King County Library System - Library Talk. - February 2009

I just heard of a really neat way to keep track of your library card number: take a digital picture of it, keep it on your pda or phone and scan the barcode at self checkout directly from the screen! I know of other people who keep their library card number (without the barcode) on their pda or in the contacts file on their phone. And if you're using the library catalog from a mobile device, have you tried the fast-loading text catalog?

Sometimes I read a novel that's from the children's or teen collection, and I want to ask for copies to be cataloged as adult books just so that adults won't overlook it.  That's the case with Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez. 

Return to Sender looks at the impact of illegal immigration from the perspective of two twelve-year-olds, Tyler and Mari.  Tyler is the youngest of three children in a Vermont family that has farmed the same land for generations.  When his father is injured and can't work, his parents decide to hire several Mexican men to help out.  Tyler knows that without help, his family will lose their farm.  He also knows that hiring undocumented workers is illegal, and his parents don't usually break the law.   Tyler is conflicted and confused, and since his grandfather's death, without anyone to help him sort it out.

One of the men brings along his three daughters, and the oldest, Mari, joins Tyler's class at school.  Mari is worried.  Her mother is missing, and Mari is afraid that she'll return to their old apartment in South Carolina and not know where the family has gone.  Mari also worries about la migra, the immigration officers who could come at any time to send her father back to Mexico.  Her younger sisters were born in the U.S., but Mari wasn't, and while she's not technically American, she's no longer really Mexican, either. 

Tyler and Mari travel a rocky road as they work out their complicated relationship.  Cultural differences, family loyalty, and peer pressure all make it difficult for them to relate to one another, but as time passes, each learns more about how similar they are.  In the end, they can provide support for each other when it's needed.

Alvarez is honest about the challenges faced by two different families who have lost their ability to make a living by farming their own land.  Both have, as a last resort, broken the law in an attempt to provide for their families.  It is a complex issue that is treated with compassion and thoughtfulness, and while there aren't any easy solutions, Return to Sender does offer hope. 

Marcelo Sandoval is not what you would call normal. Although not exactly autistic, he has many of the behaviors found in people diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, including difficulty reading people's emotions and a tendency to talk at great length about "special subjects" (Marcelo's is religion). He is also filled with what he calls "internal music," a sort of personal soundtrack that only he can hear. Arturo, worried his son is too insulated from normal society, brings Marcelo to his law firm to work for the summer. A picture of a disfigured girl and a friendship with coworker Jasmine sets Marcelo on a journey of discovery into the complexities and subtleties of "the real world."

Some may find this book reminiscent of Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, but what sets Marcelo in the Real World apart is Marcelo's immense growth as a character. Although reluctant to leave the insular world he has created for himself, Marcelo does recognize that he is doing himself no favors by playing it safe. He learns that pushing himself to met new people and experience new things, while often panic-inducing, is immensely rewarding. He also learns that the real world is a place where people must judge good from bad and do what they believe is right, even if it means helping some people while hurting others. In short, Marcelo, like all of us, learns some of the universal truths of what it means to be human. This eloquent and beautiful novel is not to be missed.

Do you want to be smarter about American History? I'm slowly filling in the gaps in my education, or more accurately filling in the gaps in what I was told in my education. If you're willing to seek it out, you can read some excellent scandalous, bloodcurdling, shocking, and astounding facts about our nation and its people. If you'd like to start with some bite sized meaty history, take a look at American National Biography Online, one of the KCLS subscription databases. It's from Oxford University Press, so it has a bit of English spin on the more than 17,000 articles about the people who shaped US history. And do be prepared to really take some time to exercise your brain-- this is good stuff. If you don't know where to start, read the featured biography of the day. And if you want more, there is a biography of the week and biography podcast of the fortnight available for free from the sister publication, the UK's Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

Eileen Dreyer worked as a trauma nurse for many years, so her stories are authentic as can be, although you may wonder at some of the situations her characters get into.  With a Vengeance is the story of Maggie O'Brien, an emergency room nurse with extra training to be the nurse accompanying the SWAT team.  They call her SwatBabe. Maggie has an affinity working with the delusional and schizophrenic; she listens to them and offers comfort.  But when Montana Bob dies because of the CIA and aliens monitoring his brain (his tin foil hat quit working) she wonders why he said that "they" killed Urban, Dog, Sancho, and Snake. She discovers that the four were the worst kind of criminals, pedophile, gangbanger and murderers, whom many believed that they deserved to die.  But it looks like they may have been helped. One more criminal may have died because she was overheard to angrily say "let's kill him", as she held his little boy after he tried to set him on fire.  Maggie knows that by doing her own investigation into the evil mens' deaths, she will turn everyone at the hospital (where the victims were cared for) and the police (who had to haul the criminals in repeatedly) against her. Still she can't condone the murder of criminals; for one thing it would make her just like her father, Tommy, who believed in his own justice at just about any price. 

She knew that one of her friends or partners had succumbed to "fixing" the bad guys by killing them . By exposing the murderer she would be exposing all of them to the scrutiny of an accusing press, internal police investigations and hospital boards. She would also destroy the camaraderie developed by working with life and death issues every day.  Maggie has to make some very difficult choices.
 
With a Vengeance is dark and funny, full of gallows humor, much of it politically incorrect; just like the way good friends and lovers can talk to each other. Eileen Dreyer accurately depicts the boredom, fear, and the adrenaline rush in the life-threatening situations found in emergency rooms and at police stake-outs. At least I believed that it was accurate. Read  With a Vengeance for yourself and let me know.

