Operation Snow: How a Soviet Mole in FDR's White House Triggered Pearl Harbor

Koster, John. Operation Snow: How a Soviet Mole in FDR's White House Triggered Pearl Harbor. 2012. 350p. ISBN 9781596983229.

When the Soviet Union was attacked by Germany in June of 1941, Stalin could not believe it. Despite warnings from his secret police and his spies across Europe, this surprise attack by Adolf Hitler and his forces came as a shock. Having gutted his own forces with paranoiac purges, Stalin needed to stall the German advance. But with rumblings of war in the Pacific, he also needed to avoid a Japanese attack on his eastern flank.

Using an extensive network of Communist agents and supporters of the Soviet Union (presented with great effectiveness in A Time of Fear: America in the Era of Red Scares), Stalin forcibly sought to promote divisions between Japan and the United States. Employing Harry Dexter White, a Soviet mole deep inside the US Government in June 1941, hostile policy towards the Japanese were implemented, leading to the eventual attack on Pearl Harbor and the United States entering the Second World War as allies of Britain and of the Soviet Union.

What has been deemed by some an intelligence failure to detect Japanese intentions, or what others considered a conspiracy by President Roosevelt to provide a rationale for entering the war, was in fact a large-scale successful covert Soviet operation bent on preventing a Japanese attack on its far-east territories while it struggled with Germany in Europe.

Fans of history will appreciate the meticulous research that went into this book and will be provided with a more rounded understanding of a day that will live in infamy.

Soul Eater, Vol. 7

Ohkubo, Atsushi. Soul Eater, Vol. 7. 2011. 208p. ISBN 9780316071102. Available in the graphic novel section of the library. 

With the Kishin released in Soul Eater, Vol. 6, it is up to students at DWMA to figure out how to stop the madness that will inevitably begin to spread throughout the world. Shimigami-sama recalls all of his finest weapons meisters to track down the Kishin, while teaching the DWMA students how to stay out of trouble.

Maka finds that her father, who feared being exiled from the school, really wants to have a relationship with her, but he doesn't know how to go about it, so Maka agrees to help him. She also volunteers to help Chrona adjust to living at DWMA, since he will soon start taking classes.

But times are dangerous, and as Dr. Frankenstein remains haunted by Medusa, the DWMA students and their teachers find themselves confronting an ancient threat in the Czech forest ...

The story continues in Soul Eater, Vol. 8.

Striking Distance

 Brennan, Sarah Rees. Striking Distance. Book 1 of the Fence series. 368p. ISBN 9780316456678.

Nicholas Cox has always had a chip on his shoulder. Born to a single mother, Nicholas has always wanted to emulate his father, a fencing champion, but fencing lessons cost money, something his mother never had. Now enrolled at the elite Kings' Row private school, Nicholas finds that he lacks the skills that others have worked on for years, but his raw talent compensates for the tutoring he never had.

The fencing team at Kings' Row is made up of misfits. Aiden is as sexy as he is infuriating, and he would rank in the the top 50 in the country if he applied himself, instead of pinning for his best friend, roommate, and completely oblivious team captain Harvard. Seji is Nicholas' roommate, and he hates sharing his room with a slob like Nicholas, but despite his best efforts he cannot avoid becoming friends with the scholarship kid. The other boys on the team all have drama of their own, as they compete with each other to earn a top spot on the team. 

Feeling the need to strengthen their team spirit, which she finds sorely lacking, Coach Williams assign them a series of team building exercises, culminating in them having to share a personal history so that the other team members can understand where they are coming from. Dreading this activity more than anything else they've ever done, all of the fencers wish they could do anything else but write about themselves. Their dream is about to be answered ...

I Am America (And So Can You!)

Colbert, Stephen. I Am America (And So Can You!). 2007. 230p. ISBN 9780446580502. 

Having developed the persona of a right-wing conservative commentator, comedian Stephen Colbert mashes up strongly-held conservative views on several topics to present an hilarious look at what America should be. From strong nuclear families (because, in this age of possible nuclear war, any other type of family would be weird) to conservative views on sex (don't have any, at all. Unless it's to procreate. And then only once, twice, or maybe even three times, though that's pushing it, no one needs that many babies).

