A First Time for Everything

Santat, Dan. A First Time for Everything. 2023. 320p. ISBN 9781626724150. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

As an only child, Dan loved spending time with his parents and with his friends. He loves drawing, but he discovers in Middle School that standing out makes you a target for bullies. So it's better to be invisible, even if this means denying part of who you are and what you want. Halfway through his last year in middle school, Dan discovers that his English teacher is organizing a field trip to Europe during the summer. With his mother being sick, his parents' idea of a vacation is to go some place, then take a picture of Dan there. They're not all that fun. 

Dan is surprised when his mother agrees he can go on the trip, but as the day nears, Dan is regretting his decision. He'd rather stay home. But it's too late, and Dan finds himself on a plane with girls from his school, who have been making fun of him for three years, as well as other American kids from Missouri. Though there are still people who claim to know him, Dan suddenly finds himself in Paris with kids who don't know anything about him. This is an opportunity to rediscover who he truly is underneath that layer of invisibility.

Falling in love with Fanta and the local food, Dan also meets Amy on the tour, and she's as interested in him as he is in her. The trip he dreaded becomes more interesting with every passing day, and slowly but surely Dan's life changes for the better, as he builds confidence and realizes that his past is not important in the grand scheme of things.

Inspired from the author's own trip to Europe when he was 14, A First Time for Everything relates the anxieties of growing up and leaving home, and then discovering that who you are is not tied to where you come from or what people think they know about you. The illustrations are amazing, and the story is engaging. If you've ever thought about traveling but were concerned, this is the book for you!

The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein

White, Kiersten. The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein. 2018. 304p. ISBN 9780525577942. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Orphaned, Elizabeth Lavenza was entrusted to a group home where she was abused by the woman who was supposed to care for her. Rescued by Mrs. Frankenstein, who wishes her to be her young son's friend, Elizabeth meets Victor, and immediately realizes that the boy is very odd. He seems incapable to actually caring for other people. However, even at six years old Elizabeth realizes that Victor is her way out of the gutter, and she agrees to care and play with Victor.

Adopted by the Frankenstein, Elizabeth is not allowed to go to school across the lake from their manor residence, so she reads every book in the house, and listens to Victor retell his day and what he learned. They both are fascinated by how bodies work, and Victor is morbidly fascinated by death and how to prevent it. In their teens, they meet Henry, the child of one of the Frankensteins' creditors, and they soon form a trio of adventurers. Along the way Elizabeth rescues Justine, a child that was just like her, and Justine becomes the governess to Victor's two young children.

When Victor finally goes to University in Ingolstadt, Elizabeth is left behind with Henry. When he asks for her hand in marriage, and not having heard from Victor in months, she dispatches Henry to find Victor and secure his agreement, knowing that Victor will not give it. Henry does not return home, however, and Elizabeth despairs at not hearing from Victor. Along with Justine, they travel to Ingolstadt to track Victor. Elizabeth soon realizes that Victor has been experimenting on creating the perfect human being, but that instead he created a monster that is now causing havoc on the town.

As the monster gets closer to the Frankenstein, the family suffers one death after another. With her life in danger, will Elizabeth manage to escape the clutches of the Frankenstein monster?

Fans of Frankenstein will love this retelling, which, like the original story, explores what it means to be a monster, and what it means to be human. 

Dear Killer

Ewell, Katherine. Dear Killer. 2014. 362p. ISBN 978-0-06-225780-2. Available as an ebook from Overdrive.

Kat is not your typical British high schooler. She doesn't stand out at all at school, but at home, only her mother and her know that she is in fact the Perfect Killer, someone trained from a young age to kill without leaving any clue. Kat's mother was the Perfect Killer before passing the mantle to her daughter. Unlike killers who kill for money or revenge, Kat kills because she can, because she's good at it, and because she enjoys it. Killing defines who she is. Nothing is right, nothing is wrong. People reach out to the perfect killer by leaving letters in secret places, and Kat wades through the letters, deciding who deserves to have their wish met. Her call sign is leaving the request letter behind, usually identifying the person who asked for the murder in the first place. Yet, letters keep coming.

