Behind the Mask

Girardi, Tamara. Behind the Mask. Book 2 of the Carnivalesque series. 2023. 294p. ISBN 9781953944887.

This summer before Dinah's senior year is shaping up to be dreadful. She broke up with her boyfriend Todd. Todd cheated on her numerous times, but the last time, done in front of people, was the last straw. Unfortunately, Todd lives next door, and her bedroom window looks at his bedroom window. And her parents and his parents are best friends. How can she explain this situation to them, when they think that Todd and Dinah were destined to be together? Worse, Todd is not over this breakup and keeps trying to get her back. She feels hounded down by her neighbor.

Her best friend Max had driven their career agenda for as long as she could remember. Max has known she wanted to be a journalist all her life, and Dinah went along mainly out of atrophy. But now she's becoming serious about her artistic abilities, and her goal is to go to art school and one day be hired to paint a mural. When she finally attends the famous masked Carnivalesque one night with Max, who has a seat on the planning board of the organization, Dinah meets the charismatic Harvey, a smooth talker who loves the dating game but who has made many female enemies along the way due to his poor treatment of his dates. 

As Harvey and Dinah dance, they are interrupted by a gaggle of Harvey's exes, who throw milkshakes at him before dropping water balloons as additional punishment. Harvey needs help to remediate his dating profile, and Dinah agrees to pretend to be his girlfriend. If they can fake date for long enough, Harvey should regain some credibility, and Dinah should be able to avoid Todd's more and more insistent demands that they be together again. And, as a bonus, Dinah can design and pain Carnivalesque's new ride, a merry-go-round. The only rule? If they ever feel like they are falling for each other, they need to voice their feelings. After all, Dinah has seen enough rom-coms to know this could happen.

As the two of them successfully fool their friends, the social media pressure on Harvey builds up, Dinah becomes involved with the drama, but gets to focus on his art. With days passing by, Dinah finds herself falling for Harvey, just in time for Harvey's ex to enter the picture. Is Dinah too late?

Gigi Shin is not a Nerd

Lee, Lyla. Gigi Shin is not a Nerd. 2024. 192p. ISBN 9781665939171.

Gigi Shin is not a Nerd

Jiyoung "Gigi" Shin is an amazing drawer. She effortlessly creates superheroes, and hopes to become a celebrated illustrator living from her artwork, like her aunt who is in New York City instead of her boring Texas town. Her Korean parents, who own a convenience store and work hard seven days a week, have different expectations, however, and they want Gigi to be good in math and science just like her little brother, so she can become a doctor or a scientist and make the family proud. 

When an opportunity to apply for art camp in New York City is presented in her art class, Gigi jumps at the chance, even if she doesn't have any money and can't ask her parents. Her best friends Carolina and Zeina are also interested in attending, so the girls come up with a brilliant idea to raise funds. They create a tutoring business for other middle schoolers and for elementary students who need help, and they start advertising their services. The Ace Squad soon begins tutoring students.

But not all is well for Gigi. First, her grades are slipping, and her parents are breathing down her neck. She hasn't told them about the Ace Squad, and she's worried that if they find out they will want to put an end to it. Second, her crush is now asking for tutoring help, and even though Gigi is terrible at math, unlike Carolina who's supposed to tutor all students with math issues, Gigi jumps at the opportunity to assign Paul to herself, and changes the schedule on everyone. As the problems pile up, Gigi's friendships start to fray. Can Gigi find a balance between school, friends, and work?

A fast read illustrating the realities and expectations of many immigrant families, Gigi Shin is not a Nerd feature realistic middle school characters who sometimes make poor decisions and must live with the consequences. All ends well for Gigi however, as honesty, even if belayed, often fixes dire situations. Fans of a quick read will appreciate this story and will look for a hopeful sequel, so that we can continue watch Gigi grow as a person!

Monet: Itinerant of Light

Rubio, Salva and Ricard Efa. Monet: Itinerant of Light. 2017. 112p. ISBN 9781681121390. 

Monet was always in love with the light. As a young boy, he would draw cartoons that were prized by friends and relatives, and had an undeniable talent for drawing and painting. At the time, professional artists painted in their studios, and their portraits and paintings were staid affairs. Monet was interesting in drawing the light, the way the light played on the objects and textures he could observe. Learning from Bourdin, an artist who painted outside, Monet fell in love with the technique and never looked back.