Saffy's Angel by Hilary McKay

The large Casson family inhabits an unconventional life on the outskirts of London.  Both  Mother Eve and father Bill are are artists, but father Bill lives in London as he needs space and quiet for his "art".  The real life of the family revolves around Eve in the large and ramshackle house in the untidy garden.  Their four children are Cadmium, Indigo, Rose and Saffron.  The first three of the children have been named from the color wheel and when Saffy (Saffron) begins to wonder why she wasn't named the same way she stumbles into the knowledge that she is adopted; she is actually the siblings cousin.  The bequest of a stone angel in the will of her grandfather leads to a shadowy memory of living in Siena, Italy with her mother before her mother's death in a traffic accident.  With the assistance of her friend Sarah she stows away on Sarah's family vacation to Italy to find the stone angel, and perhaps her place in the world and where she really belongs. There is so much to love here: Cadmium, the oldest sibling has had hundreds of hours of driving lessons but still is so bad she can't pass the test.  Could it be the handsome driving instructor?  Brother Indigo finds a novel (but dangerous) way to toughen himself up and Rose discovers ways to get her way with their absent father. 

Luckily for us there are four sequels so far: Indigo's Star, Permanent Rose, Caddy Ever After and Forever Rose. 

 

Do you like a good police thriller? Then check out The Dark Tide by Andrew Gross, 'cos its definitely got the goods: lots of plot twists, character development that enhanced the plot without bogging it down, exotic Caribbean locales, and enough action to keep things moving without spinning them out of control. On the whole, its a nice balance of elements that makes this one of the better representatives of its genre.

Here's the skinny: Charles Friedman, a successful east-coast investment broker with a dark secret, tragically dies in a terrorist attack in Grand Central Station. His wife, beautiful and resourceful Karen, and his two kids are devastated. As they gradually pick up the pieces, they are suddenly approached by intimidating strangers that seek repayment for enormous sums of money that Charles seems to have lost or stolen. As their demands become more threatening, Karen turns to local detective Ty Hauck, who is investigating a seemingly unrelated hit-and-run that occured in Greenwich, Connecticut on the same day as the attack in New York City. Something about the victim, a red-haired young man named Abel Raymond, keys in on a tragic event in Ty's own personal history and won't let go of him. Gradually, evidence is uncovered that links the hit-and-run with the shady dealings of Karen's dead husband. Motivated by his crime-solving instincts, the growing mutual attraction between himself and Karen, and his own painful past, Detective Hauck starts to cross boundaries and break rules in his obsessive quest for the truth.

While this may all sound pretty familiar, the author handles the material with aplomb. The dialogue never seems over-the-top; it sounds like real people talking about real situations, though those situations are extraordinarily tense at times. Furthermore, the characters don't seems stereotyped even though, as a detective thriller, the book is by definition a bit formulaic. Andrew Gross seems to know how to add just enough character development to make us care about the characters without sacrificing the forward momentum of the plot, which as always is the key element in this genre. Yes, there is some violence and some sex and a few shocking twists, but these are measured in such a way that the book isn't ABOUT violence, sex and shock-value. There is a nice sense of maturity about this book.

On the whole, I found The Dark Tide to be an engrossing read. Check it out and see what you think!

I recently remembered a story I heard when I was much younger, but it was so strange I wasn't sure I recalled it correctly. On Miss Havisham's wedding day everyone arrives but the groom. She shuts the doors, she covers the windows, stops the clocks. Through the years her estate falls to ruin, the wedding cake on her great table sinks below webs and mice, the wedding gown she still wears yellows. She adopts a beautiful little girl, Estella, and raises her with only one purpose: Estella is to break men's hearts. This is a small part of Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations.

In school Dickens' characters puzzled me. I shared Pip's confusion when Miss Havisham stared greedily at the boy, whispering to Estella, "Break his heart..." Wemmick the law clerk has literally made his small home into a castle, moat and all, to separate his home life from his work life. Orlick, a villain, "dances at" Biddy whenever he can catch her eye on the marshes. As the narrator of Great Expectations, Pip was like a real person walking through a cartoon world.

As an adult I see more realism in Dickens' characters. They can be larger than life, but they are also distilled versions of people we know. If Miss Havisham wasn't real in some way, when I remembered her years later I wouldn't have reached for Great Expectations again.

It's great to see a first time novelist hit one out of the park. Or in this case, out of the woods. Irish author Tana French's novel In the Woods, is a complex psychological thriller murder mystery. Got all that?

Police detective Rob Ryan and his partner Cassie Maddox are assigned to the case of murdered child Katy Devlin. They know something odd is going on in Katy's hometown, the little Dublin suburb called Knocknaree. There are old animosities hovering about as well as witnesses who seem to know nothing or way too much.
Additionally, there is an archaeological dig standing in the path of a new motorway through Knocknaree, and the twenty year old mystery of two children who disappeared without a trace. Two children that just so happen to be Rob Ryan's childhood best friends. As the only witness, and even a possible suspect, Detective Ryan walks the line between wanting to solve the murder of Katy and dreading that he might discover what actually happened to his friends.

French bites off a lot in her first go around.  She does police procedural, complicated character study, forensic investigation, and suspense drama all in one novel. But as the novel races to its conclusion, you'll be impressed at how she pulls it all together and blown away by how she ends it. A very satisfying read.

Lisa Kleypas weaves a story about four misfits in Victorian England. Annabelle, Lillian, Evie and Daisy are all wallflowers, young women incapable of making a match. Alone, they are victims of society, but together they vow to help each other find husbands and maybe even love.

The quartet begins with Secrets of a Summer Night, where a house party offers Annabelle Peyton the chance to catch a husband, by fair means or foul. Although beautiful and well-bred, Annabelle is poor, so she needs a wealthy husband. She doesn't even consider Simon Hunt, the rich industrialist whose illicit kiss she's tried to forget. Simon can't quite forget her either, but he doesn't want to marry anyone, let alone a woman who considers him an upstart commoner. When he offers to make his mistress instead, sparks fly, and they both begin to reevaluate their assumptions.

