Forest of Hands and Teeth

Ryan, Carrie. The Forest of Hands and Teeth. 2009. 310p. ISBN 9780385736817. Available as FIC RYA on the library shelves.

Mary has always lived in the shadow of death. Her entire village is surrounded by the forest, where the unconsecrated live. Always hungry, always moaning, they push against the thin fence that protects the very last bastion of humanity against its doom. The village is protected by the Guardians, who enforce the rules and maintain the fence, and it is governed by the Sisterhood, the healers and the spiritual leaders of what’s left of mankind. The village is all there is, the only reality.

But Mary has always wanted more. Her mother told her tales of the ocean, water as far as the eye could see, a place of peace and solitude away from the hungry moans of the dead. With the accidental death of her husband, Mary’s mother turns herself over to the unconsecrated so she can be with him. Mary becomes alone in the world, and even her brother will not vouch for her.

Forced to live with the Sisterhood, Mary is there when Gabry, a strange girl wearing a red vest, is captured and held in secret. Now the certitudes that Mary thought she knew are replaced with doubt. Obviously, others still dwell beyond the fence. Could there be other villages or cities out there? Does the ocean actually exist?

Knowing that Gabry pose a danger to their worldview and isolation, the Sisterhood drop her off in the midst of the unconsecrated. In death, however, Gabry become even more dangerous, a new species of unconsecrated, one that moves quickly and is both stronger and more violent. Suddenly, the fences are breached, and Mary must escape with a few of her friends. But will she finally find the peace she seeks, or are there more dangers ahead in the Forest of Hands and Teeth?

This book is a great horror tale that will create shivers up the reader’s spine. Lovers of zombies will appreciate this different take on a post-apocalypse undead world. The story of the Forest of Hands and Teeth continues in the Dead-Tossed Waves.

I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You

Carter, Ally. I’d Tell You I Love You, But Then I’d Have to Kill You. 2006. 284p. ISBN 9781423100034. Available at FIC CAR on the library shelves.

Hiding in plain sight is the best way for a spy to disappear. And Cammie Morgan has always been very good at being invisible. The Gallagher Academy for Exceptional Young Women, the school Cammie attends, is full of teenage girls who go crazy for boys and the latest fashion. It’s a typical private school, aside from the fact that students are trained in lethal combat, chemical warfare, and special operations. Gallagher Academy trains America’s best spies (oh, and one British too).

You would therefore think that it is easy for Cammie to do anything. Sure, she can speak fourteen different languages. Sure, she can kill a man in seven different ways in under three seconds. Sure, she can break through heavy computer security. But when she encounters a normal teenage boy who thinks she’s a normal teenage girl, Cammie’s life takes an unexpected turn. Suddenly, she doesn’t know how to act or even what to do. Cammie is completely lost.

It’s a good thing, then, that the newest student at the school is an expert on boys. Can Cammie manage to keep her love interest and her life separate? This entire situation could turn deadly...

South Caucasus: Then and Now

Uschan, Michael V. The South Caucasus: Then and Now. 2015. 80p. ISBN 978-1-60152-650-2. Available at 947.508 USC on the library shelves.

Squeezed between two giant historical forces, Russian expansionism and Islam, the South Caucasus has been plagued by conflicts, occupation, and poor management for most of its history.

The Republics of Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan are located between Russia to the north and Turkey and Iran to the south. Each of these countries have influenced the development of these small states, but nothing more so than the Soviet Union, which controlled these countries for more than seventy years.

This book discusses the histories of these former Soviet Republics, from their settlement through their short-lived independence from Tsarist Russia to their newfound freedom following the breakup of the Soviet Union. The Political and economic life of South Caucasus is explored, along with social customs and culture. Finally, this region’s future is also considered.

This is a great read to learn more about a region of the world most Americans are unfamiliar with. Other books in this series include Baltic States, Central Asian States, Russian Federation, and Ukraine.

The Hiding Place

ten Boom, Corrie. The Hiding Place. 2006. 271p. ISBN 9780800794057. Available at B TEN on the library shelves and also as a DVD from the DVD collection.