His personal life was fraught with ups and downs. He was frowned upon for the strangeness of his paintings, and was derided as the leader of the Impressionists, a title he eventually adopted. He married the love of his life, but then had an affair. He was often penniless, and though he was always painting he was not finding commercial success. Eventually more progressive ideas about art caught up with Monet's paintings and he finally earned recognition and financial rewards, enough to be able to buy a farm where he would spend the rest of his life painting.

A complex man driven by the simple desire of faithfully drawing the light, Monet remains one of the most inspired and inspirational artists of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Real Hergé: The Inspiration Behind Tintin

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.

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!

This is What I Know About Art

Drew, Kimberly. This is What I Know About Art. 2020. 64p. ISBN 9780593095188.

Though the world of art is composed of a multitude of artists from all walks of life, museums for the most part focus on works created by White artists. Growing up, Kimberly Drew visited many museums with her father, but rarely came across creative works from African-American artists. Through her first years of college she struggled with finding a major that appealed to her. It wasn't until she worked as a paid intern in a museum that she discovered her true passion.

As she gained experience and was entrusted with more responsibilities, Kimberly worked hard to ensure that museums were more reflective of the people around them, more open to all of the people of the community they serve, and more welcoming of everyone. She started a movement to encourage the presence of more artists and through her blog, which she started while in college, she showcases African-American artists and the important art they are creating. 

A cry to action,  This is What I Know About Art summarizes what is wrong with todays art world and what can be done to fix it.

20th Century Art, 1960-1980: Experiments and New Directions

Gaff, Jackie. 20th Century Art, 1960-1980: Experiments and New Directions. 2000. 32p. ISBN 978-0-8368-2852-6. Available at 709.04 GAF on the library shelves.

The end of the Second World War marked the beginning of the economic recovery from the devastation wrought by the conflict around the world. People's lives in Western Europe and the United States steadily improved during the late 1940s and throughout the 1950s. Economies recovered and then grew. Jobs were plentiful. Population was growing thanks to a baby boom. And in the art world, artists were experimenting with new themes and art forms.

In the 1960s people were on the move, and art reached for the masses with moving sculptures inspired from every day movements from the wind or mechanically delivered. Op Art also suggested a sense of movement, but through optical illusions. Pop Art emerged at the same time, with the goal of using everyday and highly recognizable objects as art, which allowed the artists to shift attention from the work of art itself to the way the artist worked. Art, they suggested, was an idea, and anything could be seen as artistic, even the most mundane objects.

Another trend that developed during the 1960s was Invisible Art, where art was not necessarily present and required the viewer to assume it existed even thought they could not see it, and therefore question reality itself. At the same time, reality itself became a representation in art, where subjects were shown as they truly were, and not as idealized versions of themselves. Art also became more engaged, with frequent mergers between art and performance, as Woodstock would reveal. Revolutions and demonstrations in the 1960s also triggered engaged art, art that carried a message.

20th Century Art, 1940-1960: Emotion and Expression

Gaff, Jackie. 20th Century Art, 1940-1960: Emotion and Expression. 2000. 32p. ISBN 978-0-8368-2851-8. Available at 709.04 GAF on the library shelves.

The Second World War affected everyone, including artists, and the mood of pessimism and dread trickled down into the works of the period. But as the war reached its climactic end and the Nazis and Japanese were defeated, a sense of optimism rekindled the art world. Artists reached deep within them to make sense of the consequences of the war, and their art reflected a darkness brought about by discovery of the Holocaust and the indiscriminate violence of a vicious war. With Europe devastated, the center of gravity of the art world shifted to New York City, and American artists rose in prominence.

Jackson Pollock made famous the dripping and flicking techniques of painting, creating expressive abstract paintings. Others returned to the subconscious to draw forth images and inspiration, creating bold and visually attractive art. Very large expanses of colors on canvases allowed artists to display art that overwhelmed and surrounded the viewer. Sculptures also evolved, moving from a conscious inspiration to a stream of consciousness that displayed surprise and celebration.

Other art currents ebbed and flowed through the decades, but towards the end of the 1950s Pop emerged as the dominant form. Inspired from magazines and luxury lifestyles, Pop involved everyday images and objects depicted in new and surprising ways.

20th Century Art, 1920-1940: Realism and Surrealism

Gaff, Jackie. 20th Century Art, 1920-1940: Realism and Surrealism. 2000. 32p. ISBN 978-0-8368-2850-4. Available at 709.04 GAF on the library shelves.

