Legendary

Garber, Stephanie. Legendary. Book 2 of the Caraval series. 2018. 451p. ISBN 978-1-25009531-2. Available at FIC GAR on the library shelves.

In Caraval, sisters Scarlett and Donatella traveled to Caraval to escape from their evil governor father, and to participate in an amazing and magical game put together once a year by Legend, Caraval's master. While Scarlett won the game and gained her freedom, Tella was a participant in the five day game and actually died, before being brought back to life. This book was told from Scarlett's perspective.

In Legendary, it's Tella's turn to participate in a sooner than anticipated game. Told from her perspective, barely a day since the week-long party on Caraval occurred. It is suddenly announced that the entire company is traveling to Valenda, the seat of the Meridian Empire to celebrate the Empress' 75th birthday. When she was a child, Tella stumbled upon a strange deck of cards containing a picture of each of the Fates. Her mother chided her and made her promise never to touch it again. Tella had already stolen the Oracle, however, but she promised anyway. Soon after, her mother vanished.

Tella is doubly motivated to play. Her mysterious patron who got her tickets to the last games is back again, dangling the promise of reuniting her mother, but this time his price is higher. He wants Legend's true name. But the only way she can find this information is by winning this new edition of Caraval. Helped, or hindered, by Dante, one of Legend's performers, Tella sets forth on this new adventure. She immediately complicates her own life, however, when she finds herself not on the guest list at the Empress' palace. On Dante's suggestion, she informs the matron that she is the fiancee to the heir of the throne, a man ruthlessly known for killing every fiancee he has had as he has climbed the steps of power. When it turns out that her patron, Jack, and the heir to the throne are one and the same, and that said Jack also happens to be the Prince of Hearts newly freed from the Deck of Fates, Tella is no longer sure that Caraval is only a game.

Facing the impossible choice of revealing Legend's identity to Jack, which would lead to the downfall of the Master of Caraval, or giving the Deck of Fates to Legends and seeing her chance of freeing her mother end forever as he plans on destroying it, Tella must decide where her loyalties lie....

The UFO Cover-Up: What World Governments Don't Want You to Know

Friedman, Stanton T. and Kathleen Marden. The UFO Cover-Up: What World Governments Don't Want You to Know. Part of the Alien Encounters series. 2018. 211p. ISBN 978-1-50817699-2. Available at 001.94 FRI on the library shelves.

Conspiracies abound about the presence (or absence) or Unknown Flying Objects (UFO). Many encounters have been proven as fake, but just as many have never been truly disproven. This book seeks to make the case that a conspiracy to deny the mere existence of UFOs has taken place throughout Earth's societies, with powerful government officials and scientists using misinformation and bully tactics to denigrate and deny that UFOs had ever been to Earth.

Though references in the Bible and in other holy books indicate that aliens visited Earth in the past, the advent of the nuclear age seems to have attracted attention from outside our solar system, with more and better documented encounters, especially in the United States. This book explores several encounters and how, despite the evidence presented, scientific and government authorities ridiculed witnesses and ignored the science.

Readers interested in UFOs and aliens will appreciate the research examined by the authors that reveal how government agencies, scientists, and mainstream media created a campaign of denying alien visitations. Conspiracy theorists will enjoy the case laid presented that a vast conspiracy is not only possible, but has actually happened. Even readers who don't believe in aliens and in UFOs will be puzzled by the evidence accumulated over the last seventy years of the nuclear age.

Noragami: Stray God, Vol. 11

Adachitoka. Noragami: Stray God, Vol. 11. 2016. 200p. ISBN 978-1-63236-252-0. Available in the Graphic Section of the library.

After the battle with the gods, Yato has finally figured out what he wants to do with his life. He wishes to become the god who can make people happy. But happiness is often fleeting, and Hiyori herself is not feeling happy. Wanting to please her, Yato drags her and Yukiné to Capyper Kingdom, an amusement park where he can celebrate his weird attraction to Capyper. But all she wants is for Yato to want to spend more time.

