A Tribute to Community - Tulsa City

Transcription

Tulsa
event guide
INSIDE!
Book Review
2
7
10
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 9
F R E E
NEW AND OF
INTEREST
C
H
E
C
K
How to Cook
Gluten-Free: Over
150 Recipes That
Really Work
I
T
A colorful gluten-free cooking
guide
Page 4
The Other Baby
Book: A Natural
Approach to Baby’s
First Year
O
U
T
A fantastic primer for those interested in “alternative” parenting
practices
Page 6
A Tribute to Community
By Wendell Berry
Counterpoint, $14.95, 190 pages
15
July 2012
As Hannah Coulter nears the end of her
life, she spends more and more time telling
herself the story of her life, in order to get
the details right. It’s a story of her love for
her husband, for her children, and for the
membership of Port William. “This is the
story of my life, that while I lived it weighed
upon me and pressed against me and filled
all my senses to overflowing and now is like
a dream dreamed.” Hannah’s life is unremarkable in its simplicity. She married a
farmer and worked with him in the daily
maintenance of the farm as the children
grew up and moved away, as she and her
husband aged, and as he eventually sickened
and died.
Hannah Coulter is a tribute to the gradually disappearing life of the farming community, what Hannah calls “the membership.” The strength of the book lies not in
the uneventful plot, but in its ability to capture that lost sense of community, the sense
of place, and feeling of belonging that only
occur when people live and die in the same
place as their parents and grandparents,
See HANNAH, cont’d on page 4
The Grave Robber’s
Apprentince
The rocky road to truth
Page 8
The Big Green Book
of the Big Blue Sea
Importance of the ocean
Page 11
57 Reviews
INSIDE!
Book Reviews
MYSTERIES/THRILLERS
Category
Mystery
SNAP IT for additional
book summaries.
Midnight Alley
By Miles Corwin
Oceanview Publishing, $25.95, 286 pages
Check this out!
LAPD detective Ash Levine is a complex,
well-realized character. Son of a Holocaust
survivor, his sense of obligation to justice is
strong. Trained in the Israel Defense Force,
his attitude and techniques conflict with
the standard operating procedures of his
agency. His on-again, off-again attempts at
repairing an all-but-failed marriage complicate his emotional life. Having slid into early
middle age, he looks backward and forward
with a mixture of wariness and bull-headedness.
Levine is investigating the case of
two young black men
found slain in Venice
Alley, one of them the
son of a city councilman who has no confidence or respect for
the police. The investigation leads to a connection between these deaths and a magnificent, enormously valuable mask that has
been stolen from the collections of Iraq’s
major museum. Discovering the connection
will lead to discovering the killer: or is the
killer already tracking Levine?
In setting Ash in motion, the author offers a riveting picture of contemporary Los
Angeles, the internal dynamics of homicide
investigation, and a background story growing out of soldiers’ experiences in Iraq and
Afghanistan. The welter of hard investigative detail and the skillful buildup of suspense are totally satisfying.
Reviewed by Phil Jason
The Lost Years
By Mary Higgins Clark
Simon & Schuster, $26.99, 292 pages
Check this out!
The literary world considers her to be
America’s Queen of Suspense. Having sold
more than 100 million books, the New York
Times recognizes her as a best-selling author, and fans all over the world know her
as a consistently good storyteller. Mary
Higgins Clark’s latest story begins in 1474
A.D. with the introduction of a letter written by Jesus Christ to Joseph of Arimathea.
If authenticated, this document may be one
of the most important religious objects
in the world. Skip to
500 years later, where
Clark’s tale picks up.
A biblical scholar
has found the parchment, but before he
can prove it is real, he
is murdered. Friends,
family, health-care providers, maids, colleagues and religious experts all have a
motive. Clark does an admirable job including the topic of religious relics in her suspenseful and fast-paced writing. The inner
dialogues of multiple characters flesh out
the story and leave the reader wanting to
know more. Alzheimer’s disease, financial
greed, marriage vows, loyalty and religious
devoutness are all concepts that add a great
deal of context to Clark’s newest work. She
has written another best seller!
Reviewed by Kathryn Franklin
Unwanted
By Kristina Ohlsson
Emily Bestler Books/Atria, $25.00,
357 pages
Check this out!
Unwanted explores the dark side of child
abduction as a child is taken from a raucous
train ... only the girl’s shoes remain to bear
witness. Ohlsson, who works in a counterterrorism office and previously was a security policy analyst for the National Swedish
Police Board, obviously understands dark
motives. Unwanted
is the first installment of her crime
series with Frederika
Bergman, a somewhat prickly civilian
investigative analyst
specializing in crimes
against women and
children. In the midst
of this investigation,
Bergman seems to battle against the sexist male police officers (namely Alex Recht,
a renowned detective, and Peder Rydh, a
cocky and less-experienced detective) that
have little respect for — or confidence in
— her. The suspense builds within this difficult situation, while meanwhile 6-year-old
Lillian has been abducted and Bergman’s
See UNWANTED, cont’d on page 6
Tulsa Book Review • July 2012 • 2
COMING SOON
TO TULSA CITY-COUNTY LIBRARY
Search the library’s catalog at http://tulsalibrary.org to reserve your copies now.
The Reckoning
By Jane Casey
When the murders of two released sex
offenders point to the work of a vigilante,
DC Maeve Kerrigan and the division’s new
DI, Josh Derwent, follow leads to a man
who has been searching for his missing
teenage daughter in a case that has
Maeve wondering who she can trust.
Nor All Your Tears
By Keith McCarthy
When Dr. Lance Elliott and his girlfriend Max
attend Parents Evening to show support for
retired Dr. Benjamin Elliott’s Horticultural Club
at a local school, the pair find themselves
caught up in a killing spree, as teachers
from the school are being targeted.
Nights of Awe
By Harri Nykanen
While investigating the murder of two
Arabs near Finland’s capital, Inspector
Ariel Kafka finds two more bodies at
an Iraqi-owned garage, leading him to
question whether the perpetrators are
part of a gang or international terrorists.
