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.

Illegal

Colfer,  Eoin and Andrew Donkin. Illustrated by Giovanni Rigano. Illegal. 2017. 128p. ISBN 9781492662143. Available as an ebook from Overdrive.

Ebo lives in Central Africa. When his mother passed, his uncle took charge of the family but does little aside from drinking. Ebo's older sister, Sisi, left months ago for Europe, promising to send money back. She hasn't been heard since. Kwame, Ebo's older brother, decide to strike for Europe as well to find his sister and let her know the family needs help. He leaves Ebo behind, and does not tell him he's leaving.

When Ebo realizes his brother is gone, he decides to do the same. He grabs his meager possessions, and takes the bus north towards the Sahara. A few days behind Kwame, he hopes to find him so they can travel together. Life for a young child is hard, however, but Ebo seizes every opportunity to work and same some money for the trip across the desert. Fortuitously he finds his brother, and when they have enough money they head across the desert where they are robbed and left behind. They manage to survive the crossing, only to find themselves in a civil war in Libya.

They once again work any job available, and attempt to hide from the security forces looking for illegal migrants. With enough money accumulated, they make the dangerous crossing of the Mediterranean in search of Sisi and a better life in Europe. Tragedy strikes, however, and the ship sinks, leaving the two brothers, who can't swim, in the middle of an ocean. Ebo is rescued, but Kwame is not. Sisi saw a picture of Ebo being rescued, and finds him in the migrant shelter.

A tale with currency, Ebo's tragic journey represents what millions of people have endured to escape conflict, violence, and poverty. Readers concerned about immigration will appreciate this haunting look at the story of someone who persevered to find his loved ones but paid a high price.

The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett

Sedoti, Chelsea. The Hundred Lies of Lizzie Lovett. 2017. 387p. 578 mins. ISBN 978-1-49263609-0. Available both as an ebook and an audiobook from Overdrive.

Lizzie Lovett had it all going for her. She was the most popular girl at school. She was polite, pretty, and appreciated by all. Well, not by all. Hawthorn has always been fascinated by Lizzie Lovett, who graduated with her brother three years ago. Hawthorn both loathes Lizzie for her easy way of life, and wishes she could be her. Unlike Lizzie, Hawthorn is gangly, almost friendless, self-centered, without goals or ambition, and suffers from a weird name and weirder parents. So when Lizzie disappears during a camping trip in the woods with her boyfriend Enzo, Hawthorn cannot avoid getting caught in the investigation into her disappearance. Plus, she's one of the first to know Lizzie has gone missing, so for once she can initiate the rumor mill and not be its subject.

Lizzie's vanishing suddenly triggers a wave of speculation in the sleepy town of Griffin Mills. Did her boyfriend kill her and bury her body? Did she walk out of the woods at night and has recreated herself elsewhere? Or did, as Hawthorn suspects, transform herself into a wolf? As Hawthorn digs around, she sinks even more in Lizzie's former life, spending time with Lizzie's boyfriend, though he may be the killer, working at the same restaurant Lizzie worked, and all the while accumulating more information about the girl people eventually forget as time moves on.

But what was once a passing interest becomes an all-consuming passion as Hawthorn pursues the ghost of Lizzie Lovett. Spending so much time looking for minute details in a girl's identity might cost Hawthorn her own...

Women Heroes of World War II : 26 stories of espionage, sabotage, resistance, and rescue.

Atwood, Kathryn J. Women Heroes of World War II : 26 Stories of Espionage, Sabotage, Resistance, and Rescue. Part of the Women in Action series. 2011. 266p. ISBN 978-1-61373-171-0. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

Often overlooked by Nazi officers, women were effective spies that could go past guards and avoid suspicious looks. Their contributions to the war effort helped defeat the Germans during the Second World War. Arranged by countries of origins, each profile of 26 women describe their lives prior to the war, the actions they took to undermine German domination, and their fate following the choices they made. These women were courageous and stood up for their ideals and their country, standing for what they believed was right.

Well researched, each profile contains excerpts from documents of the time, and references to journals and other reports. Fans of history and of the Second World War will appreciate the varied lives each of these women led and what brought them to resist and revolt against a violent occupation.

This series includes Women Heroes of World War II, and Women Heroes of the American Revolution.

Girls Made of Snow and Glass

Bashardoust, Melissa. Girls Made of Snow and Glass. 2017. 384p. 775 mins. ISBN 978-1-42728998-8. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Mina is beautiful but so very cold and so very lonely. Her father is a powerful but selfish wizard who can pour some of his life energy into inert material to create animated objects. Faced with a wasting disease, her father manipulated sand and created Mina a new crystal heart that kept her alive, but did not beat. Her mother soon died from grief, and her father told her she would never be able to love and be loved. Loathed by people for her father's magical abilities, Mina grew up lonely in the south of the kingdom. When she realized she also possessed the power to shape glass, she wisely kept this secret away from her domineering father. Then he received an amazing opportunity. He was summoned to court to help the king and his queen.

