A Crack in the Sea

Bouwman, H. M. A Crack in the Sea. 2017. 358p. ISBN 978-0-399-54519-1. Available at FIC BOU on the library shelves.

Kinchen and Pip live with old man Ren, on the outside of Tathenn, the capital of the islands of Second World. When she returns home to discover that her 11-year-old brother has been invited to tea with the governor and the Raft King, Kinchen immediately worries. Pip can breathe underwater and can talk to fish, yet he has the worst time distinguishing between humans. They all look the same to him. For his part, the Raft King rules Raftworld, a large city constructed out of thousands of rafts that float tied together and powered by hydraulics.

The Islanders and the Raftworlders have always been at peace and meet every few years to exchange and trade. People willing to leave their home are welcomed with the other nation. The Raft King, however, is looking for a door so he can return to the First World, where his mother, Amelia, came from, and Pip is the one that can find this door by asking the fish.

Meanwhile, Thanh and his sister Sang are escaping warfare and Communist rule in Vietnam like so many, by boarding a small boat and risking the open sea to make landfall in Thailand, Malaysia or the Philippines. Accompanied by two adults, a baby, and another girl called Mai, they eventually stumble upon a doorway in the open sea held open by a Kraken, and are propulsed in the Second World.

Intermingled in their stories is the story of Venus and Swimmer, two African children who escape from a slave ship and live with a man they name uncle Caesar for a while, before being captured again and taken out onto another slave ship bound for Jamaica. Able to walk underwater, Venus rescues more than a hundred slaves, including her brother and her uncle, and they walk for days underwater before discovering a door leading to a new world.

These three stories all tie in together in a beautifully told tale of hope and redemption. Fans of intriguing fantasy will appreciate the well crafted main characters and the setting of the Second World.

A Separate Peace

Knowles, John. A Separate Peace. 2003. 204p. ISBN 0-7432-5397-3. Available at FIC KNO on the library shelves.

With the Second World War raging on, high school students at Devon, a prep school in southern New Hampshire know that most of them, as they graduate, will join the military and fight in Europe or in the Pacific. But for 16-year-old Gene Forrester and his fellow students, war is furthest from his mind. What he is concerned about are his academics and athletics performances. His best friend and roommate, Phineas, known as Finny, is the best athlete at the school, and Gene knows he will always be a distant second. In academics, however, Gene stands a reasonable chance of beating Finny.

During the summer session of 1942, when the students are given more leeway due to the regular staff being gone on summer vacation, Gene and Finny create the Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session, a group whose members must jump from a tall tree overlooking the Devon River in a daredevil attitude. With most of the boys joining in, the Society consumes more of their time in ever expanding games and activities, until, during an initiation, Gene and Finny find themselves on the tree. Jealous of Finny’s easy successes, Gene bounces the branch, and Finny accidentally falls, resulting in a broken leg. Finny will never play sports again.

Aghast at what he has done, Gene tries his best to help Finny recover, but with more friends shipping out to war, their friendship has been damaged. Gene hopes to make it up to Finny, but how can he when he’s the one who ended Finny’s one true love? Will Gene have to courage to reveal his role in the accident? What will be the cost to their friendship?

A growing up novel where friendship and jealousy mix freely, A Separate Peace will remind the reader that, like Gene, being true to oneself is accepting the parts, good or bad, that we play in other people’s lives.

The Danger Gang and the Pirates of Borneo!

Bramucci, Stephen. The Danger Gang and the Pirates of Borneo! 2017. 378p. ISBN 978-1-61963-692-7. Available at FIC BRA on the library shelves.

Eleven-year-old Ronald Zupan’s parents are adventurers who have travelled the world in search of artefacts and other precious items. On their long trips away, they entrust Ronald’s wellbeing to Thomas Halladay, their butler, whom Ronald calls Jeeves because all good butlers should bear that name. They have always promised to be back for his birthday, however, no matter where in the world or how busy they are. But today, on his twelfth birthday, Ronald discovers with stupefaction that his parents are, in fact, not here. Something bad must have befallen them.

When the doorbell rings and men from the FIB, the Foreign Item Battalion, begin securing the premises, Ronald knows something bad has happened for sure, for the FIB works for the Liars’ Club, the most cutthroat and outlandish group of villains ever to exist. Led by Zeetan Z, the worst of the worst, this group must be involved with his parents’ disappearance.

Escaping the Zupan mansion with Jeeves and with Charlie, his pet king cobra, who is fond of biting Jeeves, Ronald makes his way to the only ally he can think of recruiting for a daring-do adventure of rescuing his parents at the last scene where they were spotted, Borneo. He goes to Julianne Sato’s house. She is the sword fighter who defeated him at the last sword tournament, preventing him from acquiring his third annual trophy in a row. She readily agrees to help him rescue his parents, though with the condition that she is a full partner in this adventure and not a sidekick like Jeeves and Charlie.

The four of them soon find themselves on a Zupan plane heading to Borneo, where they will face untold adventures, all with the hope that Ronald’s parents are still alive. Can this merry band manage to evade the obstacles and enemies in their path before it is too late?

In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking in America and What We Can Do to Stop It

Belles, Nita. In Our Backyard: Human Trafficking in America and What We Can Do to Stop It. 2015. 240p. ISBN 9780801018572. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

When we hear the words human trafficking, we think of people in Africa, the Middle East or Asia being sold into slavery. But human trafficking is so much more pervasive than that. It is present everywhere, even in the United States, even in New Hampshire, maybe even in our small rural communities. Though we often think of human trafficking as boys, girls and women being enslaved for sexual purposes, we forget that it includes so much more, from individuals working in restaurants and homes to maids working in hotels as well as the more traditionally understood roles of slavery.