A Deeper Darkness
By J.T. Ellison
When an old boyfriend’s mother asks her
to do a second autopsy on her son, medical
examiner Samantha Owen discovers that the
ex-ranger was murdered and loses herself in
the mystery contained within his old notes,
which leads her into a war zone between
the military and the nation’s capital.
Getaway
By Lisa Brackmann
Michelle Moran comes to Puerto Vallarta,
Mexico, to temporarily escape her problems,
but a date with an attractive man leads her
into a world of danger and deception, and
soon her only goal is to get out of Mexico
alive. From the author of New York Times
best-selling Rock Paper Tiger comes the
most electrifying thriller of the summer.
House of the Hunted
By Mark Mills
Having retired to 1930s French Riviera,
former intelligence operative Tom Nash finds
his respite broken when someone tries to
kill him in his sleep, and must pretend to
live the normal life of a retiree as he tries
to flush out those who want him dead.
Tulsa
Book Review
IN THIS ISSUE
Mystery.......................................................... 2
Tulsa City-County Library
400 Civic Center
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74103
Ph. (918) 549-7323
EDITOR IN CHIEF
Ross Rojek
[email protected]
Cookbooks...................................................... 4
Home, Garden & DIY...................................... 5
Mind, Body & Fitness...................................... 6
GRAPHIC DESIGN/LAYOUT
Grayson Hjaltalin
[email protected]
COPY EDITORS
Lori Freeze
Diane Jinson
Lori Miller
Robyn Oxborrow
Holly Scudero
Kim Winterheimer
Katie Beim-Esche
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS
Shanyn Day
Christopher Hayden
Elizabeth Tropp
James Rasmussen
Missy McEwin
Audrey Curtis
Fiction............................................................ 7
Tween Reads................................................... 8
Teen Scene...................................................... 9
Picture Books............................................... 10
Kids’ Books................................................... 11
Biography & Memoir.................................... 12
Nature & Science.......................................... 13
WEBSITE
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The Tulsa Book Review is published
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The opinions expressed in these pages are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the
views of the Tulsa Book Review or
1776 Productions advertisers. All images
are copyrighted by their respective copyright holders.
All words ©2012,
LLC.
1776 Productions,
FROM
THE
PUBLISHER
Nothing brings a community together
like a good book. That is why Tulsa CityCounty Library has initiated “One Book,
One Tulsa,” a community-wide initiative
centered on the book Hannah Coulter by
Wendell Berry. If you only read one book
this year, make this the one as it will be
the book everyone is talking about. Imagine having a conversation with a complete
stranger but sharing a common experience through a shared book – thousands
of people all reading the same book. Now
that’s a way to start a conversation! Before the end of this year, the library will
host more than 40 programs all centered
on the themes featured in this book –
food, gardening, health and sustainability. Whether you visit the Smithsonian
exhibit “Key Ingredients: America by
Food” currently on display at our Collinsville Library, or you attend the program
“Now Read This Take Five: The Food Edition” at Central Library on July 24, you’ll
be sure to come away with a new appreciation for food and your family’s health.
You will even get a chance to meet the
author of Hannah Coulter when he comes
to Tulsa Dec. 7 and 8 to receive the Tulsa
Library Trust’s 2012 Peggy V. Helmerich
Distinguished Author Award. So, be sure
to check out Hannah Coulter, attend a related event and join in the conversation!
Best wishes,
Gary Shaffer
Tulsa City-County Library CEO
Spirituality & Religion................................. 13
Fantasy......................................................... 14
Horror.......................................................... 14
History & Current Events............................. 15
Family History Month.................................. 16
Jacqueline Woodson, national awardwinning author of Miracle’s Boys, is
coming to Tulsa Aug. 24 and 25 to
receive the Tulsa Library Trust’s 2012
Anne V. Zarrow Award for Young
Readers’ Literature. See the July Event
Guide in this publication for more details.
PLEASE NOTE: Check this out!
designates books that are available
for checkout through the Tulsa
City-County Library.
Book Reviews
Category
Cookbooks
book summaries.
Betty Crocker The Big Book of
Weeknight Dinners
By Betty Crocker
Betty Crocker, $19.99, 335 pages
If you’re anything like me, you’re always
looking for new, healthy meals for your family to enjoy. It helps if they’re quick and easy,
and use everyday ingredients. For 200-plus
family friendly new ideas, check out Betty
Crocker’s The Big Book of Weeknight Dinners.
Colorful, comprehensive, and stock-full of
recipes kids will actually eat, this cookbook
simply can’t be beat.
The first thing that attracted me was the
book’s vibrantly colorful pages. The food
photography is outstanding. I love seeing
what I’m making! Everything looked fabulous. I couldn’t wait to
try the Loaded Baked
Potato Pizza, Cheesy
Rigatoni With Eggplant Sauce and Minestrone Casserole. There
were plenty of vegetarian-friendly recipes,
like Greek Quesadillas, Cheese and Veggie
Sandwiches, Veggie Focaccia Sandwiches
and Healthified Homemade Pizza.
Meat lovers, fear not. This cookbook
won’t leave you hanging. Try the Texas TwoMeat Chili, Root Beer Barbecue Beef Sandwiches and Lemon-Chicken Rigatoni With
Broccoli, and you’ll be begging for more.
The Quick Variations provide lots of ideas
for spicing up recipes and Quick Menu Ideas
quickly turn a main dish into a meal. I like
the Healthy Variation Ideas and the Moment’s Notice Menu Ideas for those nights
when you don’t have time to plan ahead
and prepare a big dinner. This cookbook has
earned its revered place on my countertop
and will surely be a handy favorite for years
to come.