Meanwhile, Kazuma is confronted by Bishamon about his interventions on behalf of Yato, supporting him financially by purchasing items from him over the decades. Kazuma reveals that he feels bad for Yato because he never had a shrine and has had bad luck with his choices of shinkis. However, now that Yato has chosen a blessed vessel, Kazuma feels he's in better shape.

Daikoku and Kofuku's background is also explored, especially their desire to have a child. But the god of bad luck manages to ruin Yato's experience at the park. And the crafter, he who can draw Ayakashis and make them real, hovers around Hiyori ...

The story continues in Noragami: Stray God, Vol 12.

The Gathering

Poblocki, Dan. The Gathering. Book 1 of the Shadow House series. 2016. 217p. ISBN 9780545925501. Available at FIC POB on the library shelves.

Poppy’s mother disappeared when she was six, so she ended up at the Thursday House for orphan children. Everytime she looks in a mirror she sees another girl in the background looking at her. The girl looks sad and never talks to her, but she shows her small objects. When Poppy wakes up in the morning, she discovers these objects on her pillow. The other children believe her to be crazy, and, in the cruel way of children, name her Crazy Poppy. On the day she’s had enough of their bullying, she snaps and it lands her in the director’s office. There, in her file, she discovers a letter a great aunt sent her a letter inviting her to live at her mansion, Larkspur. Polly is thrilled and decides to leave the orphanage and find the only family she has.

Marcus loves to play the piano, but between his siblings and his mother, he can’t find enough time that don’t disturb the others. He hears a haunting music in his mind that inspires him. His mother is thrilled when he receives a scholarship to a prestigious music school called Larkspur Academy of the Performing Arts. Marcus can’t believe his own luck. He’ll be among other musicians driven like himself.

Azumi needs to leave her Seattle home. Ever since her older sister disappeared during a trip to Japan to visit their grandmother, Azumi has been heartbroken. In her nightmares she keeps reliving her disappearance. She wants a change of scenery, and an internet search keeps returning one website, that of the Larkspur Boarding School.

Twin actors Dylan and Dash have just finished their seven year run as a child named Scooter in a family sitcom, and they are looking for work. An opportunity presents itself when they are invited to become the stars of a horror flick to be filed at Larkspur. They readily accept, and Dash sees this as his opportunity to escape Dylan’s shadows.

These five children all come to Larkspur for their own reasons, sustained by specific hopes. But what they discover instead is the horrors that haunt the old mansion. For the Shadow House seems intent on consuming them all. Once inside, they discover they can’t leave. There are strange children haunting the house. Dolls that look like them are scattered throughout the house. And everywhere they feel the malevolence of Shadow House. What evil forces called the children here? And what must they do to escape with their lives?

The Gross Science of Sneezing, Coughing, and Vomiting

Gluckstern, Rachel. The Gross Science of Sneezing, Coughing, and Vomiting. Part of the Way Gross Science series. 2019. 48p. ISBN 978-1-5081-8174-3. Available at 612.2 GLU on the library shelves.

The human body is a marvelous machine, carefully balancing many functions at once to ensure that everything works normally. But there are times where things stop working so well, and suddenly the body is sick, or is out of balance. Three of the grossest bodily functions we frequently encounter are sneezing, couching, and especially vomiting. Though these are unpleasant to witness, and even more annoying to experience, they all have the important purpose to make us feel better.

Sneezing helps remove foreign particles from the airways, allowing more oxygen to flow to the lungs. Even on normal days, the body produces over a liter of snot a day, and sneezing helps dislodging snot and other foreign objects that have accumulated inside the body. Coughing serves a similar function, loosening the lungs and projecting matter out. Wet cough generally moves mucus out of the lungs, while a dry cough is often related to environmental causes such as a dusty environment or asthma. Finally, vomiting is the body's way of removing bad or spoiled food from the gastro-intestinal track, though it can sometimes be related to motion sickness.

