He, Joan. Descendant of the Crane. 2019. 416p. ISBN 9780807515518.
Hesina has led a privileged life. As the daughter of the King of Yan, she has been trained to one day succeed him. However, she always thought that it would much later in her life that this would happen. Instead, when her father is found having been poisoned, she is thrusted onto the Yan throne, where she must hold her kingdom together while enemies threaten her borders. Meanwhile sooth, people who are imbued with magical abilities to see into the future and who are considered heretics deserving of death by a thousand cuts, are suspected of infiltrating the imperial capital, causing tensions among neighbors who suspect each other.
Wanting to avenge her father's death and find out who the killer was, Hesina herself engages the services of a sooth to discover any hint that can lead her to the person responsible. This quest soon turns deadly as the investigation conducted by the tribunal reveals a nefarious plot to destroy Yan. Relying on her family members, and unsure if she can trust them, Hesina recruits the mysterious Akira, a man currently held in the dungeon for unspecified crimes. Brilliant but odd, Akira agrees to help Hesina.
But the forces allied against them quickly grow in strength and ready themselves to destroy the Yan kingdom once and for all. Will Hesina be willing to pay the cost required to protect her nation?
Hill, Joe and Gabriel Rodriguez. Locke & Key, Vol. 6: Alpha and Omega. 2015. 192p. 9781613778531.
With Dodge now in possession of all the keys except for the head key, the demon from the other side of the door can open the gate in the caves underneath Locke mansion and release the foul beings. But Dodge doesn't just plan to unleash these forces. He has crafted an exquisite strategy that will enshrine him at the top of the pyramid, and he plans on using the prom party to celebrate the end of the school year to do so.
Meanwhile, Tyler received his father's message loud and clear, and he takes to crafting keys with Duncan, waiting for the right moment to melt down the fishing hook his father built with the magical metal from the other side of the gate. Kinsey is getting ready to celebrate her junior prom with the friends that she made, but first she needs to reconcile with them. Now that her fear and loathing are back in her head, this might prove hard to do.
Following the loss of his mother, Rufus is slated to be moved to a group home, but when he comes and visits the Lockes for the last time he immediately recognizes that Brode is now possessed by Dodge, and he attacks him. Condemned to the mental ward, he connects with Erin, whose head has been emptied, and he manages to escape and make his way back to Lockheart.
With the prom beginning, Dodge's efforts are about to come to fruition, and only the Locke children can save the world from catastrophe.
The concluding chapter of the series, Alpha and Omega is bittersweet as the bloodbath continues and favorite characters meet their tragic death. But not all is lost, and the Locke family is able to regain its humanity and understanding for each other. Fans of horror and graphic novels will appreciate how the authors complete the story, even if they find the ending not as satisfying as it could have been.
Clark, Ruth and Richard Mayer. E-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning. 2016. 528p. ISBN 9781119158660.
The shift to e-learning has led to an explosion of multimedia options. Online courses can now incorporate presentations, videos, audio, and text-based discussions to facilitate learning. Many of these tools, however, are not used properly. Cognitive psychology and principle of learning often contradict each other, and changes in how we understand the way the human brain works continue to add to our knowledge of cognitive science.
Designed for course instructors and for multimedia creators, E-Learning and the Science of Instruction explores the psychology behind how we learn and presents the most effective techniques to ensure that the communication of information to learners is as effective as possible.
Maraniss, Andrew. Singled Out: The True Story of Glenn Burke. 2021. 320p. ISBN 9780593116722.
Born in 1952, Glenn Burke quickly demonstrated that he was a natural-born athlete. Amazing at basketball, Glenn excelled at other sports as well. Growing up with a single mother and many sisters, Glenn was always the life of the party, ribbing other people and joking around. He could also be deadly serious, especially while playing a game of hoops. Glenn loved basketball and could not get enough. But when he was offered a $5,000 sign-on bonus by the Los Angeles Dodgers, Glenn could not pass up the opportunity, and he joined the team.