Born and raised in a loving Dutch family, Corrie stayed at home following a heart-breaking romance, and worked for her father, Haarlem’s watchmaker. Following the death of their mother she learned the craft and managed the shop, while her sister Betsie ran the household.

With the onset of World War II, Holland is in a precarious position. The Germans are on the borders, while France and England are already fighting. Though Holland is assured of peace, the Germans invade the next day and the entire country falls five days later. Now occupied, the lives of Jews become precarious. Corrie decides to begin helping them, and what starts as a charitable thought becomes a true underground cells with hundreds of people moving through their residence on their way out of the country or to safe places. Jews, youth, resistance fighters, and allied pilots all benefited from their assistance.

Eventually, her ring is infiltrated and she is caught, along with her father, brother, and sister. What ensues are years of misery at the hands of the Germans culminating to deportation to Ravensbrück concentration camp, the infamous women’s death camp. But with the help of God, Corrie survived the camp and set about redeeming both perpetrators and survivors. An inspiring story, it demonstrates that love and belief in God can indeed conquer all.

A great companion volume to this book is Schindler, Wallenberg, Miep Gies: The Holocaust Heroes.

Saint Anything

Dessen, Sarah. Saint Anything. 2015. 417p. ISBN 9780451474704. Available at FIC DES on the library shelves.

As a junior, Sydney has always felt eclipsed by her brother Peyton, a charismatic individual who has always been the star of his family. But Peyton went down the wrong path, hung with the wrong crowd, and eventually ran someone over while driving intoxicated. Now he’s been convicted to prison, leaving a large absence in the family and a heavy guilt for the victim Sydney seems to be the only one to feel.

Traumatized by this event, Sydney decides to transfer from her private school, where she is known as Peyton’s sister, to the local high school where no one knows her. The first week of school is overwhelming, but Sydney finds refuge in Seaside Pizza, where she meets Layla and her gorgeous brother Mac. The Chathams lead a chaotic life, and Layla is able to easily relate to Sydney since her sister Rosie was busted with drugs.

But ghosts from Peyton’s past are always around the town, and Sydney seems to run into them often. Can she gain acceptance among her new friends or will she forever remain Peyton’s sister? For more Sarah Dessen, take at look at Lock and Key and The Moon and More.

The Ring and the Crown

de la Cruz, Melissa. The Ring and the Crown. Book 1 of the Ring and the Crown series. 2014. 384p. ISBN 9781423157427. Available at FIC DEL on the library shelves.

The combined power of the Franco-British Empire, armed with the magic of the Merlin and his acolytes, has conquered most of the globe. The near monopoly on powerful magic wielded by the Empire has ended, however, when Prussia opened Pandora’s Box, releasing monstrous horrors on the Empire and leading to a peace treaty.

Princess Marie-Victoria is the price of this treaty for the Empire. The only daughter of Queen Eleanor the Second, she has been promised in marriage to Prince Leopold of Prussia, uniting the two Empires together. But when Aelwyn, the bastard daughter of the Merlin returns from Avalon, Marie-Victoria sees her way out. A powerful illusionist, Aelwyn will take her place so that Marie-Victoria can run away with Gill, a soldier in the Queen’s Guard and the love of her life, to America where they will settle and live simply.

Meanwhile, Prince Wolf, the younger son of the King of Prussia, is in America when he meets Ronin, a seemingly rich American girl who will be attending the Royal wedding in London. Hiding his true status, Wolf falls hard for Ronin. And Isabelle, heir to the French throne if her side had not lost the battle 500 years ago, must also go to the Royal wedding. Both Ronin and Isabelle must find a match to revive their family’s fortunes.

But with so much power and adversaries all gathering in one space, a wrong move could lead to the destruction of the Empire. With so much at stake, no one can be trusted.

Black Cat, Vol 6

Yakubi, Kentaro. Black Cat, Vol 6. 2000. 216p. ISBN 978-1-4215-0610-4. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Following their rescue of the Fake Black Cat (see Black Cat Vol. 5), Train, Sven and Eve take a well-deserved break. But Durham Glaster has a different plan for them.