While we all suffer from these and experience unpleasant sensations, the purpose of sneezing, couching, and vomiting is the same: forcing something inside the body out. Full of information about these three gross bodily functions as well as instructions on how to take care of one's body, this book is a wonderful guide to learn more about how our body works!

Confessions of a Murder Suspect

Patterson, James and Maxine Paetro. Confessions of a Murder Suspect. 2012. 312p. 364 mins. ISBN 978-0-316-20698-3. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Tandy is rudely awakened when the doorbell rings in the middle of the night to their Manhattan Penthouse. Police officers are at the door, and demand to be let in. Inside, Tandy and the cops discover that her parents, Malcolm and Maud, are dead, sprawled in their bed with no sight of foul play. Nothing is missing, and there appears to have been no signs of breaking into the apartment. The only suspects are the Angel children, Matt, and their mother’s live in assistant, Samantha. Being the last one to see them alive, Tandy is their prime suspect.

To clear her name, Tandy decides to investigate their death, even if it means she discovers she did it. You see, Tandy does not remember a certain part of her life, which has been blacked out with medication and therapy. Both parents were perfectionists. Malcolm owned a pharmaceutical company, while Maud ran a hedgefund. Her upbringing has emotionally and mentally shaped the teen to be a ruthless and efficient investigator. As she starts poking around in her parents’ businesses, however, Tandy realizes that anyone could have killed them, from jealous neighbors to their own children. With embezzling charges pending for both parents, there are just too many suspects, and the public is fascinated by the Angel family’s fall from grace. Can the family pull together to discover what really happened, or will it end up tearing them apart?

Fats and Cholesterol

Perritano, John. Fats and Cholesterol. Part of the Know Your Food series. 2018. 64p. ISBN 978-1-4222-3734-2. Available at 613.2 PER on the library shelves.



Over the last forty years, Americans have been getting bigger. Obesity is now considered a national issue, and several policies have been passed to address a large increase in overweight people. The rest of the world is also affected by this problem, and fingers have pointed at a diet rich in fats and carbohydrates. But what are fats? How do they affect humans?

This short book discusses the role that fat plays in the average human diet. Fats are defined and explained, and their impact on levels of cholesterol are described. The history of fat is then presented. Of particular interest is how the problem of fat being perishable was solved by the creation of margarine, which lasted longer and cost less than butter. This led to several "butter wars" in the 1880s and 1890s, until laws were passed imposing color restrictions to ensure that people would not confuse margarine and butter. The process of hydrogenating oil under intense heat and pressure created Crisco, a cooking fat which doesn't spoil and can be used as an alternative to butter. Crisco and margarine became more popular during the Second World War, when severe shortages of butter led to rationing. The growth of the fast-food industry also provided more demands for fats, increasing their overall presence in our food supply.

Medical concerns related to fats are then reviewed. Though our body absolutely needs fats to survive, too much of them lead to an increase in both the number of fat cells as well as the overall size of the cells. Finally, fat consumption is discussed, including problems with low-fat diets and school cafeteria lunches. Possible solutions to decrease fat consumption are presented. Readers interested in where our food comes from and how we can eat better will appreciate the information in this book.

Lost Soul, Be at Peace

Trash, Maggie. Lost Soul, Be at Peace. 2018. 187p. ISBN 978-0-7636-9419-7. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Maggie Trash has always been different from her family. Her father is a Federal Court judge, while her mother is a socialite who spends time at galas and fundraisers. Her older brother has left for college, and Maggie finds their large house very empty. Only her cat Tommi keeps her somewhat sane, but even then Maggie thinks she might be better off if she were insane, because then she wouldn't worry about finding out who she really is.

Over the last year, Maggie has grown progressively more depressed. Her grades are failing, and she's drastically changed her hair color. Her parents didn't say a thing. They are too self-involved to even notice that Maggie is suffering on the inside. Now in 11th grade, Maggie is in danger of flunking high school. A year ago Maggie realized she likes girls. She came out at school, but nobody cared. She hasn't come out to her family yet, simply because she doesn't think they would care either. Since then, she's felt very lonely.