Reviewed by Jennifer Melville
How to Cook Gluten-Free: Over 150
Recipes That Really Work
By Elizabeth Barbone
Lake Isle Press, $27.95, 283 pages
How to Cook Gluten-Free: Over 150 Recipes that Really Work is a full, beautiful cookbook of gluten-free recipes that also caters
to other allergy sufferers. Barbone, author
of Easy Gluten-Free Baking, provides an attractive and colorful cookbook. It is spiralbound with a hardcover, so it lays flat. In the
front section of the book, Barbone gives an
introduction to cooking gluten-free and
why Barbone chose
to go GF, as well as
a section of essential cooking lessons.
Barbone expands on
planning meals, pre- paring a recipe and
stocking your kitchen. Most importantly,
Barbone explains how to replace wheat
flour with gluten-free substitutes. Barbone
does not expand on other gluten offending
flours, but her menu selections provide alternatives. The 12 sections run the gamut
of breakfasts and snacks, pastas and casseroles, main dishes and burgers. Barbone
provides her share of gluten-free comfort
foods, such as the Powder Sugar Doughnut,
Muffins, Creamy Macaroni and Cheese, and
Cheesecake Cups. Barbone also includes
some of her recipes for her baked goods, and
her Rustic Pie with the blueberry-peach filling will do wonders with bountiful summer
fruits. A good, basic gluten-free cookbook.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Humphrey
writing is very good, giving both American and metric measurements; the layout
is equally cook friendly; and the headnotes
are worth reading, as well as the introduction to each chapter. Most are little stories
and anecdotes about the recipe and where
each came from. The recipe ingredients are
set in pleasing brown script for convenience.
Most ingredients are readily available, but a
Middle Eastern or Moroccan market is helpful, though Koehler gives substitutes. This is
not for a novice cook, yet the recipes are not
hard to reproduce. The well cross-referenced
index is excellent.
Reviewed by George Erdosh
Pure BBQ
By Steffen Eichhorn, Stefan Marquard,
Stephan Otto
Schiffer Publishing, $24.99, 126 pages
Pure BBQ is a pure pleasure to read and
look at, and just as useful to have it on your
kitchen bookshelf (or on your coffee table). I
reviewed the same authors’ first cookbook,
Pure Steak, which was an equally beautiful
production, but the awkward translation
from German made it nearly just as awkward. This cookbook, however, corrected the
problem. The photo illustrations are stunning, with precise recipe instructions, set
in large, clear circles, and ingredients nicely
listed in sidebars. Though the authors are
German, the ingredients are mostly readily
Morocco
By Jeff Koehler
Chronicle Books, $29.95, 223 pages
When reviewing regional cookbooks, it’s
a nice change to look at something other
than Italian and French. To many, the cuisine of Morocco at least matches the cooking of her neighbors across the Mediterranean. Jeff Koehler
creates a most beautiful cookbook of the
Moroccan
cuisine,
profusely illustrated
with his own wonderful photos: food,
landscapes, people.
In fact, this book easily takes the place of
your most artistic coffee-table book.
The 38-page introduction includes the
country’s culinary history, a cooking tour
of Morocco’s seven regions, the pantry and
kitchen tools needed. A convenient list of
recipes precedes each chapter. The recipe
available for American cooks. Wherever a
smoker is called for instead of a grill, a clear
smoker symbol indicates that. The recipes
are excellent — some
are quick over hot fire
(or grilling), others
are of pure southern barbecue using
large chunks of meat
over very slow fire
for many hours. A
23-page introduction
explains not only equipment, barbecuing
and smoking, but also animal breeds, fodder, butchering and aging to arrive at the
best possible starting material. Side dishes
(all on the grill) are intriguing (Eggs Grilled
in Red Peppers). The two indexes, one general and one recipe, are very good and crossreferenced.
Reviewed by George Erdosh
HANNAH, cont’d from page 1
working hard together to improve themselves and their homes. Hannah Coulter did
not surprise me, but Hannah’s beautiful insights into what it means to live and remember an ordinary life took my breath away.
Reviewed by Tammy McCartney
F E AT U R I N G
Book Reviews
Category
Home, Garden
& DIY
book summaries.
Circular Knitting Workshop: Essential
Techniques to Master Knitting in the
Round
By Margaret Radcliffe
Storey Publishing, $24.95, 320 pages
Check this out!
For those somewhat familiar with knitting flatly back and forth on two needles,
this book is an excellent resource to continue onto knitting in the round. In well-organized sections, master teacher Margaret
Radcliffe clearly explains the nitty-gritty of
circular knitting. With descriptions of the
essentials such as the required needles, type
of yarns, gauge measurements and other
supplies, instructions are presented for various projects. Projects for knitting bags, hats,
circular shawls, socks, mittens, gloves and
sweaters are included. While these project
details are for small sizes, instructions are
provided to render the knitted undertakings into larger versions. The uniqueness of
this book rests not only in the clarity of its
presentation, but also with the accompanying magnified photographs which colorfully illustrate each direction from knitting
stitches to finished project. If you prefer
knitted garments with few to no seams,
then circular knitting is the way to go. Circular knitting produces less of a strain on
the arms, the knitting itself flows continuously without the awkwardness of shifting
needles, and the entire project can easily be
compressed and folded for storage without
the worry of isolated long needles stabbing
oneself or others. This is a useful book to
gain proficiency in knitting in the round.
Reviewed by Aron Row
Gardening Vertically: 24 Ideas for
Creating Your Own Green Walls
By Noemie Vialard
W. W. Norton & Company, $24.95,
144 pages
Don’t worry if you lack garden space,
now you can place all your plants on a wall.
Instead of looking at your flower or veggie
patch horizontally, think of viewing it vertically. Sort of reminiscent of the hanging
gardens of Babylon,
the author discloses
how French botanist
Patrick Blanc developed the wall gardens
displayed as planting
art which can be seen
on museum walls in
Spain, shopping malls in Thailand and in
a neighborhood in Paris. In addition to describing these floral wonders, the author
carefully describes how to create your own
personal herbal wall.
"So put down your spades
and rakes for awhile, and
get out your
drills and staplers: they will
plunge you into a whole new
world."