And that is how Glenn Burke found himself on the field on October 2, 1977. His teammate, Dusty Baker, hit a home run in the last regular game of the season, reaching 30 home runs in a year and joining three other teammates who all had 30 or more, eclipsing a league record. Without thinking, Glenn rushed the field and congratulated Dusty with what became known as the first high five.
As a ball player, Glenn was better than average, but not a standout player. His statistics were fine, but he ran into trouble for his life off the field. Unlike most players, Glenn was gay, and was not hiding it well. His whole team knew, and many sports reporters knew as well. The Dodgers' management wanted to project a wholesome image, and having a gay player in the league in the 1970s was considered a huge risk, as homosexuality was still perceived to be a mental disease.
Glenn was eventually driven out of baseball in 1979, but then he came out publicly about being gay, noting that from now on no one could ever say that there had never been anyone gay in baseball. The place sports played in his life meant that Glenn was not prepared for other types of work, and he drifted from one job to the next. A costly drug addiction depleted his savings, and he eventually ended up on the streets of San Francisco. With the emergence of the deadly AIDS virus, the homosexual community was devastated, and Glenn became infected.
By the early 1990s, Glenn had run out of luck and time. He moved back in with his sister, who took care of him as the disease slowly progressed. Glenn died in 1995, at the age of 43, having lived through a hard life, but leaving behind a lasting legacy for gay rights and the cultural phenomena of the high five.
Meyer, Marissa. Gilded. Book 1 of the Gilded series. 2021. 502p. ISBN 978-1-250-61884-9. Available at FIC MEY on the library shelves.
Serilda was blessed by Hulda with the abilities to tell stories, or so her father tells her, along with the story that he had saved a god and had been granted the wish of a strong and healthy child. For others, however, Serilda was cursed, with eyes that look like golden wheels. Always distorting the truth and weaving in outlandish lies, Serilda has grown up in the small village of Märchenfeld with her father, the local miller. Her mother disappeared one full moon night, lured by the hunt, the one time of the month there the veil between this reality and that of the Dark Ones breaks down.
Led by the Erlking, the hunt seeks rare animals, monsters, and other creatures, and its call often lulls humans to its ranks. Most die, but some are found later confused and abandoned. Often, children are taken by the hunt and are never seen again. The Erlking dwells within a castle on the other side of the Ashen Wood, which borders Mächenfeld.
On a full moon night, Serilda heard the hounds of the Erlking. Going outside her home despite the legends warning her not to do so, she saw two moss maidens attempting to hide. She helped them disappear in the crawl space below the house, and when the hunt and the Erlking at its head. His Grim inquired what she was doing out in the middle of a winter full moon, and Serilda's tongue once again got the better of her as she claimed she was here to harvest winter wheat so she could weave it into threads of gold.
Intrigued, the Erlking let her live, and Serilda could almost have imagined the whole thing except for the ring and necklaces the moss maidens offered her as payment for saving their lives. The next month, the Erlking returned, and this time he demanded she accompany him to his castle to prove that she could in fact weave gold from wheat.
Caught by her own lie, Serilda is imprisoned in the castle, where she meets Gild, who can in fact weave gold from wheat, but his help will come at a cost. As the months repeat themselves, and the amount of weaving increases, Serilda finds herself a captive in the Erlking's evil plans. The castle is imbued with a curse, its inhabitants now ghosts bound to the Erlking's service, but she's sure that if she could break the curse, then the Erlking's power would dissipate, and the denizens would be free.
Engaged in a deadly battle of wits with the leader of the Dark Ones, Serilda can only count on the power of her stories, and the help of unlikely allies, to keep her safe, while knowing that every day that passes gets her closer with a reckoning that could cost her her life.
