Top 50 Reasons to Care About Polar Bears

Hirsch, Rebecca E. Top 50 Reasons to Care About Polar Bears. Part of the Top 50 Reasons to Care series. 2010. 104p. ISBN 978-0-7660-3458-7. Available at 599.786 on the library shelves.

Polar bears are iconic animals. Ideally suited to live in the arctic, polar bears have struck the popular imagination, but they are at risk due to global warming and the melting of the sea ice in the Arctic. Evolved from brown bears, fossils from polar bears have found, indicating that the split happened at least 120,000 years ago. Polar bears have transparent fur that looks white due to the way it reflects the light. This allows them to camouflage on the snow as they hunt their prey. The largest land carnivore on Earth, polar bears are excellent swimmers. Though they don't hibernate, they do spend months without eating when food is scarce in the summer due to the absence of ice.

Female polar bears have a litter of two cubs every three years on average, and the youths stay with their mother for about two years before striking out on their own. They build a den and spend up to eight months nursing their young after birth. During this time, female bears do not eat, which means they must pack on the food before delivering their cubs.

Polar bears are entrenched in the Inuit culture, and are also popular in cultures that surround the Arctic. They are threatened not only by climate change, but also by human encroachment on their territories. Due to the lack of food in the spring and summer, many bears migrate to human settlements to scrounge through garbage. Toxins that accumulate in fish and other animals also ultimately end up in polar bears and can be passed to cubs through nursing. Ultimately, humans can prevent polar bear extinction, but it will take significant conservation efforts to do so.

Black Butler, Vol. 28

Toboso, Yana. Black Butler, Vol. 28. 2018. 176p. ISBN 9784757557956. Available in the graphic novels section of the library.

Following the revelation in Black Butler, Vol. 27 that Ciel Phanthomhive had indeed survived his sacrifice and that the current Earl was in fact his younger twin brother, Sebastian, the devil of a butler, wonders how Ciel could have made it through that harrowing experience. The Undertaker makes an appearance, and discloses that he was the one behind Ciel's miraculous recovery. The Blue Star of Sirius, the plot from the Music Hall, the undead uprising on the ship liner Campania, and the missing at the private school, all of these events were connected to Ciel, who with the Undertaker's help was pulling the strings behind the scene.

Just then, two Grim Reapers join the chaotic scene, and attempt to arrest the Undertaker, a former Grim Reaper himself. The situation is further upended when Scotland Yard moves in. With the evidence against him, Phanthomhive the younger is arrested, along with his butler, and are taken away by paddy wagon. Sebastian engineers an escape, and Phantomhive is reunited with his trusted servants. Meanwhile, the real Ciel Phanthomhive claims the manor as his own, and begins to plan his return to normal life.

Now on the run, can Phanthomhive regain his title, with the help of his butler?

Dune

Herbert, Frank. Dune. Book 1 of the Dune series. 1990. 535p. ISBN 978-0-329-05537-0. Available at FIC HER on the library shelves.

Duke Leto Atreides represents an ascending House in the Imperium, and his strong military is perceived as a menace by the Emperor. Hatching a plan to get rid of this troublesome House, Duke Atreides is given command of the planet Arrakis, once controlled by House Harkonnen. Arrakis is important because this is where spice is harvested. Spice enables space navigators to travel the stars, and he who controls the spice trade sits on a colossal fortune. Following the transition of power, Harkonnen troops, assisted by imperial elite units, will attack Arrakis, eliminate Atreides, and allow the Emperor to avoid the appearance of choosing sides.

Sensing a trap, Duke Leto nonetheless accepts the command, as he hopes to strike an alliance with the Fremen, the fanatical inhabitants of Arrakis. He moves to Arrakis with his concubine, Jessica, and their son, Paul. Accompanied with military experts, they take control of the planet and foil several Harkonnen assassination attempts. Undermined from within, Duke Leto succumbs during a surprise attack, and the Atreides are defeated at the hands of Baron Harkonnen. Paul and Jessica escape into the desert, and soon join forces with the Fremen. 