The story continues in It Happened One Autumn. Lillian Bowman, the daughter of an American industrialist, thinks Marcus, the Earl of Westcliff, must be the stuffies Brit she's met since crossing the pond. Marcus thinsk Lillian is a hoyden with too much spirit and no sense. But despite their mutual irritation with each other (or perhaps because of it) attraction zings between them. When Lillian starts a risky flirtation with another man, Marcus must decide if he's willing to sacrifice love for propriety.

In the Devil in Winter, shy Evangeline Jenner lives under the oppression of her maternal relatives. Evie is the antithesis of Annabelle; rich but without great beauty or noble blood. Her father, the notorious owner of a London gaming club, is ill and her relatives refuse to let her visit him. Even worse, they decide that she must wed her despicable cousin to keep her father's fabulous (if scandalous) wealth in the family. Evie knows she must take matters into her own hands, even if it means bargaining with a devil. The devil in question is Sebastian, the decadent and dissipated Lord St. Vincent. Sebastian tried to elope with one of Evie's wealthy friends, so she knows that he needs a rich wife. If he will agree to a marriage of convenience and let her see her father, she's more than happy to oblige.

The last Wallflower to find love is Daisy, Lillian's eccentric sister. In Scandal in Spring, Daisy's social climbing parents give her an ultimatum: find a noble husband ASAP or marry Matthew Swift, her father's protege. Daisy can't imagine a worse fate. Matthew is just like her father, dull, ambitious and much too obsessed with business. But when he arrives from America, Matthew isn't quite how Daisy remembered. He's charming, sweet and... secretive. Daisy can't stand to let a secret go unexplored, but discovering this one may keep them apart.

The Wallflowers are fun, feisty heroines and their respective mates are dashing and irascible, just as romantic heroes should be. Evie and Sebastian are by far my favorites, perhaps because Evie is so pragmatic and Sebastian is so sardonic. The Victorian social strata are accurately defined, although bent a bit in usage. These are romances, not historical novels. Friendship is the theme here, not just between the girls, but between their husbands as well. Lisa Kleypas knows how to make you cheer for the underdog and root for the odd couple. Look for other Wallflower cameos in The Wallflower Christmas (about Lillian and Daisy's brother) and in Kleypas' novels, Mine Till Midnight and Seduce Me at Sunrise.

It is winter of 1904, at least for those on earth. For Calder, time is irrelevant; he is a Fetch, a type of spirit that guides the souls of the dead as they leave the body. The Fetch holds the only key to the Death Door, and it is the Fetch's job to escort the new soul through the Door, into the Aisle, and beyond into Heaven.  Calder is a good Fetch. He doesn't let his souls suffer needlessly, but guides them with empathy and kindness through their journey. But today, Calder makes a mistake. He sees a woman through a Death Door, and her beauty and grace are enough to cloud his judgment. He makes an offer to one of his souls: three days to explore the Afterlife in exchange for Calder's use of the man's body on earth to find his beloved Alexandra. The soul is delighted - and why not?  He is an educated man, eager to learn more about the Afterlife. He is also a mystic, healer and spiritual guide to the royal family of Russia. The soul's name is Rasputin, and he is as powerful in the spirit world as he was in life.

Reader's familiar with Whitcomb's previous book, A Certain Slant of Light, know she has a knack for creating fascinating stories about spirits caught in the afterlife. Although The Fetch is being billed as "a supernatural romance," the romantic elements are actually far less interesting than Calder's internal struggle to accept what he believes are moral failures and his efforts to repair the damage he has done. What makes the story especially intriguing is the interplay between fantasy and the real life events during the fall of the Romanov family until their execution in 1918. As Calder becomes entwined with the family's fate on earth, specifically those of Anastasia and Alexei, Whitcomb creates a plausible explanation for why these children's bones were found some distance away from the family's grave. The Fetch is an unusual read, but it's a compelling one. 

Evidence-Based Medicine sounds like a "no brainer", but the concept really took off only within the last few decades.  A single medical research study rarely produces definitive results.  Evidence-based medicine attempts to collate all the best research studies, combining results statistically to thresh out what really is the best standard of practice for any given topic.

KCLS recently began subscribing to a new database called Natural Standard.  Produced by an international team of physicians, the information presented is evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine.  Treatment summaries do include conventional remedies (drugs, surgery, etc.), but the focus of the database is alternative, or integrative medicine. 

You might originally come to the database for treatment possibilities, but there is a wealth of additional information.  If you are familiar with "nutritional value" resources, you will be happy to see a link that provides this information.  You can also start out with a food or herb or supplement, and view therapeutic properties.

Evidence-based medicine defines levels of effectiveness derived from cost-benefit analysis and quality of evidence.  Natural Standard adopts a similar model, allowing users to view therapies with strong scientific evidence, moderate evidence, no evidence, etc.

Two other features (there are more) are particularly helpful:  "Tools" (symptoms, pharmacological interactions, etc.) and "Health Centers" (age/gender-specific information).

There's more - check it out!

Strip malls, track housing, and white picket fences jump into my mind when I think of suburbia. Everything's the same, people are happy and stability and routine are the norm.

Shaun Tan has thrown this stereotypical image in the garbage. This quirky collection of 15 concise graphic stories has uprooted every notion I held about suburban life.

Magical surrealism surrounds the story Eric, when an unexpected exchange student gives his host family an unworldly symbol of gratitude for their hospitality.

Grandpa's Story describes how two young lovers were sent away before their wedding "past the factories and landfills" and "beyond all the signs and roads." Their epic journey forces them to leave the safety of the neighborhood and they encounter disturbing creatures and imagined universes, embellished by Tan's glorious illustrations.

