Cloaked in Red

Vande Velde, Vivian. Cloaked in Red. 2010. 128p. ISBN 978-0-7614-5793-0. FIV VAN on the library shelves.

Everyone is familiar with the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but Vande Velde retools the tale into eight hysterical short stories featuring the elements of Little Red Riding Hood but moving the characters in strange situations. Vande Velde’s commentary is biting and hilarious, and fully mocks one of the most celebrated fairy tales.

From the seamstress who builds a doll with a red cloak, to the grandmother who is hiding a wolf in the closet from her granddaughter, all of these tales will entertain and regal the reader with uproarious details.

Sorcery

Kallen, Stuart A. Sorcery. 2012. 96p. ISBN 978-1-60152-242-9. 133.4 KAL on the library shelves.

Humans have always been fascinated by powers that exist beyond the boundaries of science. From astral travel to creating charms and potions, and from summoning the dead to performing black magic, we try to push the boundaries of the real to access information or to dominate others. Sorcerers have existed since the dawn of time, and, unlike popular misconceptions, are not all evil.

From the Romans to today, sorcerers seek to harness these powers through ceremonies and magical implements to navigate the spiritual realms and discover answers to their questions. This book delves into the practices of sorcery and documents humanity’s history with the powers beyond. Annotated and amply illustrated, the book also has an index and recommended reading for further research.

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist

Cohn, Rachel and David Levithan. Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist. 2008. 208p. ISBN  9781615579891. Available both as a book at FIC COH and as an eBook on Overdrive.

Nick had not gotten over being dumped by Trish, and he’s still in love with her. A bass player for a punk band, Nick is at the club one night and, following their performance, he heads to the bar. He notices Trish come in with her new boyfriend, and he decides that he doesn’t want her to see him alone. He bends down towards the girl next to him. She’s wearing a flannel shirt, in contrast to everyone else in the club, and he asks her if she can pretend to be his girlfriend for the next five minutes. Much to his surprise, she leans up and kisses him while Trish passes by.

Norah and Trish know each other and attended the same school for years. Norah’s never been a fan of Trish, and she feels like she’s known Nick for a long time. As the five minutes begin to stretch, they get to know each other and fumble along. They leave together to go see another show, and their attraction for each other only grows.

Both of them are conflicted. Nick is not over Trish yet, and keeps thinking of her. Norah is also getting over a bad breakup, and has issues of her own she deals with. Told from each perspective in alternating chapters, this first date grows into a relationship until the first rays of the sun signify a new day, and a new beginning for both of them.

Embedded in the text are multiple references to songs and artists that have graced the punk scene in the last 25 years. Romantic and relationship driven, this one night date demonstrates that two persons can grow and learn from each other and end up closer than when they started.

Kill Me Softly

Cross, Sarah. Kill Me Softly. 2012. 336p. ISBN 9781606843239. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Mirabelle is about to turn 16, and her guardians are getting ready to celebrate. They’re making cake, and asking her about her preferences for the party. But though Mirabelle is enthusiastic about it, she doesn’t really mean any of it. In fact, she’s planning on leaving her home and run away to Beau Rivage, the place where she was born and where her parents died in a horrible fire the night of her christening. She’s always been forbidden to go, but she will not be denied this time.

Running away, she arrives in Beau Rivage late and spends most of her night in a dingy coffee shop. She’s accosted by a guy with blue spiked hair, who introduces himself as Blue. Accompanied by Freddy, he tries to chase him away from the coffee shop and the casino in which it is located. Mira runs again, only to hide deeper in the casino, where she is discovered by Felix, the casino’s young owner.

Immediately smitten by Felix, Mira begins to look for her parents’ grave, but keeps encountering Blue, who reveals he is Felix’s brother. Both of them are part of a world Mira begins to catch glimpses of: the world of half-fairies. Beau Rivage is home to most of the fairy folks, and all of them are cursed to either be heroes or villains. And, like Mira, they all share a tattoo in their lower back that identifies their curse. Mira’s is Sleeping Beauty; Blue and Felix, romantics; Freddy is an honor-bound prince who will awaken Sleeping Beauty.