Knowing he is right, because his guts tell him that he is, Colbert expounds his views on topics such as race, religion, sports, Hollywood, and alternative media. Written almost a decade before Trump ran for President, Colbert anticipates fake news, and shows that the comedic opinions he holds metastasized into gospel for others who, fifteen years later, are mired to the wishes of a conservative America that never truly existed.

Each Tiny Spark

Cartaya, Pablo. Each Tiny Spark. 2019. 315p. ISBN 978-0-451-47972-3.

Emilia Rose is neuro-divergent. She has trouble focusing in class, and she needs help remaining organized. Her mother helps her do her homework and write things down in her agenda so she knows what she needs to do next. Emilia's abuela helps her too, but she can be rough on the edges at times. Being the grand-daughter of a Cuban immigrant can be difficult at times!

Emilia is looking forward to her father returning from yet another military deployment, but his arrival coincides with her mother having to travel from their home in a suburb of Atlanta to San Francisco. And they're working on a special project in her social studies class, where they have to develop a tourist guide for Merryville, the town where they live. At the same time, there is a controversy brewing in town with the school board poised to combine the town's schools to rebalance the population. This is causing a rift between those who live in Merryville, and those who live in Park View, the neighborhood literally on the outside of the track.

Emilia spends time with her friend Gus working on his movie / tourist project. She spends time with her father, working on rebuilding a Shelby Cobra. She spends time with her abuela, planning her quinceanera. She spends time with her mother, who is considering a switch in her work. Navigating friendships, school work, growing up, and her father's return, Emilia looks for a way to be authentic to herself and to what she believes, while balancing her interactions with the people she cares most about. 

The Num3rati

Baker, Stephen. The Num3rati. 2008. 244p. ISBN 9780618784608. 

Our world revolves around data. We keep track of the number of steps we take on a daily basis. We record the books we read. We shop online. We follow the news, partake of social media, and perform searches for information as varied as there are people. All of these activities create bits of data that are exploited by companies and algorithms to influence what we view, how we vote, and even the way we live. Data has become an industry, with players like Google and Facebook, but also the U.S. government and countless entities attempting to understand everything about us. Whereas some hope to deliver better products and line their pockets, governments hope to prevent future terrorist acts like September 11, 2001.

Through it all, all of these players are losing sight that as they quantify and turn people into numbers, and as they understand us better than we understand ourselves, we all lose an element of privacy. Numerati, people who control numbers, have infiltrated businesses and governments to devise ever more sophisticated way to analyze and understand human beings, granulating data in such a way that one's preferences can be used to predict what we will do next. As the dawn of the data age turns into morning, the mathematical modeling of our behaviors continues unabated, for better, and for worse.

Survivors of the Holocaust: True Stories of Six Extraordinary Children

Shackleton, Kath, editor. Survivors of the Holocaust: True Stories of Six Extraordinary Children. 2019. 96p. ISBN 9781492688921. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

The Holocaust was the most tragic event of the 20th century. As individuals who survived the Holocaust become older and pass on, the memories of what happened are dimming, becoming only a fact of history for most people. Such a tragedy must never occur again however, and it is important to listen to the voices of those who lived through it. In this short illustrated graphic novel, six people talk about their experiences during the Holocaust. Five of them were able to get on the Kindertrains that ran from Germany to England just before the war, and they therefore survived. One of them was sent to concentration camps to die, but lived to tell his experiences.

The illustrations are haunting, and represent a child's point of view on the events that happened during the 1930s and 1940s. For most of them, they didn't understand what was happening around them, or why Germans were so opposed to Jews. They suffered the applications of genocidal policies designed to eliminate an entire group of humans. A summary at the end of the book discusses the lives that these six children had after the war, but all of them remained haunted by what they saw. 

