Cruel Beauty

Hodge, Rosamund. Cruel Beauty. 2014. 352p. ISBN 9780062224736. Available as an eBook on Overdrive.

For nine hundred years, the Gentle Lord has ruled over Arcadia. The Lord of Bargains, he protects the inhabitants (mostly) from the shadow demons that lurk on the edge of the world. Sundered from the rest of the world, Arcadia has been mostly at peace, but even while protected there are weak minds and hearts who are willing to pay any price to obtain favors. And thus these mortal men and women seek the Gentle Lord and agree to foolish bargains with him.

At seventeen years old, Nyx and her younger twin sister Astraia should have all their lives in front of them. Unfortunately, this is only true for Astraia, for Nyx is to marry the Gentle Lord. Seventeen years ago, her father made a bargain with the Gentle Lord: Let his wife have children, and in exchange he would marry his daughter to him. The wish was granted. Nyx and Astraia were born, but their mother died in childbirth. Thus, their father was deprived of his love. And as Astraia looks more like her mother and Nyx more like her father, it has been easier for him to not love Nyx and instead prepare her for the day she would be taken away by the Gentle Lord.

Trained to kill and to destroy the Gentle Lord’s house, Nyx is apprehensive when the day comes. But she quickly realizes that the Gentle Lord is in fact more than a cruel demon. Though all powerful, he does not force himself upon her, but instead sets her on a quest to discover how to free both of them from this prison that is Arcadia. Ignifex has a slave, a shadow called Shade. Nyx discovers that Shade is the last prince of the kingdom, forever enslaved to Ignifex nine hundred years ago by the gods for his offense. Both Shade and Ignifex share many characteristics, and Nyx is the only one who can save them both while rescuing her country from its isolation.

But when the choice comes, will she choose the Lord, the slave, or Arcadia? Based on the Beauty and the Beast myth, this story also incorporates several elements of Greek mythology. Fantasy readers will enjoy this love triangle in an exotic locale, and will certainly be clamoring for more.

Hitler's Last Days: The Death of the Nazi Regime and the World's Most Notorious Dictator

O’Reilly, Bill. Hitler's Last Days: The Death of the Nazi Regime and the World's Most Notorious Dictator. ISBN 9781627793964. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

When the Second World War started, Hitler was at the height of his power, and Germany was on the winning path. But by early 1945, the German armies had been crushed and were being pushed back on all fronts, and Hitler himself was but a shadow of his former self.

Hitler’s last days were numbered, and he had less than four months to live. Meanwhile, the Allies were rushing towards the Rhine river and Germany’s heartland. This book tells the tale of how Hitler spent his last days with the movements of Allies armies to end the war as quickly as possible. The darkest drama of the 20th century, the last days of the war changed the world and influenced the way we live today.

The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline

Springer, Nancy. The Case of the Cryptic Crinoline : an Enola Holmes Mystery. Book 1 of the Elona Holmes series. 2009. 160p. ISBN 978-0-399-24781-1. Available at FIC SPR on the library shelves.

The adventures of Enola Holmes, younger sister to Sherlock and Mycroft, continue in this 5th volume of the series. Trying to stay one step ahead of Sherlock, Enola has taken lodging in a small room in East London. Her landlady, a Mrs. Tupper, is a widow who survived the Crimean War. Hard of hearing and a horrible cook, Mrs. Tupper nonetheless is the closest person in Enola’s life.

When a scary letter arrives telling Mrs. Tupper to turn in the secret message that was supposed to be delivered to the Bird, Enola is perplexed. Who could possibly want something from old Mrs. Tupper? This letter is then quickly followed by an abduction, and Enola returns home to find her landlady gone. Is the secret message connected in any way to Mrs. Tupper’s trip to Crimea?

Now it is up to Sherlock’s little sister to solve the mystery. What is that secret message? How does Mrs. Tupper’s abduction connect to Florence Nightingale, the world famous nurse who revolutionized healthcare? What did happen to poor old Mrs. Tupper? And, more importantly, why is her brother Sherlock involved?

A great mystery, middle school students will appreciate Enola’s brand of humor and decency as she attempts to resolve her investigation in a short volume. Fans of Sherlock Holmes will also appreciate his feminine version.

The story continues in The Case of the Left-Handed Lady.

What Happened to Cass McBride?

Giles, Gail. What Happened to Cass McBride? 2006. 212p. ISBN 978-0-316-16638-6. Available at FIC GIL on the library shelves.

Cass McBride is the queen of her high school. As a freshman, her poise, enthusiasm, and looks made her the envy of every girl, and the desire of every boy. She dates sport captains based on the season. And she’s looking forward to being the first junior ever elected to Prom Queen. Friendly but reserved, outgoing but secretive, Cass is like her father, callous and driven.

Imagine her surprise when David Kirby, the school loser, asks her out. She turns him down gently, but she writes a caustic note to her best friend about the bottom feeder who even dared to talk to her, and leaves it in her desk to be found next period. Too late, however, she realizes that David has grabbed the note and read it.