Two siblings embark on a scavenger hunt to find where their map ends in Our Expedition, and each household is given its own inter-continental ballistic missile in alert but not alarmed.

These modern fairy tales blew me away with their stunning drawings, quirky characters and a mysticism that left my imagination wanting more. Tales from Outer Suburbia are ideal stories for anyone wanting to escape the normalcy of suburban life.  

If you haven't heard of Shaun Tan before, he is a very talented illustrator from Western Australia. His book The Arrival was a New York Times bestseller and he has received high praise and numerous awards for his work. You can learn more about Shaun and view his art at www.shauntan.net.

Historical romances rock, and Amanda Quick wrote several of my favorites. A northwest author who also writes as Jayne Ann Krentz and Jayne Castle, she's written dozens of romances--historical, contemporary, paranormal, suspense--you name it. But the best of them remain the thirteen with single word titles originally published in the 1990s. Affair, Dangerous, Deception, Desire, Mischief, Mistress, Mystique, Ravished, Reckless, Rendezvous, Scandal, Seduction, and Surrender. Each of them is populated with a unique heroine and a flawed hero, marked by witty dialogue, and enhanced with a dose of adventure. None of which ultimately prevent the requisite "happily ever after."

Surrender's Victoria Huntington is an heiress soured by relentless pursuit from fortune hunters. Lucas Colebrook, Earl of Stonevale, has inherited a crumbling estate and bankrupt title. Victoria has a taste for adventure that is unsatisfied by her position as an unmarried young lady of good breeding. Lucas offers to assist her in her pursuit of adventure, protecting her reputation while showing her the parts of London not open to her. Of course circumstances conspire to have them caught and compromised and forced into marriage, at which time the true adventures begin.

Deception's Olympia Wingfield is a bluestocking raising her three nephews. Jared Ryder, Viscount Chillhurst, arrives on her doorstep with a velvet eye patch posing as a tutor, and proceeds to bring the boys into line and impress Olympia with his intellect. All the while he is seeking to find a treasure outlined in a secret diary Olympia is translating. Their attraction grows as they vanquish villains and pursue the treasure.

Affair's Charlotte Arkendale is orphaned with little means to support her younger sister, so she embarks on a career discreetly investigating the suitors of her clients. Baxter St. Ives is the illegitimate son of an earl and a scientist, with little interest in society. One of Charlotte's clients, a friend of Baxter's sister, is murdered. Their paths cross when they both begin to search for the murderer, Baxter initially suspecting Charlotte.

All three of these are enjoyable romps, and if you like them, there are ten more! Mostly set in the Regency period in London, humorous, sexy, and fun, they're a lovely way to while away a dark winter's evening.  I've read them all at least three times, and it's about time to go back for another round!

Connie Willis is perhaps best-known for her time-travel novels The Doomsday Book and To Say Nothing of the Dog. In Passage, she tackles a very different journey - from life to death.

Joanna Lander is a psychologist fascinated by Near Death Experiences (NDEs). Why do so many people who claim to have had them have such similar experiences?  Does everyone really see a white light? Richard Wright is a neurologist who has found a drug that can replicate NDEs. Richard and Joanna just might make the perfect research team, as evidenced by their romantic tension and witty banter.

When all of their test subjects drop out or are otherwise disqualified, Joanna chooses to go under the drug herself. At first, she experiences the long passage and the white light, but in repeated sessions finds herself in a somewhat familiar place. Joanna's NDE has brought her aboard the Titanic and the ship is sinking fast.

In the hospital where Richard and Joanna do their research is a young patient obsessed with disasters, natural and otherwise. So each chapter begins with the description of one. These feed a looming sense of dread that is realized in a plot twist about 2/3 of the way through the book. From that point on, readers should clear the afternoon, cancel all appointments, and ride this ship to its watery end. The book is impossible to put down.

Whatever your beliefs about the afterlife, Passage will start you thinking and keep you reading. It is more than just a passing fancy.

Sam Stark, a very wealthy businessman has just been stood up at the altar for the second time in two years.  He can't figure out why his brides-to-be had bolted. They knew about the pre-nuptial agreement beforehand.  Sam expected marriage to be a business deal; it is an expensive long-term investment and should be handled like one.  Desdemona Wainwright, (she chose her name herself when she was five), is the caterer at his second fiasco and she is trying to get Sam to write the check for the melting ice swans in the garden, among other things.  Sam asks her for a failure analysis, which he explains is a standard procedure after a disaster. Desdemona is really more worried about Sam paying the catering bill than any analyzing. But her sympathy is aroused and she invites him to her family's experimental theater production that evening. After all, what else does he have planned?

Sam from the business world and Desdemona from the theatrical world are opposite ends of the spectrum but they click in all the right places, after the rough spots are smoothed out, of course. 

Jayne Ann Krentz is my favorite author and Trust Me is a favorite title from my favorite author. Jayne's stories are funny and witty. (I call her Jayne because I have met her and she said I could do so.)  The hero and the heroine have lots of differences, but the differences add to the romance - not block it.  They also add to the humor.  Trust Me is about family and trust and Sam learns the importance of both.  Desdemona shows Sam that love and trust can grow despite suspicious activity by a family member and even murder!  This is a funny delightful story, (okay I'll go with the obvious) trust me, you will enjoy this romance. 

Kids are wonders of nature but that doesn't mean they are perfect little creatures all of the time.  It's guaranteed that sometime during their growth into adulthood they will cause their parents stress.  When what you want and what they want doesn't mesh how do you dial down the stress for everyone involved and still achieve your goals (like getting your toddler to bed before 3am)?  Good question!  And the King County Library System just might have a few good answers for you.

