Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon, Vol. 1

Fraction, Mark. Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon. Vol. 1. 2013. 136p. ISBN 9780785165620.

Unlike the other Avengers, Clint Barton, also known as Hawkeye, does not have super powers. He is extremely skilled with the bow, and can land an arrow exactly where he means it to go, but he can't heal quickly, resists bullets, or fly. Settling down in New York, Barton finds the apartment building in the throes of mandatory expulsions as the mobster who owns the building hopes to collect more money from new tenants. That's all the injustice it takes for Barton to fight back! Accompanied by Kate Bishop, who is also a skilled bow shooter, Barton infiltrates the mob, and salvages enough money from a corrupt casino to repurchase the building and ease the tenants' minds. 

Meanwhile, a tape of him killing an enemy agent is rumored to be circulating among the underworld, and will be the feature at a villainous auction. With Kate's help, Barton joins the action, hoping to get his hands on the tape before it is released to the rest of the world, tarnishing his reputation forever!

A bonus story tells how Kate Bishop became a young Avenger and replaced Hawkeye as the bowman on the team, before Barton returned to the fold. Fans of Marvel movies will enjoy this richly illustrated tale.

The story continues in Hawkeye: Little Hits, Vol. 2.

The Barren Grounds

 Robertson, David A. The Barren Grounds. Book 1 of the Misewa Saga series. 2000. 256p.  ISBN 978-0-7352-6610-0. Available at FIC ROB on the library shelves.

At 13, Morgan has been in more foster homes than she can recount. She has only vague memories of her mother, a Native Canadian Cree who lived in the north of Manitoba. Now living with Katie in James in Winnipeg, Morgan has been here for almost two months. A week ago, another Cree foster child named Eli joined the family. Unlike Morgan, who has no links to her ancestral culture, Eli can speak Cree and was removed from his family recently. This is his first foster home. Eli loves to draw, and is always illustrating scenes that he keeps secret. 

At their middle school, Morgan keeps an eye on Eli, who sits alone against a cafeteria wall, drawing away. Morgan herself is always alone, and her prickly personality pushes people away. Emily, however, is not deterred, and she keeps on talking with Morgan even though Morgan makes it clear she wants to be left alone. Deep down, Morgan is afraid of rejection and knows it's only a matter of time before her new family rejects her and sends her packing, like all other families before her.

Following a fight with James and Katie, Morgan takes refuge in the attic, where workers have been remodelling. She opens a door covered with paint, and hides here. Eli finds her, and brings her a drawing he did. It looks lifelike. In it, what appears to be a fisher cat walking upright is running towards them. Morgan can feel the cold and smell the winter forest surrounding the animal. They put the drawing away, scared of what it may mean. Later that night, Morgan wakes up to find the house very cold. In the attic, she discovers that Eli has placed the drawing on the wall again, and entered it like a window. Snow has already accumulated on the floor. 

Worried for her foster brother, Morgan enters the strange land. She is soon lost, but is rescued by the fisher cat who brings her to his village. There, Morgan is reunited with Eli and learns that Misewa, the village, has been cursed since the last human to visit stole the Green Time. In a state of perpetual winter, the land is dying and the animals are starving. With Ochek, the fisher, and Arik, a squirrel, Morgan and Eli set out to recover the Green Time from the man who stole it, before it's too late for Misewa and its inhabitants.

Inspired from Native Canadian myths and sprinkled with Cree words, Morgan and Eli's story of finding a secret door to a world unknown will resonate with the reader. Fans of The Chronicles of Narnia will appreciate this take on the theme of saving a new land.

The Fall of the Ottomans

Rogan, Eugene. The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East. 2015. 512p. ISBN 9780465023073.

When the world ignited into the flames of war following the death of Archduke Ferdinand in July of 1914, a complex web of alliances ensnared participants on both sides. A powerful Germany came to the aid of its ally Austria-Hungary, and they were joined by the Ottoman Empire, which covered vast areas of the Middle East. Long considered the Sick Man of Europe, the Ottoman Empire had been around for almost 500 years, and had lost much of its vigor. Internal strifes and wars in the Balkans had drained resources, soldiers, and the will to fight. 

