Vengeance: Children of Faust

Ulm, Chris. Vengeance: Children of Faust. Book 1 of the series. 2015. 329p. ISBN 978-1-5144-2697-5. Available at FIC ULM on the library shelves.

Kim's life in her small New Hampshire town has been difficult ever since she and her father moved here nearly a decade ago, following the death of her mother. Now in middle school, Kim is bullied and used as the punching bag for the school's mean girl and her posse. Life at home is not any easier. Her father sinks ever lower in an alcohol-fueled stupor, and he relentless controls and beats her. Kim cannot wait to get out of this place.

Then a new girl moves in. Tansu is quiet and reserved, but she and Kim hit it off immediately. Suddenly, Kim is excited to go to school and hang out with her, and Tansu is glad for Kim's friendship. As they navigate the treacherous waters of middle school, their friendship grows ever stronger. Throughout all of this, Kim feels a presence nearby, observing her. When she discovers a literal demon in her bedroom, Kim is scared beyond belief. Calling himself Sin, the demon offers her a deal: The power to wreck vengeance on her enemies in exchange for her soul. Kim refuses, but Sin promises her to return if she ever needs him.

When Kim's father, dives into a deeper part of his alcoholism, Kim becomes the object of his anger. Violently sewing her lips shut, he reveals to her that he sold her soul, as his unborn daughter, to a demon years ago if only that demon would make her mother love him. Unfortunately Kim's mother had died only a few years later, and now he regretted it every day of his life. This is why they had moved to rural New Hampshire, hoping to stay away from the demon.

Hurt and feeling violated, Kim calls Sin to her, and accepts his deal. Her father is the first to suffer her wrath, as she shouts him point blank. But now Kim has a demon named Alice inside of her who cannot wait to gain full possession of her body. As Kim's life spirals out of control, Tansu remains the only constant. With other demons circling and hoping to kill Kim and gain her power, Kim must also struggle with Alice, and find a way to remain alive and protect her friend Tansu. Will she be strong enough to resist a quick descent into darkness?

Assassins' America: Four Killers, Four Murdered Presidents, and the Country They Left Behind

Gunderson, Jessica & Joe Tougas. Assassins' America: Four Killers, Four Murdered Presidents, and the Country They Left Behind. 2018. 202p. ISBN 978-1-62370-981-5. Available at 973.7 GUN on the library shelves.

Since the United States' founding, 45 men have served as President, the highest elected office in the land. Of these, four were assassinated during their administration: Abraham Lincoln, James Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy. Each killing was done by a lone individual in the name of perceived grievances, and each death altered the course of government.

Lincoln was the first President to fall to an assassin's bullet. High on the heels of his re-election, the end of the Civil War and looking forward to reconstructing the South, Lincoln was killed by John Wilkes Booth, a famous actor who wanted to revive the fortunes of the Confederacy. Instead of being considered a hero, however, he was hunted throughout Virginia and was caught and killed in a shoot out a few days later. Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was much less inclined to protect the just-emancipated slaves. Had Lincoln lived to serve his second term, it is likely that civil rights would have been implemented sooner.

President Garfield was elected in 1880 and sworn in office in March 1881. Campaigning against corruption and the spoil system that had developed at all levels of governments, Garfield had high hopes that he could implement a merit-based bureaucracy and a dedicated public service. Charles Guiteau was a supporter of Garfield and believed he deserved to receive some sort of appointment following Garfield's election. Angry at not being recognized for his supposed efforts in getting him elected, he shot Garfield, who died two months later of horrible care. His death crystalized the efforts to stem the flow of corruption and help create a meritocracy.

President McKinley had already served a term when he was elected again in 1900. This was a time where anarchists aimed to overthrow all governments. Leon Czolgosz was a drifter who had trouble remaining employed and whose home life was unsatisfactory. Hoping to strike it big for the cause of anarchy and impress Emma Goldman, a famous anarchist, he decided to assassinate McKinley, and an opportunity presented itself at the 1901 World's Fair, and he successfully shot the President. Theodore Roosevelt succeeded McKinley, and launched a series of antitrust actions to dismantle the large monopolies that controlled the economy of the United States.

President Kennedy was serving his first term when he was shot by Lee Harvey Oswald. An avowed communist, Oswald was a loner who had attempted to gain Soviet citizenship. Kennedy had brought a youth and enthusiasm to the Presidency, but he had continued increasing the United States' involvement into Vietnam. However, by 1963 Kennedy was asking for every option in Vietnam, including complete disengagement. President Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, chose to pursue the U.S.'s involvement into Vietnam.

The world would be a much different place if these four Presidents had been able to complete their terms. Fans of history will enjoy this short exploration of what happened, as well as predictions on what would have happened had each president lived. Fans of history will appreciate reading about these presidential deaths and what could have been.