As the veil that separates the two is open, Mira finds herself at the center of intersecting curses. Falling for Felix, but strangely attracted to Blue despite his brashness and his pushing away. Can she escape her fate, or is she destined to be part of a fairy tale?

http://www.sarahcross.com/books/killmesoftly/

Independent Study

Charbonneau, Joelle. Independent Study (Book 2 of the Testing Series). 2014. 310p. ISBN 9780547959207. Available both as a book at FIC CHA on the library shelves and as an ebook on Overdrive.

After surviving the brutal Testing, Cia Vale and Tomas have finally become University students. But if they thought their ordeal was behind them, they are mistaken. Cia only remembers bits and pieces of the Testing, but a message she left herself on her transmitter provides her clues to the killing of her friends, and even Tomas killed.

Having completed her early studies, Cia is assigned to the government program, despite her hope of joining engineering. Now, she and the other first years must survive an induction ceremony fraught with dangers and unanswered questions. Her final year guide, Ian, tells her that Dr. Barnes, head of the Testing, is keeping a watchful eye on her.

Not knowing where to turn, but sure she can’t trust anyone, Cia is assigned to the President of the United Commonwealth’s office, where she will learn as an intern. Michael, the official who helped her earlier, is here too, and Cia becomes more intricately woven into a web of conspiracy designed by the President to overthrow the Testing. However, Dr. Barnes seems to hold all the cards.

Now the stakes are even higher, and failure means not only death for Cia, but also the pursuit of the Testing, and the death of countless bright students. This is not the future Cia wants for her country, and she will need to step up as a leader to help the rebellion achieve its goals.

Famous Last Words

Alendar, Katie. Famous Last Words. 2014. 320p. ISBN 9780545639972. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Willa and her mother just moved to Los Angeles to live with Willa’s new stepdad, Jonathan. A big movie director, Jonathan caught her mother’s eye a few years after Willa’s father died of a tragic heart attack at the YMCA pool. Willa is happy for her mother, but not thrilled about moving away from Connecticut. She feels responsible for her father’s death because he had his heart attack right after they had a big fight about her boyfriend.

Jonathan lives in a sprawling mansion in the Hollywood hills that once belonged to famous movie star Diana Del Mar who was a darling of the red carpet in the 1930s but her star faded as she aged, and she eventually died in her own home. Immediately, things start to get weird for Willa. She feels a presence there, and something tries to drown her in the pool. No one else seems affected, however, and it’s as if there is a ghost trying to communicate with her.

She meets Reed, Jonathan’s assistant, and she also meets Wyatt at her school. Whereas Reed is all sunshine and happy, Wyatt is broody and is completely focused on the Hollywood Killer, a serial murderer who stalks up and coming actresses and kills them in overly elaborate scenes of famous movies. Not being an actress, Willa is not worried about becoming the next target of the killer.

But when her friend Marnie and her attend a movie premiere, pose for photographs on the red carpet, and pass themselves off as actresses, Willa and Marnie’s lives become dangerously twined with the Hollywood Killer.

As Willa’s ghost becomes more insistent, and as Willa discovers clues, she is getting closer to discovering the identify of the killer. Is it her stern and distant stepfather? Brooding Wyatt, obsessed with all things related to the killings and in possession of information no one else seems to have? Sexy Reed, with whom Willa shares a kiss? And who is the ghost, and what does she want from Willa?

A page turner building suspense from beginning to end, this paranormal tale will have you scared of a dripping faucet. Fans of Alendar should also consider Marie Antoinette, Serial Killer.

What if? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions

Munroe, Randall. What if? Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. 2014. 303p. ISBN 9780544272996. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

A former rocket scientist, Randall Munroe worked for NASA before working fulltime for his popular website, http://what-if.xkcd.com/ and http://xkcd.com/, uses science and math to seriously answer some pretty improbable questions. Answering hypothetical questions asked by readers, Munroe provides a scientific background and manages to entertain at the same time.

Though most of the questions are very different, many of them end with the same conclusion: the planet would be destroyed. However, it’s not the end, it’s the journey that is entertaining. Sample questions include: What would happen if a pitcher threw a ball at 90% the speed of light? What would happen if you fired a bullet with the mass of a neutron star? What if there were only two people on Earth, and they started at opposite points on the planet, how long would it take before they met?