The essential materials include a special
matting resistant to rot but which allows
the plant roots to embrace and thrive on
its surface. Along with this basic substrate,
frames need to be constructed and materials for watering and fertilizing must be provided. Scores of plants suitable for different
vertical situations are listed and described.
The majestic illustrations enrich the text
describing how to construct foliage walls,
or aromatic herb panels, or walls of ferns.
Perhaps you would prefer circles of thyme,
or succulent patchworks, or maybe a drain
dressed with clematis sounds attractive to
you. This is a beautiful book full of ideas
that will especially appeal to the dedicated
gardener.
Join Tulsa County residents in reading this inspiring novel, which follows
the life of a small-town woman as she reflects on her rural lifestyle that
is giving way to progress in the name of development. Many of the
themes covered in the book mirror the challenges faced by rural and
urban families today. The author, Wendell Berry, an American writer and
farmer, will be in Tulsa Dec. 7 and 8 to receive the Tulsa Library Trust’s
Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award.
Using “Hannah Coulter” as a conversation starter, this year’s One Book, One
Tulsa initiative focuses on food, gardening, health and sustainability with
more than 40 free programs scheduled at area libraries throughout the year.
One Book, One Tulsa is sponsored the Tulsa Library Trust and Tulsa World.
R E L AT E D L I B R A R Y P R O G R A M M I N G F O R J U LY
Meet Judy Steiger Howard,
Author of “1905 Cookbook: Food
for Body and Soul”
Sunday, July 15 • 2-3 p.m.
Collinsville Library, 1223 W. Main
Converting Old Recipes Into
Healthy Recipes
Presented by Pam Webb of Three
Sisters Catering
Tuesday, July 17 • 7-8 p.m.
Collinsville Library
Canning Food Techniques
Presented by the
OSU Extension Office
Saturday, July 21 • 10-11 a.m.
Heirloom Gardening
Presented by the
OSU Extension Office
Saturday, July 21 • 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Tablescape Contest
Prizes will be awarded. For contest
rules or to enter, call 918-549-7528
or email [email protected].
Now Read This Take Five:
The Food Edition
Tuesday, July 24 • 7 p.m.
Central Library, Aaronson Auditorium
Fourth Street and Denver Avenue
Indulge your appetite for good
reads and smart conversations.
Five local presenters will speak for
five minutes about five books that
have made a difference in their
lives. Topics include the
(Now Read This Take Five continued)
art of cooking, food in fiction,
hunger and food policy, mind and
body wellness, gardening and
sustainability. Bring a cookbook
to swap and a nonperishable food
item to donate.
Diabetes Education: Losing
Weight the Smart Way
Presented by Susan Nole
From Couch Pharmacy
Thursday, July 26 • 3-4 p.m.
Nathan Hale Library, 6038 E. 23rd St.
Preregistration is required. Call
918-549-7617 or 918-835-9577
to register.
Show-and-Tell
Saturday, July 28 • 3-4:30 p.m.
Showcase your family’s favorite
food-related treasures, such as
salt and pepper shakers, pie
birds, old cooking tools, butter
churns, aprons and cookbooks.
If you would like to have a table,
please call 918-549-7528 or email
[email protected].
A Very Small Farm Tour
William Winchester, author of “A
Very Small Farm,” will conduct a
tour of his self-sustaining farm.
Meet at the library at 3 p.m. to
view the Smithsonian exhibit “Key
Ingredients: America by Food,”
and then caravan to the farm.
Preregistration is required and is
limited to the first 20 participants.
Book Reviews
Category
Mind, Body &
Fitness
book summaries.
Paintracking: Your Personal Guide to
Living Well With Chronic Pain
By Deborah Barrett
Prometheus Books, $20.00, 400 pages
Check this out!
Thanks to the outstanding work at the Stanford
University Pain Management Center, a lot more is
understood about treatment for pain. For the
chronic pain sufferer, it is
not unusual to be frustrated by the nebulous nature of pain, put on
edge by its onset, over- or under-medicated
and treated by dismissive doctors. Sociologist Deborah Barrett has written an encyclopedic reference book to help manage pain
and understand its onset.
The author tackles a wide range of subjects from understanding medications to
communicating effectively with doctors and
avoidance of activity. It is a good book, particularly for those who feel that they are suffering needlessly and lacking in resources.
By tracking the pain and daily activities,
one can feel more in control of pain management and develop enough understanding to
cope and live better with pain and its debilitation. “Answers come from collecting data
on the factors that may be affecting how you
feel and seeing how they relate to your wellbeing.”
As the US population ages, it is important
to come to terms with pain — whatever its
cause — and live with acceptance and with
the fullest life possible.
Reviewed by Julia McMichael
The Other Baby Book: A Natural
Approach to Baby’s First Year
By Megan McGrory Massaro, Miriam Katz
Full Cup Press, $12.99, 184 pages
When pregnant,
most women read
scores of books about
labor and delivery,
not to mention books
about raising a baby
once it’s here. But
often
mainstream
ideas about parenting
simply do not resonate with new moth- ers. Sleep training?
Traditional timetables for introducing solid
foods? Feeding schedules? Some women intuitively feel that the norm is not for them;
thankfully, this book was written for those
parents. The authors aim to present a number of alternative practices from a balanced
perspective, offering a brief tutorial on
many topics (and an extensive reference list
at the end for those who want more in-depth
knowledge). Topics include birth, home vs.
birth center vs. hospital, care providers and
interventions; attachment parenting, baby
wearing and the importance of touch; cosleeping; elimination communication; and
more.
As a mama already interested in most
of these subjects, I didn’t find much new
information, although I did appreciate the
references to specific studies and statistics
supporting these practices. But this would
be a fantastic introduction for the new or
expecting parent who wants to know more
but isn’t sure where to start. It’s refreshing
to see a new, engaging, well-written book
on alternative practices hit the shelves, and
I hope that it inspires parents to think outside the box when it comes to the first year
of their baby’s life.
