Be Not Far From Me

 McGinnis, Mindy. Be Not Far From Me. 2020. 240p. ISBN 9780062561626. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Ashley has grown up poor in Tennessee, and her life has always been hard. Living with her dad in a run-down trailer, he working double shifts just to make ends meet, and they rarely do. Ashley's not that pretty, not that smart. What she's got going is a killer instinct for survival, and her love of running. When friends think it's a great idea to have a drinking party while camping in the Smokies, Ashley rolls her eyes but goes with it. Her friend Meredith even brings a hair dryer, like she expects an electrical outlet out in the woods. Ashley is more practical, and her backpack barely weighs 5 pounds while containing everything she would need to survive an extended stay.

That evening, as the party happening and kids are drinking at the camp site, Ashley has too much to drink. Jealous of her boyfriend Duke hanging out with his ex girlfriend who filled up in the last year, Ashley heads to her tent to sleep it off. Awakened by the need to go to the bathroom, she comes upon a couple having sex away from the campsite, only to discover Duke is involved! Angry, hurt, and drunk, Ashley takes off running, and she soon hurts herself by breaking her foot. Wearing only her pants, underwear, and a t-shirt, Ashley sobers up enough to realize that she is lost and that no one will look for her, since they will think she headed home. 

With her broken foot now infected, with no food, clothes, or shelter, Ashley must make her way out of the forest, or she will end up one of those dead hikers who shouldn't have been out in the woods. Armed only with determination to survive, Ashley heads in an easterly direction, hoping to find help. But when you're alone in the woods, who can help you?

Fans of Hatchet and other survivalist stories will appreciate Ashley's tale of resilience and fighting against the odds!

The Poet X

 Acevedo, Elizabeth. The Poet X. 2018. 368p. 210 mins. ISBN 978-0-06-266280-4. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Xiomara Batista shares a small bedroom with her frail twin brother in their stifling Harlem apartment. Her Dominican mother is domineering and had hoped to become a nun before getting married. She keeps Xiomara on a tight leash, especially since she became curvy. Her father works hard and defers to his wife, who's committed to seeing Xiomara confirmed. But at 15, Xiomara doesn't care about the church. She doesn't want to be confirmed. She yearns to have the same freedoms other in her school enjoy. 

Poetry really gets Xiomara's creative juices flowing. She loves to write about her own thoughts, how she feels, and what she experiences as a girl who draws the gaze of older men as well as other students. When she sees an ad for a Slam Poetry club at school, she really wants to attend, except that it conflicts with confirmation classes.  

Ever since she was born, she's been protective of her twin brother, who is super smart but weak and unable or unwilling to defend himself. She often lets her fists do the talking. But now, both he and Xiomara have secrets. She has a crush on Aman, her lab partner, and he encourages her to keep writing poetry. Twin, as she refers to him, is gay and loves another boy. Neither love is welcome in the Baptista household.

The more she writes, however, the more Xiomara realizes she needs to spread her wings and take risks. As secrets accumulate, can poetry be the avenue that allows Xiomara to break free?

A story told in verses, Poet X explores issues of loneliness and oppression. The characters are realistic, and their emotions are easily relatable. Fans of poetry will enjoy Xiomara's story and cheer for her as she works through her relationships with her mother, her brother, and Aman.

Becoming Nicole

Ellis Nutt, Amy. Becoming Nicole. 2015. 297p. ISBN 9780812995435. 

Wyatt and Jonas were adopted twins who joined their parents' life in New York. Despite being identical twins, Wyatt and Jonas quickly diverged, with Jonas enjoying activities perceived as male and Wyatt gravitating towards activities perceived as female. Soon it was obvious to their mother that Wyatt was only happy when given the opportunity to dress like a girl and act like one. Over the years Wyatt struggled with social roles that mandated boy roles, and their parents found it difficult to help them deal with the pressures to conform.

Becoming Nicole chronicles Wyatt's transformation into Nicole over eighteen years, and discusses the struggles and challenges that Nicole and her family encountered along the way to make her body match her gender identity. From lawsuits to harassment, from growing up to becoming an adult, the path was filled with roadblocks but Nicole and her family persisted and overcame, become stronger as a family as a result.

Shit is Real

 Franz, Aisha. Shit is Real. 2018. 288p. ISBN 9781770463158.

Selma's boyfriend has just broken up with her, and she finds herself cast adrift, without much of a plan. She moves into a small apartment, and quickly notices there is a whole in the wall allowing her to view the unit next door. A glamorous woman lives there, but is rarely at home due to her world traveling schedule. That woman's cat, however, often crosses the balconies and comes to visit Selma. 

Suffering from depression and anxiety, Selma has trouble managing her own life. She left her job, and though her friends try to be helpful, it only makes her feel worse. When the woman next door drops the  keycard to her apartment on her way to yet another trip, Selma can't help herself and begins visiting the other apartment. She borrows clothes, does laundry, and feeds the cat. Selma also meets Anders, the man who used to date the woman next door, and she decides that maybe it's worth taking a chance on a new relationship.

Illustrated with simple yet very effective drawings, Selma's loneliness and confused state comes through loud and clear, and the life of a single woman never looks so depressing. Fans of life struggles will appreciate Selma's efforts as she attempts to rebound from her breakup.

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!

What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained

Wolke, Robert L. What Einstein Told His Cook: Kitchen Science Explained. 2002. 320p. ISBN 9780393011838.

Food is delicious, and most of us enjoy eating it. Some of us even enjoy preparing it. But what kind of science goes into food and making food? Why does lasagna create burn marks in aluminum foil when you put it in the fridge overnight? What's the difference between regular salt and kosher salt? How is Virginia ham prepared? How does a microwave oven work? What's the purpose of the bottom drawer in a refrigerator? Why are the American measurement system so complicated? All of these questions and more are answered in this wonderful set of explanations at the intersection of science and cooking. 

Well written in a humorous and entertaining manner, fans of cooking will appreciate the thoroughness of the author and the way he distills complex scientific principles into understandable chunks as he explains what is occurring in your kitchen. If you ever wondered whether a sidewalk could indeed cook an egg, what type of material made the best skillet, whether water with a pinch of salt boils faster than regular water, or if mushrooms are indeed the natural sponge they are made out to be, read this book and find out!

If you enjoyed this book, take a look at Are You Afraid? The Science Behind Scary Stuff!

Illegal

 Stork, Francisco X. Illegal. Book 2 of the Disappeared series. 2020. 304p. ISBN 9781338310559.

Sara and Emiliano escaped Mexico in Disappeared following an attempt on their lives from the local drug cartel. The story concluded with Sara being arrested after saving one of their attackers' lives, and Emiliano escaping and finding refuge with a rancher.

Now in custody of the U.S. federal government, Sara is in a detention facility for other illegal immigrants. The warden and the head guard are both power hungry individuals who exploit their position to harass and abuse the women in their care. Sara's lawyer is attempting to free her.

The cartel badly wants to retrieve the cellphone that she took across the border and entrusted to Emiliano, as it contains information about crimes committed in Mexico and in the United States. Powerful people want to shut her up and make sure that phone never sees the light of day.

Emiliano is reunited with the father he despises in Chicago, and he must live with their new family. Bored out of his mind, Emiliano looks for work and meets one of the neighbors who hires him to paint her house. But life with his father's new wife is difficult, as she is concerned an illegal immigrant could undermine her reputation and that of her father's business.

As the bad guys' search for the cellphone continues, violence follows both Sara and Emiliano. With time running out, they must reveal the truth about those who are behind the murders and the attacks that have plagued them.