At first, the Ottomans saw the possibility of rapid gains against the French and British colonial empires to their south and west, and, noticing Russia's weakness, also as a way to regain a footing in the Caucasus. With the financial and technical assistance of the Germans, the Ottoman troops launched several assaults against Allied positions, securing far ranging victories in Gallipoli against an amphibian assault, in Mesopotamia (now Irak), and in Palestine. These gains were short lived, however, as men and material poured in the region from the British Commonwealth, the Ottomans found themselves on the defensive. Even Russia, which was being bled by the Germans and where revolution threatened, managed to send armies that pushed the Ottomans out of the Caucasus and made inroads into imperial territories.

By 1918, only the central parts of the Ottoman Empire were free of occupation. The Turks, the largest ethnicity of the empire, committed genocide against their Armenian neighbors. The British seized Baghdad in the east, and Jerusalem and Damascus in the East. As the Germans and Austrians collapsed, the Ottomans dissolved into several independent nations. Turkey became its own state. Several others emerged from the ashes but were immediately colonized by European powers. Artificial frontiers were drawn, and agreements made with native allies were ignored, leading to resentment and frustration that continues to affect the world today. The modern Middle East owes its existence in part to the death of the Ottoman Empire and the consequences of the First World War.

How We Got to the Moon

Rocco, John. How We Got to the Moon: The People, Technology, and Daring Feats of Science Behind Humanity's Greatest Adventure. 2020. 264p. ISBN 9780525647416. Available at 629.45 ROC on the library shelves.

 

When President Kennedy declared in 1961 that the United States would travel to the Moon before the end of the decade, it set forth a massive industrial and scientific effort to achieve what had previously been impossible: Escape Earth's gravity and reach for the stars. Four years prior, the Soviet Union had launched its first satellite, shortly followed by the first animal in space then the first human in space. Embroiled in a Cold War with the Soviets and fearing falling behind technologically and scientifically, the United States poured vast amounts of resources on creating the largest rocket ever built. 

Over the next eight years, countless technological challenges were overcome to assemble the Saturn V rocket and its components, including the landing module and the command module. A building to house the rocket was built, a way to move the giant rocket to the launch pad was designed, space suits to protect astronauts were created and sewed by expert hands, and multiple other complex issues were resolved with determination and grit. On July 20, 1969, the first astronaut walked on the surface of the Moon. It was an accomplishment for humanity, but specifically for the hundred of thousands of workers who contributed to making Apollo 11 a successful mission.

Beautifully illustrated, this story recounts one of the greatest scientific achievement in the history of the nation. Fans of history and of space will appreciate the quality and specificity of the drawings, and will enjoy cheering for the men and women of NASA as they fulfill President Kennedy's mission.

I Have the Right to: A High School Survivor's Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope

Prout, Chessy and Jane Abelson. I Have the Right to: A High School Survivor's Story of Sexual Assault, Justice, and Hope. 2018. 416p. ISBN 9781534414433.

Chessy lived in Japan with her family when the tsunami ravaged the country in 2011, causing a major nuclear accident in Fukushima. The family of expatriates soon returned to the United States following the disaster, and Chessy found herself in the American school system for the first time. Her middle school years in Naples, Florida were uneventful, but she looked forward to attending St. Paul School in Concord, New Hampshire, Her father was an alumni of the school, and her older sister was currently a junior. When Chessy was accepted, she knew her world would never be the same.

The climate at St. Paul was tense, with senior boys feeling entitled to grope and harass female students and with faculty unwilling or unable to make it stop. In May of her freshman year, Chessy was raped by a senior classmate in a game seniors called the senior salute. Chessy courageously reported her experience to the police, and her aggressor was arrested and tried. This experience changed Chessy. She developed panic attacks, trust issues, and was forced to move to a different school after the St. Paul community rallied behind her aggressor. Through it all she remained driven to see justice served, and he was eventually convicted.