Ember Queen

Sebastian, Laura. Ember Queen. Book 3 of the Ash Princess series. 2020. 465p. ISBN 9781524767143. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

In Lady Smoke, Princess Theodosia assembled a fleet of ships to carry her ragtag army back to Astrea to wage war against the Kaiserin, her former friend and the daughter of the Kaiser's own Thain. Having assassinated the Kaiser and seized power, the Kaiserin is ready to exploit a newfound magical power Theodosia unwittingly delivered her when she was attempting to kill her instead. With Prince Soren held hostage by the Kaiserin and untold number of troops blocking their path, Theodosia and her friends will need to devise an unorthodox plan to turn the tide of war and restore her to her rightful throne.

Whatever has affected the Kaiserin also affected Theodosia, however, and she's able to control fire in a way that stoke hope in her people's heart. Poorly armed, yet led by inspired commanders, soldiers who have nothing to lose begin a series of marches getting them ever closer to the palace, with the ultimate infiltration and destruction of the Kaiserin their goal.

But as armies assemble, and as hearts collide, Theodosia will be faced with a difficult choice. Save the one she loves, or save her kingdom from a terrible fate under the continuing rule of the Kaiserin. Can Theodosia defeat cruelty and evil to restore faith and peace to Astrea?

A Time of Fear: America in the Era of Red Scares and Cold War

Marrin, Albert. A Time of Fear: America in the Era of Red Scares and Cold War. 2021. 320p. ISBN 9780525644293.

When the Bolsheviks seized power during the Russian revolution in 1917, they suddenly found themselves in charge of a backwards country mired in the bloody First World War. Motivated by an ideology that was meant to implement a worker's paradise at the cost of individual freedoms, Lenin and his men instituted Communism in what became the Soviet Union, and pressed for worldwide expansion. Communist parties spread throughout the world, following Moscow's dictating lines and seeking to undermine their own societies for the benefit of a foreign power.

In the United States, the Communist Party of the United States of America was organized to support workers' right in the industrial struggles of the 1910s and 1920s, but in fact acted as a front for Stalin and the Russian Communist Party. Communism became the enemy of the American government, with a long pause during the Second World War. Government investigations by the FBI and McCarthy attempted to unearth supporters and spies of the Soviet Union, while loyalty oaths sought to assure the public that its civil servants were true Americans, despite constitutional provisions of the First Amendment that allowed freedom of speech and assembly.

Over two specific periods, in 1919 and in the mid 1940s to the mid 1960s, the Red Scares saw Communists behind every bush, ready to overthrow the United States and turn it into a vassal of the Soviet Union. In A Time of Fear, Marrin describes the drama and the history of the Red Scares, demonstrating that Communists in the United States were never as prevalent as thought, nor as dangerous to the constitutional order as the methods used to root them out. Fans of history will appreciate learning more about this little known period, and will be able to draw parallels to our current terrorism and white supremacist environments.

This Book Betrays My Brother

 Molope, Kagiso Lesego. This Book Betrays My Brother.  2012. 208p. ISBN 9780199059225. 

South Africa remains a land of contrasts, with a majority Black population still suffering from decades of White domination. Naledi was born in a family of girls. There hasn't been a male in her family until the birth of her brother, who is three years older. Basi, Naledi's brother, was destined for great things, or so everyone said. Her parents had risen in social class thanks to an enterprising spirit, and their ownership of a grocery store allowed them to move out of the center of town and to the outskirts, where walls are tall to protect one's privacy. 

Naledi has always been impressed with her brother, and sought to spend as much time together as they could. Free to roam the neighborhood, Basi would regal her with tales of the boys' adventures, including the day they found a dead body. Basi and Naledi shared a common bond against their overly strict parents, and they worked together to ensure they had as much freedom as possible.

Now 13, Naledi is growing up. She's always been interested in boys, but now she's even more interested. When Kitsano invites her to a school dance, Basi allies with her and forces their parents' hand, allowing Naledi to attend. Preparing for the dance and thinking about what may come next has Naledi all excited.

But then she stumbles upon her brother raping his girlfriend at a party. Suddenly, everything she thought she knew about him crumbles into ashes. Her brother the protector, the defender of innocence, has betrayed everything that he stands for. Faced with this secret, Naledi must decide whether loyalty to a friend or loyalty to family is more important in the name of justice...

Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators

Farrow, Ronan. Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators. 2019. 608p. ISBN 9780316454131. 

Looking for a story to tell, NBC reporter Ronan Farrow decided to follow a lead he had previously heard about. Rumors abounded that media mogul Harvey Weinstein was a sexual predator, preying on actresses and other women. There were hushed reports of rapes and other abuses, but his position of power and privilege, along with his relationships with the rich and famous, were burying these stories through intimidation, non-disclosure agreements, and hush money. 

As Farrow started researching these allegations, he uncovered systematic abuse, and more and more women started to talk with him about their experiences. At the same time, Weinstein heard that a journalist was investigating, and he used the same intimidation tactics he had employed before, sending lawyers, and hiring shadowy private detectives to stop Farrow, or at least undermine his story. At the same time, his own bosses were throwing wrenches in his research, attempting to stop what they told him was not a story that would interest people.

Eventually the research revealed that Weinstein had serially raped and abused women for over thirty years, and despite lawsuit threats and non-disclosure agreements, the whole affair was published in the New Yorker in 2017, bringing down one of the most powerful movie studio head. The investigation also showed that Weinstein had colluded with Farrow's bosses at NBC to kill the story, and that other powerful men were involved in similar abuse stories. 

The revelations about Weinstein led him to be convicted of crimes, while many other powerful men were brought down by similar actions, from Matt Lauer at NBC to CBS president Leslie Moonves. Farrow's work helped shed light on the dark underbelly of abuse that took place over decades by people who thought they could get away with it.

Witch & Wizard, Vol. 1

Patterson, James, with Gabrielle Charbonnet, with art by Svetlana Chmakova, Witch & Wizard, Vol 1. 2011. 259p. ISBN 978-0-316-22989-4. Available in the graphic novels section of the library. 

Whit and Wisty are normal teenagers, living at home with their parents. When the New Order takes control of the government, police immediately descend on their home and arrests them for being a witch and wizard. Neither of them understand what is happening to them, but Wisty ignites herself, hurting someone of the officers. Hauled in front of a judge, they are sentenced to death, which can only be done once they reach 18. 

While in jail, they are oppressed and experimented on, and suffer at the hands of merciless guards. Receiving help from Whit's girlfriend, who is caught in the Shadow lands, they manage to escape and they join a group of teens dedicated to freeing other victims of the New Order. Driven to save their parents, both Whit and Wisty must learn to manage their nascent powers while avoiding the traps laid out for them by a merciless regime looking to exterminate all of those who possess magic...

Mississippi Trial, 1955

Crowe, Chris. Mississippi Trial, 1955. 2002. 240p. ISBN 9780142501924.

Hiram grew up in the Mississippi delta, in the town of Money. Born right before the Second World War, Hiram stayed with his grandparents while his father went to fight, and then remained there when, upon his demobilization, he headed north to learn how to become a teacher. Hiram's father and his grandfather never saw eye to eye about the value of the culture in the Mississippi delta, and Hiram never understood why they couldn't get along.

The family eventually moved to Arizona, and for years Hiram dreamt of returning to Money. But every year his father would say no. In 1955, his grandfather had a heart attack, so his father reluctantly agreed to let Hiram, now sixteen, return to Money for the summer to help out. Having been gone for almost a decade, Hiram noticed that things had not changed much in the delta. The landmarks were the same, the people were the same. But then he began to notice that African-Americans were still being berated and oppressed. 

That summer, Hiram reconnected with R.C., an acquaintance, and his sister Naomi, whom Hiram liked. He also met Emmett Till, an African-American boy from Chicago spending his summer here. Hiram thought nothing of talking with the boy, but R.C. had a fit and almost beat Emmett to death. When Emmett was accused of touching a White woman, R.C. made threats, and Hiram reported them to the sheriff. When Emmett went missing, and was eventually found dead, Hiram was questioned by the sheriff on the role R.C. might have played.