Fans of fantasy will love this reimagining of the tale of Rumpelstiltskin from an author who successfully recreated the tale of Cinderella into Cinder, the first of awesome Lunar Chronicles series.
Casey, Susan. Women Heroes of the American Revolution: 20 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Defiance, and Rescue. Part of the Women of Action series. 2015. 226p. ISBN 978-1-61374-583-0. Available as an ebookfrom Overdrive.
For many of us, the American Revolution is a war filled with the courageous actions of a rag-tag army of colonists challenging the best army and navy in the world at the time for their independence. Tales of Paul Revere, George Washington, and the despicable Benedict Arnold are well known, making them household names more than 250 years later. What is not as well known, however, is the role that women played during the Revolutionary War. This book, then, explores the experiences and actions of 20 women who, often using only their wits, were able to strike back at the British and their Tories supporters.
From Penelope Barker, who organized the first political demonstration in the United States, to Mammy Kate, a slave who rescued her owner after he was captured and sentenced to death in Georgia, these women in turn resisted the British occupation, supported Patriots, rescued wounded soldiers and protected them from retribution, spied on British activities, sabotaged the British war effort, even served as soldiers firing cannons or carrying weapons into battle. Several women also achieved legendary status, and though it is unknown if they actually performed the actions told about them, they remain part of the national fabric.
Fans of history will appreciate this critical look into an area of the Revolutionary War most are not familiar with.
Tobin, Paul and Joe Querio. The Witcher, Vol. 3: Curse of Crows. 2017. 136p. ISBN 9781506701615.
Geralt is on his way to Novigrad and he is traveling with his daughter, the beautiful Ciri. They have been contracted to slay the Striga that plagues the city. A mythical monster stronger than most and exceedingly violent, most witchers stay clear of Strigas. Geralt, however, once confronted one and survived to tell the tale. With his daughter at his side, Geralt believes they can successfully defeat the Striga.
On the trip over to the sinking city, Ciri asks Geralt to explain how he defeated the first one. He tells her of the Duke who impregnated his sister and tried to marry her. She died in childbirth, and so did her child, but not before the midwife, who now runs a bath in Novigrad, witnessed the horrible creature that was birthed.
This midwife is in fact the one who contracted the witchers to solve the Striga problem. Her son meets Ciri and reveals he can transform into a crow, and that his sister is the Striga they seek. Yennifer, Geralt's former wife, pays him and her daughter a visit, and attempts to stir them away from the Striga, convinced that they are in danger if they attempt to slay it. But Ciri wants her own adventure ...
Rivera, Lilliam. Never Look Back. 2020. 320p. ISBN 9781547603732.
Originally from Puerto Rico, Eury and her mother fled the island following Hurricane Maria, when their home was destroyed. Ever since she was very young, Eury has been accompanied by a spirit, Ato, that no one else can see, but who can bring destruction on those she loves. Ato wants Eury to come and live with him in his paradise, and he has been making his life miserable, even suggesting that he was responsible for the hurricane. Moving first to Tampa, Eury continues to be plagued by Ato, so her mother moves again, this time to the Bronx. For a while, Eury is content, and Ato seems to have lost her.
Pheus is a skilled musician, who loves nothing more than to entertain others with his music, and to chase girls. When he meets Eury while she stays with her cousin Penelope, Pheus instantly falls for the lovely girl with the brooding mood. As he gets to know Eury, Pheus realizes she's literally plagued by an actual demon. Wishing to help her, Pheus becomes embroiled in a battle that no human should survive.
A modern adaptation of the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, Never Look Back examines what it means to internalize trauma, and how others can help. Fans of fighting against the odds will appreciate these two characters and how they helped each other.
Stamper, Phik. The Gravity of Us. 2020. 314p. ISBN 9781547600144. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.