Chessy's story is not unique, and she was better equipped than most with parental support, loving siblings, and a community of other survivors who rallied behind her. Chessy came forward with her experiences so that others would understand what happened to her and to effect policy changes in teaching consent at a young age. Chessy continues to be an advocate for survivors, and lends her voice and support to make sure that this doesn't happen to another girl.

The Arab of the Future, Vol 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985

Sattouf, Riad. The Arab of the Future, Vol 2: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1984-1985. 2015. 154p. ISBN 978-1-62779-351-3.

Back in Syria following his summer in France at the end of The Arab of the Future, Vol 1, Riad begins school in his village. The school functions as a large social darwinist organization where only the strong survive. Students are beaten for talking, shunned if they can't afford clothes or are not clean. Relations between students are even worse, and with his angelic blond hair and his inability to read Arabic, Riad is a perfect target for others.

Life under the Syrian dictatorship is difficult. In theory people are not allowed generators, they can't purchase goods, and everyone is a step away from being arrested. Riad's father purchases several items on the black market, to increase his wife's material comfort after she bitterly complains. Riad is joined by a younger brother, while his dad attempts to join the regime's elite but is not very successful.

When one of father's female cousins is killed in what is termed an honor killing, Riad's mother begins questioning why they stay in this barbaric country...

Ash Princess

Sebastian, Laura. Ash Princess. Book 1 of the Ash Princess trilogy. 2018. 432p. ISBN 9781524767068. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

The Kalovaxians are conquerors in nature. They invade a territory, eliminate its ruling class, seize its inhabitants as slaves, and drain the land from resources. When what's left is unable to sustain them, they move on to their next conquest. At six, princess Theodosia of the island of Astrea witnessed her land being subjugated, her queen mother executed in front of her eyes, and her people enslaved and sent to the magical mines underneath the temples that made the renown of Astrea. Theodosia, for her part, was given by the Kaiser, leader of the Kalovaxians, to the Thain, his second-in-command and the man who slit the throat of Theodosia's mother.

Now raised as Thora, Theodosia becomes friends with the Thain's daughter, Cress. Unfortunately, Thora is punished for every little mistake her or her people make. A rebellion? Thora gets lashes on her back. She lives in constant fear she will be violently attacked. Her every move are supervised by three shadows, who watch her around the clock, even when she is alone in her room. For all appearances, Thora is broken. Insultingly dubbed the Ash Princess by the Kaiser, to mock her mother's title of Fire Queen, Theodosia bids her time, hoping against all hope she will be able to escape her tormentor. 

Ten years have passed, but Theodosia still lives in fear. Forced to kill her mother's guardian and the man she suspects was her father, Theodosia realizes there will be no rescue. She must engineer her own. The arrival of Prinz Soren only complicates matters, while Blade, a childhood friend, smuggles himself in the palace and, with two others, remove the shadows, taking their places. Now armed with allies, Theodosia must tread very carefully to forment a revolution that will overthrow the Kaiser and end his rule forever.

Similar to the dystopian themes in Red Queen, this fantasy story features awesome world building but characters continously make poor decisions, even with the bad hands they are dealt. Fans of the fantastic will nonetheless appreciate this love triangle story and will cheer as Theodosia attempt to escape the violent circumstances her queendom has been thrown in by the Kalovaxian invasion. The adventure continues in Lady Smoke.

A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story

Park, Linda Sue. A Long Walk to Water: Based on a True Story. 2010. 128p. ISBN 9780547251271. Available at FIC PAR on the library shelves as well as an ebook from Overdrive,

Nya is a Sudanese girl. Though the year is 2008, her daily job is to walk half the morning from her village to the closest pond to retrieve water, then make the return trip home, only to head back again that afternoon. Every day, Nya travels to the pond twice a day, hauling a heavy container of water on the way back. In the summer months, the village moves to a larger lake, where there often is strife with other tribes. Nya would like to go to school and learn how to read and write, but there simply isn't time,

Salva is a Sudanese boy. It is 1985, and he is lucky because he gets to go to school. But when the village is attacked, Salva and the rest of the students flee in the bush. Too young to live by himself, Salva follows crowds of refugees as they slowly walk across Sudan to the relative shelter of a United Nations refugee camp in Ethiopia. Along the way, Salva has to endure the elements, the wild animals, and the violence that humans inflict on each other.