One night, Tommi goes missing inside the house. While searching for her, Maggie finds a door she had never seen before. It takes her to a rundown house with piles of trash laying about. Returning through the hallway, she finds a boy armed with a gun inside her home. The boy has no substance. She learns that his name is Tommy, that he's looking forward to go to college, but that he's worried that by leaving to pursue his future he will be damning his mother to more abuse at the hand of his father. Tommy doesn't know where he's from, or why he's haunting Maggie, but he's pretty sure there's something he needs to do.

As Maggie and Tommy search for the missing cat, truths will be revealed, but they may not be the answers Maggie was looking for.

Beautifully illustrated, this memoir recounts seminal events in the life of Maggie Trash and attempts to find the source of her depression. Novels dealing with self-discovery include When My Sister Started Kissing and All the Bright Places.

My Name is Not Easy

Edwardson, Debby Dahl. My Name is Not Easy. 2011. 248p. ISBN 9780761459804. Available at

In the 1960s, education in remote areas of Alaska consists of a few scattered schools. For most students, they must leave their families and their communities to attend a school hundreds of miles away. Luke and his brothers Bunna and Isaac are flying south to attend Sacred Heart School, run by Catholic priests and nuns. Isaac is immediately separated from the two older brothers because he is too young, and ends up adopted and living in Dallas, Texas.

Luke and Bunna join other students who are Inuit, Native Americans, and the odd White students. Racial tensions are high between the two groups of Alaskans, with whites being the outsiders. Chickie is the daughter of a White merchant who owns a store above the Arctic Circle, and she is likewise here to further her education. As the years proceed, these students encounter hardships and trials but manage to grow as individuals while learning to respect their differences.

Told from multiple perspectives and filled with Alaskan history from the period, including possible nuclear detonations to create harbors and ill-conceived scientific studies to inject iodine into people to test their resistance to cold, the stories of the students and teachers of Sacred Heart are able to empower themselves and effect change on their school and on society as a whole. Fans of realistic fiction will appreciate the struggles that they experience as well as the steps they take to address them.

Made You Look: How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know

Graydon, Shari. Illustrated by Michelle Lamoreaux. Made You Look: How Advertising Works and Why You Should Know. 2013. 155p. ISBN 978-1-55451-560-8. Available at 659.1 GRA on the library shelves.

When we see an ad on television, on the Internet or in a magazine, we often wonder who they are trying to attract, and we tell ourselves that we as savvy customers are not influenced by advertisement. But there is so much of it everywhere that we often don't realize it. That vehicle involved in this movie's car chase? Advertisement. This full page news report about China? Advertisement. Your friend's t-shirt with the logo of his favorite restaurant? Yes, advertisement. We are bombarded with visual and audio advertisements every day of our lives, from the time we are born to the time we die. Billboards outside; internet sites; broadcast media; clothes; even the food on our shelves are advertisements. How can we survive this onslaught of branding?

Made You Look describes what advertisement is, how it is used to distribute messages, how ads actually work, and what students can do to fight back against all of these ads. We need to realize that we are the ultimate product being marketed and that ads do not contribute to our well-being or our relationships with others, but simply aim to make us purchase more of specific products. There are several steps that we as consumers can take to stop bad advertising and reduce the overall amount of advertising that we see in our lives. Helpful hints to create one's own impactful advertisement, for business, yard sales, or appealing for donations, are also included.

Beast

Napoli, Donna Jo. Beast. 2004. 272p. 381 mins. ISBN 9780689870057. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

As the future Shah of Persia, Orasmyn has been training his entire life. He as completed the pilgrimage to Mecca, and he is dedicated to the teaching of Islam. A gentle soul, Orasmyn does not reproach his father, the Shah, the ability to hunt, but he prefers plants, especially roses. His father is thrilled because he has received a lion and lionesses from India, and he looks forward to the possibility of slaying a lion with his bare hands.