The destruction wrought by the First World War fundamentally altered the perception that humanity was continuously evolving and becoming better. Before the War artists had escaped the bounds of perception and reality, experiencing with vivid colors and strange combinations of forms and functions. But with so much devastation, artists were suddenly forced to deal with the world as it was, and not as they wanted it to be. Whereas no one had really questioned whether artists were needed prior to the War, the chaos and revolutions that ensued placed major demands on artists to create art that was not merely colorful but rather relevant to their society. Some artists took on that role with remarkable eagerness, while others, such as Salvador Dalí and Max Ernst continued their escape from the real world into Surrealism.

The Bauhaus, a German art school, created art that was both beautiful and functional. This group experimented with form and function, and was eventually banished by the Nazis in the 1930s. Other Germans made art critical of their society and sought to express distress and disgust at unstable economic conditions in Germany following the end of the war. In Britain, Stanley Spencer, Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth reconnected with the past to inspire new works. Meanwhile, in the United States artists attempted to represent their world through realistic but gloomy pictures. The Great Depression struck throughout the world and led to resentment and pain, which the artists seized on to explain what was happening. Mexican muralists such as Diego Rivera crafted colossal paintings to educate and inspire viewers. Soviet art also sought to express the ideas that the State was all powerful and deserved allegiance.

As dictators emerged in the 1930s and took control of major countries in Europe, it became clear to most that another war was coming. The German destruction of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War demoralized Republican forces and led Picasso to create one of his most famous painting that illustrated the suffering and death caused by bombs dropped from airplanes.

20th Century Art, 1910-1920: The Birth of Abstract Art

Gaff, Jackie. 20th Century Art, 1910-20: The Birth of Abstract Art. 2000. 32p. ISBN 978-0-8368-2849-6. Available at 709.04 GAF on the library shelves.

In the 1900s, artists such as the Impressionists and Pablo Picasso had blazed a path away from realism towards more expressive art. This trend continues in the 1910s as artists push the limit of what art is. Cubists moved away from paint as a medium and adopted other media, including using real objects. At the same time, others were experiencing with colors and modernity by showcasing new inventions such as airplanes and new constructions like the Eiffel Tower. Abstract art continued to expand, and drifted even more away from representing reality, instead composing purely visual images with no basis in the real world. Other pre-First World War art movements included Futurism and Vorticism, both of which were concerned with modern life, lines, and angles.

The First World War changed art. Artists went to the front, fought, and died. Many were commissioned to illustrate what they saw, but had to contend with censors. The result were bleak creations that featured muted colors, as no one was in a mood to celebrate. The war and its horrors gave birth to Dadaism, a movement which was anti-everything, and which drove absurdity, like the war itself, to its extreme. The end of the war led to a resumption of abstract art, but artists entered the metaphysical and the dream world. Women artists also emerged at this time and gained a foothold in the world of art. The decade ended with the appearance of Constructivism, where art was married to function so it could provide well as aesthetically pleasing utility.

20th Century Art: 1900-1910

Gaff, Jackie. 20th Century Art: 1900-1910. 2000. 32p. ISBN 978-0-83682848-8. Available at 709.04 GAF on the library shelves.

The Renaissance kickstarted the art world and led to the creation of amazing paintings and sculptures. Artists used vivid colors to attempt to recreate on a canvas the world around them. By the late 1880s, however, industrialization had altered societies around the globe, and artists began to stray away from conforming to reality. The Impressionists first led the way. Interested more in the play of colors and recording impressions of the moment, artists such as Monet painted country scenes and industrial landscapes, capturing the essence of the immediate.

Inspired by the Impressionists, artists such as Seurat explored pointillism, where dots of pure color are placed on a canvas to create an image that is both harmonious and visually appealing. At the same time, Van Gogh and Gauguin moved away from representing the world as they saw and used their canvas to illustrate emotions and states of mind. This evolved into expressionism, where artists such as Munch expressed inner feelings. Other art movements, such as Symbolism, Fauvism, and Cubism, also influenced the 1900s, and led to an explosion of art in Europe and in the United States.

Musnet: The Flames of the Limelight. Book 3

Kickliy. Musnet: The Flames of the Limelight. Book 3 of the Musnet series. 2017. 56p. ISBN 978-1-941250-15-0. Available in the graphic section of the library.