Acclaimed as the savior, Paul soon takes control of the Fremen, and leads them into an assault on the Harkonnens and the imperial troops. 

One of the best science fiction adventures, Dune is part political treatise, part philosophy, part religious allegory, and a whole lot of adventure. Fans of gritty space stories will appreciate Paul's drive to survive and defeat his enemies while understanding his struggle to accept his destiny as savior.

Leadership Case Studies in Education

Northouse, Peter G. and Marie Lee. Leadership Case Studies in Education. 3rd Ed. 2022. 152p. ISBN 9781071816820. 

Leaders face dilemma every day, and though everyone agrees that leadership is essential, not everyone agrees on the definition of what leadership is. As a result, many theories of leadership have been developed over the years to attempt to answer the most important questions: what is leadership, and how do organizations help leaders emerge? In this short book, fifteen leadership theories are summarized, along with case studies for both the K-12 and college environments.

From the trait approach to adaptive leadership, this short book explores the diverse leadership theories that have been created over the years, looking at how people have described leadership and what characteristics they identified as important for leaders to possess. Anyone in a leadership position or aspiring to lead an organization will appreciate the advice contained in this book, even if ultimately one's leadership style will never be determined by theories but rather by facts on the ground.

Diary of a Middle School Zombie: No Zombie Left Behind

Zombie, Zack. Diary of a Middle School Zombie: No Zombie Left Behind. Book 1 of the Diary of a Middle School Zombie series. 2019. 215p. ISBN 9781949216035. Available at FIC ZOM on the library shelves.

Zombie doesn't remember his life before returning as a Zombie, but for the last four years he's lived in a camp for displaced zombies. When Kenya, his social worker, mentions that she is welcoming him to live with her family in HumanTown, Zombie is thrilled. What could possibly go wrong? Turns out, plenty. First, Kenya might have overlooked telling her husband Kyle and daughter Cassie that Zombie was joining them. Then, she didn't have a bedroom ready for him. Then Zombie had to learn how to navigate proper human etiquette (showering, brushing teeth), while contending with a girl's sleepover and making friends with weird kid Franklin. Through it all, Zombie retains a gross sense of humor and keeps on documenting everything that happens to him in the diary Kenya gave him.

Fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid will appreciate Zombie's tale, told in a very similar fashion, if slightly grosser. The images help move the story forward, and combine with what appears to be hand-written text to create a fast-moving story.

Stone Fruit

 Lai, Lee. Stone Fruit. 2021. 236p. ISBN 9781683964261. 

Ray and her sister Amanda always fought as children, and their relationship as adults is not much better. Ray did agree to help out with Nessie, Amanda's daughter, when Amanda went through a painful divorce, and now Auntie Ray takes Nessie on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Ray is in a couple with Bron, another woman whom Amanda doesn't like much, but Nessie adores Bron, who comes up with the best games and songs outside. At six, Nessie doesn't care about relationships and just wants to have fun.

Tensions simmer between Ray and Bron on one hand, and Ray and Amanda on the other. Bron needs space, and can't be emotionally there for Ray as she figures out what is happening in her life. She returns to her parents, a couple who is deeply religious, and to her little sister, who turned 16 and understands more than Bron could express. Left alone, Ray wallows in despair, but then decide to patch up her relationship with her sister, while Nessie demands to know what has happened to Bron.

Working to figure out who they are and how they should relate to one another, the triangle between Ray, Bron and Amanda is difficult at time to observe, but as each character grow, they discover that their lives may not be as different as they thought they were.

Top 50 Reasons to Care About Giant Pandas

Firestone, Mary. Top 50 Reasons to Care About Giant Pandas. Part of the Animals in Peril series. 2010. 104p. ISBN 9780766034518. Available at 599.789 FIR on the library shelves.

Pandas are some of the cutest animals out there, but they are endangered. Their wild habitat has been steadily shrinking, and a combination of environmental factors and encroaching human activities threaten their survival. This book presents 50 different information about pandas, including their biology and their behavior, their habitat, the threats that they face, conservation efforts to save them, and the role that pandas play in Chinese culture and beyond.