The library system is offering a workshop called Building Great Relationships with Children taught by Kathy Slattengren, M.Ed.  Parents and teachers will learn to successfully handle challenges that affect their relationships with children.  The class will include ways to set effective limits, using discipline that teaches, avoiding arguments and power struggles and how to respond to misbehavior in a positive manner.  Plus you will be able to ask questions of an expert in child development.

This class is two hours long and is being offered at the following branches:

Maple Valley Library, Monday, March 2, 6:00pm

Kenmore Library, Thursday, March 19, 6:30pm

Mercer Island Library, Monday, March 23, 7:00pm

Shoreline Library, Saturday, April 18, 10:30am

Register online two weeks before the class at www.kcls.org/stars or call the individual libraries to sign up.

People who need STARS-approved continuing education credits will recieve 2 credits in Child Guidance for the certification.  If you need STARS credit don't forget to bring your STARS registration number the day of the workshop.

Romance (noun): a pleasurable feeling of excitement and wonder associated with love.

Valentine's Day is all about romance, and in honor of that, I thought I'd share the book with the most romantic scene I've ever read--Match Me If You Can, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips. In this spinoff of Phillips' Chicago Stars series, quirky Annabel Granger has inherited her grandmother's matchmaking business, and she's determined to make it a success. She only needs one really spectacular client to get things started--someone like Heath Champion, wealthy and gorgeous sports agent, who's recently started searching for the perfect trophy wife. Desperate to keep Heath happy, Annabel agrees to a host of strange requirements, like accompanying him on the dates she sets up, and inviting him along on a weekend trip with her book group (where Heath hopes to smooth out his relationship with a team manager he's crossed).

It's on the weekend trip that my favorite romantic scene takes place. (It's too long to quote here, but it starts on page 181, in case you'd like to read along.) Annabel and Heath have joined several married couples at a woodland camp. One evening, the women sit talking on the dock, while the men hang around the campfire. When the women all turn to rejoin the men, each spots her own husband in the group, and the scene that follows perfectly expresses my personal definition of happily ever after. It's also a great example of what makes Phillips such a brilliant and popular writer of romance.

Now, there's a funny thing about romance--it's different for everybody. So I'd like to invite you to add a comment about a romantic scene in a book you've read. It doesn't have to be a romance novel; there are plenty of romantic scenes in other genres. Happy Valentine's Day!

Enchantress From the Stars by Sylvia Engdahl

Doesn't it seem sometimes that Newbery Honor books are better than the winner some years?  Sure, Summer of the Swans, the Newbery winner in 1971, is good, but for my money Enchantress is superior. Republished in 2001 with a new cover by Leo and Diane Dillon, the book tells the story of Elana, a young member of a peaceful and advanced society - The Federation - that travels the universe engaged in peace-keeping missions.  The Federation tries to protect less developed societies from the depridations of warring societies.  It does not reveal to these less developed societies that it has advanced technologies but finds ways to assist them without revealing their true powers.  Elana is the member of the crew who intercedes with a young woodcutter and assists him in overcoming the warlike society who is trying to take over his planet.

Ms. Engdahl wrote the beginning of this book before Star Trek and The Prime Directive, so maybe Gene Roddenberry got the idea from her?! 

It's nearly Valentine's Day, love is in the air, etc., so I thought I'd write about something dear to my heart. In 1998 directors Joel and Ethan Coen's film Fargo had recently won Best Picture, and expectations were high for their next feature. Maybe that's why their film The Big Lebowski was such a bomb. Or maybe it had something to do with the movie itself; a film noir about a hippy's soiled rug, a kidnapping caper gone terribly wrong, and bowling. But what the film lacked in immediate success it has made up for in long-term cult status. Today there are Lebowski festivals, Lebowski paraphernalia, and I just read the book, I'm a Lebowski, You're a Lebowski: Life, The Big Lebowski, and What Have You.

I'd like to say this is an important book, one that will expand our ideas of what life can mean, but really it's a book about an odd movie for a narrow group of avid fans. But what a great book for the avid fans! There are interviews with most of the actors, and they seemed to enjoy making the film as much as I do watching it. We're also introduced to the real people and events that inspired the film. There's a minute by minute reference key with notes about the film, which includes such important information as what's playing when the nihilists drop a ferret in The Dude's bath (it's "Song of the Whale"). And there's plenty more.

C.S. Lewis said we read to know we're not alone. I take comfort in knowing there are others who love the same bizarre moments in a bizarre film. If I was alone in liking the Big Lebowski (as I once thought), I'd be a little worried about myself. But mostly I'd worry for everyone else.

Quirky and clever: these are the two words that best describe Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story. Thus debut novel by German author Leonie Swann is a delightful mystery with an interesting twist: the sleuths are all sheep...that's right, sheep. The books takes place in Glennkill, Ireland and opens with the discovery by a flock of sheep of the dead body of their shepherd, George Glenn, who happens to have a shovel sticking out of his gut. Led by Miss Maple, "the cleverest sheep in all Glennkill," the flock set out to discover "Who dunnit?". You might ask, "How can a bunch of sheep possibly figure this out?" Well, they have three things going for them: 1) though they can't talk like humans, they are actually very smart (some of them, anyway) and understand English perfectly well (though I'm not too sure about Gaelic); 2) they are mobile and free to wander pretty much anywhere they like; and most importantly, 3) humans speak at liberty in front of them because, after all, they're just a bunch of dumb sheep, right? Wrong!