Musnet has not made much progress in his quest for becoming the best painter. Rémi is ill and has been concealing it since the beginning. Musnet parted ways with him, but still cares. He has troubles of his own, however, for Mya’s family, with whom he lives, is being evicted by Mr. Rattison. Musnet comes up with a clever way of preventing this tragedy by striking a deal for art with Rattison. Caught by Monet’s cat, Musnet fears the worse but after saving its life, he realizes that the Cat is actually friendly and knows a lot about painting. Will the help of his friends be enough to complete his project and save Mya and her family from eviction?

Musnet: Impressions of the Master. Book 2

Kickliy. Musnet: Impressions of the Master. Book 2 of the Musnet series. 2016. 54p. ISBN 978-1-94125013-6. Available in the graphic section of the library.

Musnet pursues his studies of painting, but all is not well at home. First, his home has been hijacked by a spider who attacks him. Rémi continues to slow Musnet’s training down. Mya’s family is being bullied by the rat landlord. Mya is mad that he’s not spending any time with her. And Monet’s cat has closed many of the access points to Giverney, making Musnet’s life harder.

Musnet tackles his spider problem, and he soon realizes that Chiby the Japanese spider is friendly and ready to help him. He’d been gone on vacation for a while, but upon his return had discovered that Musnet had taken over the room. He’s more than willing to share with Musnet. The two intrepid companions intervene when Mya’s father is mousenapped by a red-eyed owl. They develop an effective plan and manage to free him, and Musnet is even able to regain his paints that the owl had stolen in the first book.

The relationship with Rémi is harder to mend. Clinging to his classical style, Rémi is upset to discover that Musnet continues to take lessons by observing Monet. He gives him an ultimatum: classical, or impressionism, but not both. He also breaks Musnet’s brush. Rémi is not well, however, and Musnet soon discovers that the old master is dying ...

Buddha Boy

Koja, Kathe. Buddha Boy. 2003. 128p. ISBN 9780142402092. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

When Justin first sees Michael, he finds him rather odd. Not wearing a coat in winter, and begging for food in the cafeteria, Michael, who goes by the name Jinsen but who is mocked and called Buddha Boy by the other students, approaches life with the thoughts of being at peace with the universe. Justin doesn’t get it. Why is Jinsen always smiling, despite the insults and physical abuse other students hurl at him?

Then the worst happens. Justin is paired with Jinsen during economics. They are to work together on a game. Jinsen invites Justin over to his house to work on their project, and Justin discovers that Jinsen lives in a nice house and owns more art supplies than Justin has ever seen. Very artistic, Jinsen designs the visual elements of the game, while Justin creates the paper. Impressed by Jinsen’s art, Justin tells him he should join art class. Jinsen does so, and joins Justin’s table, much to the dismay of his friends.

As Justin gets to know Jinsen, he realizes that the boy is both talented and deeply committed to his faith. Justin begins to question himself on the value of faith and belief. He witnesses Jinsen being abused by other students on more than one occasion, but Jinsen always keeps a smile on his face. However, every instance of bullying challenges Justin to be more than a bystander. With his friendship with Jinsen deepening, Justin finds himself having to make a tough decision. Should he continue to remain quiet so he better fit in the social structure of his school, or should he stand up for someone who is so different but whose personality is such a ray of warm sunshine in an otherwise dreary life?

Friends and faith mix really well in this beautifully written book about the power of one individual to change the lives of many people. Fans of realistic fiction will enjoy exploring the world of Justin’s high school and the drama that Jinsen refuses to participate in.

Musnet: The House of Monet. Book 1

Kickliy. Musnet: The House of Monet. Book 1 of the Musnet series. 2016. 56p. ISBN 978-1-941250-09-9. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

On his own since birth, Mouse travels from place to place looking for work and for his next piece of cheese. Arriving at Giverny, Mouse meets a sassy mouse girl named Mya who directs him towards a hole in the tree where he might find employment. Mouse discovers the hole is inhabited by Rémi, a squirrel painter who is keen on the old ways of the masters. Rémi is cantakerous, but he grudgingly agrees to take Mouse on as an apprentice. Mouse bargains with the old squirrel and in exchange for his work he expects to receive painting lessons.

Worried about him, Mya finds Mouse camping in the back yard. She warns him about the cat that lives here, and invites him to dinner with her parents. After a hearty meal, Mya’s parents invite Mouse to stay with them in this large manor house. Mya guides Mouse to his own room, filled with books and paintings. She also shows him where the human of the house works. His name is Monet, and he is creating huge canvases with unique color schemes filled with light. Right then and there, Mouse decides that’s how he will paint.