Then her mother invites Alex, the inspector charged with investigating the Perfect Killer, into their home. Kat finds him both endearing and annoying, but still feels the need to prove that she is smarter than the police by providing them information about the killer while continuing her life of crime. Kat is soon surprised when she received a letter, asking her to kill one of her schoolmates, Maggie. Maggie has been harassed by Michael, who seems to be growing increasingly unhinged. Michael is clearly the author of the letter. Worried about hitting so close to home, Kat is nevertheless thrilled by the prospect. But when Michael gets a little too close to Maggie, Kat must make a difficult decision. Should she kill Michael, even though she doesn't have a letter asking for his death, or should she wait at the risk of him killing Maggie for her? With the police searching for clues, and with time running out, Kat's game of cat and mouse is about to take a dangerous turn.

Fans of murder mysteries will enjoy reading Kat's adventures, trying to figure out how she will deal with Michael and Maggie while avoiding discovery by the police. Not for the faint of heart, this book demonstrate that moral nihilism is all relative.

Viking

Margeson, Susan. Viking. 1994. 72p. ISBN 978-0-75566-1095-1. Available at 948 MAR on the library shelves.

Following the fall of the Roman Empire and the barbarian invasions from the East, Europe fragmented in a multitude of kingdoms and petty chiefdoms. Starting in the late 700s, however, a new wave of invaders swept through the continent, reaching as far south as Jerusalem and what is now Algeria, as far east as the Ural mountains, as far west as Newfoundland, and as far north as Iceland and Greenland. The Vikings, mighty seafarers, boarded their shallow bottom ships from Scandinavia and sailed across seas and up rivers in search of glory, plunder, and slaves. For three hundred years, Vikings ventured where they liked, spreading culture establishing trade routes, founding cities and finding new territories to colonize.

Scandinavia was rich in iron ore and timber, but poor in other resources, and the Vikings traded these for gold, silver, and other riches, but often attacked and looted towns and cities. Their religious views held that it was better to die in the glory of battle than to die an old man, and the Vikings took that to heart. Viking women ran the household and their farms while their husbands were away for war, keeping the local economy going. Eventually, Christianity spread to Scandinavia, and local myths and legends were adapted. Viking kings ruled all of Scandinavia, England, parts of France and Ireland.

Adept jewelers and artisans, the Vikings left a lasting impression on the world and passed into legend as a warlike people who contributed to the development of Europe.

A Christmas Carol

Larkin, Alison. A Christmas Carol. 2019. ISBN 9781982785246. Available at FIC LAR on the library shelves.

All of us are familiar with A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. We remember Scrooge, and him being visited by three ghosts Christmas eve. We know how stingy and miserly he was. We know of Tiny Tim and his crutches. Most of all, we know it is a redemption story, meant to give Scrooge one more chance at experiencing a humanity he had left behind.

But what if uncle Scrooge was not a man, but aunt Scrooge, a woman? Would the story be any different? Using A Christmas Carol, the author reconstruct the story and tells it the same way Dickens did, but this time using a female protagonist. In our society today, having a woman run a corporation, own property in her own name, and fall in love with another woman does not seem out of place. The fact that the story flows without any issues demonstrates that the limitations society has historically placed on gender are simply irrelevant, and that our world would have been a much better place had women been included in all ranks of society much earlier.

Ptolemy's Gate

Stroud, Jonathan. Ptolemy's Gate. Book 3 of the Bartimaeus trilogy. 2006. 501p. ISBN 978-0-7868-1861-7. Available at FIC STR on the library shelves.

Following the events in A Golem's Eye, seventeen-year-old Nathaniel has now risen to a position of importance in the British government. This ascension would not have been possible without the help of Bartimaeus, a djinni he summoned to help him root out rebels. However, Nathaniel has exploited Bartimaeus to the point of exhaustion. The djinni's essence has weakening due to having spent too long in the real world, and finds himself unable to help when Nathaniel runs into more trouble.

After escaping the golem, Kitty Jones found anonymity in the crowd and secured employment with a magician where she carefully learned the skills necessary to master magic. The resourceful rebel has a plan. She wants to discover how to free demons from their bindings to magicians and establish a more equal relationship between the two of them. Inspired by the rumored trial of an ancient Egyptian who traveled to the demon world, Kitty seeks to discover how to make Ptolemy's Gate a reality. Bartimaeus himself spent time with Ptolemy back in the day, and found him to be more than a master. They became friends.

As the three of them are once again thrown together to prevent a conspiracy seeking to destroy Britain's government, they will have hard choices to make that will forever change how demons and humans interact ...

A riveting conclusion to the Bartimaeus trilogy, readers will enjoy how Nathaniel, Kitty, and Bartimaeus overcome the odds and manage to craft a new world.