Told in alternating fashion, Nya and Salva's stories connect in a powerful and life changing way. Salva is the proof that there is always hope, and that all that is required is to take one step forward. Fans of realistic fiction will enjoy this story based on a real boy's life and trials as he escaped a war-torn country only to return and give it life again.

When I Was the Greatest

Reynolds, Jason. When I Was the Greatest. 2014. 240p. 363 mins. ISBN 978-0-553-39572-3. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Raised by a hardworking single mother, 15 years old Ali and his sister Jazz live in Bed Stuy, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. It's a hard neighborhood, one where drugs and guns are a fact of life. Instead, he's into boxing and he takes lessons with a former pro. When another boy and his family move in what is known in the neighborhood as the crack house, which happens to be next door to Ali's own brown stone apartment building, they become fast friends. That boy soon acquires the nickname Noodles from Jazz, on account of an incident that happens at their dining table, and the name sticks. 

Noodles has a brother, and he soon becomes known as Needles. Needles has Tourette's syndrome, and can't control his verbal and physical outbursts. Doris, Ali's mother, gives Needles knitting needles, and shows him how to knit, and that seems to help him remain calm and in control. Noodles has a short temper, and is very protective of his brother, but also abuses him relentlessly.

Ali, Noodles, and Needles spend a hot summer sitting on the steps of the apartment building, reading comics and talking about life. When they manage to score an invitation to Mo Mo's wild underground party, the teens are excited! However, when Needles' tick chooses the worst moment to occur, the boys find themselves in a place they shouldn't be with people who don't know them and are willing to hurt them.  Suddenly, life has become very dangerous ...

Told from Ali's perspective, the story occurs over one summer with some flashbacks. The teen boys have realistic friendships, and the female characters are in the periphery but are strong and helpful. Fans of realistic fiction will enjoy reading Ali's story and discover how he gets out of the mess he's created.

The Cheyenne

Hoig, Stan. The Cheyenne. 2006. 130p. ISBN 0-7910-8598-8. Available at 973.04 HOI on the library shelves.

 

Living on the plains from the Mississippi to the Rockies, the Cheyenne adapted well to the arrival of the horse, and became expert horsemen. The horse also transformed their society into hunters, instead of farmers. The Cheyenne fought against the tribes around them and became the dominant group, but the arrival of Americans from the east soon upended tribal traditions and power structures. As the Cheyenne tried to adapt to a new life, more and more settlers came west. The discovery of gold caused further hardships.

Negotiations with the American government often concluded with peace treaties that were routinely violated or ignored by the federal and state authorities. The Cheyenne fought back and in a series of wars inflicted significant damage on federal troops as well as on the settlers traversing their lands. This was not enough to stop the inexorable drive to the Pacific, however, and soon the Cheyenne found themselves forced onto reservations, their numbers dwindling due to violence, diseases, and famine. 

A federally recognized tribe, the Cheyenne are now divided into two groups, the Suhtai from Oklahoma, and the Tsitsistas from Montana. Both tribes have adapted to their circumstances and have reclaimed a degree of cultural and political autonomy, though they continue to face long odds on the way to preserving their identity.

Be Not Far From Me

 McGinnis, Mindy. Be Not Far From Me. 2020. 240p. ISBN 9780062561626. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Ashley has grown up poor in Tennessee, and her life has always been hard. Living with her dad in a run-down trailer, he working double shifts just to make ends meet, and they rarely do. Ashley's not that pretty, not that smart. What she's got going is a killer instinct for survival, and her love of running. When friends think it's a great idea to have a drinking party while camping in the Smokies, Ashley rolls her eyes but goes with it. Her friend Meredith even brings a hair dryer, like she expects an electrical outlet out in the woods. Ashley is more practical, and her backpack barely weighs 5 pounds while containing everything she would need to survive an extended stay.