Using everyday language sprinkled with advanced mathematical and scientific concept, and drawing on popular culture and science fiction knowledge, this is a book that will actually make the reader smarter and the process of reading enjoyable.

Grasshopper Jungle

Smith, Andrew. Grasshopper Jungle. 2014. 388p. ISBN 978-0-525-42603-5. FIC SMI on the library shelves.

Austin Szerba is your typical male teenager. Obsessed with sex, confused as to his sexual orientation, in love both with his best friend male Robby and his girlfriend Shann, Austin lives in a small town in Iowa, in the middle of nowhere, where nothing of importance ever takes place.

Austin is a historian, and he likes to write down the events of the day for posterity, often concluding with “and this was our day. You know what I mean.” When he and Robby are beaten by four local high schoolers in Grasshopper Jungle, behind the dying mall, it sets up a chain reaction that leads to the ultimate end of the world. Austin is also Polish, and throughout the novel he inserts the tales of his family with the tales of the people who inhabit his town and of those he works with.

Always horny, Austin must figure out his feelings for both Robby and Shann. And when a giant preying mantis emerges from the body of a homeless man in front of them as they stand next to a gay bar, Austin knows that his life is about to change forever.

A tale of horniness, sex, and the very human feelings of love, confusion, and loneliness, this book will delight males who appreciate the humor of naming one’s testicles with the added apocalyptic element of the ending of the world.

Fans of this book will appreciate another of Andrew Smith’s books, Winger; Jesse Andrews’ Me, Earl and the Dying Girl; Antony John’s Busted.

Fake ID

Giles, Lamar. Fake ID. 2014. 303p. ISBN 0062121847. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Nick Pearson is new at school. In this Virginia high school, there are always plenty of new students due to the presence of a military base nearby. But unlike those new kids, Nick Pearson is not whom he says he is. His father was the numbers and book man for a criminal organization, and they are in hiding in the Witness Protection program until such time as he can testify in the criminal case against his former boss. So Nick isn’t really Nick.

On his first day Nick runs into Reya Cruz, and is immediately smitten. Unfortunately, Reya’s boyfriend, Zack, notices and decides to take Nick out in the locker room. The timely intervention of Eli, Reya’s brother, saves Nick from a pounding, but now Nick owes Eli one.

Eli runs the school newspaper, and despite his protests, Nick soon becomes involved. Eli shares with him that he’s on to something big. Whispertown appears to be some sort of conspiracy that involves highly placed players, including Nick’s own father.

So when Eli is found dead, suspicion falls on Nick, who was the last person to see him alive. Though the police rules it a suicide, Nick knows better. Was his father involved? What is Whispertown? How does Reya fit into this plot? Can Nick solve this mystery before he becomes the next victim?

If you enjoy this mystery, consider Peter Nimble and His Fantastic Eyes and The Great Greene Heist.

Blackfin Sky

Ellis, Kat. Blackfin Sky. 2014. 304p. ISBN 978-0762455546. FIC ELL on the library shelves.

Skylar Rousseau has always lived in Blackfin, a seaside town named for the whales that pass by. Not many people come here, and that’s how the locals like it. The town and its folks have many quirks, but no one can explain how it is that though Skylar died on the night of her 16th birthday when she fell off the pier and was buried, she has returned three months later, with no recollection of where she has been during that time.

Aided by her friends, Sky discovers that she is a Pathfinder. Blackfin’s secrets have been protecting a horrible truth, and no one is talking about it. Sean becomes her anchor, and he is the only one Sky can use to guide her travels through the Pathways. In a race against time, Sky must find what Gage, an ancient enemy of her parents, wants and how she can thwart his desires to save the lives of those she cares for. Can she find the right path?

Ellis’ debut novel is well paced and features a central mystery surrounded by many tales that intertwine and eventually connect seamlessly at the book’s climax. The main characters are well rounded, and even the supporting cast is believable in their demeanor and their actions. The book is so fast-paced and engaging readers will have a hard time putting it down. Fans of Maggie Stiefvater’s The Raven Boys trilogy will enjoy this great tale crafted by Ellis.

The Rule of Thoughts

Dashner, James. The Rule of Thoughts. 2014. 336p. ISBN 978-038574145. FIC DAS on the library shelves.