The Sun is also a Star

Yoon, Nicola. The Sun is also a Star. 2016. 384p. ISBN 9780553496680. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Today is Natasha's last day in the United States. An illegal immigrant that overstayed her visa when she, her mother, and her brother rejoined her father in New York City from the Dominican Republic, she has built a life for herself here, and her former life is nothing but a distant memory. A straight A student and a budding scientist, she looked forward to a life spent analyzing data. But her father, who first came to the United States to break into the theater business, never struck it and spent most of his time at home, rehearsing plays. After finally obtaining a role and performing well, he drank and was then arrested while driving. His illegal status was discovered, and the entire family was ordered deported. Natasha is really mad at her father and hasn't been able to talk to him since. Hoping against all hope to secure a stay, Natasha skips school today and returns to Immigration to see if anything can be done to help her stay here.

Today Daniel is heading to an entrance interview to Yale. Daniel's parents are Korean, and they have worked hard all of their lives to ensure that both of their sons have the best education and opportunities in this new country. Daniel is the perfect son, always complying to his parents' requests. They want him to become a doctor, marry a nice Korean girl, and have children they can spoil. But Daniel is a poet, and he doesn't want to go to Yale. He's not sure what he wants to do, but he feels alienated both from his father, who always seems disappointed in Daniel no matter what he does, and from his brother Charlie, who hates being Korean and has just left Harvard amid a cloud of controversy.

When these two lives collide, the world opens up in possibilities. Can one fall in love in the course of a single day?

National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries

American Association of School Librarians. National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries. 2018. 314p. ISBN 978-0-8389-1579-0. Available at PROF 027.802  AME on the library shelves.

With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards and the move from more and more states toward competency-based education instead of the traditional methods of assessing student performance, a variety of standards have been created or updated to ensure they maintain relevance in today's world and also address changing skills requirements. The American Association of School Librarians released revised standards from Information Power and Empowering Learners into a set of mutually supporting standards that address the needs of learners, school librarians, and school libraries.

These new standards center around six core areas: Inquire, Include, Collaborate, Curate, Explore, and Engage. They are further subdivided into Think, Create, Share, and Grow areas, and are finally sorted into learner statements, school librarian statements, and school libraries statements. The versatility of these standards allow the school librarian to develop a roadmap to effective assessments and evaluate their current programs. Each standard is exploded into its components, and various scenarios are presented to explain how these impact current school librarians and other stakeholders.

The National School Library Standards for Learners, School Librarians, and School Libraries is thus an indispensable book for school librarians and their advocates to ensure the best outcomes for their libraries and their students.

Last Pick

Walz, Jason. Last Pick. 2018. 214p. ISBN 978-1-62672-891-2. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Sam and Wyatt are twins, and they have always looked out for each other. Sam has been the protective big sister, because Wyatt is autistic. He's often unable to filter his thoughts when he speaks, finds himself confused by nonverbal communication, can't really adopt someone else's perspective when talking to other people, and has trouble regulating his emotions. Even though she finds him weird at times, Sam would go to the mat for her brother.

Now sixteen years old, the twins have been left alone for the last three years, when aliens invaded Earth and kidnapped the entire population between the ages of 16 and 65, leaving behind only the old, the handicapped, the young, and those deemed too useless for their plans. For three years, Sam has been fighting back, stealing food and spreading it in her small city of Elizabethtown. Now that the giant scooper ships have returned, Sam is ready to fight back. And Wyatt's brilliant computer and engineering mind can help them communicate with their missing parents, but only if they have the right part. Can they be the spark that ignite the rejects of humanity into resistance against the invaders?

A great graphic novel with sharp illustrations and colors, Last Pick accurately portrays someone who has trouble functioning of what is left of normal society. The coping mechanisms that Wyatt has developed are realistic, and the siblings' love for each other even when they are angry shows throughout the story. Fans of dystopia and of last stands will appreciate the action and story, and will clamor for the second volume when it comes out!

It's Kind of a Funny Story

Vizzini, Ned. It's Kind of a Funny Story. 2006. 444p. ISBN 0-7868-5197-X. Available both as FIC VIZ on the library shelves and as an ebook on Overdrive.

When he was a kid, Craig loved drawing maps. For over a year, fifteen-years-old Craig Gilner has been spending most of his time preparing for possible admission to Executive Pre-Professional, a highly selective and elite high school in New York City. And when he wasn't doing that, he was with his best friend Aaron, smoking pot and pinning for Nia, Aaron's girlfriend. With that being done, however, Craig suddenly finds himself at a loss. He's working hard at his school, but he's only scoring 93%, while Aaron, who doesn't even try, is still top of the class.

Unable to cope and lacking strategies that would help him get through, Craig develops suicidal thoughts and ends up developing an eating disorder. Caught in a vicious circle, Craig ends up checking himself into a psychiatric facility near his house. Lacking room in the juvenile wing, Craig is placed instead on the 6th floor with adults, and he begins dealing with the issues that led him here. Onsite, he meets the other patients, including Noelle, another teenager who severely maimed herself to deal with the abuse she was suffering. Can Craig reconnects with his life and achieve some stability?

A running commentary of the events leading to and including his hospitalization told from Craig's perspective, It's Kind of a Funny Story provides a hilarious yet sobering look at mental illness and the pressures that children and teenagers experience in competitive educational environments. Readers will be cheering Craig on as he works through his problems and hope that he and Noelle are able to tame each other on their way out of the psychiatric unit. Fans of An Abundance of Katherines will appreciate the messy resolution that occurs at the end of the story.

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.