That evening, as the party happening and kids are drinking at the camp site, Ashley has too much to drink. Jealous of her boyfriend Duke hanging out with his ex girlfriend who filled up in the last year, Ashley heads to her tent to sleep it off. Awakened by the need to go to the bathroom, she comes upon a couple having sex away from the campsite, only to discover Duke is involved! Angry, hurt, and drunk, Ashley takes off running, and she soon hurts herself by breaking her foot. Wearing only her pants, underwear, and a t-shirt, Ashley sobers up enough to realize that she is lost and that no one will look for her, since they will think she headed home. 

With her broken foot now infected, with no food, clothes, or shelter, Ashley must make her way out of the forest, or she will end up one of those dead hikers who shouldn't have been out in the woods. Armed only with determination to survive, Ashley heads in an easterly direction, hoping to find help. But when you're alone in the woods, who can help you?

Fans of Hatchet and other survivalist stories will appreciate Ashley's tale of resilience and fighting against the odds!

The Poet X

 Acevedo, Elizabeth. The Poet X. 2018. 368p. 210 mins. ISBN 978-0-06-266280-4. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Xiomara Batista shares a small bedroom with her frail twin brother in their stifling Harlem apartment. Her Dominican mother is domineering and had hopes of becoming a nun before getting married. She keeps Xiomara on a tight leash, especially since she became curvy. Her father works hard and defers to his wife, who's committed to seeing Xiomara confirmed. But at 15, Xiomara doesn't care about the church. She doesn't want to be confirmed. She yearns to have the same freedoms other in her school enjoy. 

Poetry really lights Xiomara's creative juices. She loves to write about her own thoughts, about how she feels, what she experiences as a girl who's drawing the gaze of older men as well as those of other students. When she sees an ad for a Slam Poetry club at school, she really wants to attend, except it takes place at the same time as confirmation classes.  

Ever since she was born, she's been protective of her twin brother, who is super smart but weak and unable or unwilling to defend himself. She often lets her fists do the talking. But now, both he and Xiomara have secrets. She has a crush on Aman, her lab partner, and he encourages her to keep writing poetry. Twin, as she refers to him, is gay and loves another boy. Neither loves are welcomed in the Baptista household.

The more she writes, however, the more Xiomara realizes she needs to spread her wings and take risks. As secrets accumulate, can poetry be the avenue that allows Xiomara to break free?

A story told in verses, Poet X explores issues of loneliness and oppression. The characters are realistic and their emotions are easily relatable. Fans of poetry will enjoy Xiomara's story and will cheer for her as she works through her relationship with her mother, with her brother, and with Aman.

Becoming Nicole

Ellis Nutt, Amy. Becoming Nicole. 2015. 297p. ISBN 9780812995435. 

Wyatt and Jonas were adopted twins who joined their parents' life in New York. Despite being identical twins, Wyatt and Jonas quickly diverged, with Jonas enjoying activities perceived as male and Wyatt gravitating towards activities perceived as female. Soon it was obvious to their mother that Wyatt was only happy when given the opportunity to dress like a girl and act like one. Over the years Wyatt struggled with social roles that mandated boy roles, and their parents found it difficult to help them deal with the pressures to conform.

Becoming Nicole chronicles Wyatt's transformation into Nicole over eighteen years, and discusses the struggles and challenges that Nicole and her family encountered along the way to make her body match her gender identity. From lawsuits to harassment, from growing up to becoming an adult, the path was filled with roadblocks but Nicole and her family persisted and overcame, become stronger as a family as a result.

Shit is Real

 Franz, Aisha. Shit is Real. 2018. 288p. ISBN 9781770463158.

Selma's boyfriend has just broken up with her, and she finds herself cast adrift, without much of a plan. She moves into a small apartment, and quickly notices there is a whole in the wall allowing her to view the unit next door. A glamorous woman lives there, but is rarely at home due to her world traveling schedule. That woman's cat, however, often crosses the balconies and comes to visit Selma. 