Hiram was cited as a witness, and attended court with his grandfather, but was never called to testify. Though the two men who had killed Emmett were identified, a third remained at large, and Hiram worried it was R.C. When he learned that his grandfather was involved, Hiram suddenly understood why his father and his own father were estranged. For Hiram, this revelation changed his life, as he learned that doing the right thing can sometimes end friendships, or even family relations.

This is My America

Johnson, Kim. This is My America. 2020. 416p. ISBN 9780593118764.

At seventeen, Tracy Beaumont is dedicated to fighting for social justice, especially since her father was convicted of murder seven years ago, and will be executed in less than a year. He had an ironclad alibi, as he was at home with his family the evening when a prospective business partner and his wife were gunned down, but in this small Texas town being African-American and being refugees from New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina means that you're an outsider. Tracy's father was convicted and given the death penalty. 

In the last year and a half, Tracy has written many letters to Innocence X, an organization that helps to overturn death penalty convictions. She has provided them with all of the details of her father's case, and she keeps on hoping that they will accept to represent him in a last ditch effort to save his life. Though this takes up a lot of time, Tracy is also a junior in high school, and she hopes to become the editor of her school newspaper next year. She has worked closely with Angela, the current editor, to develop Tracy's Corner, a column that focuses on social justice. When Angela approaches Tracy with a possible expose, asking her to meet her the following day, Tracy is intrigued.

But then Angela is brutally murdered, and her brother Jamal, who has been dating Angela while she was still technically the girlfriend of the sheriff's son, is accused of her murder because his coat was found on her. Jamal escapes their house and runs in the woods. Now the family is doubly suspect, with a murderer in prison, and another on the lam. Tracy knows that her brother would never have killed Angela, so what can she do to help him?

Trying to find information on the expose Angela wanted her to do, Tracy discovers that there is a white supremacist conspiracy afoot, and that Angela's murder and those of her father's business partners seven years ago might be connected. With a murderer loose, can Tracy finds proof of her brother and father's innocence before it is too late for either of them?

Fans of Dear Martin will enjoy Tracy's story and the efforts she puts in proving her father's innocence.

Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man

Vincent, Lynn and Sara Vladic.  Indianapolis: The True Story of the Worst Sea Disaster in U.S. Naval History and the Fifty-Year Fight to Exonerate an Innocent Man. 2018. 592p. ISBN 9781501135941.

In May 1945, the Second World War came to a close in Europe, and all eyes turned towards Japan as American bombers relentlessly bombed the island nation as a prelude to an invasion that would be costly in terms of men and equipment. The death of President Roosevelt and his replacement by Harry Truman continued the country's atomic policy of building a bomb and using it to shorten the war.

The battle cruiser Indianapolis, which had entered service in 1939, was entrusted to carry the bomb from San Francisco to the small island of Tinian, where it would then be flown by a B-29 bomber to Hiroshima. After this secret delivery, the ship sailed towards the Philippines, where it was scheduled to arrive on July 31. On the night of July 30, however, Indianapolis was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, and sank within 12 minutes. Over a quarter of the men went down with the ship, but those who escaped found themselves in an unforgiving Pacific ocean. 

Due to US Navy negligence, no one noticed that the ship had gone missing until five days after its sinking. During this time, men drowned, were eaten by sharks, or went crazy. The sailors in the waters for these five fateful days and nights endured horrors no one can even imagine. In all, only 316 men out of nearly 1,200 survived the sinking and were rescued in early August.

Captain Charles McVay III was subsequently court-martialed, and the Navy hid evidence that would have exonerated him from the charges of not following a ziz-zag pattern, which led to the destruction of the ship. Over the next 50 years, survivors of the crew attempted to salvage the captain's reputation, but it wasn't until a sixth grader completed a project on the USS Indianapolis that renewed energy took place to conduct Senate hearings and clearing McVay of any wrong doing.

Fans of history will appreciate this story of survival against the odds and will appreciate the dedication it took to right a wrong all these years later.