On the Feast of Sacrifices, Orasmyn makes the call to sacrifice a camel that is not pure. As a result, a vindictive Peri sentences him to die at the hands of his father the very next day, unless he can find a woman who will truly love him. Scared that he might perish in the lion hunt, Orasmyn tells his father and decides to hide for the entire day, hoping to avoid the Peri’s curse. Unfortunately, when Orasmyn awakens he has been transformed into a lion.

Still retaining his human mind, Orasmyn manages to avoid the hunters but realizes that he has in fact been killed by his father, for even if he escapes now he can never return, and his father has lost his son and heir. Learning to be a lion is difficult, and Orasmyn makes his way slowly to India, hoping to find a woman who will love him, or, at any rate, the company of other lions. But the prides do not welcome him, and he is forced to return to Persia. Along the way he remembers a conversation with a Frenchman that the roses in France are the best in the world, so he decides to make his way to France.

The trip is perilous, and it takes him years to make it to the South of France, but when he discovers an old uninhabited castle he knows it will be home forever. He plants roses, hoping to attract a woman who will love him. But when a man seeks shelter in the castle, Orasmyn discovers that he can prey on the man’s fear and force him to send his youngest daughter to him instead. Perhaps she will be the one who will love him and break the curse.

Telling the other side of the beauty and the beast story, Beast describes Orasmyn’s transition from man to beast, the depth of his despair, and the strength of his desire to regain his humanity while surviving as a lion in a foreign country with a different language and customs.

Designing Healthy Communities

Doyle, Sheri. Designing Healthy Communities. Part of the Design Thinking for a Better World series. 2018. 48p. ISBN 978-0-7787-4459-7. Available at 362.1 DOY on the library shelves.

Not all communities are healthy communities. Often the problems seem unsurmountable, but design thinking can help address some of these issues and help change the world for a better place. This book discusses the process of designing a solution to a problem, from empathizing with people affected by the problem, to defining the issues, coming up with possible ideas to solve the problem, creating a prototype, testing it, and reflecting on whether or not the problem was addressed.

Readers can experience nine different case studies where this process is applied. Issues such as prolonged sitting and screen time, fitness programs for every body, and a lack of physical space for physical activity at school address the need for active living. Healthy food is looked at through access to food in local communities, healthy snack options for diabetic students, and hunger in remote Nepalese communities. Finally, the need for clean water is at the center of the Flint water crisis, the need for clean water in rWanda, and access to clean water at the Shoal Lake 40 First Nation communities.

Anyone can become a maker of change on a local or global level. All is needed is understanding how design thinking can help achieve this change. If you have an idea to make your community better, read this book and learn the steps you can take to develop and implement your ideas.

Bungo Stray Dogs, Vol. 10

Asagiri, Kafka. Bungo Stray Dogs, Vol. 10. 2019. 190 p. ISBN 978-1-9753-0371-6. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

The brutal war conducted by the Guild for the destruction of Yokohama has come to an end, and the fragile peace between the Port Mafia and the Armed Detective Agency continues to stand, but other players are already moving in, hoping to eliminate both. Atsushi is called to the scene of a hit and run, only to discover that the dead was his former headmaster at the orphan school. This man was violent and physically abused Atsushi, with the stated goal of toughening him up for the real world. Now that his worst enemy is dead, Atsushi doesn't know whether to laugh or to cry. Kunikida also must confront a piece of his past when he's forced to alter his schedule to defuse a bomb that threatens a subway full of innocent passengers. With lives on the line, can he defeat an explosive expert?

And while this is happening, the man who brought down the Moby Dick has been captured by the Port Mafia, and is being interrogated by Ace, one of the Mafia's ruthless torturer. But the former leader of the Rats in the House of the Dead might have been captured on purpose, to infiltrate the Port Mafia ...

Vengeance: Children of Faust

Ulm, Chris. Vengeance: Children of Faust. Book 1 of the series. 2015. 329p. ISBN 978-1-5144-2697-5. Available at FIC ULM on the library shelves.