This is not a book that is defined by action. The flock spends a lot of time observing human characters and interactions and then ruminating (not to mention masticating) upon them. But this gives us plenty of time to get to know the characters, both human and ovine, and they are all very interesting and highly eccentric. The sheep interpret the world through smell and taste and they always tend toward the literal. In fact, much of the humor in this book comes from the sheep's (mis-)interpretation of the human world. For example, they refer to the local parish priest as "God," seeing as how that's what everyone talks about when he's around. Of course, sheep are not the only ones to misinterpret: one hysterical scene occurs when "God" hears a confession from a sheep that accidentally wanders into his church's confessional! And the climax of the story, in which the sheep try to communicate to the villagers their solution to the crime, is by far the funniest part of the book. I'll say no more...

Witty and even a bit philosophical, Three Bags Full is a fun read. Check it out!

We are all born free and equal. 
We all have our own thoughts and ideas.
We should all be treated in the same way.
These rights belong to everybody, whatever our differences.

This is the beginning of a powerful new book for young people We Are All Born Free.  The Peter Sis cover caught my eye on the book shelf.  Having been a fan of Peter Sis's insightful and inspirational work for some time, I thought it might be a new book by him.   Instead, I found something even more meaningful.  In this new book, organized as a fundraiser by Amnesty International, 30 different internationally recognized illustrators have come together to bring a simplified version of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to young people.  This is one of those documents that all kids should be exposed to (along with the Declaration of Independence, and The Bill of Rights). This thoughtful book will spark conversations in classrooms and homes.

It's currently the dead of winter.  While this is generally a slow period for birds (and birders), it's a good time to check in on the species that are here and even thriving during the dreary dark month of February when seemingly everything else has fled for greener pastures.  I speak, of course, of that ultra-intelligent group of birds know as corvids.  Corvids include crows, ravens, magpies and jays, among others, and many of these are found in abundance in Western Washington throughout the year.  They are fascinating birds, as I found out recently when I read two different books on the subject.

While many people dismiss crows as vermin, perhaps just one small step above pigeons, crows are actually admirable creatures.  They are highly intelligent and incredibly resourceful, as Tony Marzluff explores in his book In the Company of Crows and Ravens.  Marzluff, a University of Washington professor, conducted much of his research locally, even testing crows on the UW campus to see how fast they can learn new skills.  Marzluff examines the complicated relationships between crows and humans

throughout history and makes it clear that humans have had a huge part in shaping crow behavior and activity through what he calls 'cultural coevolution.'  Beautifully illustrated by local artist Tony Anzell, the images alone are enough to make you love the common crow.

It always feels like a little gift when an author I enjoy publishes a new book. Some years back I read both Where the Heart Is and The Honk and Holler Opening Soon and loved them both. So, when Billie Letts released her book Made in the U.S.A. last year I was very pleased. Happy Birthday to me!

Letts is a natural storyteller. Events in her books unfold so that you feel like she's writing about something that really happened.  Characters in her books have qualities that you both admire and dislike and behave in ways that make you both smile and cringe.

Fifteen year old Lutie McFee has faced some disappointments in her life. Most recently, her father abandons her and her little brother, Fate, in South Dakota with his latest ex-girlfriend, Floy, while he goes off, possible to Las Vegas. When Floy dies of a sudden heart attack at the local Wal-Mart, Lutie decides rather than risk the foster care system, she and Fate will find her father.

In Floy's bedraggled Pontiac they crawl into Vegas and find that, unfortunately, it is full of doors slamming in Lutie's face and predators ready to prey on her. There's a couple of lousy jobs, a creepy boss, some drug-dealing coworkers, and photographer who turns a blind eye.  And, as grown up as she pretends to be, it is still heartbreakingly clear that Lutie is really just a scared young girl forced to skip over her childhood. 

Things go from bad to worse to how-can-they-survive-this? But with the help of a mysterious guardian angel, Lutie and Fate learn that not only might they survive, they might find a place to call home. So, if you like hard-luck stories with heart, you might try Made in the U.S.A.

 
OK.  That may be a tiny over statement of the case for Coraline but not by much.  The book is a marvel of thrills, chills and freaky moments that will keep your 4th, 5th, 6th... and 70+ year old readers entranced.  British author Neil Gaiman is well known for his many brilliant, complex adult novels and graphic novels but Coraline is one of only a handful of books he's written for children.

Coraline lives in a old house that has been turned into several apartments.  She's the only child living there with some very odd neighbors and life is a little lonely.  She spends her days exploring the house and yard.  But the neighbors aren't the only oddities in the house.  There's a door in the parlor that doesn't lead anywhere.  It just opens onto a solid brick wall.  When Coraline opens it one day (just to see) it opens onto a dark hallway that leads to a house that looks almost (but not quite) like her own.  It even has her "other" parents.  They look just like her parents except for their eyes... they just don't have them.  Their eyes are big black buttons that have been sewn on.  And her "other" mother has teeth that seem slightly longer and sharper than they should be.  All in all, it is a creepy place to be.

When Coraline returns to her real home everything seems fine until her parents disappear.  She discovers that they are being held prisoner in the "other" house.  Coraline must rescue her parents, recover the lost souls of children who have been trapped (some for centuries) in the house and in order to do all that she must challenge the "other" mother to a dangerous game.  Once the challenge is made the world that was so hauntingly familiar begins to twist and change into a nightmare filled with truly terrifying things.  But Coraline has no choice but to try, because if she loses the game she might possibly lose her life...or worse.

Did I mention it was spine tinglingly good?  Did I mention the edge of your seat tension?  Did I mention the movie?  Yup.  It's been made into a movie that is in theaters beginning Feruary 2009.  I encourage you to read the book before seeing the movie.  Once you've read and watched you can then talk about what's different, what worked, what didn't, favorite moments and on and on.

Coraline by Neil Gaiman is destined to be a classic horror story!