In this book, Nina Belles shares true human trafficking stories that took place in the United States, and explains that this is a crime that can strike anyone at any time, regardless of race, gender, nationality socioeconomic or educational status. It does not only affect those we consider the “others” such as runaways or individuals who feel powerless and disenfranchised from their families and their communities. Anyone can become a victim, and Belles provides several warning signs that explain how to spot human trafficking and how to avoid it. She also provides advice on how to fight back against human trafficking and she presents organizations that help fight this crime against people.

A real eye opener, this book raises awareness and increases social consciousness and should be read by all.

Dog Night at the Story Zoo

Bar-El, Dan. Dog Night at the Story Zoo. 2017. 99p. ISBN 978-1-10191838-8. Available in the Graphic Novel section of the library.

When night falls and humans return to their houses, the animals at the zoo get ready to host their own open mike night. Animals from all around the neighborhood, as well as zoo residents, attend and enjoy stories told by other animals. Tonight, at the Story Zoo, it is Dog Night and all of the presenters will be neighborhood dogs.

Throughout the night, a bloodhound tells the story of the day she lost her ability to track bandits and criminals and was helped by Surelick Holmes, a brilliant dog. A bulldog explains that he doesn’t want to be judged by the way he looks. After all, it’s not his fault. A poodle describes how much energy she has and how bothersome she was, until all the right conditions were met and she became the best companion ever. Finally, a stray dog presents how he became the best fetcher ever and saved a man’s emotional well-being, finding a home in the process.

Sometimes sad, sometimes sweet, always entertaining, the illustrated Story Zoo awaits your presence!

Gasparilla’s Gold

Markle, Sandra. Gasparilla’s Gold. 2016. 193p. ISBN 978-1-943431-19-9. Available at FIC MAR on the library shelves.

Twelve-year-old Gus lost his older brother Daniel during a flash flood at camp. Gus had returned to the tent to grab his grandfather’s guitar, and got caught in the rapidly rising waters. Daniel came back and saved him, but in the process disappeared under after being hit by debris. Gus has blamed himself for his death ever since. His father has now taken another job and his moving himself and Gus from New York City to Seattle. But while he searches for an apartment, he is sending Gus to spend the summer with his sister on Pine Island, Florida. Aunt Willie runs Wahkullah, an unofficial animal shelter where injured animals are rehabilitated before being released into the wild.

Gus is opposed to go on this trip. His father thinks it’s for the best, and maybe Gus will be able to snap out of his feelings of guilt. Welcomed by Wipllie, Gus soon meets Fiona, the girl next door who has been helping Willie take care of the animals, and Coop, a grizzled grant of a man who used to design movie sets in Hollywood before being  an accident that ended his career. Scared by rain, as it reminds him of the nit Daniel dies, Gus vows he will not spend an extra day on Pine Island, and he contacts his father to plead with him. Soon, though, Gus changes his mind about leaving. First, there are all of the animals to care for. Then, the is also interested in Fiona. But most of all, Gus and Fiona have to work together to find the treasure of the  legendary pirate Gasparilla, rumored to be buried on the island. Armed with a treasure map, the two of them must find the treasure before the Pinders, the resident family bullies, discover it. With bills mounting for the shelter and the loss of Willie’s grant to study wild Florida Panthers, Gus and Fiona work with Coop to find the most likely places.

But when they stumble upon a mother panther and her cub, everything changes. If they can bring proof that the panthers are back on Pine Island, Willie can have her grant back and the shelter’s survival is assured. The Pinders, who run cattle, have other ideas, however, and want the panthers killed before their presence can be confirmed. Can Gus manage to work through his grief over Daniel’s death to save the panthers and the shelter?

Talk to Me

Ellis, Sonia. Talk to Me. 2016. 164p. ISBN 978-1-943431-23-6. Available at FIC ELL on the library shelves.

Fourteen-year-old Sadina Reyes loves her sister, but seven-year-old Maddie suffers from selective mutism,  which results in her not talking very much to her own family members, and never to a stranger. This causes problems for Maddie at school, and Sadina’s friends know her as the girl who doesn’t speak. Sadina would really love to help her sister, but she’s not sure what she can do.

Sadina loses Maddie at the mall after she and Rio, her best friend, go into a computer store, and it takes forever to find her at the pet store. Worse, that night someone breaks into Sadina’s house and steals something out of her mother’s office desk, and Maddie is the only one who notices the robber. The event traumatizes her and now she can’t even talk to her family. Her mother, who is an engineer working on a brand new battery for cellphones, reveals that the only thing that has been stolen is her coworker’s phone, who had left it at the house after dinner the previous night. On that phone was the only evidence that Flynn has been embezzling money from the lab where they both work, and now Sabina’s mother is about to take the rap for the missing money.

Meanwhile, expensive software has disappeared from the school’s computer lab, and Rio is the prime suspect. It doesn’t help when Sabina remembers that Rio had been eyeing this software with envy at the computer store, and her suspicious increase when she discovers that he has installed the same software on his computer at home.

Now she’s got to help her mother by proving that Maddie has seen that the thief was Flynn, and that Rio did in fact not steal the software. Working with the computer club at school, Sadina hopes that they can reprogram Maddie’s cat robot, named Bella, into a cat that can actually talk to her through artificial intelligence and record her answer. If Maddie won’t speak to humans, maybe she’ll speak to Bella! At least, that’s what Sadina hopes...