Augustus

Baum, Margaux and Fiona Forsyth. Augustus. Part of the Leaders of the Ancient World series. 2017. 112p. ISBN 978-1-5081-7242-0. Available at B AUG on the library shelves.

The assassination of Julius Caesar caused a major upheaval in Rome. Two sides quickly coalesced. Caesar’s assassins believed they were doing the will of the Senate, but a triumvirate soon emerged to challenge them in the name of the people of Rome. Mark Anthony, one of Caesar’s generals made a deal with Octavian, Caesar’s great nephew and appointed heir, along with Lepidus. The three of them crushed the assassins’ faction and divided the Roman world among themselves.

Octavian had limited military experience, but was politically savvy and carried the people’s devotion for Caesar. Over the next decade, Octavian would skillfully maneuver himself into the position of first citizen of Rome, effectively achieving what Caesar had not. Through yet another civil war, this time against Mark Anthony, Octavian emerged victorious and in sole command of Rome’s sprawling lands.

Over the next decades, Octavian, who was renamed Augustus by the Senate, implemented a host of reforms to increase the bureaucracy’s efficiency, improve Rome’s military posture, and rebuilt the city of Rome through a massive public works program. He also influenced the morals of Roman society by leading an austere lifestyle. His contributions to Rome set up the pattern for the next three hundred years. As the first Emperor, Augustus remains one of the most famous persons of Antiquity.

Titles in the Leaders of the Ancient World include:

• Julius Caesar
• Cleopatra

• Augustus

• Cicero

• Nero

• Hadrian

• Constantine

The Usagi Yojimbo Saga

Sakai, Stan. The Usagi Yojimbo Saga. 2014. 619p. ISBN 978-1-63008-081-5. Available as an eBook from Overdrive.

Usagi Yojimbo is a fearless ronin samurai in 17th century Japan. He wanders the land, looking for opportunities to help in a land that was ravaged by a deadly civil wars between warlords for control of the country. In various stories involving assassins, ninjas, and evil men, an overarching tale of good, evil, treachery and revenge emerges in a beautifully rendered graphic format that still adheres to historical accuracy. Fans of graphic novels will enjoy Usagi’s adventures and exploits.

Closing Down Heaven

Choyce, Lesley. Closing Down Heaven. 2016. 176p. ISBN 978-0-8899-5543-1. Available at FIC CHO on the library shelves.

Hunter’s life is pretty unremarkable. No one ever truly looks at him at school, or pays attention to him. For sixteen years he’s felt on the outskirts of humanity, not truly a part of it. When a bike ride in the woods goes horribly wrong, Hunter finds himself in a warm and comfortable place. Archie welcomes him, but can’t really answer any of Hunter’s questions about what this place is or what he is supposed to do here. Hunter questions Archie if this is heaven, and Archie tells him it may be. Hunter is curious if there is a God, but Archie avoids the question.

Hunter then notices there is another person here. Trinity is a girl from his school, and they were in sixth grade together. She asks Hunter the same questions he had asked Archie, and he’s not sure how to answer. He shares with her how he died, and she tells him that she overdosed, but it happens almost three months later, yet almost no time has passed for Hunter.

Archie returns and informs Hunter that a decision was made to close heaven down, and therefore everyone must return to Earth, starting with the most recent arrivals. Trinity vanishes, and soon it’s Hunter’s turn. He awakens back by his crumpled bike, and is found by searchers. Hunter is bothered by fragments of thoughts he had while in heaven, and everything comes back to him. Can he save Trinity from her fate?

Told in free-verses, this short book will appeal to fans of poetry and those who are interested in second chances.

Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees

Leatherdale, Mary Beth and Eleanor Shakespeare. Stormy Seas: Stories of Young Boat Refugees. 2017. 56p. ISBN 978-1-55451-895-1. Available at 305.9 LEA on the library shelves.

Children seeking refuge in another country were in the news during the spring of 2018, but this phenomenon is ancient. People, including children flee their homes for a variety of reasons, including wars, violence, climate change, and a lack of opportunities. For most, the decision to leave represents a hope that life will be better elsewhere. Others have no choice and did not want to leave.

Though every journey is different, most refugee stories share similarities of abuse and despair along one of the most harrowing trek anyone will ever make. Stormy Seas presents the journey five youths have made to a new home over the last eighty years. Each person tells his or her story in their own words, providing a vivid look at a reality most of us will never, thankfully, have to experience. Background information to each event is provided, and the gorgeous illustrations facilitate comprehension of this difficult topic.

Readers interested in resilience and the triumph of hope over despair will appreciate how each youth survived their journey and overcame the obstacles standing in their way to achieve a relative level of peace and security they would not have found at home.

Flawless

Shepard, Sara. Flawless. Book 2 of the Pretty Little Liars series. 2007. 330p. ISBN 0-06-088735-4. Available at FIC SHE on the library shelves.

In middle school, Alison, Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer were at Alison’s house, and they decided to prank Toby Cavanaugh, the town creep and step-brother of their friend Jenna. Toby was always lighting fireworks, so Alison sneaks to Toby’s treehouse and releases a firecracker. Unfortunately, it burns the treehouse, and Jenna, who was inside, is permanently blinded.