Kim's life in her small New Hampshire town has been difficult ever since she and her father moved here nearly a decade ago, following the death of her mother. Now in middle school, Kim is bullied and used as the punching bag for the school's mean girl and her posse. Life at home is not any easier. Her father sinks ever lower in an alcohol-fueled stupor, and he relentless controls and beats her. Kim cannot wait to get out of this place.

Then a new girl moves in. Tansu is quiet and reserved, but she and Kim hit it off immediately. Suddenly, Kim is excited to go to school and hang out with her, and Tansu is glad for Kim's friendship. As they navigate the treacherous waters of middle school, their friendship grows ever stronger. Throughout all of this, Kim feels a presence nearby, observing her. When she discovers a literal demon in her bedroom, Kim is scared beyond belief. Calling himself Sin, the demon offers her a deal: The power to wreck vengeance on her enemies in exchange for her soul. Kim refuses, but Sin promises her to return if she ever needs him.

When Kim's father, dives into a deeper part of his alcoholism, Kim becomes the object of his anger. Violently sewing her lips shut, he reveals to her that he sold her soul, as his unborn daughter, to a demon years ago if only that demon would make her mother love him. Unfortunately Kim's mother had died only a few years later, and now he regretted it every day of his life. This is why they had moved to rural New Hampshire, hoping to stay away from the demon.

Hurt and feeling violated, Kim calls Sin to her, and accepts his deal. Her father is the first to suffer her wrath, as she shouts him point blank. But now Kim has a demon named Alice inside of her who cannot wait to gain full possession of her body. As Kim's life spirals out of control, Tansu remains the only constant. With other demons circling and hoping to kill Kim and gain her power, Kim must also struggle with Alice, and find a way to remain alive and protect her friend Tansu. Will she be strong enough to resist a quick descent into darkness?

Assassins' America: Four Killers, Four Murdered Presidents, and the Country They Left Behind

Gunderson, Jessica & Joe Tougas. Assassins' America: Four Killers, Four Murdered Presidents, and the Country They Left Behind. 2018. 202p. ISBN 978-1-62370-981-5. Available at 973.7 GUN on the library shelves.

Since the United States' founding, 45 men have served as President, the highest elected office in the land. Of these, four were assassinated during their administration: Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy. Each killing was done by a lone individual in the name of perceived grievances, and each death altered the course of government.

Lincoln was the first President to fall to an assassin's bullet. High on the heels of his re-election, the end of the Civil War and looking forward to reconstructing the South, Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor who wanted to revive the fortunes of the Confederacy. Instead of being considered a hero, however, he was hunted throughout Virginia and was caught and killed in a shoot out a few days later. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was much less inclined to protect the just-emancipated slaves. Had Lincoln lived to serve his second term, it is likely that civil rights would have been implemented sooner.

President Garfield was elected in 1880 and sworn in office in March 1881. Campaigning against corruption and the spoil system that had developed at all levels of governments, Garfield had high hopes that he could implement a merit-based bureaucracy and a dedicated public service. Charles Guiteau was a supporter of Garfield and believed he deserved to receive some sort of appointment following Garfield's election. Angry at not being recognized for his supposed efforts in getting him elected, he shot Garfield, who died two months later of horrible care. His death crystalized the efforts to stem the flow of corruption and help create a meritocracy.

President McKinley had already served a term when he was elected again in 1900. This was a time where anarchists aimed to overthrow all governments. Leon Czolgosz was a drifter who had trouble remaining employed and whose home life was unsatisfactory. Hoping to strike it big for the cause of anarchy and impress Emma Goldman, a famous anarchist, he decided to assassinate McKinley, and an opportunity presented itself at the 1901 World's Fair, and he successfully shot the President. Theodore Roosevelt succeeded McKinley, and launched a series of antitrust actions to dismantle the large monopolies that controlled the economy of the United States.