The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory

Kellen Tavedon knows he's a disappointment to his father. He has very little aptitude for High Magick and his father is the Arch-Mage of Armethalieh, the "Golden City of the Bells", which is ruled by High Magick. Kellen dodges his magic lessons whenever he can, escaping into the city markets. It's in one of those markets that he finds three mysterious books which appear, at first, to be nothing more than a collection of fairy tales. Soon Kellen realizes that these are actually books of Wild Magic. Wild Magic is forbidden in Aremthalieh. The mages consider it corrupt, the tool of demons and the inhuman races that populate the lands beyond the city. Kellen knows that despite what the mages would like people to believe, the other races once allied with humans to fight the demons. He can't help but wonder how Wild Magic works and a few covert experiments produce encouraging results. But he's quickly discovered, repudiated by his disgusted father and sentenced to a grim death. The mages cast Kellen from the city and sick the Outlaw Hunt, a pack of murderous magical creatures, on him. In desperation, he uses Wild Magic to summon aid. When a unicorn appears and offers him a bargain for his life, Kellen hastily agrees. Now alone in a strange new world, Kellen must find out what fate and the Wild Magic have in store for him.

Mercedes Lackey and James Mallory provide a new take on the classic fantasy adventure. Kellen's world is populated with unicorns, centaurs, dragons, elves and host of other magical denizens, but each has a new twist. The unicorns aren't ethereal beings of sweetness and light. Shalkan, the unicorn bonded to Kellen, is downright caustic and occasionally mean. The elves are as picture-perfect as any described by Tolkien, but have their own quirks and very little magic. They traded it for their long life-spans. As a consequence, they're innovative, but slow to act and ponderously formal. Dragons are wary, elusive creatures, not the all-powerful monsters of myth. The demons are truly vile, but one of their offspring is a heroine of the tale. This world is well-developed and the evolution of the characters will please readers looking for a mix of fast-paced adventure and intrigue. The Outstretched Shadow is the first book of the Obsidian Trilogy. To Light a Candle and When Darkness Falls follow.

Lois McMasters Bujold is best known for her Miles Vorkosigan series, which is an exciting space opera.  The Curse of Chalion is set on another earth.  A former soldier, newly released from being a galley slave, is on his way back to the one place that he felt safe.  He is returning to Valenda where he was a page many years ago.  He hopes he will find a lowly position there to recover from his tortures and live out his days.  However Cazaril's wisdom and honor are quickly discovered by the Dowager Provincara, she remembers him as a boy, and she appoints him to the position of tutor/secretary to the Royesse, sister to the heir to throne.  So there he is, thrown into the center stage of Chalion politics and he comes to the attention of the people who betrayed him and sold him into slavery.  Cazaril realizes that there is a curse over the country and he may be the key to breaking it and saving the lives of the royal family.  However the price is high, the torture that he has already endured fades in comparison to his new task. 

I go over the top in my praise of The Curse of Chalion.  The characters are realistic, the curse affects the royal family in believable ways (okay as believable as a curse can be), and the bad guys are understandable.  The world that Ms Bujold has created is reminiscent of Medieval Spain, with courtly etiquette and religious rituals.  If you want to enter into a fantasy world where the hero is wise but self-deprecating, the heroines are young and naïve, but learn quickly from their tutor, and the gods cannot interfere in the lives of the people without acceptance; you will be as impressed as I am with The Curse of Chalion.

Sometimes you're in the mood for any good novel.  Or maybe you like to browse the CDs to try out some music you've never heard before.  Sometimes, though, you really want to listen to a particular song or find an obscure short story.  Our catalog can help you find these!

Song titles, table of contents, chapter headings, and a summary describing what the book/movie/CD etc. is about are all in the Contents, Notes, and Summary sections of each item's description.  When you do a keyword search in our catalog you are not searching this information, so to search for this information you need to select the Content/Note/Summary option from the catalog search page. 

 To see some examples of searching, keep reading!

Quinn McIntyre is a homicide detective on the trail of a female serial killer. Lucy Rothschild is a mystery author writing about a female serial killer. Both murderers in question meet their victims online. Quinn, in an effort to draw out his quarry, places ads on dating sites. Lucy, researching her character's victims, does the same. They connect, and arrange to meet in a coffee shop. Suspicions immediately arise on both sides of the table.

Quinn thinks Lucy is attractive, clever enough to carry out the crimes, and seems to know too much about police procedure. Lucy thinks Quinn is better looking than the other responders to her ad, but can tell he's hiding something. They succumb to mutual attraction in spite of their mistrust, various mixups, and the presence of the real serial killer.

Rachel Gibson's Sex, Lies and Online Dating is funny, sexy, and light, with a bit of adventure. Quinn and Lucy are likable and Lucy's circle of friends (whose stories are told in other novels by Gibson) are sharply witty. If you like Jennifer Crusie and can't wait for her next one, give Rachel Gibson a try.

Joanne Baldwin has a cool job.  She's a Weather Warden, a member of a secret organization that has the power to control the weather.  There are also Earth Wardens and Fire Wardens, and together they minimize the damage of natural disasters.  Joanne's not enjoying her work at the moment, though.  She's been accused of murder, and it's true--sort of.  There are extenuating circumstances, like the fact that the dead man, a high-level Weather Warden, put a Demon Mark on her before he expired.  Now she's on the run from the World Council, hoping to meet up with an old friend, Lewis, who may have a spare Djinn that she can use to get out of this situation.  Lewis is also avoiding the Council; he's in trouble for stealing the aforementioned Djinn.  As she travels cross-country in her Mustang named Delilah, Joanne picks up David, a handsome hitchhiker who knows too much, and tries to keep one step ahead of the storm that threatens her. 

Ill Wind is the first book in the Weather Warden series by Rachel Caine.  It introduces a world where most humans live in blissful ignorance of the power struggles going on around them.  There is a precarious relationship between the earth, the Djinn, and the Wardens that will be tested by the presence of a new evil.  Unfortunately for Joanne, it's not always easy to tell the good guys from the bad--and the bad ones really want to see her dead.