A few years later, Mina comes to live at court in Whitespring Castle, in the north. A curse has blanketed the land with perpetual snow, so that nothing grows in this part of the Kingdom and it is always cold. She catches the king's eye, who is unconsolable with the death of his wife, but who needs a stepmother for his young daughter, Lynet. Lynet is the spitting image of his wife, and her father adores her. Hoping to retain the king's attention, Mina crafts a man out of glass. Designed to love her and teach her about love, the huntsman is also a spy in the king's entourage, meant to keep tabs on him and report back to Mina.

After a short courtship Mina and the king are soon married, but their union is not consumed, and even though she is queen she is barely accepted by the local nobility. But Lynet loves her, and soon they become a very tight family, until Mina realizes that the king plans on replacing her with Lynet. For her part, Lynet loves her stepmother, but is very sheltered and has never wondered why she never gets cold. She also loathes any reference to how she looks like her dead mother and fears that her father expects her to become that woman, losing her own identity in the process. When a new surgeon arrives at Whitespring, the delicate dance between Mina, Lynet, and the king is broken. Not much older than Lynet, the surgeon offers her something no one else has: a window to the outside world.

As Lynet discovers more about her past and her birth, she realizes the depth of deceptions that surround her at Whitespring. When the king sets Lynet and Mina on a frontal collision course, plans are set in motion that will cost someone their life, as only one person can be queen. A retelling of Snow White, this book examines the origins of the stepmother and how she became the villain of the tale. Beware, however, for even villains can be redeemed!

Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football team

Sheinkin, Steve. Undefeated: Jim Thorpe and the Carlisle Indian School Football team. 2017. 392 mins. ISBN 1-59643-954-8. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

With the NFL celebrating 100 years, the history of football is not complete without mentioning legendary coach Pop Warner and superstar athlete Jim Thorpe. But the story of football is also the story of American repression of Native Americans through Indian Schools and the stated policy of eradicating the "savage" and replacing his culture with that of white America.

A Native American from Oklahoma, Jim Thorpe was always a gifted athlete, but the loss of his twin brother when they were young caused a pain he never truly recovered from. When he arrived at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in 1904 after stints at other schools, he saw football and decided he had to play. Pop Warner was an average football player who developed innovative tactics and improved the game. He came to Carlisle to guide their football program, and ended up changing the whole game for the better with innovations such as the forward pass and the fake plays.

Pop Warner at first refused to let Jim play, but after observing his speed, Jim joined the Carlisle team and soon became its superstar. Carlisle played against football powerhouses Harvard, Yale, and the University of Pennsylvania, and despite racist taunts and overt persecution of Native Americans, the team steadily improved until it defeated the top four teams in one season and earned an 11-1 record. Jim Thorpe himself participated in the 1912 Olympics, where he won the Pentathlon and the Decathlon, the first Native American to win a gold medal for a country where he was not even considered a citizen. He also played professional baseball and basketball, but it is his performances on the football field, where he was twice nominated as an All-American, where he made a lasting legacy.

This book is the story of two men, but it is also the story of a whole system designed to eliminate Native American voices and cultures. Fans of historical stories and of amazing feats of athleticism will be fascinated to watch how Jim Thorpe and his teammates overcame adversity and racism and fought for the right to be themselves.

Archie, Vol. 4

Waid, Mike & Peter Woods. Archie, Vol. 4. 2017. 144p. ISBN 978-1-68255-971-0. Available as an eBook from Overdrive.

Veronica is back in town following Archie, Vol. 3, and Archie is trying to make up for lost time. However, their relationship has not improved since Mr. Lodge sent Veronica to Switzerland, and they need to work hard to reset. Mr. Lodge is still determined to crush this awkward couple, and he organizes the first ever Riverdale's Teen Achievement Award to present suitable dating material to his daughter.

Jughead has overextended his credit with Pops, and he convinces the restaurant's owner he can be a great server. He undermines the customers' choice, ordering them what they should get, instead of what they want.

Cherry Blossom and her twin brother are now stuck in Riverdale, and wonder why their father pretends to be poor. Under relentless questioning, the man reveals that he's in fact not their real father. The twins' universe is upended, and they begin searching for answers on what is really going on.

Betty continues to observe from the sidelines, pinning for the redhead who's fascinated with Veronica. She and Dilton head to a car show, where they both show their mechanical knowledge. She also continues to work on Archie's 1969 Mustang, a car they first began tinkering with when they were both 8 years old.

Meanwhile, Reggie Mantle ribs Archie one too many times, and now the car that he and Betty have worked on for years is the wager. A drag race will determine who gets to keep the car, but the race will end in tragedy ...