Doeden, Matt. Weapons of Ancient Times. 2009. 32p. ISBN 978-1-4296-1967-7. Available at 623.4 DOE on the library shelves.
This short book describes the evolution of weapons from those derived from nature to those crafted by men. The development of weapons from the Stone Age to the Middle Ages is described, along with means of defence such as the castle. Amply illustrated, this book provides a quick look at the arms that settle conflicts on the battlefield.
Lyga, Barry. Game. Book 2 of the Jasper Dent series. 2013. 517p. ISBN 978-0-316-12587-1. Available at FIC LYG on the library shelves.
The arrest of the Impressionist (I Hunt Killers) has meant that the small town of Lobo Nod is once again quiet. But a series of murders in New York has the NYPD stumped, so Detective Hughes approaches Jasper Dent and asks for his help. As the son of the United States’ most notorious serial killer, Billy Dent, Jasper is well positioned to understand how a killer thinks. The problem? Hugues is not authorized to share this sensitive information outside the precinct. The Hat Dog killer has committed more than a dozen murders in the last few months, with an escalation in violence and gruesomeness.
Connie, Jazz’s girlfriend, goes to New York with Jasper, but when both of them get caught by Captain Montgomery with NYPD documents for an investigation they were not officially involved in, their trip ends.
When the killer strikes again, though, Jasper’s help is once again requested, but this time officially. And the hints discovered on the bodies indicate that these killings are more than a game. And Jazz’ Dear Old Dad’s seems to be pulling all of the loose threads. With lives at stake, Jasper discovers that hunting killers turns deadly ... The story concludes in Blood of My Blood.
Yakubi, Kentaro. Black Cat, Vol 5. 2000. 216p. ISBN 978-1-4215-0609-1. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.
Train and Rinslet confront Ludwig Won again (from Black Cat Vol. 4), and he informs Train that he will fight him once he has trained. Meanwhile, Creed and the Apostles of the Stars begin their revolution by slaughtering the leaders of the World Federation of Nations. With Chronos declaring war, Train finds himself hired by Chronos as a sweeper to catch Creed.
Eve continues to grow and train and in her rivalry with Train degenerates when they begin a contest to see who will catch the next criminal. When it turns out that he was caught by a fake Black Cat, Train can only humor him by pretending to be his apprentice. But when another assassin comes to slay the fake Black Cat, Train will need to step in. The story continues in Black Cat Vol. 6.
McGovern, Cammie. Say What You Will. 2014. 343p. ISBN 9780062271105. Available at FIC MCG on the library shelves.
Matthew has a new job this school year. He will be a student aide to Amy, a disabled student. Born with cerebral palsy, Amy can’t talk by herself and needs a walker to move from classroom to classroom. When she got her first talking computer in 3rd grade, it opened a new world of possibilities for her. But when Matthew reacted negatively to a paper Amy wrote in 11th grade, telling her that not everything was positive in the world, and that Amy was sheltered, she realized that she indeed was. For her senior year, she wants to make friends and live a life without a teacher aide. And she wants Matthew to help her.
Matthew himself has issues with obsessive compulsive disorder. He has to wash himself all the time, or the voice in his head will tell him he will cause harm to someone. He must count lockers and other objects in the classroom. He is completely hung up on sex. But he’s been keeping his eyes on Amy, wondering what makes her tick and how she lives her life on a daily basis. So when he is approached to be one of her aide, he agrees.
Now that the two school misfits have found each other, they must learn to know each other and stretch beyond their comfort zone to finally open up and interact with the world.
Fans of Eleanor and Park will absolutely adore this tale of sorrow and growth as Matthew and Amy decide whether they can trust each other.
Prazdny, Bronja. Looking at Bulgaria. 2008. 48p. ISBN 1-881508-85-4. Available at 949.9 PRA on the library shelves.
Located next to the Black Sea on the Balkan Peninsula, Bulgaria has always been at the crossroads of people and commerce. An empire in its own right in the Middle Ages, Bulgaria was in turn conquered and became a part of the Ottoman Empire. Turkish rule lasted for five centuries until the Bulgars were able to free themselves with the help of Russia. On the German side during World War I and World War II, Bulgaria then fell in the Communist orbit of the Soviet Union and remained there until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. Now a member of the European Union, Bulgaria still struggles to shake off decades of economic mismanagement under Communist rule.
This book discusses the history of Bulgaria, as well as its peoples and cultures, major towns and cities, its education system, its cuisine, transportation, economy, nature, tourism, and the challenges that face Bulgaria in the 21st century.
Lang, Stephan. Looking at Hungary. 2004. 48p. ISBN 1-881508-88-9. Available at 943.9 LAN on the library shelves.
A landlocked country in Central Europe, Hungary has a storied past from being a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire of Hapsburg monarchy to occupation and Communism under Soviet Rule in the second half of the 20th century.
A dynamic country, the Hungarian economy has recovered from years of mismanagement during its Communist past and has now integrated the European Union. This book discusses the history of Hungary, as well as its peoples and cultures, major towns and cities, its education system, its cuisine, transportation, economy, nature, and the challenges that face the Hungarian Republic in the 21st century.
Forman, Gayle. I Was Here. 2015. 270p. ISBN 978-0-4514-7147-5. Available at FIC FOR on the library shelves.
Cody and Meg have always been two peas in the same pod. Hanging out together, they’ve made plans to go to college together. But a full scholarship to Cascade University meant that Meg got to go west to Tacoma, while Cody, poor and not as scholarly inclined, stayed behind in their little Eastern Washington town to work. The distance between them grew until it felt to Cody like they had fallen apart.
Then Meg committed suicide by drinking a bottle of cleaner by herself in a sleazy motel room. Cody never saw it coming. Meg never reached out to her for help, but she did send everyone she loved a time-delayed email explaining her decision. Devastated, Cody begins to spiral downwards in her own depression. How could she not have known? Why did Meg not seek her help? Cody’s life feels shattered, like the better half of her has been ripped apart.
Meg’s parents, the Garcias, have always been like Cody’s family. Trish, her single mom, has never really taken care of Cody, and all of her life milestones have been spent with them. When they ask her if she could go to Tacoma to pick up all of Meg’s things, Cody can only agree.
Once in Tacoma, however, she discovers there was a lot of things Meg had never shared with her. She’d never told her about the kittens she had adopted. About her roommates. About Ben McAllister, the guitar player who rocked in an Indie band and who dumped her after sleeping with her. About the websites where she spent so much time. And as Cody begins to put together the threads of Meg’s last months of life, she realizes everything she knew about her best friend was only one side of the story.
With the help from Meg’s former roommates and from Ben, Cody embarks on a dangerous trip to explore Meg’s suicide and discover who, really, was responsible for it. She’s worried, for she feels that she in fact was responsible for her best friend’s death, and that by failing her she may have doomed herself. The reverse coin of If I Stay by the same author, this book explores suicide and the impact it has on those that are left behind. Another great read on the theme of suicide is Falling into Place.