Rémi, however, has other ideas as to what constitutes a classic painting. Over the next few days, Mouse learns more about painting, and he even gets some paints of his own. When he creates his first painting, Mya tells him that his signature is missing. But Mouse has never had a name. So Mya says it’s time to pick one, so he selects Musnet, in honor of Monet and his amazing collection of colors.

Drawn in a style made famous by French artists, Musnet is illustrated with the beautiful colors that made impressionism famous. The story is attractive and its illustrated nature provides a visually appealing complement to Musnet and Mya’s tale.

The story continues in Musnet: Impressions of the Master.

Between Shades of Gray

Sepetys, Ruta. Between Shades of Gray. 2011. 344p. ISBN 0-399-25412-9. Available at FIC SEP on the library shelves.

It is 1941, and Lithuania has just fallen into the Soviet sphere. When Eastern Europe was divided between Hitler and Stalin, the Russian dictator acquired all of the Baltic Republics and quickly invaded them. Now Communist rule has been imposed, and enemies of the State are disappearing.

Lina is an average teenager. At fifteen, she loves to draw and paint, and she has enough talent that a long career as an artist awaits her. Except that her father works at the University, and he is both educated and middle-class, two things that the Soviets hate. In the middle of one night, Soviet NKVD officers barge into their house and order Lina, her brother and her mother to pack up their things and be ready in 20 minutes. Her father has already disappeared a few days ago, and Lina is worried about what happened to him.

Put into cattle trains, they leave Lithuania under cramped and dangerous conditions and make their way east, to Siberia. With Hitler violating the pact he made with Stalin and the Germans attacking the Soviet Union, the country finds itself at war and yet is able to spare resources to insure that its enemies remain imprisoned. Lina and her family spend a winter at a makeshift camp. Through it all, Lina hangs to her art and draws information on handkerchiefs, hoping that they will eventually get to her father.

Refusing to sign a confession, they are soon transferred to another camp, this time north of the Arctic Circle. Facing horrible conditions, Lina is forced to decide how far she is willing to go to survive.

The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone

Griffin, Adele. The Unfinished Life of Addison Stone. 2014. 256p. ISBN 978-1-61695-361-4. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Addison Stone was one of the most brilliant artist of her generation. Blazing a light through the art world, she exploded on the scene after her junior year of high school and moved to New York City, where she ultimately died in an accident unfurling artwork high above a bridge. Told by the people who knew Addison, as well as from her own words collected through interviews, the reader explores the tormented life of someone who clearly suffered from schizophrenia. We read about her rebel life and her unwillingness to bend to the rules. Her parents struggle through their marriage, and her brother, who loved her very much, tries to help. The only time Addison feels like herself is when she is working on her art.

Discovered by her art teacher in high school, she enters and wins prestigious state and national awards, and signs up with an unscrupulous art dealer. With more money than she knows what to do with, she moves to New York City where she encounters rich Zach, the son of one of her art dealer’s wealthier client, and they madly fall in love. The relationship strains, however, and Addison jettisons Zach for Lincoln, a fellow artist. Zach can’t let go, however, and he begins plaguing Addison’s life. She returns the favor by burning down his cottage in the Hamptons.

As her life struggles escalate, Addison sinks even further into mental illness, and Lincoln finds himself unable to help her. Addison is just too much, even for the people who love her. A rebel to the end, we will never know what she could have accomplished. Was her death a preventable accident, or was it murder? Neither Zach nor Lincoln are speaking, but after reading through countless interviews and careful documentation, the reader can only reach one conclusion ...

Leonardo Da Vinci

Tracy, Kathleen. Leonardo Da Vinci. Part of the Art Profiles for Kids series. 2009. 48p. ISBN 978-1-5841-5711-3. Available at B LEO on the library shelves.

If you had to name one artist of the Renaissance, you would probably produce the name Leonardo da Vinci. An illegitimate son of a notary and of a peasant, Leonardo was imbued with an insatiable curiosity and incredible artistic talents. As a young man he apprenticed with Andrea del Verrocchio, before striking out on his own. He worked on several paintings and sculptures, moving from place to place within Italy seeking patrons to support him in the face of his lifelong financial difficulties. Leonardo ended up working for the most influential families and Kings of the era.