Reviewed by Holly Scudero
UNWANTED, cont’d from page 2
colleagues seem only focused on the child’s
father. Bergman senses something else.
Ohlsson should be added to reading
lists that include other Scandinavian suspense authors, such as Jo Nesbo. However,
Ohlsson’s work stands apart for its female
protagonist who seems to break many stereotypical roles. It takes another abduction
to refocus the team and solve these heartbreaking crimes. Unwanted is easily an addition to any suspense or crime fan.
BESTSELLERS
COMING SOON
Robert B. Parker’s
Fool Me Twice
By Michael
Brandman
Summer in Paradise,
Mass., is usually
an idyllic season,
but not this time.
A Hollywood
movie company
has come to town, and brought
with it a huge cast, crew and a
troubled star. Marisol Hinton is
very beautiful, reasonably talented
and scared out of her wits that
her estranged husband’s jealousy
might take a dangerous turn.
When she becomes the subject
of a death threat, Jesse and
the rest of the Paradise police
department go on high alert.
The Giving Quilt: An Elm
Creek Quilts Novel
By Jennifer
Chiaverini
At Elm Creek
Manor, the week
after Thanksgiving
is Quiltsgiving, a
time to commence
a season of
generosity. From near and far,
quilters and aspiring quilters – a
librarian, a teacher, a college
student and a quilt-shop clerk
among them – gather for a special
winter session of quilt camp, to
make quilts for Project Linus. Love
and comfort are sewn into the
warm, bright, beautiful quilts they
stitch, and their stories collectively
consider the strength of human
connection and its rich rewards.
The Tombs
By Clive Cussler and Thomas Perry
Husband-and-wife team Sam and
Remi Fargo are intrigued when
an archaeologist friend requests
their help excavating a top-secret
historical site. What they find will set
them on a hunt for a prize greater
than they could ever imagine, and
the Fargos will find themselves
pitted against a thieving group
of amateur treasure hunters, a
cunning Russian businessman and
a ruthless Hungarian who claims
(The Tombs continued)
direct descent from Attila himself
– and will stop at nothing to claim
the tombs’ riches as his own.
The Racketeer
By John Grisham
Given the
importance of
what they do, the
controversies that
often surround
them and the
violent people they
sometimes confront,
it is remarkable that in the history of
this country only four active federal
judges have been murdered. Judge
Raymond Fogletree just became
number five. His body was found
in the basement of a lakeside cabin
he had built himself and frequently
used on weekends. When he did
not show up for a trial on Monday
morning, his law clerks panicked,
called the FBI, and in due course the
agents found the crime scene. There
was no forced entry, no struggle,
just two dead bodies – Judge
Fogletree and his young secretary.
Angels at the Table:
A Shirley, Goodness and
Mercy Christmas Story
By Debbie Macomber
In this joyous and
whimsical holiday
novel, Debbie
Macomber rings in
the season with the
return of Shirley,
Goodness and
Mercy delivering
laughs, love and a charming
dose of angelic intervention.
An Outlaw’s Christmas
By Linda Lael Miller
The shirtless, bandaged stranger
recuperating in teacher Piper
St. James’ room behind the
schoolhouse says he’s a McKettrick,
but he looks like an outlaw.
As they wait out the storm,
the handsome loner has Piper
remembering long-ago dreams
of marriage and motherhood.
But for how long is Sawyer
willing to call Blue River home?
Book Reviews
lical overtones of jealousy, despair, adultery,
abandonment, and suicide, explores how,
when, and why a person leaves his homeland. Suddenly, for another man? Secretly,
for adventure? Job-like in tenacity, Jack is “a
stickler, a settler,” and Ellie, too, knows what
she wants from her man, and it’s more than
a winter holiday in the Caribbean.
Reviewed by Zara Raab
Category
Fiction
book summaries.
Canada
By Richard Ford
Ecco, $27.99, 420 pages
Check this out!
This is Richard Ford’s first novel in six
years, and perhaps his last. Dell Parsons is
fifteen when his parents rob a bank. After
they’re arrested, except for one hapless jail
visit, he never sees them again. His mother
commits suicide in jail, and he never knows
what happened to his father. He is secretly
packed off from Montana to Saskatchewan,
while his twin sister runs away to San Francisco. This is in 1960.
Dell tells the story of his bizarre coming
of age fifty years later, remembering those
“inexplicable” events. He takes the facts,
what he calls the “arrangement of unequal
things,” reflecting on
what happened, what
could have happened,
and why, as if he’s an
innocent bystander,
which, of course,
he was; as what he
thought to be his secure world (ready for high school, learning to play chess) was shattered and he was
given shelter by a Gatsby-like American in
the middle-of-nowhere empty prairie, becoming passively complicit in murder.
Despite that year, things turned out pretty well, though Dell doesn’t talk much about
the intervening years.
Ford, 68, best known for his great novel
The Sportswriter and the two sequels that
make up the “Frank Bascombe” trilogy,
gives us a taut, perfectly cadenced, skewed
rumination on character, destiny, and loneliness, without redemption.
Reviewed by Phil Semler
The Sins of the Father
By Jeffrey Archer
St. Martin’s Press, $27.99, 384 pages
Check this out!
Sins of the father indeed.
Sins of the Father is the second book in
the Clifton chronicles and is every bit as
good as the first installment Only Time Will
Tell.What we have here is the tale of a boy
(Harry Clifton), who becomes a man looking
for the truth about his heritage. This story
is heart-warming and
filled with intrigue.
The story picks up
where Only Time Will
Tell left off. In The Sins
of the Father you don’t
get any of the back
story that occurred
in Only Time Will Tell,
so you’ll need to read
that book first. There are many things at
stake for Harry, including his life and the
love of his life. This part of the series is set
in the 1930s and 40s in England and the
United States during war time. Archer does
a great job of putting the reader in the era
through descriptive period writing.