The Golem's Eye

Stroud, Jonathan. The Golem's Eye. Book 2 of the Bartimaeus trilogy. 2004. 562p. ISBN 978-0-7868-1860-0. Available at FIC STR on the library shelves.

The unravelling of the conspiracy against the Prime Minister and the role he played in the rescue of the Amulet of Samarkand helped 14-years-old Nathaniel, a rising magician, gain the confidence of the great man himself, and he now finds himself a relatively important person in the government. Entrusted to deal with a Resistance movement that opposes the magicians' control of the British Empire, Nathaniel runs into dead ends. Convinced that Kitty Jones is behind the Resistance's thefts, destruction, and raids, Nathaniel is in a hurry to find her and exact his revenge for the humiliating way she dealt with him two years ago. Stopping the Resistance cannot happen soon enough, especially now that whole buildings are being destroyed by a strange force.

Kitty herself is involved with the Resistance, but the organization's goal remains murkey. What are they truly trying to accomplish with the stealing of magical items? How is that undermining their hold on power? When a powerful patron approaches the Resistance and provides the means for a break into the grave of Gladstone, a former and very powerful Prime Minister now deceased for over a hundred years, Kitty is apprehensive as to the cost. All the sponsor requires is Gladstone's old staff, the rest of the powerful magical items in there are for the Resistance to take.

When Nathaniel discovers that a Golem, an ancient magical artifact mastered by the Prague magicians centuries earlier, is in fact the cause of the destruction, quashing the Resistance becomes a question of life and death, especially his own. With events spiraling out of control, Nathaniel finds himself once again having to call upon the services of Bartimaeus, the very djinni that helped him fight Loveland and his co-conspirators two years earlier.

Bartimaeus is not pleased to find himself summoned again by this arrogant magician boy, but what can he do? The incantation force him to obey. Finding themselves in Prague, they encounter the Mercenary, this enigmatic figure who was central in the Amulet plot. Clearly there are darker forces at play, and Nathaniel, Bartimaeus and Kitty hurl towards a cataclysmic confrontation as they all seek to solve the mystery of the Golem.

The story concludes in Ptolemy's Gate.

The Amulet of Samarkand

Stroud, Jonathan. The Amulet of Samarkand. Book 1 of the Bartimaeus trilogy. 2003. 462p. ISBN 978-0-7868-1859-4. Available at FIC STR on the library shelves.

Being a demon can often be risky business, especially if your true name is known and recorded in a magical book. This allows magicians of all kinds, even third-rate ones, to summon you and force you to do their bidding. The djinni Bartimaeus is over five thousand years old, but he has had the misfortune of losing control of his true name.

When he is first summoned by a mere child, twelve-year-old Nathaniel, Bartimaeus is sure there has to be a hand pulling the strings of this puppet. Ordered to obtain the Amulet of Samarkand from another magician, Bartimaeus grudgingly complies. No self-respecting demon enjoys being someone's else errand boy, after all, and Bartimaeus begins plotting the boy's demise.

Ambitious and determined to be one of the best magicians, Nathaniel was entrusted at the tender age of 6 to the Underwoods, a mid-level magician in her Majesty's government in London. A precocious boy, Nathaniel soon learned all that his master had to offer, and then some. Whereas Mrs. Underwood was very nice to him, Mr. Underwood barely tolerated him and only allowed him to be his apprentice because he was required to do so. During an encounter at age 11 with Simon Loveland, an ascending magician in the government, Nathaniel showed promise by displaying his growing skills, but in turn antagonized Loveland, whose demon ended up spanking Nathaniel. Vowing revenge, Nathaniel pursued his studies and became powerful enough to summon greater demons. When he discovered that Loveland had stolen the Amulet of Samarkand, Nathaniel summoned Bartimaeus and sent his to retrieve it and bring it back to him. Unfortunately for Nathaniel, Bartimaeus discovers that this is indeed the boy's true name and not the fake one most magicians adopt, and this gives the demon leverage over the budding magician.

Unknown to both of them, the stealing of the Amulet causes them to accidentally infiltrate a great conspiracy led by Loveland to seize control of Parliament and the government machinery. As they begin to realize the consequences of their actions, they grow ever so closely to Loveland and his murderous demons. Will the two of them be able to outsmart magicians bent on overthrowing the rightful government?