In Eye of Minds, Michael has become the first Tangent to become human. He was unaware he was a computer program until Kaine, himself a Tangent villain who controls the VirtualNet, told him. Now in Jackson Park’s body in the real world, Michael is hunted down by Kaine’s agents. His only hope is in reuniting with Sarah and Bryson so that together they can put an end to Kaine’s plans.

But when artificial intelligence and virtual reality are so good that they are indistinguishable from the real deal, whom can the trio trust? Is reality even “real,” or is it simply another computer simulation? Michael is running out of time to discover the truth, and it may very well cost him the human life he just gained.

The story continues in The Game of Lives.

Treaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood

Hale, Nathan. Treaties, Trenches, Mud and Blood. 2014. 128p. ISBN 978-1-4197-0808-4. 940.3 HAL on the library shelves.

The First World War was the most devastating conflict fought until the Second World War. What begun as the assassination on the Archduke of Austria-Hungary, heir to the Empire, led to the death of millions of soldiers and civilians throughout the world, as well as to the creations of new weapons of war. In its wake was left the collapse of empires and newly created nations, as well as deep grievances that would come back twenty years later.

Nathan Hale illustrates the history of the First World War and breezes through the underlying issues to present the actual fighting over the four interminable years of this conflict. Informative and entertaining, this book will be appreciated by fans of military history as well as by those who are looking for a quick primer on the cause and effects of this major conflict.

Fans of graphic novels should also take a look at Apocalypse Taco from the same author.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Volume 6

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Graphic Novel, vol. 6. 2011. 144p. ISBN 978-1-60886-640-3. 741.5 DIC on the library shelves.

Back at Isodore’s apartment, the remaining three Nexus-6 androids are moving in and settling to hear Buster Friendly’s big announcement. Isodore moves the television from Pris’s apartment to his own, and then returns to gather more clothes. That’s when he discovers a spider in the deserted hallway. In a world lacking insects and animal life, this discovery is awe-inspiring, and Isodore returns to the apartment and tells Pris of his discovery.

Intrigued, she takes the spider and begins to cut off some of its legs, to Isodore’s horror and chagrin. He realizes at last that androids do not have empathy. Meanwhile, Buster Friendly announces that the cult of Mercer, in which most humans believe, is entirely fake and is in fact a conspiracy fostered on humanity to control its pathetic existence.

Isodore rescues the spider after it has lost five of its eight legs, and brings it outside to the only patch of sickly vegetation he knows. He meets Rick Deckard there, who has just arrived to retire the androids. Rick enters the building and, despite Rachael Rosen’s prediction, he’s able to retire all three androids. But his life is saved by Mercer himself, who appears to him. Confused, Rick returns home to find that Rachael Rosen has killed his goat by dropping it from the roof.

He snaps and heads out to the desert, and much like Mercer, he begins to climb a mountain. When he is hurt by a rock, he returns to his vehicle, spots a toad, and brings it back home. For a while, he is finally happy, but then his wife discovers that the toad is not real. What is real, what isn’t? Deckard doesn’t know, but he manages to reach a modicum of exhausted peace.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Volume 5

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Graphic Novel, vol. 5. 2011. 144p. ISBN 978-1-60886-640-3. 741.5 DIC on the library shelves.

Purchasing the goat does not alleviate Rick Deckard’s doubt, or his depression. Standing on the roof of his building with his wife at the end of volume 4, Rick realizes that he can’t kill any more androids. But a call from his boss tells him that he has to finish the job tonight. Unable to connect with his wife, Deckard heads out on what he knows will be his last mission, whether or not he manages to kills the three remaining androids.

He calls back Rachael Rosen, the android owned by the Rosen Corporation, and he invites her to San Francisco, to a nice hotel. If she comes, he tells her, he won’t hunt androids tonight. But even after she does and they sleep together, Rick knows he must attempt his mission. He heads out with Rachael towards the last known location of the three remaining androids, not sure whether he will be able to pull the trigger when the time comes.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Volume 4

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Graphic Novel, vol. 4. 2011. 144p. ISBN 978-1-60886-615-1. 741.5 DIC on the library shelves.

