a few days ago, and Lina is worried about what happened to him.

Put into cattle trains, they leave Lithuania under cramped and dangerous conditions and make their way east, to Siberia. With Hitler violating the pact he made with Stalin and the Germans attacking the Soviet Union, the country finds itself at war and yet is able to spare resources to insure that its enemies remain imprisoned. Lina and her family spend a winter at a makeshift camp. Through it all, Lina hangs to her art and draws information on handkerchiefs, hoping that they will eventually get to her father.

Refusing to sign a confession, they are soon transferred to another camp, this time north of the Arctic Circle. Facing horrible conditions, Lina is forced to decide how far she is willing to go to survive.

A Separate Peace

Knowles, John. A Separate Peace. 2003. 204p. ISBN 0-7432-5397-3. Available at FIC KNO on the library shelves.

With the Second World War raging on, high school students at Devon, a prep school in southern New Hampshire know that most of them, as they graduate, will join the military and fight in Europe or in the Pacific. But for 16-year-old Gene Forrester and his fellow students, war is furthest from his mind. What he is concerned about are his academics and athletics performances. His best friend and roommate, Phineas, known as Finny, is the best athlete at the school, and Gene knows he will always be a distant second. In academics, however, Gene stands a reasonable chance of beating Finny.

During the summer session of 1942, when the students are given more leeway due to the regular staff being gone on summer vacation, Gene and Finny create the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session, a group whose members must jump from a tall tree overlooking the Devon River in a daredevil attitude. With most of the boys joining in, the Society consumes more of their time in ever expanding games and activities, until, during an initiation, Gene and Finny find themselves on the tree. Jealous of Finny’s easy successes, Gene bounces the branch, and Finny accidentally falls, resulting in a broken leg. Finny will never play sports again.

Aghast at what he has done, Gene tries his best to help Finny recover, but with more friends shipping out to war, their friendship has been damaged. Gene hopes to make it up to Finny, but how can he when he’s the one who ended Finny’s one true love? Will Gene have to courage to reveal his role in the accident? What will be the cost to their friendship?

A growing up novel where friendship and jealousy mix freely, A Separate Peace will remind the reader that, like Gene, being true to oneself is accepting the parts, good or bad, that we play in other people’s lives.

In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking in America and What We Can Do to Stop It

Belles, Nita. In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking in America and What We Can Do to Stop It. 2015. 240p. ISBN 9780801018572. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

When we hear the words human trafficking, we think of people in Africa, the Middle East or Asia being sold into slavery. But human trafficking is so much more pervasive than that. It is present everywhere, even in the United States, even in New Hampshire, maybe even in our small rural communities. Though we often think of human trafficking as boys, girls and women being enslaved for sexual purposes, we forget that it includes so much more, from individuals working in restaurants and homes to maids working in hotels as well as the more traditionally understood roles of slavery.

In this book, Nina Belles shares true human trafficking stories that took place in the United States, and explains that this is a crime that can strike anyone at any time, regardless of race, gender, nationality socioeconomic or educational status. It does not only affect those we consider the “others” such as runaways or individuals who feel powerless and disenfranchised from their families and their communities. Anyone can become a victim, and Belles provides several warning signs that explain how to spot human trafficking and how to avoid it. She also provides advice on how to fight back against human trafficking and she presents organizations that help fight this crime against people.

A real eye opener, this book raises awareness and increases social consciousness and should be read by all.

Gasparilla’s Gold

Markle, Sandra. Gasparilla’s Gold. 2016. 193p. ISBN 978-1-943431-19-9. Available at FIC MAR on the library shelves.

Twelve-year-old Gus lost his older brother Daniel during a flash flood at camp. Gus had returned to the tent to grab his grandfather’s guitar, and got caught in the rapidly rising waters. Daniel came back and saved him, but in the process disappeared under after being hit by debris. Gus has blamed himself for his death ever since. His father has now taken another job and his moving himself and Gus from New York City to Seattle. But while he searches for an apartment, he is sending Gus to spend the summer with his sister on Pine Island, Florida. Aunt Willie runs Wahkullah, an unofficial animal shelter where injured animals are rehabilitated before being released into the wild.