Wuthering Heights

Brontë, Emily. Wuthering Heights. 2004. 444p. 895 mins. ISBN 0-7434-8764-8. Available at FIC BRO on the library shelves, as well as an eBook and an audiobook from Overdrive.

A young and rich lad, Lockwood needs a vacation from his busy life in the South of England, so he rents a house in Yorkshire. Desiring to pay his landlord, Mr. Heathcliff, Lockwood heads to Wuthering Heights, a lonely farmhouse in the foggy and damp moorlands. Upon his arrival, he discovers Heathcliff has surrounded himself with his miserable daughter-in-law, mean-spirited servants, and a lonesome youth.

A startled and sick Lockwood then hears the story of what happened at Wuthering Heights from his housekeeper Nelly, who was once the housekeeper of Mr. Earnshaw, the previous owner of Lockwood’s residence. She recounts how Heathcliff was adopted by Earnshaw and fell in love with his daughter Catherine, and how he was abused by Catherine’s brother, Hindley. Believing that Catherine did not love him back, because who could love someone so wretched as he, Heathcliff leaves the moors, much to Catherine’s dismay for she did in fact love him.

Heathcliff returns years later a richer man, determined to wreck the lives of those who mistreated him. Using his wealth and influence, Heathcliff begins to undermine the relationships of those around him, forcing Catherine’s daughter into an unhappy marriage with his weak son, and stealing her fortune. However, Heathcliff is never truly alone, with his own demons and the ghost of Catherine haunting the moors.

A psychologically violent novel centered on the selfishness of all concerned, Wuthering Heights remains a great literary example of a complex plot designed to exact revenge. Fans will also enjoy The Count of Monte Cristo, where a similarly wronged individual implements deadly steps to avenge himself.

The Canterbury Tales

Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. 2004. 544p. 1123 mins. Available on the library shelves at 821 COH as well as eBook and audiobook versions from Overdrive.

In the Middle Ages, people traveled throughout the country to visit holy sites. In England, one of these pilgrimages was to the Canterbury Cathedral. For some, this was the trip of a lifetime. For others, this was one of many holy sites they would visit. When a group of thirty pilgrims find themselves traveling to Canterbury, they agree to tell stories to each other to pass the time and be entertained during the long trip, with the teller of the best story winning a free meal.

Coming from all walks of life, from nobles to priests, from merchants to laborers, men and women, each of the travelers in turn tells a tale meant to entertain and teach. Each of these stories offer a glimpse of life in the 14th century in England through romances, folktales, legends, and racy anecdotes, and show a world changing, from the old feudal system that governed the country to one where towns and cities are becoming richer and more powerful.

A classic of English literature, Chaucer’s tales continue to both entertain and educate, showing us what it was like to live in England in the 1300s, and at the same time addressing universal themes such as spirituality, hope, love, and rivalry.

A Tale of Two Cities

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. 2004. 470p. ISBN 0-7434-8760-5. Available at FIC DIC on the library shelves as well as an audiobook from Overdrive.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Thus begins Dicken’s A Tale of Two Cities, a story about the French Revolution and the impact it had on the world, as well as on two different families. The story begins in 1775, as Jarvis Lorry, one of the managers of Tellson’s Bank in London, is heading to Paris to collect a prisoner whom was secretly imprisoned in the Bastille, in Paris. That prisoner, Alexandre Manette, was a doctor who witnessed a horrific crime and was put away before he could share what he saw. His daughter, Lucie, always believed her father had perished, but when she is reunited with him she is relieved beyond belief.

Five years later, a French immigrant in London, Charles Darnay, is accused by the British Crown to provide material support to the American cause, as the Revolutionary War is in full swing. The prosecutor relies heavily on testimony from two men who find themselves discredited by Darnay’s lawyers, and Darnay is acquitted. In contact with Jarvis Lorry, Darnay meets Lucie Manette, and soon the two of them are wed.

France, meanwhile, undergoes its own bloody revolution. The Lafarge are revolutionaries who are connected to incidents involving Doctor Manette and which led ultimately to his imprisonment. Through circumstances, Darnay is tricked into returning to France, where he is arrested and put up in front of a revolutionary tribunal. He is saved by Doctor Manette’s impassionate speech, built on the strength of his imprisonment in the Bastille, but Darnay is soon arrested again. Assisted by his London lawyer, Darnay manages to escape Paris with his family and returns to London.

A condemnation of the terrors that follow revolutionary zeal, A Tale of Two Cities continue to be relevant in today’s fractured and violent world.