Glaster, a member of the Apostles of the Stars who focuses his Chi power into his gun decides to challenge Train and to show him he is a better gunman. To trigger the Black Cat he tracks Annette, a former sweeper and one of Train’s friends, and hurts her. He then goes to Train and Sven’s current residence and almost kills Eve.

Train is now forced to take action, but how will he confront Durham? And will Eve survive this senseless assault?

The story continues in Black Cat Vol. 6.

Anti-Semitism and the “Final Solution”: The Holocaust Overview

Byers, Ann. Anti-Semitism and the “Final Solution”: The Holocaust Overview. 2015. 96p. ISBN 978-0-7660-6192-7. Available at 940.53 BYE on the library shelves.

The Holocaust did not happen in a vacuum. It was a deliberate policy set forth by Adolf Hitler to destroy the Jews of Europe more than twenty years before the death camps were established. This book documents the four distinct phases of the persecution of Jews, from fiery rhetorical speeches made in the early 1920s blaming the Jews for Germany’s defeat to the “Final Solution” and the creation of a huge, efficient, and remorseless killing machine.

The end of the First World War caused a major shock to the German population, which had been told all along they were winning the war. The country as a whole could not accept defeat and began plotting its revenge. A bogeyman was needed, and the Jews, which had been blamed throughout history for many of the world’s ills, once again became scapegoats.

As Hitler and his Nazi party gained traction with Germans, the intensity of the hate increased, forcing many Jews out of Germany to escape persecution and death. But war caught up with them, and as Germany conquered country after country in Europe it regained its Jewish population. The road was thus paved for implementing the “Final Solution.”

A great overview of the Holocaust and its causes, this book belongs on every library shelves to ensure that we never forget this tragedy.

The actuality of the Holocaust remains, and the information contained in this book makes a great companion to Hunting Eichmann: How a Band of Survivors and a Young Spy Agency Chased Down the World’s Most Notorious Nazi and An Illustrated History of the Gestapo.

Other books in this series include Anti-Semitism and the "Final Solution." and Warsaw, Lodz, Vilna: The Holocaust Ghettos.

Central Asian States: Then and Now

Uschan Michael V. The Central Asian States: Then and Now. 2015. 80p. ISBN 978-1-60152-694-6. Available at 958 USC on the library shelves.

With wide open spaces, poor soil, and sparsely populated by many different ethnicities, Central Asia has never been able to organize itself into a powerful entity strong enough to resist invaders. Throughout its history, the area has been a transit point for armies moving through on their way to richer lands. Conquered by Persia, dominated by the Mongol Khans, then conquered by the Russian Empire and subjugated under the Soviet Union, the area is now home to five new countries: Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

Unfortunately for these newly independent countries, their autocratic communist leaders retained their power during the collapse of the Soviet Union and continue to rule today. This has affected the political life of the inhabitants, limiting their freedoms and their choices. Communism’s legacy has also impacted the economic and social life of the area, leaving it to face an uncertain future.

This is a great read to learn more about a region of the world most Americans are unfamiliar with. Other books in this series include Baltic States, Russian Federation, South Caucasus and Ukraine.

Red Badge of Courage

Crane, Stephen. Red Badge of Courage. 1895. 170p. Available both at FIC CRA for the actual novel and at FIC WIN for the graphic novel version.

As the American Civil War rages on, every man on the battlefield is confronted with a fundamental dilemma. Am I courageous enough to stand in the thick of battle, or am I a coward who runs away at the first sight of fighting?

Henry Fleming enrolled in the Northern army despite his mother’s wishes, but now that he is on the eve of his first battle this is the question that preoccupies him the most. As the battle finally begins, Henry discovers that he is a coward by deserting his regiment and what he thinks is a lost cause and hiding deep in the woods. He finally reconnects with a column of wounded soldiers.

Rejoining his regiment, he finds out that it was victorious and triumphed against the enemy. Having been injured in a scuffle with another Northern soldier, everyone thinks he was grazed by a bullet. Upon learning that officers consider his regiment to be made up of mule drivers and mud diggers, he decides to prove them wrong.