Gus is opposed to go on this trip. His father thinks it’s for the best, and maybe Gus will be able to snap out of his feelings of guilt. Welcomed by Wipllie, Gus soon meets Fiona, the girl next door who has been helping Willie take care of the animals, and Coop, a grizzled grant of a man who used to design movie sets in Hollywood before being  an accident that ended his career. Scared by rain, as it reminds him of the nit Daniel dies, Gus vows he will not spend an extra day on Pine Island, and he contacts his father to plead with him. Soon, though, Gus changes his mind about leaving. First, there are all of the animals to care for. Then, the is also interested in Fiona. But most of all, Gus and Fiona have to work together to find the treasure of the  legendary pirate Gasparilla, rumored to be buried on the island. Armed with a treasure map, the two of them must find the treasure before the Pinders, the resident family bullies, discover it. With bills mounting for the shelter and the loss of Willie’s grant to study wild Florida Panthers, Gus and Fiona work with Coop to find the most likely places.

But when they stumble upon a mother panther and her cub, everything changes. If they can bring proof that the panthers are back on Pine Island, Willie can have her grant back and the shelter’s survival is assured. The Pinders, who run cattle, have other ideas, however, and want the panthers killed before their presence can be confirmed. Can Gus manage to work through his grief over Daniel’s death to save the panthers and the shelter?

Bent Not Broken: Madeline & Justin

Schultz Nicholson, Lorna. Bent Not Broken: Madeline & Justin. Part of the One 2 One series. 2017. 218p. ISBN 9781988347035. Available at FIC SCH on the library shelves.

When they were eight, identical twins Becky and Madeline went on a bike ride. Even though they were wearing both wearing helmets at the time, Madeline fell on her head. She doesn’t remember any of the accident. For her, it’s the before and after. Having suffered a traumatic brain injury, Madeline has spent the last seven years of her life slowly regaining abilities she once took for granted. Walking can be difficult, and she often has to remind herself to put one foot in front of the other. She often loses her cool when the pressure builds inside her head and she will slam her head with her hands. Her speech pattern is slurred and slow. She’s not dumb. She knows exactly what she wants to say, but her brain can’t communicate it fast enough to her mouth. What hurts the most, though, is that she and Becky have drifted apart. They did everything together, dressed the same, talked the same, but now Madeline can only follow Becky, and sometimes not even then. Her parents are divorced, and Becky has new friends who smoke and drink.

Part of a Best Buddies at school, Madeline spends time with Justin, a senior who’s helping her with activities and social skills. They play cards, participate in gym activities with the other differently abled students at school, and sometimes share feelings. For Justin has also suffered a loss when his younger sister Faith, an autistic child who starved herself to death following a bout with anorexia and bullying at school. Justin and his parents have never quite recovered from her death a year ago.

Madeline spends a lot of time every week with therapy horses, especially Willow, a miniature horse. Madeline takes care of Willow and help the other kids attending the stable therapy programs. Willow does not judge, and moreover she loves the attention. When she invites Justin to come with her to the therapy stable, Justin thinks it’s too soon. His sister used to attend a similar program. But being Best Buddies president, he agrees. On his first day there, he realizes that this is what he’s been needing, and soon he gets his mother, who is suffering from a major depression, to also participate. The family healing begins.

Everything is going wrong for Becky, however. She sneaks out at night, hangs with the wrong crowd, and is picking fights with her mother and with Madeline. Madeline feels left behind and begins questioning the bonds that tie her and her sister. Becky harbor a dark secret, however, and it will take a crisis to finally reveal it. Will Madeline be there for her and help her reconnect with her family when the time comes?