Cal Lewis Junior has a promising career in front of him as a journalist. His online posts are generally viewed by thousands of people, and he's covered many events, both political and entertainment. At 17, Cal is looking forward to moving in with his best friend Debra, and go to college in Brooklyn. He's already attracted some attention from Buzzfeed and other social media companies. But when his father returns home one night and announces that he's applied to be the 20th astronaut on the Orpheus mission to Mars, Cal cannot believe it. His dad is a pilot, but he's never expressed an interest in going to space, at least that Cal can remember. Worse, his dat is actually selected, and the family has three days to move from New York City to Houston.
Cal is crushed. This will undermine his dream and life trajectory. Moving to Texas, Cal soon falls for Leon, the son of another of the astronauts on the Orpheus mission. And Cal discover that instead of being a death knell for this channel, this new opportunity brings more viewers. It helps that the whole experience is being recorded by a reality television company and is immensely popular on television. Soon Cal's takes on life find hundreds of thousands of people, and are even picked up by the mainstream media.
But as Cal gets into a fight with the reality television company, his relationship with Leon becomes more serious. With NASA's Orpheus mission in danger of being defunded, Cal will need to navigate the choppy waters of politics and best social media experts at their own game to avoid losing Leon.
Dealing with social media, depression, and emotional instability, the story incorporates elements of the space flight enthusiasm of the 1960s mixed with a more modern version of the world. Cal is a powerfully motivated character, but he is often unlikable. Leon, however, is more relatable, so readers will cheer when the two of them finally decide they are right for each other.
Toboso, Yana. Black Butler, Vol. 29. 2020. 178p. ISBN 9781975314897. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.
Now in exile following the return of the elder Ciel Phantomhive, the younger twin, along with Sebastian and the rest of his staff have taken refuge in Mister Lau's opium den. Hunted by England's police force, they must lay low to avoid capture. With time to think, the younger Ciel realizes that the Undertaker's work is not complete. His brother still needs active transfusion of blood to remain more than a corpse. With the destruction of the music hall, the Undertaker's supply of blood has been disrupted. No doubt other sites would have been set up by former members of the Aurora society, the organization set up by the Undertaker. Ciel orders his staff to spread out and investigate four sites of possible interest.
Mei and Ma head to Scotland, where they join the household of a baron in Scotland. Despite being single, the baron's staff consist of over one hundred maids, and the estate is always hiring. They soon discover that the baron loves to invite maids to his bedroom at night, and that often these maids are never seen again. When Ma is invited, Mei is worried, but she knows that her friend can handle herself. When she doesn't return the next day, however, Mei knows something went wrong. She decides to investigate ...
Lye, Sian. The Real Hergé: The Inspiration Behind Tintin. 2020. 216p. ISBN 9781526763907.
Tintin is known worldwide. A young reporter always accompanied by his dog Snowy, Tintin engages in many adventures over the course of 24 comic books. But less is known about Hergé, the man who created Tintin and crafted wonderful stories avidly read in more than 70 languages.
Born George Rémi in Belgium in 1907, Hergé was heavily influenced by the Boy Scouts and the First World War, which started when he was seven. Hergé joined a a conservative Catholic newspaper called Le Vingtième Siècle, where he began working on a serialized comic called the Adventures of Tintin. Though a popular art form in the United States, cartoons with speech bubbles were not well known in Europe, and Hergé was one of the firsts to use that style of graphic story telling.
The series proved to be popular, and soon were released in book forms. As Hergé's skills improved, he focused more on longer scenarios, and he created authentic drawings that increased Tintin's popularity even further. Hergé met several people who influenced his art and stories along the way, but the German occupation of Belgium in the Second World War almost derailed his career, as he was accused of being a collaborationist following the end of the war and the defeat of Germany.
Creating the Hergé Studio to support his work, Hergé continued to experience success with Tintin while suffering from depression and exhaustion, and also living through a complicated marital situation that eventually saw him divorce his wife for a younger woman.
Though only 24 comic books were published, Tintin's impact on the world remains, and Hergé's name continues to appear alongside his beloved character.