One of the strengths of this series is the imperfection of the main characters.  They may have superpowers, but they aren't always superheroes. It's a challenge to keep humanity safe while struggling with uncertainty, fear, and jealousy.  The overall tone is light, though, because the story is told from Joanne's point of view, and she's witty, loyal, and just a bit sarcastic.  If you're tired of being at the mercy of the weather, spend some time with the Weather Wardens in Ill Wind. 

 February is the month of love. Valentine's Day always inspires me to pick up a fat, juicy, romance with a gorgeous gown on the cover. Luckily, I need walk no further than the teen area at my local library.

Anna Godberson is the author of three such romances--Luxe, Rumors and Envy (published just this month). They star the Holland sisters, Elizabeth and Diana, two of Manhattan's most lovely and eligible heiresses--or so it seems. The setting is not modern New York, but rather the glamorous Gilded Age. Each book begins at the end--Luxe opens at Elizabeth Holland's funeral--and spends the rest of its pages telling how it all happened. The parties are lavish, the dresses are gorgeous, and even the good guys are a little bit bad.

The teen appeal of the series is obvious. The books read like a cross between Edith Wharton and Gossip Girl. They are an unexepected treat for grown-ups as well. Although not as steamy as their adult counterparts, they nonetheless set this reader's heart a-flutter with storylines featuring hot stable boys, scheming social climbers, thwarted love, and a faked death. The quality of the telling does not lag, even in the third book, where no one's heart is left unscathed.

I, for one, cannot wait to read what happens and see what luscious gown will be on the next cover. Hopefully, there will be a few more installments in the series before next Valentine's rolls around.

  

Frankie didn't plan on becoming a criminal mastermind, it just sort of happened...She used to be part of the geek squad, complete with debate club, and awkward, nerdy friends. But something changes her sophomore year, and she finds herself dating gorgeous senior, Matthew Livingstone. Alabaster Preparatory Academy has a long standing tradition, a secret society called the Loyal Order of the Basset Hounds. It's been around for decades and Frankie's own father was part of this good old boys club. This exclusive fraternity is known for throwing the best parties and masterminding the most elaborate pranks the school has ever seen. The only problem is that it's a brotherhood, which means no girls allowed. Frankie doesn't like to be excluded, and she's used to getting her way. Her feminine competitive nature comes out and Frankie's determined to get into this inner circle, even if it comes with the risk of getting suspended!! The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks just received a Printz Honor Award, so you know it has to be great! 

Life in the suburbs rarely seems so funny as Richard Thompson would have you believe in his amazing and relatively new comic-strip, Cul de Sac. Thompson's strip about a loveable family of four, the Otterloops, is centered primarily around preschool aged Alice and her friends from the Blisshaven Preschool Academy. Alice's world is replete with all the things you would expect from a strip about the burbs: the econobox cars, the mega-marts, the mandatory soccer practices, and even the occasional visit to the neighborhood library. If you're thinking Family Circus then you've got it wrong. Thompson's humor has a satiric quality that will make you think while you're laughing, not unlike Calvin and Hobbes.  

Discovering Cul de Sac in my library made me wonder about other great new comics I've been ignoring.  I decided to scour the shelves and ask around. I discovered two strips worth noting here, Lio and Pearls Before Swine. Mark Tatulli's comic strip, Lio, is an ode to the imaginative powers of 7and 8 year-old kids everywhere, but especially those with a soft spot for monsters and nature. Stephan Pastis'  award winning Pearls Before Swine has been in syndication for seven years. Pearls Before Swine follows the off-beat and often irreverent antics of Rat, Pig, Zebra, Goat, and the Fraternity of Crocodiles (my favorite.) 

Do you have a favorite new comic strip that wasn't mentioned? Let us know by replying to this post. You don't? Then head over to the library to catch up on what you've been missing.

 Me, the Missing and the Dead by Jenny Valentine

Doesn't this intriguing title make you want to drop everything and read it?!  Who is me, who is missing and who is dead and how are they connected?  Lucas Swain, a London teenager, is the Me, a mostly typical young man but living every day with the absence of his father Pete (the Missing) who disappeared without a trace and without a word five years previously.  There aren't any answers from his mother, his older sister, his grandmother, grandfather and certainly not from his little brother who was born after Pete's disappearance.  Lucas seems to be the only person in the family who believes something terrible has happened to his father and that he didn't abandon them all.  And the Dead?  That's Violet, who Lucas first meets when he spies her burial urn early one morning in a taxi dispatch office.  Lucas becomes obsessed with learning everything about Violet and slowly comes to see how he, the Missing and the Dead are intertwined. 

The narrator of Jesus' Son, a book of short stories by Denis Johnson, earned a name for himself through a life of drug addiction, betrayal and petty crime. Unfortunately for him the name he earned isn't fit to print here. His deadpan, honest first person narrative isn't calculated to impress his readers either. He takes a gunshot victim to the hospital because, "People would talk about it, and I hoped I would be liked."  He fumbles through the dark edges of society with less malice than fear and sickness. Others are hurt just the same, caught up in his wake.

I remember some scenes as if I'd witnessed them. Someone tearing scrap metal out of the walls of his own house for drinking money. The narrator carrying a gun he's too frightened to use. A man thrown headlong through a stop sign. An empty drive-in theater projecting movies in the snow.

The stories are brutal, sensitive, and funny in the span of a sentence; and blurred, grim days are offset by lucid and near religious flashes. Johnson is also a poet, which shows in his precise and beautiful language. He doesn't glorify drugs; rather they're used to examine a much darker side of ourselves than we usually care to see. Jesus' Son is good fiction because of its truths.