“Do androids have a soul?” Rick Deckard wonders. The death of Luba in volume 3 has deeply affected him. Phil Resch explains to him that he may have been affected because, unlike his other targets, she was a woman, and she was hiding in plain sight, telling him that maybe he was in love with an android, or at least the idea of love. Rick wonders if the opera setting and the singing of his favorite musical piece made him love her more, or whether his drive to kill androids is in fact compromised. He conducts the test on Phil, and then has Phil conduct it on him.

Meanwhile, the remaining androids are now hiding in Isodore’s building, and Isodore is thrilled at their company. The building is wired with an alarm, and the androids begin planning a defense strategy. Isodore, however, is not concerned with any of that, and in fact has difficulty understanding what is happening. He just loves that Pris is moving in with him. His human qualities may provide the best disguise for them all.

Rick returns home, but not before stopping at the pet store. He purchases a goat, one of the few living animals remaining in the world, and brings it back home. He needs to feel alive, and to feel connected somehow otherwise he can’t continue to work as a bounty hunter. His wife is displeased at first that he bought an animal without her, but when she sees it, she turns around and kisses him passionately.

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Volume 3

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Graphic Novel, vol. 3. 2011. 144p. ISBN 978-1-60886-577-2. 741.5 DIC on the library shelves.

Left facing certain death at the end of a gun in Volume 2, Rick Deckard attempts to escape Luba by proving to her that he really is with the police. He is fairly certain she’s an android, however, so he knows he’s unlikely to escape with his life. Luba does something unpredictable. She calls the police, and the arriving agent arrests Deckard.

When he’s taken to a different police station than his own, Deckard knows that something is wrong. When Lieutenant Garland introduced Deckart to Phil Resch, another bounty hunter, the two compare notes on their methods. Garland, however, cannot explain why he’s the next android wanted by Deckart. Tests on Polokov come back positive for android, and Lieutenant Garland, who’s in charge of the station, is forced to admit to Deckart that he is in fact an android, and that the entire police station is manned by androids hiding in plain sight. Resch is one too, though he doesn’t know it.

Resch returns to the lieutenant’s office to test him, but Garland pulls a gun on Resch, and Resch shoots him. Deckart and Resch head to the museum where Luba is visiting an exhibition, and also terminate her. By this time Resch has figured out he’s an android as well, but Deckart tells him that at the moment he’s not wanted, and therefore he will not turn him in. That’s when Deckart asks him, “Do androids have a soul?”

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Volume 2

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Graphic Novel, vol. 2. 2011. 144p. ISBN 978-1-60886-509-3. 741.5 DIC on the library shelves.

In this illustrated dystopian world, most of humanity has migrated to the stars, leaving behind those who are too sick, too old, or not smart enough, to slowly rot on a war-ravaged Earth. To entice people to move off-world, corporations and governments are providing androids, robots who look humans and who become personal servants.

Unfortunately, some of these androids escape and make their way to Earth, hoping to achieve a level of freedom impossible elsewhere. Tests have been developed to distinguish androids from humans, as even the dumbest human has the capacity to show compassion for others, something androids are unable to do.

Following the death of a real cat in volume 1, John Isidore must call the owner and notify them. He doesn’t want to make the call, but his employer tells him that unless he does he will be fired. Forced into it, John suddenly feels free, however, to have accomplished something by himself

Following his trip to Seattle, Rick Deckard is assigned the android targets from his predecessor, who was ambushed and killed by one of them. His first target, Dave’s killer, works for the Waste Department, but has fled his worksite and did not report back. Deckard is assigned to work with a Soviet agent, Polokov. When this agent turns out to be an android, Deckart barely escapes with his life. His next assignment is the opera singer Luba Luft.

On his way to test her, however, he receives a call from Rachael Rosen from the Rosen Corporation, manufacturer of the Nexus-6. She proposes an alliance of sorts where she would join him and help him hunt down the androids. Being one herself gives her an edge, she believes. Deckart tells her he will take it under advisement.

In the lounge with Luba, he begins administering her the test, but due to language differences and obfuscations she thwarts him, and when a piece of equipment rolls on the floor he bends down to pick it. When he comes back up, she’s holding a gun to his head.

Continue Deckart's tale in Volume 3.

A day in the life of the library

Watch this short time lapse video on a day in the life of Moultonborough Academy's Library, Halloween style.