One For Sorrow: A Ghost Story

Hahn, Mary Downing. One For Sorrow: A Ghost Story. 2017. 293p. ISBN 978-0-544-81809-5. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

In 1918, Annie is about to start 6th grade at a new school, and she is nervous. What will people think of her there? She will have to make new friends and learn how to survive in a brand new social structure. With the Great War in full swing, times are tenses and prejudices against German immigrants rampant. Annie is fortunate that both of her parents are employed. She has nice toys and wears new clothes. Others are not so lucky.

On her first day of school, Anne meets some of the other six graders, but before she’s able to introduce herself to a group of girls led by a redhead named Rosie, she is intercepted by Elsie, who immediately tries to make Anne her friend. Elsie is pushy and she makes sure that Annie does not play with the other kids during recess. She even invites herself over to Annie’s house, and wiggles an invitation for dinner out of Annie’s mother. Annie is frightened by Elsie, and she wishes she had never met her.

Unfortunately for Elsie, on top of being pushy, her father is German. Elsie is thus ridiculed at school for being slow and for being a Kaiser-lover. When Elsie becomes sick, Annie seizes the opportunity and begins hanging out with Rosie and her friends. Upon Elsie’s return, she attempts to get Annie to play with her, but Annie refuses, and she soons becomes another one of Elsie’s tormentors.

At about the same time, the Spanish Influenza begins to strike down residents indiscriminately. Soon families are quarantined and people die. Even the funeral parlors can’t keep up. When Annie and her friends come upon Elsie sitting alone on a swing in a park, they harass her and sing a mean song before ripping away her breathing mask. Elsie contracts the flu and dies. Annie is stricken with remorse. Following an sledding accident in the cemetery, Annie becomes haunted by Elsie, who swears to destroy Annie’s life. With a ghost only she can see affecting the real world, Annie soon finds herself in a psychiatric institute. Can Annie figure a way to make it up to Elsie before her own life is ruined?

Hahn serves another dose of spooky in this well-written tale partly inspired by stories her own mother told her of this time period. Fans of Closed for the Season and Deep, Dark and Dangerous will appreciate this new creepy tale.

Armstrong & Charlie

Frank, Steven B. Armstrong & Charlie. 2017. 304p. ISBN 978-0-544-82608-3. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

The year is 1974, and Charlie is about to enter sixth grade at Wonderland Elementary, his neighborhood school. It’s a big deal, because by the end of sixth grade Charlie will be older than his older brother Andy, who died last year after an asthma attack that sent him to the hospital. This death has broken his family, and his mother rarely comes out of her shell anymore. On top of that, none of Charlie’s friends will be attending school with him. All have switched to other schools since Wonderland became a school participating in Los Angeles’ opportunity busing program. Students from a black neighborhood in central L.A. will be coming on the bus to attend Wonderland.

Armstrong is one of these kids, and he’s also not looking forward to sixth grade. Not only will he not attend his own school with his friends, but he will have to get up at 5:30 every day just so he can catch the big bus all the way up Laurel Canyon. The school won’t have any African-Americans aside from those being bused to Wonderland, so his opportunity to make friends will be small. Armstrong has five strong sisters and a stay-at-home father who lost a leg fighting for the U.S. military in Korea. His mother works hard as a nurse, and Armstrong has to be the man of the house, fixing things his father can’t.

The two of them meet on the first day of school at Wonderland when they are assigned seats next to each other, even though they are nowhere close in the alphabetical order. Armstrong is determined to exercise control and authority over the other kids through his prowess at sports and academics, but so is Charlie. What begins as an intense rivalry between the two boys slowly evolve as they realize that they share more in common than they thought …

A great friendship novel, Armstrong & Charlie allows the reader to see how two very unique individuals can look past their differences and resolve their conflicts in a humorous yet poignant tale. For a look at the issue of racism from a girl's perspective, take a look at It All Comes Down to This, which also takes place in Los Angeles, a decade earlier.