When Stars are Scattered

Jamieson, Victoria and Omar Mohamed. When Stars are Scattered. 2020. 264p. ISBN 9780525553908. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Originally from Somalia, Omar and his younger brother Hassan witnessed their father's murder when civil war erupted. Forced to flee his village at four, Omar led his younger brother Hassan on a perilous trip across the Horn of Africa, eventually reaching safety in a refugee camp in Kenya. There, the siblings were assigned a foster mother who had lost her own children, and they spent every day trying to survive. Hassan does not speak, suffers from seizures, and can have difficult behaviors.

Now twelve, Omar gets the opportunity to go to school. He feels bad that he must leave his brother home every day, but for Omar school suddenly opens up plenty of opportunities to learn new information. Following a rigorous exam, Omar is one of the few children in elementary school in his area of the refugee camp to be promoted to middle school.

While pursuing his learning, Omar continues to hope that they will be reunited with his mother. A UN social worker places his and Hassan's names on a resettlement list, and, after finishing high school, Omar is finally allowed to immigrate to the United States with his brother. 

Based on a true story, When Stars are Scattered digs into the stereotypes that we have of refugees, explores their tenacity and desires for a better life, and makes the reader wonder that this could have been them under different circumstances. Beautifully illustrated, Omar and Hassan's story will resonate long after the book has been put away!

Buzz Kill

Fantaskey, Beth. Buzz Kill. 2014. 362p. ISBN 9780547393100. Available as an ebook from Overdrive.

Millie Ostermeyer, a senior in high school, is a budding journalist who works on the Gazette, her school newspaper. She has a hate relationship with Vivienne, the editor, who happens to be pretty, perky, and the head cheerleader. Millie is very tom-boyish, is flat-chested, has unruly red hair, wears mismatched clothes, has only two friends, and would rather read philosophers than attend school, particularly her French class.

At Honeywell High School, football is king, and Coach Killdare is as famous for his victories on the field as he is for his unabashed outbursts of anger. Her junior year, mysterious Chase joined the school and promptly took over quarterback duties from Mike, Vivienne's flunky. No one knows anything about Chase, except that he is very good looking, drives a nice car, and does not socialize with anyone at school. Oh, and unlike Millie, Chase is able to speak French in their French class. There are rumors that he has a girlfriend, and a small picture on his locker seems to prove that.

In September of their senior year, just as football season heats up, Coach Killdare goes missing, and for a few weeks no one seems to worry too much about it. Millie's father, who happens to be the town mayor, moves from the assistant coach to the head coach position. Told by Vivienne to do an expose on the structural flaws of the stadium that was approved by her own father, Millie is not happy that she may be undermining her own father. That is until she stumbles upon the body of Coach Killdare in a storage room underneath the seating area.

Now the hunt is on. With her father as a suspect, Millie decides to investigate the crime for the school paper, and the list of suspects who might want to kill Coach Killdare she compiled back in her junior year will prove handy. If only she wasn't developing feelings for Chase and his mysterious past!

A riot of a mystery novel peppered with teen angst and enough bad decisions to be delicious, Buzz Kill will satisfy those who enjoy a whodunit read, and will keep the readers guessing all the way to the end as to the killer's identity!

A Brief History of Earth

Knoll, Andrew H. A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters. 2021. 272p. ISBN 9780062853912. 

Planet Earth is amazing in so many ways, and the geological records do much to tell us about what it was like billions of years ago. However, many facets of our planet remain unknown. Hod did life evolve? How did we get here? We do know that the planet first formed more than 4 billion years ago, and was most likely a boiling sea of lava that eventually cooled enough to create a crust. Water has been present since close to the beginning, and there is evidence that carbon life is also much older than we thought.

Using up-to-date field research and recent scientific discoveries, Knoll describes the most popular theories on how life arose on the planet, as well as the distinct phases that the planet took on its way to what it looks like today. Knoll also makes predictions on what will happen in the future as human activity contributes to climate change.

Fans of riveting tales of catastrophes and changes on a global scale will appreciate this story of action, massive plot twists, and roaming monsters such as the dinosaurs! A Brief History of Earth will enlighten the reader, letting them know how far we've come, and what is ahead of us!