In the Reading Spotlight - The Carbon Diaries
The Carbon Diaries by Saci Lloyd is a series that takes place in England as the global environmental crisis deepens. In The Carbon Diaries 2015, Laura Brown is a pretty ordinary London teenager; then England decides to be the first country to "ration carbon". What does this mean? Every person in the country gets a certain amount of energy they are allowed to use each month; when it is gone they can't drive, buy food, heat their homes or use electricity in any way until they get more "points" the next month. It is a radical shift in how people think about using energy, and it goes down hard. Laura's diary of the first year of Carbon Rationing is riveting.
In The Carbon Diaries 2017 the crisis is spreading. As Laura's band takes off on a tour of Europe, drought and famine have Africans desperate to get into Europe, flash floods hit across Europe to destroy towns and wipe out crops, and frighteningly facist political parties are winning elections all over Europe, with enevitable clashes with protesting groups. As Laura struggles to get home, the world seems to spin out of control.
In the Reading Spotlight - A Family Secret
In A Family Secret, we see the effect that living under Nazi Occupation had on one family in Amsterdam. Living under Occupation and deciding what to do to try to keep yourself and your family safe tore this family apart, as each person made their own choices about balancing safety with the need to help those being persecuted by the Nazis. The result was so traumatic that the family chose to bury the past.
Eric Heuvel wrote this graphic novel as a companion to The Secret, the story of a Jewish girl in Amsterdam and her survival. The main character in A Family Secret is her best friend.
In the Reading Spotlight - A Conspiracy of Kings
Sophos, heir to a throne, practices sword play, war games and other escape practices under the guidance of a tutor. Nothing, however, prepares him for the day when armed men attack the villa, and kidnap him. He is smuggled far away from home and sold as a slave. Was his Father a part of this plot? Sophos always felt he was a huge disappointment to him. Sophos accepts his current circumstance, and sorts out his thoughts on who he can trust, and what he has learned that will now be useful in this new world. He realizes he must escape to make his way home to find out what has happened to his Sisters and Mother, whom he fears were also kidnapped and forced into slavery. Complicated plot, but, a worthy read.
Review by Barb Husch - Forestville Branch
A Conspiracy of Kings by Megan Whalen Turner is the fourth book in the Attolia Series.
In the Reading Spotlight - In The Small
What would happen if, suddenly, every human being on Earth shrunk to 6 inches tall? What kind of problems would they face? Michael Hague's graphic novel In The Small takes us into the world just as a strange blue light changes the future of humanity. It follows two groups of now very tiny humans as they navigate a towering new reality. The cities are filled with horrors and dangers, but so are the suburbs; all the animals are still their ordinary sizes... (nice Kitty...). A beautiful and terrifying look at a shocking "what if?"
In The Reading Spotlight - Spider-Man: Noir
Spider Man re-imagined. What is his origin story? Who killed Uncle Ben? When did all this start? In this fantastic graphic novel the artists and writers start fresh. Imagine New York in 1933. The Great Depression, prohibition, food lines, gangsters, socialist agitators, corruption rising to the highest levels; and in to this all, throw Peter Parker. Noir means black, and this is a dark and terrible time to become Spider Man. Come in to the Parlor...
In the Reading Spotlight - Wonderland
Mary Ann! Mary Ann! The White Rabbit spent most of Alice in Wonderland wondering where his missing maid had gone. He even mistook Alice for his missing helper (we all look alike, you know). Well what do you think happened after the Alice Monster went home? In this fantastic graphic novel written by Tommy Kovac and illustrated by Sonny Liew, Mary Ann returns to the White Rabbit's house only to find that the Alice Monster has caused a huge stir. Soon enough she and the White Rabbit are on the run from the Red Queen (the Rabbit for Treason and Mary Ann for an assault on the royal skull). If you prefer to peek through the Looking Glass, this story is for you.
In the Reading Spotlight - My Antonia in Wisconsin
By now you may have heard us talking about The Big Read Door County 2010 book, My Antonia by Willa Cather. Her character Antonia Shimerda homesteaded with her family in the late 1800's in Nebraska. And you thought being a teenager was tough now. For a look at what it was like in Wisconsin at that time, check out Michael Lesy's 1973 book Wisconsin Death Trip. Filled with photos and newspaper clippings that date from 1885-1900, this book makes the past shockingly real.
In The Reading Spotlight - Graceling and Fire by Kristin Cashore
Kristin Cashore has created a stunning fantasy world for us in her two recent books; Graceling and Fire.
Graceling takes readers inside the world of Katsa, a warrior-girl in her late teens with one blue eye and one green eye. This gives her haunting beauty, but also marks her as a Graceling. Gracelings are beings with special talents—swimming, storytelling, dancing. Katsa's Grace is considered more useful: her ability to fight (and kill, if she wanted to) is unequaled in the seven kingdoms. Forced to act as a henchman for a manipulative king, Katsa channels her guilt by forming a secret council of like-minded citizens who carry out secret missions to promote justice over cruelty and abuses of power.
She is the last of her kind... It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossibly irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her.
Read these books if you love a fantasy world and characters you can really lose your self in.
Brave New Worlds - Avatar and other Science Fiction
Avatar, the new James Cameron movie, takes place on a world where humans are the aliens... and the natives are suspicious. If you like this movie, check out some of our books where humans are the aliens.
One of my favorites is The Right To Arm Bears by Gordon Dickson
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Planet Dilbia is in a crucial location for both humans and their adversaries, the Hemnoids. Therefore making friends with the Dilbians and establishing a human presence there is of the utmost importance, which may be a problem, since the bearlike Dilbians stand some nine feet tall, and have a high regard for physical prowess. They're not impressed by human technology, either. A real man, er, bear doesn't need machines to do his work for him.
But Dilbians "are" impressed by sharp thinking, and some have expressed a grudging admiration for the logical (and usually sneaky) mental maneuvers that the human "shorties" have used to get themselves out of desperate jams. Just maybe that old human craftiness will win over the Dilbians to the human side. If not, we lose a nexus, and the Dilbians will learn just how unbearable Hemnoids can be....
If you have a favorite Human off of Earth book, Contact Youth Services to share it!
In The Reading Spotlight - Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?
Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader? by Neil Gaiman. Oh Wow. Ok, so first of all Neil Gaiman is a Great Author. He deserves the capital letters, people. He was given the chance to write the last Batman story, and given really fantastically talented artists to draw it for him. This is the result. I really loved Batman before this, but OH MY HEART! I Loved this. How does the Batman story end? The only way it can, of course: Batman dies. He goes down fighting, never compromising, never giving up. But how did it happen? So many ways, so many times... and what happens when it's over? This is why he gets the capital letters. Read this Graphic Novel.