President Kennedy was serving his first term when he was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald. An avowed communist, Oswald was a loner who had attempted to gain Soviet citizenship. Kennedy had brought a youth and enthusiasm to the Presidency, but he had continued increasing the United States' involvement into Vietnam. However, by 1963 Kennedy was asking for every option in Vietnam, including complete disengagement. President Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, chose to pursue the U.S.'s involvement into Vietnam.

The world would be a much different place if these four Presidents had been able to complete their terms. Fans of history will enjoy this short exploration of what happened, as well as predictions on what would have happened had each president lived. Fans of history will appreciate reading about these presidential deaths and what could have been.

The Sun is also a Star

Yoon, Nicola. The Sun is also a Star. 2016. 384p. ISBN 9780553496680. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Today is Natasha's last day in the United States. An illegal immigrant that overstayed her visa when she, her mother, and her brother rejoined her father in New York City from the Dominican Republic, she has built a life for herself here, and her former life is nothing but a distant memory. A straight A student and a budding scientist, she looked forward to a life spent analyzing data. But her father, who first came to the United States to break into the theater business, never struck it and spent most of his time at home, rehearsing plays. After finally obtaining a role and performing well, he drank and was then arrested while driving. His illegal status was discovered, and the entire family was ordered deported. Natasha is really mad at her father and hasn't been able to talk to him since. Hoping against all hope to secure a stay, Natasha skips school today and returns to Immigration to see if anything can be done to help her stay here.

Today Daniel is heading to an entrance interview to Yale. Daniel's parents are Korean, and they have worked hard all of their lives to ensure that both of their sons have the best education and opportunities in this new country. Daniel is the perfect son, always complying to his parents' requests. They want him to become a doctor, marry a nice Korean girl, and have children they can spoil. But Daniel is a poet, and he doesn't want to go to Yale. He's not sure what he wants to do, but he feels alienated both from his father, who always seems disappointed in Daniel no matter what he does, and from his brother Charlie, who hates being Korean and has just left Harvard amid a cloud of controversy.

When these two lives collide, the world opens up in possibilities. Can one fall in love in the course of a single day?

National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries

American Association of School Librarians. National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. 2018. 314p. ISBN 978-0-8389-1579-0. Available at PROF 027.802  AME on the library shelves.

With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards and the move from more and more states toward competency-based education instead of the traditional methods of assessing student performance, a variety of standards have been created or updated to ensure they maintain relevance in today's world and also address changing skills requirements. The American Association of School Librarians released revised standards from Information Power and Empowering Learners into a set of mutually supporting standards that address the needs of learners, school librarians, and school libraries.

These new standards center around six core areas: Inquire, Include, Collaborate, Curate, Explore, and Engage. They are further subdivided into Think, Create, Share, and Grow areas, and are finally sorted into learner statements, school librarian statements, and school libraries statements. The versatility of these standards allow the school librarian to develop a roadmap to effective assessments and evaluate their current programs. Each standard is exploded into its components, and various scenarios are presented to explain how these impact current school librarians and other stakeholders.

The National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries is thus an indispensable book for school librarians and their advocates to ensure the best outcomes for their libraries and their students.

Last Pick

Walz, Jason. Last Pick. 2018. 214p. ISBN 978-1-62672-891-2. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Sam and Wyatt are twins, and they have always looked out for each other. Sam has been the protective big sister, because Wyatt is autistic. He's often unable to filter his thoughts when he speaks, finds himself confused by nonverbal communication, can't really adopt someone else's perspective when talking to other people, and has trouble regulating his emotions. Even though she finds him weird at times, Sam would go to the mat for her brother.

Now sixteen years old, the twins have been left alone for the last three years, when aliens invaded Earth and kidnapped the entire population between the ages of 16 and 65, leaving behind only the old, the handicapped, the young, and those deemed too useless for their plans. For three years, Sam has been fighting back, stealing food and spreading it in her small city of Elizabethtown. Now that the giant scooper ships have returned, Sam is ready to fight back. And Wyatt's brilliant computer and engineering mind can help them communicate with their missing parents, but only if they have the right part. Can they be the spark that ignite the rejects of humanity into resistance against the invaders?