Finally, his regiment is thrown into battle once again the following morning, and this time Henry redeems himself by joining the fight and even carrying the flag when the flag bearer is shot and killed. Henry is not a coward after all, but just a conflicted youth facing life or death.

How to Fight, Lie , and Cry Your Way to Popularity (and a Prom Date)

Roddy, Nikki. How to Fight, Lie , and Cry Your Way to Popularity (and a Prom Date). 2011. 112p. ISBN 978-0-9827322-2-9. Available at 791.43 ROD on the library shelves.

Movies featuring teens have been around for a long time. Along with entertainment, they have also provided lessons on life and a particular outlook on popular culture. This short book presents 50 classic teen movies and discusses the advice and theme explored in each. From killing your best friend (but hey you still look great in that outfit!) to soliciting prostitutes to increase one’s standing (don’t women like guys who are experienced?), this book covers the gambit of teen movies, and features helpful quizzes and quotes that will survive the ages!

Code Name Verity

Wein, Elizabeth. Code Name Verity. 2012. 441p. ISBN 9781405258210. Available at FIC WEI on the library shelves.

The year is 1943, and the Second World War is raging across Europe. Queenie and Maddie have known each other for years, sharing a love of flying and of secret missions. With limited roles for women and grounded from flying during the war, both join the women’s auxiliary and are trained in radar operations. Their temerity and dedication soon bring them to the attention of higher ups, and both Queenie and Maddie become more involved in the war effort in their own way.

Queenie joins Special Operations and becomes a skilled interrogator. Maddie returns to life as a civilian pilot, flying broken planes to be fixed and ferrying passengers for Special Operations, no questions asked.

When Queenie’s pilot has a car accident, Maddie steps up and volunteers to fly her over France, where she will land and meet with the French Resistance for her first cross-channel mission. Unfortunately, the plane is hit by anti-aircraft fire and Maddie must crash-land it. Queenie parachutes out of the airplane, but is soon captured by the Germans before making contact with the Resistance.

Told from two perspective, the first half relates how Queenie, code name Verity, must exact as much time as possible from her Germans tormentors, especially the dreaded SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden. Kept alive to write codes the Germans mistakenly believe she has, she also writes her story from her youth to her meeting with Maddie and how their lives became intertwined. For as long as she writes, she will be kept alive.

Shown photographs of Maddie’s plane crash and of the dead and burned body in the cockpit, Queenie despairs that her best friend in the world died when she shouldn’t have even been there. This story, therefore, is a way for her to memorialize Maddie.

The second half of the book tells Maddie’s story from the crash to her contact with the French Resistance. Code named Kittyhawk, Maddie soon gets involved with fighting the Germans while waiting for extraction out of France. Aided by Queenie’s brother and by local resistance fighters, the two of them mount a rescue attempt to save Queenie and bring her back home.

An excellent historical novel, this book vividly portrays the era of spying and fear embodied by the Gestapo and the extreme to which people would go to survive. You can also look at Rose Under Fire for a similar tale of a girl aviator behind enemy lines. The author of this book also cowrote American Wings: Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky.

The Accidental Highwayman: Being the Tale of Kit Bristol, His Horse Midnight, a Mysterious Princess, and Sundry Magical Persons Besides.

Tripp, Ben. The Accidental Highwayman: Being the Tale of Kit Bristol, His Horse Midnight, a Mysterious Princess, and Sundry Magical Persons Besides. 2014. 304p. ISBN 9780765335494. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Christopher “Kit” Bristol has led a hard life. A member of a traveling circus for a time, a rogue, and now a man servant, Kit considers himself lucky. After all, the teen has a roof over his head, food in his belly, and an indolent master who is away on business more often than not.

However, Kit’s life is about to change forever. When his master returns home late one night and makes a raucous in the kitchen, Kit awakens and finds him sitting at the table, wearing dark clothes and an obvious bleeding wound. His master has been shot! Suddenly, the legend of Whistling Jack, a highway robber, becomes true as Kit stands before Jack himself. With pursuers chasing Jack and at the door of his master’s estate, Kit decides to waylay them by making them think that Whistling Jack is still very much up and around, so he dresses up like his master, and rides Midnight, his master’s horse, throughout the countryside whereupon he is chased by other bandits.