Embroiled in several lawsuits over not completing work on time and his propensity for young men, Leonardo nevertheless achieved a reputation as an innovative artist. His Mona Lisa remains the most known example of Renaissance painting. Fascinated by human anatomy, Leonardo carefully studied dead bodies and produced intricate drawings of the human form. He documented extensive research in many fields of science and biology, and also illustrated several revolutionary ideas such as the parachute and the helicopter

Despite his reputation, Leonardo was not a prolific artist. He spent years working on his paintings and sculptures, and most of his work remains incomplete in the form of notes, sketches, or unfinished paintings. Falling in obscurity a few decades after his death, it was not until the 19th century that his genius became apparent. A fascinating individual and a true Renaissance man, Leonardo continues to inspire centuries after his death.

Girl with a Pearl Earring

Chevalier, Tracy. Girl with a Pearl Earring. 1999. 233p. ISBN 0-525-94527-X. Available both as FIC CHE on the library shelves and as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Griet’s father is an artist in the Dutch city of Delft in 1664, but an industrial accident costs him his vision. With no breadwinner working, Griet’s family, including her mother and younger sister are in danger of starving. Her father, using his contacts at the artists’ guild, finds Griet employment as a maid in the household of Johannes Vermeer, a locally known painter of portraits and other scenes. Interviewed by the painter, Griet realizes that he is intrigued in the way she arranges the colors of vegetables before putting them in the soup. At sixteen, Griet is not ready to leave her parents’ house, but her income will be the difference between an economically tenuous life and one of hardships and hunger.

Vermeer works slowly, and only produces a few paintings a year. His wife is pregnant with another child, and the household needs help with cooking, cleaning, and the laundry. Yet to Griet, the most important part of the day is when she gets to clean the master’s studio. None of the other family members are allowed there, and as Griet develops strategies for cleaning and replacing items in exactly the same spot, she begins to gain an appreciation for Vermeer’s work. Soon, Vermeer himself discovers that Griet has a good eye for art, and begins having her assist him in his paintings by preparing various colors, and providing small details that enhance the paintings.

But Griet’s presence is not appreciated by Cornelia, the third daughter, who does everything to make Griet’s life miserable. Catharina Vermeer, the lady of the house, is also resentful of this attractive maid. When Van Ruijven, Vermeer’s wealthy patron, notices her, he gets Vermeer to paint a portrait of Griet by herself, so he can possess her. Sitting for a painting, however, is about to create resentment and conflict in the household, as Griet will be overstepping her bounds as a maid to that of a model and confidente of Vermeer. If her role is discovered, it will surely mean the end of her employment in the Vermeer household. Yet, so drawn to art, can Griet resist Vermeer’s lure?

Vermeer only painted 35 canvases during his lifetime, and little is known of his life. But his style of painting and the choice of his subjects now define Dutch art of the time period. Based on the Girl with a Pearl Earing, a real painting by Vermeer, this story imagines who the person in the painting was and what type of life she led in the mid 1600s in Holland.

Monument Men: Allied heroes, Nazi thieves, and the greatest treasure hunt in history

Edsel, Robert M. Monument Men: Allied heroes, Nazi thieves, and the greatest treasure hunt in history. 2009. 473p. 885 mins. ISBN 1599951495. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

As the German war machine was rolling through Europe during World War II, it became clear to museum curators and staff, as well as art experts around the world, that Hitler and his cadre of committed Nazis were systematically looting the art and historical collections of conquered countries and shipping it out to Germany for “safekeeping.” Hitler’s goal was to create the best art museum in the world in his hometown of Linz.

As early as 1940, plans were made by the museum community in the United States to help locate, retrieve, and return these works of art, but it wasn’t until 1943 that the U.S. Army recognized the need to have an official cultural policy and officers in charge of cultural preservation and recuperation that the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program was established. Led by George Stout, the head of the conservation department at Harvard University’s Fogg Art Museum, Monument Men landed with the invasion force on D-Day and spread throughout Europe as the Allies slowly pushed back the German armies towards Germany.

A lack of political will meant that the Monument Men were always under equipped, lacked basic necessities, did not receive proper recognition for their mission from military authorities, and had to fight tooth and nail to preserve and rescue the cultural heritage of Europe. Racing against time and the advancing Russians who were intent on extracting war repairs through capturing the art looted by the Germans, the Monument Men were able to save Western Europe’s most significant cultural masterpieces and worked tirelessly for decades to reunite art with their former owners.

This story of courage and undaunting drive from men who were in their forties, fighting a young man’s war, illustrate clearly why they are called the greatest generation. Without them, our cultural heritage would be significantly smaller.