Archer continually builds suspense
through his writing style and the way he
switches from one character to another at
key points, to keep the reader reading until he brings you back to that character.
Archer’s writing style has an easy flow to it
that keeps the reader wanting more.
Reviewed by Marc Filippelli
Wish You Were Here
By Graham Swift
Knopf, $25.00, 319 pages
Check this out!
The dourness of Graham Swift’s characters reminds me of my mother’s people, who
came here a few hundred years ago from
Devon, England. “Wish you were here” is
a blithe expression, but the psychological
depth and sheer size of this well-crafted
novel make it serious as Greek melodrama,
with the standoff between Jack and his
wife, Ellie, resolved in a single afternoon,
but only after the
complex web of
events leading up to
it is artfully laid bare.
Married a decade,
Jack and Ellie grew up
on neighboring farms
in Devon, in the kind
of closed world of village life described by
Thomas Hardy in Return of the Native a
century ago. But the farms fall into “more or
less equal dereliction,” so they buy a caravan
park (English for “trailer park”) for tourists
on the Isle of Wight. Their story, with its bib-
Miss Julia to the Rescue: A Novel
By Ann B. Ross
Viking, $25.95, 320 pages
Check this out!
How did I not discover the existence of
Miss Julia until now—her 13th adventure?
Darned if I know, but I’m making up for lost
time, starting now. Miss Julia is a Southern
lady of a certain age, living in Abbotsville,
North Carolina, but she has a tiger in her
tank, believe me! Woe betide anyone who
tangles with Miss Julia!
Of course, she’s Mrs. Sam Murdoch now,
having been married for several years. Prior
to Sam, she was married for a good many
years to Wesley Lloyd Springer, who was,
sadly, not the husband she thought he was.
This discovery came shortly after his death
when a young woman (Hazel Marie Puckett)
appeared at her door and announced that
her nine-year-old son, Lloyd, was the bastard child of Mr. Springer.
Needless to say, this event rather discombobulated Miss Julia, but not for long! Soon,
Hazel Marie and Lloyd were residents of the
Springer home where they were tended to
by the longtime cook/housekeeper Lillian.
By now, Lillian’s granddaughter Latisha
is nearly as old as Lloyd, and she helps out
some, too.
That’s all background. In this adventure,
Hazel Marie’s new husband, private investigator J. D. Pickens, has come up missing
while working on a case. Thanks to the cell
phone he carried, Miss Julia and Lloyd discover he’s in a hospital in West Virginia.
However, the sheriff over there, Ardis
McAfee, won’t let anyone speak to J. D. to
find out how he is, or
why he’s hospitalized.
Since Sam has gone
off to the Holy Land
for two weeks with
their church group,
Miss Julia rounds up her friend Etta Mae,
who works at a hospital, and the two of them
set off to rescue J. D. You’ll laugh out loud at
their adventures as they successfully kidnap
their friend and take him home to recover.
In the meantime while Sam is gone, Miss
Julia has arranged to have their home remodeled to better suit the two of them.
(Sam has given his former home to Hazel
Marie and Lloyd, plus J. D. and the twin
girl babies.) Of course, problems arise with
the workmen and the architect, who seem
to have fallen under the spell of a wealthy
woman who once lived here, moved away,
and returned.
Agnes Whitman introduces herself as a
minister of the Church of Body Modifica-
tion—primarily tattoos and piercings, designed to test the limits of flesh and spirit.
You can well imagine how this goes over in
the small town South, commonly known to
be rather reserved Baptist and Presbyterian!
Miss Julia is a veritable treasure if you
like witty and clean stories that radiate
goodness and caring for one’s neighbors.
They remind one of gentler times, indeed.
Reviewed by Kelly Ferjutz
Grace
By T. Greenwood
Kensington, $15.00, 352 pages
Every so often a story comes along that
stays with you. This is one of those rare encounters. Greenwood invites readers into
the intricately spun lives of the Kennedys
and the people around them. She illustrates
just how related we all are, how each life is
invisibly connected. Trevor is a battered junior-high student, mercilessly bullied by his
peers, who finds release through the lens of
a camera. He relies on making the hideous
beautiful with just a slanted manipulation
of light. His parents are working-class and
weary from the pressures of reality, relying on denial and
shoplifting to fill the
voids. Grace is the
young daughter who
brings the obvious
light to her family
and displays the innocence of a life still burgeoning with hope. As the story develops,
we see a theme of fractured lives that look
very different under the surface.
Greenwood is flawless in her suspense
building, fluidity of prose and sense of human poetry; each character is fully developed and leaves an imprint on the reader’s
heart. This is a story that held me captive
from the start, so much so that after I
closed it I still carried it around with me
for the rest of the day. Its soft and beautiful
pain and grace lingers, loudly.
Reviewed by Sky Sanchez-Fischer
The Beginner’s Goodbye
By Anne Tyler
Knopf, $24.95, 208 pages
Check this out!
If only he’d helped her find the Triscuits,
Aaron’s wife, Dorothy, wouldn’t have died.
Regrets like these consume Aaron long after
he has moved in with his sister and hired
contractors to restore his house. Aaron,
an editor in his family’s vanity publishing
company, finds it hard
to continue with his
life as if nothing has
happened. He knows
he is supposed to be
moving on with his
life, is supposed to
stop missing Dorothy so intensely, but
he can’t … until she starts to visit him. Her
visits shine a light on parts of his marriage
GOODBYE, cont’d on page 10
,
CHILDREN S NONFICTION
Book Reviews
Category
Tween
Reads
book summaries.
One for the Murphys
By Lynda Mullaly Hunt
Nancy Paulsen Books, $16.99, 256 pages
Check this out!
Twelve-year-old Carley Connor has built
serious walls around herself. Her life has
been lousy and now, after a stay in the hospital due to her new stepfather beating her
unconscious, she’s placed in foster care until
her mother recovers from a similar beating.