The next morning, Cass finds out that David has committed suicide and had pinned a death note to his chest. Was she the cause of his suicide? David’s big brother, Kyle, certainly thinks so, and vows revenge on Cass.

Kyle kidnaps Cass, and buries her alive. He wants her to suffer as much as he and David did. With a miserable home life and dysfunctional parents. Kyle and David were each other’s support, but when Kyle left for college David was left alone to fend his mother’s verbal and emotional assaults. Now, it’s time to avenge all the wrongs in the world, and Kyle doesn’t care how far he will have to go to derive satisfaction.

With Cass in the ground and time running out, can the police find out who abducted her and rescue her from her grave before she dies in it?

A great psychological thriller, this book will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time, even if the conclusion leaves you wanting. For more, consider All the Bright Places.

Happily Ever After

Cass, Kiera. Happily Ever After. 2015. 416p. ISBN 978-0-06-241408-3. Available at FIC CAS on the library shelves.

A companion volume to The Selection series and The Heir, Happily Ever After presents short novella about events that happened in the main books from the point of view of different characters. In “The Queen,” Amberly, Maxon’s mother, describes her courtship with Prince Clarkson and the evolution of their relationship during her own Selection. “The Prince” presents several events that take place in the story from Maxon’s point of view and the reader can see and feel his budding relationship with America, providing another look and another interpretation of events.

In “The Guard,” Aspen describes his feelings about being a guard in the royal palace and how he protects America. His feelings for Lucy are also explored. Marlee, America’s best friend, also gets her own novella in “The Favorite,” which describes how she fell in love with a guard and was punished for it by King Clarkson, as well as her ultimate redeeming when Maxon ascended the throne.

Finally, a few more stories, illustrations, and a map are included in this volume, with the most interesting being three scenes from the Selection and the Elite written from Celeste’s point of view.

Fans of the series will enjoy these different looks at critical parts of the novels and how others perceived the same events.

The Sinking of the USS Maine

Crompton, Samuel Willard. The Sinking of the USS Maine: Declaring War Against Spain. 2009. 114p. ISBN 978-1-60413-049-2. Available at 973.8 CRO on the library shelves.

The battleship U.S.S. Maine was one of the first ships to join the new steel Navy. Built in 1889, the Maine was assigned to the Atlantic fleet and made several trips in the Caribbean. It would come to symbolize America’s anger at Spain.

Long a strong imperial power, Spain had colonized all of Central and South America, but beginning at the turn of the century the Spanish Empire lost its colonies one at a time until only Cuba and Puerto Rico remained under their control. The Cuban people revolted in a bloody civil war that solved nothing, so a few decades later a new civil war began. This time, both sides were brutal in their attacks and their treatment of local populations. Concentration camps were erected, and many starved to death.

Seeing this misery, and agitated by a strong Cuban lobby in New York City, the United States expressed its wishes that peace would come to the island, and by an expansionist vision of US dominance of the American hemisphere. To protect American interests the Maine was dispatched to Havana.

On February 15, 1898, an explosion rocked the Maine, and the ship quickly sank, killing 260 sailors. Amid tensions between the two nations over the status of Cuba, the sinking of the Maine, attributed at the time to a Spanish mine, led down the path to war between the United States and Spain.

Over the course of the year, the United States and Spain fought a series of one-sided engagements which led to the defeat of the Spanish fleet near Santiago, Cuba, as well as of the Pacific squadron near Manilla, in the Philippines. American forces occupied Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, and in the end acquired a colonial empire.

This book tells the story of the Maine, as well as the actions taken by several major historical figures such as Clara Barton and Theodore Roosevelt that led to war, then an uneasy peace with Spain, and in the process vaulted the United States to the rank of world powers to be taken seriously by the old countries in Europe.

Vampire Assistant

Shan, Darren. Vampire Assistant. Book 2 of the Cirque du Freak Series. 2000. 256p. ISBN 9780316905725. Available at FIC SHA on the library shelves.

In Living Nightmare, Darren Shan was turned into a half-vampire by Mr. Crepsley in exchange for saving his friend’s life. He had to abandoned his family and faked his own death. Now, the two of them are living together, moving from place to place and never staying long. But Darren has not reconciled himself to the life of a vampire, and he continues to harbor the wish to kill Mr. Crepsley. He also refuses to drink the blood of a human.

After an unfortunate encounter with human boys his own age (he almost kills one of them by accident), Darren and Mr. Crepsley are forced to move on again, and Darren realizes he will never have friends again. Mr. Crepsley decides to rejoin the Cirque du Freak.

Darren is reunited with Evra Von, the Snake Boy, who’s not much older than he is, and they strike a quick friendship. The two of them also meet a local boy, Sam Grest, who wants to join the Circus to be with them. Unfortunately, Steve doesn’t know that they have special “talents” and that, as a regular human, he cannot become a member of the troop. The three of them run into Reggie Veggie, an eco-warrior there to oppose the building of a new road. Though RV, as he calls himself, is quirky and fun, he also is very interested in how the animals at the Cirque are treated, and he is especially concerned with the fate of the Wolfman.

As the Cirque gets ready for its final presentation in the countryside, everything is about to go wrong and change Darren’s life forever….