Suffering from depression and anxiety, Selma has trouble managing her own life. She left her job, and though her friends try to be helpful, it only makes her feel worse. When the woman next door drops the  keycard to her apartment on her way to yet another trip, Selma can't help herself and begins visiting the other apartment. She borrows clothes, does laundry, and feeds the cat. Selma also meets Anders, the man who used to date the woman next door, and she decides that maybe it's worth taking a chance on a new relationship.

Illustrated with simple yet very effective drawings, Selma's loneliness and confused state comes through loud and clear, and the life of a single woman never looks so depressing. Fans of life struggles will appreciate Selma's efforts as she attempts to rebound from her breakup.

Anime

 Marcovitz, Hal. Anime. Part of the Eye on Art series. 2007. 104p. ISBN 978-1-59018-995-5. Available at 791.43 MAR on the library shelves.

Anime, from the French word for animation, was adopted by the Japanese to name a phenomenon of illustrating movies. So much more than comics or animated movies like those produced by Disney, anime is a pervasive genre of entertainment widely distributed in Japan, but which has reached international fame. Born from the illustrative art and techniques of the 1800s, manga, a type of comic book with roots in Japanese folklore and mythology, evolved with the advent of the cinema into animated features on the screen.

Very popular in Japan, anime was brought to the American market and was heavily edited to remove Japanese culture, leading to some shows whose storyline were choppy. This didn't stop children's enthusiasm for anime offered during the Saturday morning cartoons, and interest grew. Now a multi-billion dollar industry, anime remains a staple of Japanese culture that is hard to replicate elsewhere but that is consumed worldwide. Anime explains the history behind the rise of this popular art form, and the impact it had on Japanese society. It provides cultural interpretation of images and symbols, and it gives biographic information on some of the most popular anime features of all time, and the creators behind them. Fans of manga and of anime will appreciate how the art changed over the last century and will enjoy revisiting the history of some of their favorite shows!

What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained

Wolke, Robert L. What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained. 2002. 320p. ISBN 9780393011838.

Food is delicious, and most of us enjoy eating it. Some of us even enjoy preparing it. But what kind of science goes into food and making food? Why does lasagna create burn marks in aluminum foil when you put it in the fridge overnight? What's the difference between regular salt and kosher salt? How is Virginia ham prepared? How does a microwave oven work? What's the purpose of the bottom drawer in a refrigerator? Why are the American measurement system so complicated? All of these questions and more are answered in this wonderful set of explanations at the intersection of science and cooking. 

Well written in a humorous and entertaining manner, fans of cooking will appreciate the thoroughness of the author and the way he distills complex scientific principles into understandable chunks as he explains what is occurring in your kitchen. If you ever wondered whether a sidewalk could indeed cook an egg, what type of material made the best skillet, whether water with a pinch of salt boils faster than regular water, or if mushrooms are indeed the natural sponge they are made out to be, read this book and find out!

If you enjoyed this book, take a look at Are You Afraid? The Science Behind Scary Stuff!

Illegal

 Stork, Francisco X. Illegal. Book 2 of the Disappeared series. 2020. 304p. ISBN 9781338310559.

Sara and Emiliano escaped Mexico in Disappeared following an attempt on their lives from the local drug cartel. The story concluded with Sara being arrested after saving one of their attackers' lives, and Emiliano escaping and finding refuge with a rancher.

Now in custody of the U.S. federal government, Sara is in a detention facility for other illegal immigrants. The warden and the head guard are both power hungry individuals who exploit their position to harass and abuse the women in their care. Sara's lawyer is attempting to free her.

The cartel badly wants to retrieve the cellphone that she took across the border and entrusted to Emiliano, as it contains information about crimes committed in Mexico and in the United States. Powerful people want to shut her up and make sure that phone never sees the light of day.

Emiliano is reunited with the father he despises in Chicago, and he must live with their new family. Bored out of his mind, Emiliano looks for work and meets one of the neighbors who hires him to paint her house. But life with his father's new wife is difficult, as she is concerned an illegal immigrant could undermine her reputation and that of her father's business.

As the bad guys' search for the cellphone continues, violence follows both Sara and Emiliano. With time running out, they must reveal the truth about those who are behind the murders and the attacks that have plagued them.