The big difference is,
Carley
remembers
her mother holding
her for him when her
stepfather came after
her. Carley is pretty
angry at just about
everything. The Murphys, her foster family, expected a boy as
they already have three of their own. She
even has to sleep in the littlest boy’s room,
decorated for someone who wants to grow
up and be a fireman. Her defenses go up and
she has every intention of keeping them
up. When she finds herself at a new school
with absolutely no friends, it can’t get much
worse. But the Murphys start to worm their
way into her life and her heart. Just as she finally decides to let them in, she is faced with
the most difficult decision of her young life.
Lynda Mullaly Hunt’s debut novel is powerful, honest, and heart-breakingly beautiful. This is a book for everyone, not just
middle-school girls; teens and adults will
love it as well.
Reviewed by Rosi Hollinbeck
The Cabinet of Earths
By Anne Nesbet
HarperCollins, $16.99, 272 pages
Check this out!
Maya and her family have just moved
to Paris, where her father has been given a
year-long fellowship. She’s not at all happy
about leaving behind her home and friends
in California, but her mother, who is recovering from cancer,
wanted to do it, so
she wouldn’t want to
refuse that request.
Even so, she’s not eagerly embracing all of
the opportunities of
the city housing the
Eiffel Tower or, as her
five-year-old brother James calls it, the Evil
Tower.
Still, Maya ends up running into a mystery involving two men named Henri de
Fourcroy, both of whom may be distant relations to her; a strange society in which all
the members are young and radiant, and a
beautiful, elaborate cabinet she can’t help
but be drawn toward. All of it would simply
be an odd diversion until James is threatened. Now, Maya must make some difficult
decisions.
The Cabinet of Earths is a fine fantasy tale
for young readers. The story is gripping and
the family relationships are sweet, playing
an important role in the plot itself. Middle
readers should thoroughly enjoy it.
Reviewed by Cathy Carmode Lim
The Grave Robber’s Apprentice
By Allan Stratton
Check this out!
Young Hans digs up dead people for a
living. Orphaned as a baby, he is adopted
by Knobbe the grave robber and learns the
tricks of the trade. Hans doesn’t know where
he came from or who
he really is. He hates
what he must do to
survive as a peasant,
but where else can he
turn? Twelve-year-old
Countess Angela lives
in a splendid castle.
Except for her marionettes and a childhood nurse, she is left
alone by her parents and is expected to grow
up and marry a strange prince and live in
his splendid castle. Both children long to be
free. When Angela is kidnapped by the evil
Archduke Arnulf, only Hans can save her.
Readers join Hans and Angela on a daring
quest of rescue and redemption. Can the
duo discover Hans’ true identity and save
Angela from the Archduke? Both girls and
boys will be drawn to the strong hero and
heroine in Allan Stratton’s The Grave Robber’s Apprentice. Each chapter begins with
a fascinating drawing of events to come.
Stratton has a way with words, and adults
will find themselves immersed in the story
as well.
COMING SOON
Backseat A-B-See
By Maria Van Lieshout • Vroom! Vroom! From
the backseat, what do you see? Whether
on a cross-country road trip or a quick
jaunt across town, there’s no end to what
a child can see from the backseat of a car.
Using familiar road signs, this striking book
introduces little ones not just to the alphabet
but also to the world around them. Equally
perfect for transportation-obsessed children
and those just learning to read, this fresh and dynamic picture book
will entertain and educate at home, in the classroom and on the go.
Ocean Sunlight: How Tiny
Plants Feed the Seas
By Molly Bang • Acclaimed Caldecott artist Molly
Bang paints a stunning, sweeping view of our
ever-changing oceans. In this timely book, award
winner Molly Bang uses her signature poetic
language and dazzling illustrations to introduce
the oceanic world. From tiny aquatic plants to the
biggest whale or fish, Bang presents a moving,
living picture of the miraculous balance sustaining
each life cycle and food chain deep within our wondrous oceans.
This Book Requires Safety Goggles:
A Collection of Bizarre Science Trivia
By Kristi Lew • Did you know that there is a cave
large enough to hold the Empire State Building?
That ordinary table salt is a mixture of a poisonous
gas and an explosive metal? Or that most of the
cells living in your body don’t even belong to
you? Learn the scientific reasons behind these
and many more amazing facts when you read
this collection of awesome science trivia!
G Is for Gold Medal:
An Olympics Alphabet
By Brad Herzog • From the first games held in
ancient Greece to the cultural extravaganzas of
recent years, there have been some incredible
and amazing events and milestones in the
world of Olympic sports. This wonderful book
showcases those athletes and events that
not only set sports records but also impacted history and world views.
The Golden Book of Family Fun
By Peggy Brown • There’s something for everyone
in this book – from making a backyard water park,
to classic outdoor games such as “Kick the Can” and
“Ghost in the Graveyard,” to instructions for making
a camping stove, plus ghost stories, card games,
easy-to-make snacks and crafts galore. Written
in a witty, accessible style by one of today’s most
successful game inventors and crafts experts, The
Golden Book of Family Fun is a deluxe, affordable
source for recession-proof, down-home, big fun!
Book Reviews
Langman, but more than that, he has created a whole cast of bright, funny secondary
characters who populate this laugh-out-loud
YA novel. The voice is dead-on teen talk and
the jokes are just what you’d expect from
teenage boys. Buy this book!
Category
Teen
Scene
book summaries.
Boy21
By Matthew Quick
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers,
$17.99, 250 pages
Check this out!
Narrated by Finley, a boy in love with basketball, Boy21 by Matthew Quick will catch
readers by surprise
with its combination
of unique characters,
emotion, and friendship.
Finley is the only
white player on his
basketball team, and
has earned himself
a starting position
with his dedication to
practice and training. When Russ moves to
town, Coach asks Finley to stick with him
and eventually get him to go out for basketball. Finley finds this is no easy task, as Russ
only answers to the name Boy21 and has an
unusual fascination with space.