Now juniors in high school, the girls are receiving strange messages from someone referring to themselves as A, who threatens to reveal all of their secrets. They suspect that it is Alison, who disappeared back in 7th grade, but in Pretty Little Liars, Alison was found dead beneath the concrete floor of a gazebo in her backyard. Her four former best friends were relieved, but they are still worried because A is out there, knowing all of their secrets.

When they realized that Toby, Jenna’s step-brother, has moved back to town, the girls think he’s the one going by the initial A. Aria, Emily, Hanna, and Spencer keep receiving messages, and their personal lives are slowly degrading. And Toby seems to be everywhere they look. Meanwhile, Aria is still attracted to her Ezra, her English teacher, but when the secret that her dad and one of his graduate students are sleeping together comes out, her mother can’t forgive her. Spencer is still attracted to Wren, her older sister’s former boyfriend, and she travels to Philadelphia to meet with him several times. But her heart’s about to be broken. And Hanna reconnects with her father, who has ignored her for the last few years. On a weekend getaway, he surprises her with the presence of his new wife and stepdaughter. Hanna had a bad experience with her the last time, but this time both girls appear to be cool with each other. Emily is still unsure of whether she is gay. She’s attracted to Maya, but her parents frown upon this relationship because of Maya’s race. They don’t know their perfect daughter is a lesbian, so Emily once again attempts to date a boy, and she and Toby become an item.

With the stakes even higher, the girls all try to keep their secrets from each other, but A’s taunts force them to once again gather and attempt to solve this mystery. If is it indeed Toby pretending to be A, how can they stop him?

The story continues in Perfect.

The Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire. Part of the Empires in the Middle Ages series. 2018. 48p. ISBN 978-1-68048-780-0. Available at 949.5 BYZ on the library shelves.

The Roman Empire’s expanse became ungovernable by one individual, and plans were made to split it into two different, more manageable parts. In the West, Rome eventually fell to barbarians in the 400s. In the East, Constantinople remained the seat of an evolving Roman power for another thousand years. The Byzantine Empire, descending Rome, was more oriented eastward. Its language was Greek, and it followed the Orthodox Church’s teaching instead of Rome’s Catholic Church. It survived as an entity by constantly adapting to its neighbors and by possessing an attractive culture. Its population was multicultural, and it contained numerous religions.

The emergency of Islam on the Empire’s southern borders led to numerous conflicts that continually cost it territories and treasure, and eventually led to its conquest in 1453. Relations with its European neighbors were not much better, with several Crusades diverted to conquer vast sways of the Byzantine Empire. Through it all, however, Constantinople and the Empire radiated culture, providing the world with massive monuments such as the Hagia Sophia. Its mitigated historical impact as the heir of Rome makes the Byzantine Empire an interesting study in the advantages and flaws of a cosmopolitan Empire.

Titles in the Empires in the Middle Ages series include:

• The Crusades
• The Holy Roman Empire
• The Islamic Caliphate
• The Mongol Empire
• The Ottoman Empire

Solo

Alexander, Kwame. Solo. 2017. 464p. ISBN 9780310761839. Available as an audiobook on Overdrive.

Rutherford Morrison is multi-millionaire star that struck it rich with amazing music, Morrison eventually lost his guiding star when his wife, died of a heart attack following an allergic reaction to a bee sting. Now addicted to drugs and hoping to accomplish a comeback that never concretizes, Rutherford is more famous for his antics and his myriad rehab stints than his music.

Morrison has two kids, Storm and Blade. Storm has released her own music album, but everyone except her find it a terrible mismash of sounds and a clear lack of talent. Blade is ready to graduate high school and move on. He misses his mother terribly, and he wishes his father would reconnect with the music he loved so much. Blade is in love with Chapel, a beautiful girl, but her parents have forbidden them seeing each other based on the pretext they don’t want her introduced to drugs, even though Blade is the opposite of Rutherford.

When the valedictorian bows out, Blade, as salutatorian, is expected to deliver a speech. A born songwriter and poet, Blade is encouraged by Chapel to write a song instead of a speech and perform it in front of his peers. Unfortunately, Blade’s performance never gets off the ground as his father, drunk and high, crashes graduation on a motorcycle accompanied by a scantily clad woman. In an event recorded by many and posted online, Rutherford ruins Blade’s graduation. During a particularly epic fight that night, Storm reveals that Blade is in fact adopted.

Crushed by this revelation, Blade turns to Chapel for comfort, only to discover her in someone else’s arms. Feeling abandoned by the love of his life and by a birth mother who gave him up and never looked for him, Blade decides to look for her. Unfortunately, she now works in Ghana as a missionary. Blade resolves to find her and forge a relationship with someone he didn’t know he missed until now. Will going to Ghana help Blade heal his mind and emotions from his chaotic life?

Filled with mentions of rock and roll and interspersed with original songs, this audiobook is a classic coming of age and finding oneself novel using a slightly different approach. Blade is self-centered, but he is a realistic teenager, and his desire to know more about his roots and reconnect to the music he loves drives this story. Readers who enjoy books about music will appreciate this tale.