In Search of Us

Dellaira, Ava. In Search of Us. 2018. 384p. ISBN 9780374305314. Available at FIC DEL on the library shelves.

Living in New Mexico, Angela has never known her father, and Marilyn, her mother rarely mentions him. When she does, tears and a complete withdrawal usually shuts down the conversation. All Angie knows is that his name was James, and he died before she was born. Her discovery of old pictures trigger a quest to really connect with her father. Searches on Ancestry.com don't yield anything useful, but she does discover he has a brother named Justin who might live in Los Angeles. Her ex-boyfriend Sam drives to California every year to visit his cousin, so Angie begs him to take her with him so she can find Justin and get answers about her father.

Eighteen years earlier, Marylin and her mother are forced to move back into her brother-in-law's apartment after they run out of money. Marylin had a career as a child model but things have dried up since she went through puberty, and every audition leads to heartaches when she is rejected. Marylin doesn't really care, however. She wants to go to college, and has her eyes set on Columbia. Her mother will never let her go however, because Marylin represents her ticket out of poverty to a life in a large house with nice cars.

When she meets James, the neighbor in the downstairs apartment, she is immediately smitten by him. Marylin is tall and blonde, and James is African-American, but both of them share the loss of a parent and a desire to escape their present conditions by going to college. Over the course of a few months, their relationship grows into love, but ends tragically.

The relationships of three mothers and daughters move this story forward. Each character is well defined and possesses intrinsic motivations. Angie's fears of being one in a seven billion world are real, but she learns during her trip that her mother did everything she could to ensure that Angie would have as happy a childhood as possible. She also discovers truths that ultimately make her a better person, even if they hurt. Fans of realistic fictions will love this story, told in alternating chapters, and will cheer as Angie and Marylin reconcile with each other and with the world around them.

You Are the General

Aaseg, Nathan. You Are the General. 1994. 160p. ISBN 978-1-881508-11-0. Available at 355.03 AAS on the library shelves.

Leaders have to make decisions every day, and often these decisions influence the course of history. In the 20th century, the First and Second World War and the First Gulf War left lasting legacies still affecting us today. This book presents six scenarios from those conflicts, with background information on each and question the decisions made by the leaders at the time. The reader is given the opportunity, with the information on hand, what decision to make, and then read on to see what really happened.

Fans of history will enjoy the ability to play through the scenario and determine if their decisions would have been better than those in charge, or if they would have made the same choices.

Pharrell

Vetere, Lori. Pharrell. Part of the Hip-Hop & R&B Culture, Music & Storytelling series. 2019. 80p. ISBN 978-1-4222-4183-7. Available at B WIL on the library shelves. 

 

Pharrell Williams is a famous singer and music producer known for his mega-hit Happy. An accomplished artist, Pharrell's work touch more than music, with dives in fashion, movies, and writing as well. Born in 1973 in Virginia, Pharell quickly demonstrated an interest and a talent in music. His mother encouraged him to learn and practice, and he joined the school band in 7th grade, where he met his lifelong friend and group member Chad Hugo. Together they created the Neptunes, a production company that since the 1990s has created some of the most famous songs for artists, movies, video games, and commercials. 

Attracted by various sounds and inspired by world music, Pharrell's style has evolved and remains eclectic. He created his own lines of clothing, produced the movie Hidden Figures, and sponsored many philanthropical endeavors. Pharrell remains motivated to increase school graduation rates and increase the number of students who go to college to pursue their dreams.

Fans of music will appreciate Pharrell's hard work ethic and his dedication to being a mogul with a social conscience.

The Post-Cold War

Maxim, Bailey, ed. The Post-Cold War. Part of the Political and Diplomatic History of the Modern World. 2017. 232p. ISBN 978-1-68048-357-4. Available at 909.83 POS on the library shelves.

The end of the Cold War brought about the hope that the deadly confrontation between the two superpowers would be replaced by an era of collaboration and peace. The dislocation of two mutually opposed alliances was replaced by a multipolar world in which mass terrorism and a return to nationalism flourished. Even as the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtains collapsed, danger arose when Iraq invaded its smaller neighbor Koweit in a bid to achieve leadership of the Arab nations. The United States assembled a coalition that fought and defeated the Iraqi army but left Saddam Hussein, the nation's dictator, in power. A true international effort, the First Gulf War marked the first and only instance of an overwhelming alliance of the world's countries against an aggressor.

Many other conflicts followed in the 1990s, as Yugoslavia disintegrated, genocide took place in Rwanda, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict continued. Russia, which had lost most of the Soviet satellites, regained a more hostile attitude towards the West. A period of relative economic prosperity, the world overall experienced a decreased in armed conflicts. Then September 11, 2001 took place, and terrorists used airplanes to successfully destroyed the World Trade Center and part of the Pentagon. The War on Terror thus drew the United States into involvement in Afghanistan, which became our longest military conflict. The hunt for terrorists and those who harbor them led the United States to invade Iraq in 2003. More conflict ensued, with tens of thousands killed and millions displaced.

An Arab Spring that successfully toppled two dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt spread to other Middle Eastern countries but were severely repressed. Syria imploded, and millions of refugees streamed into Europe. What had begun at the end of the Cold War as a hopeful time turned out to have generated more conflicts. Fans of history will appreciate the thoroughness of this volume and its concise yet precise descriptions of the world's history over the last twenty years.

Volumes in this series include:

• World War I
• World War II
• The Cold War
• The Post-Cold War

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.

Secrets of the Casa Rosada

Temblador, Alex. Secrets of the Casa Rosada. 2018. 238p. ISBN  978-1-55885-870-1. Available at FIC TEM on the library shelves.

Martha and her mother only have each other. Martha refers to her mother's smiles as the Big Fake, when her mother is trying to convince others to do something for her. Martha is not abused or mistreated, she's simply ... ignored. They move constantly, never staying in one spot for very long, so Martha has never had the need to make friends. When Martha's mother tells her they're heading to Laredo, Texas to visit Martha's grandmother, Martha is puzzled. She's never met any of her extended family. Her mother, however, tells her very little about what to expect.

Once there, Martha is abandoned at her grandmother's pink house. Her Abuela doesn't speak English, and it is clear she and Martha's mother never got along. Known and respected in the community as a healer, or a curandera, Abuela is a powerful woman who is not to be trifled with. Enrolled in the local high school, Martha quickly realizes that she will need to learn Spanish to survive. Martha  is confronted by Marcella, a senior who wanted very much to learn the healing arts with Abuela but was rejected. Now, on top of being in what feels like a foreign land, Martha must be careful with such an enemy.

As time passes, Martha discovers that the pink house is full of secrets, secrets that concern her and her mother. When she begins digging, however, she uncovers information that could change her life forever, but which could alienate Abuela, the last direct link to her mother. Is discovering who she really is worth the risk to Martha?

Taking place in Laredo in the 1990s, Martha's story is one of family secrets that can redefine relationships and even one's understanding of oneself. Martha's emotions are raw but realistic, and her feelings of abandonment are in conflict with her happiness at a newfound family. Readers looking for family drama will enjoy this book.