Returning home, he finds his master dead, but he took the time to write his will before his passing. Unfortunately, his will is a map. He follows the map’s direction but he is ambushed by goblins. He meets an old witch who advises Kit that he must complete his master’s mission as he is bound by the same oath since he donned the highwayman’s costume. Kit must rescue Princess Morgana, a fairy, from being delivered to King George III of England. Her father, the Fairy King, has betrothed her to George’s son to cement an alliance between the fairy world and the world of humans.

Kit manages to rescue the princess, but this turns out to be but the first step in leading a full-scale fairy rebellion against the old king. Armed with a will that changes and provides new images as old ones come to pass, Kit can only worry that the last image, the one that has not changed since the beginning of his adventure, is of him hanging by the neck in the gallows of the British Crown.

Hunted by a relentless Red Coat captain, pursued by the Fairy King’s minions, and sought out by the evil Red Duchess, Kit and Morgana must reach the Irish sea and escape across it before it is too late for either of them.

A fun and light fantasy tale where history meets fairies, this book will delight fans of A Book of Spirits and Thieves, which similarly takes place at the intersection of two worlds.

Ghost Most Foul

Grayson, Patti. Ghost Most Foul. Coteau Books. 2015. 192p. ISBN 978-1550506143. Available on the library shelves at FIC GRA.

At fourteen, Summer Widden breathes and lives basketball. As the tallest girl on her middle school team, she’s looking forward to a great season. Coach Nolan even believes this team could make it to the Provincials. And, as she tells them, it’s not about winning, it’s about how you win.

Summer suddenly jolts up in terror in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve. That same night, Coach Nolan’s plane goes down in the Caribbean, and there are no survivors. Suddenly, the team gets a new coach, and the group dynamics Coach Nolan had worked hard to suppress are back. Summer’s friends do not like Dodie and pick on her, and Coach Rogers plays favorite. Worse, Summer now sees the ghost of Coach Nolan, who is trying to convey a message to Summer. Amid counseling and mental breakdowns, with a basketball season hitting the skids, can Summer discover what the ghost want before it’s too late to salvage the Provincials?

Warrior Heir

Chima, Cinda Williams. Warrior Heir. Book 1 of the Heir Chronicles series. 2007. 426p. ISBN 9780786839179. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

At 16, Jack lives a good life, surrounded by a mother who loves him and neighbors who look out for him. As a baby, he had heart surgery and he must take medicine every day. One day, however, he forgets to take it, and during his soccer practice he experiences a growth in confidence and a strength he didn’t know he had, and accidentally almost kills another player.

Concerned for him, his aunt arranges for him to train with Hastings, the vice-principal. Jack learns that he is a Weirlind, one of the few people who have been imbued with magical abilities. Many members of his family tree have had these abilities, but not his mother. In fact, Jack has been sheltered from a magical war that has been happening for centuries. The wizards control the magical world, and everyone else, from sorcerers to enchanters, do their bidding. Two sides have evolved, the Red Rose and the White Rose, along with elaborate rules to prevent full wizard on wizard violence. And to settle feuds, the sides hold a tournament of warriors with a fight to the death. Jack is one of these warriors, so he must be trained and protected.

When a tournament is called, however, Jack runs out of time. Along with two friends and under Hasting’s training, Jack must get ready to fight. His survival, and that of his friends and family, depend on his victory.

Fans of fantasy will enjoy this mix of wizardry and modern world, where magic exists but is uncommon. For a similar take of someone discovering he has amazing power, read A Quest of Heroes.

Properties of Matter

Carr, Aaron and Lesley Evans Ogden. Properties of Matter. 2012. 24p. ISBN 978-1-61690-730-0. Available at 530.4 EVA on the library shelves.

This short book describes the physical and the chemical properties of matter, including elements, compounds, solutions, and mixtures. It also introduces the concept of changing states of matter, and a timeline of discoveries affecting matter.

An easy read with pictures and graphs, this book is perfect for an introduction to science or for those who wish to learn more.