A great graphic novel with sharp illustrations and colors, Last Pick accurately portrays someone who has trouble functioning of what is left of normal society. The coping mechanisms that Wyatt has developed are realistic, and the siblings' love for each other even when they are angry shows throughout the story. Fans of dystopia and of last stands will appreciate the action and story, and will clamor for the second volume when it comes out!

It's Kind of a Funny Story

Vizzini, Ned. It's Kind of a Funny Story. 2006. 444p. ISBN 0-7868-5197-X. Available both as FIC VIZ on the library shelves and as an ebook on Overdrive.

When he was a kid, Craig loved drawing maps. For over a year, fifteen-years-old Craig Gilner has been spending most of his time preparing for possible admission to Executive Pre-Professional, a highly selective and elite high school in New York City. And when he wasn't doing that, he was with his best friend Aaron, smoking pot and pinning for Nia, Aaron's girlfriend. With that being done, however, Craig suddenly finds himself at a loss. He's working hard at his school, but he's only scoring 93%, while Aaron, who doesn't even try, is still top of the class.

Unable to cope and lacking strategies that would help him get through, Craig develops suicidal thoughts and ends up developing an eating disorder. Caught in a vicious circle, Craig ends up checking himself into a psychiatric facility near his house. Lacking room in the juvenile wing, Craig is placed instead on the 6th floor with adults, and he begins dealing with the issues that led him here. Onsite, he meets the other patients, including Noelle, another teenager who severely maimed herself to deal with the abuse she was suffering. Can Craig reconnects with his life and achieve some stability?

A running commentary of the events leading to and including his hospitalization told from Craig's perspective, It's Kind of a Funny Story provides a hilarious yet sobering look at mental illness and the pressures that children and teenagers experience in competitive educational environments. Readers will be cheering Craig on as he works through his problems and hope that he and Noelle are able to tame each other on their way out of the psychiatric unit. Fans of An Abundance of Katherines will appreciate the messy resolution that occurs at the end of the story.

The Cold War

Day, Meredith, ed. The Cold War. Part of the Political and Diplomatic History of the Modern World series. 2017. 252p. ISBN 978-1-68048-358-1. Available at 909.82 COL on the library shelves.

The death of Adolf Hitler and the fall of Berlin in April 1945 heralded the end of the Second World War, but it also brought about the beginning of the end for a multipolar world where Great Powers were competing against other. In the wreckage of Europe emerged two Superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, with diametrically opposed goals and ideals. Whereas the Soviet Union was determined to pursue the export of Communism and the installation of a world proletariat, the United States aimed to maintain the capitalistic economic system that had allowed it to triumph over Germany and Japan.

Tensions that had arisen before the war ended, but as both side dug into their respective positions and as two blocs emerged around each Superpower, these boiled over into conflicts, both with the blockade of West-Berlin by the Soviets and North Korea's attack on South Korea. In both of these instances it became clear that the Soviet Union was willing to skirt with open warfare. The advent of nuclear weapons on both side soon insured mutual destruction, and the Superpowers became embroiled in proxy conflicts around the world and competed with each other for political and cultural prestige.

At the same time, decolonization and regional conflicts, which were only remotely linked to this Superpower competition, changed the maps of Africa and Asia. The two blocks never came into open conflict with each other, hence the period became known as the Cold War. At times, such as during the Cuban missile crisis, both seemed bound for war, but were successfully able to avoid it.

At times one side seemed to dominate over the other, while at other points both seemed equally powerful. By the mid 1980s, however, it was becoming clear that the Soviet Union's economic difficulties were about to bring changes. The sudden liberalization of Hungary, which generated a massive wave of East Germans fleeing to the West, coupled with Soviet loss of confidence following their withdrawal from Afghanistan, led in very short order to a collapse of the Berlin Wall and of the Iron Curtain, as well as German reunification and NATO expansion.

Fans of history will enjoy reading the history of the second half of the 20th century and how events that happened then affect us today.