Perhaps the worst part for Finley is that
Boy21 was an all-star basketball player on
his last team-not only playing as the same
jersey number (21), but also in the same
position as Finley. Their friendship helps
Russ deal with the past he ran from, but
the strain on their relationship due to basketball allows true reflection and excellent
prose from Quick to shine.
The narration from Finley strikes a perfect balance between inner dialogue and
emotion as he struggles to find his place after Coach essentially asks him to do what’s
best for the team.
Reviewed by Shanyn Day
Dreamless
By Josephine Angelini
HarperTeen, $17.99, 487 pages
Check this out!
Fans of Starcrossed will not be disappointed with the sequel, Dreamless. Helen
descends into the Underworld each night in
an attempt to find a way to stop the Furies
and end the curse all Scions are under to try
and kill those from rival houses. It’s taking a
toll on her, along with the torment she faces
having to deny her feelings for Lucas. Her
one solace is meeting Orion in the Underworld, as he joins her on her quest.
There is a lot going on in this book, and
readers are introduced to several new Greek
gods and goddesses that are not as well
known at the twelve major gods. This adds
to the action and throws in a few twists
and turns that readers will not see coming.
Orion is also a nice
addition to the story,
despite the fact that
he can be considered
a part of a love triangle. Fortunately, the
love triangle aspect
isn’t over, and readers can simply enjoy
Orion’s wit and sense
of humor. The only
minor drawback to this book is there is not
as much Helen-Lucas interaction, but the
latest revelations make it still a story well
worth reading.
Reviewed by Debbie Suzuki
Guy Langman, Crime Scene
Procrastinator
By Josh Berk
Knopf Books for Young Readers, $16.99,
240 pages
Check this out!
The day of Guy’s father’s funeral is hard
on Guy. He is a pallbearer and delivers the
eulogy and he’s only sixteen. He thought his
dad would live forever. Now all he has left is
memories of his dad’s advice, none of it very
good, and three gold coins.
Guy is talked into joining the afterschool Forensics Club by his best friend,
Anoop, who shows Guy a note from Raquel
– the girl of Guy’s dreams – saying she will
be there. When Guy discovers someone has
broken into his house
and stolen the gold
coins his father left,
the skills he’s learned
in Forensics Club
come in handy. They
have prints, but no
exemplar, although
something is familiar
about the print. The
Forensics Club has a
competition with another club, and Anoop
and Guy find a real dead body, someone who
looks remarkably like Guy. The plot thickens!
Josh Berk has created a bright, irreverent, and truly funny protagonist in Guy
Wanderlove
By Kirsten Hubbard
Delacorte Books for Young Readers, $17.99,
352 pages
Check this out!
Wanderlove is an excellent sophomore
novel by Kirsten Hubbard.
Bria signs up for a guided tour of South
America, but when she arrives she finds
herself surrounded by middle-aged tourists,
leaving no one her age for her to connect
with on the trip. She soon meets Rowan, a
backpacker, and is intrigued by his attitude
and outlook on life. Taking a huge chance,
she ditches her tour group and heads off
with Rowan and his sister on a tour of South
America she will never forget.
Watching the relationship between
Rowan and Bria grow is a delight, especially
when they bond during the various traveling legs they have to do (bus, back of a truck,
and on). Bria is on the
quest for independence while Rowan is
trying to get back on
track from bad decisions he has made,
and this dynamic is
written very well. The
most special part of
Wanderlove falls in a
unique category, however: author Kirsten
Hubbard has included some of her own illustrations to accompany the text.
Clearly written by someone who has traveled herself, Wanderlove manages to combine friendship, discovery, and travel in a
near perfect package.
Reviewed by Shanyn Day
Welcome, Caller, This Is Chloe
By Shelley Coriell
Amulet Books, $16.95, 320 pages
Check this out!
Chloe is a social fish, queen of the school,
whom everyone laughs and has a good time
with. So she gets an ugly shock when her
friends Brie and Mercedes exclude her at
school after spring break, determined to
ruin her social life line. She knows that Brie
has been having family troubles, but Chloe
has been dealing with some of her ownmatters that cannot be dissolved with a
joke. To make matters worse she has to redo
her whole JISP paper, something she cannot graduate without. For her subject Chloe
gets signed up to work at the school’s failing radio station, with a crew who may have
their own problems but support each other
as an odd family. She develops a crush on
the technician, Duncan, whose life revolves
around his problems at home. Chloe learns
that listening is just as good, and sometimes
better than talking to help someone.
Shelley Coriell creates the most interest-
ing, in depth, and satisfying novel I have
read in a long time. The readers watch as
Chloe grows in her understanding of herself
and those around her as she tries to lighten
everyone’s problems. The importance of
laughter everyday is explored, while the idea
of balance is reached. The stress of problems
at home that some
students have is well
portrayed, bringing a
very realistic and understanding quality
to the book. It sends
an important message
to bounce back from
hard times. Readers
understand how important friends and family are in their
support for one another, and how others
don’t have these bonds. The pages will fly
through in Chloe’s voice, leading readers
through her life.
Reviewed by Amanda Muir
Applewhites at Wit’s End
By Stephanie S. Tolan
Check this out! Randolph Applewhite
returns home to North Carolina after
directing a show in New York to announce
to the family that all their money has been
embezzled. The family is destitute and they
will have to sell the family homestead.
The members of the extended family who
live at Wit’s End are all artists of one kind
or another and need their space and quiet
to continue their
creative endeavors.
They finally come
up with the idea of
running a summer
camp for creative
prodigies. With
all their diverse
talents, they have no
doubt they can run
workshops to keep a
dozen young people busy for eight weeks
and restore enough of the family fortune
to keep Wit’s End. What could possibly go
wrong? First, they only get six campers, not
the twelve they need to make a good profit.
“She smoothed out one and slipped
it into her spiral notebook. The
others she put back with the rest
of the trash. Then she picked up
one of the balled-up sheets of
paper and carefully straightened
it out. It had been printed on what
looked like an ink-jet printer.
There was not much on it, but
what there was sent a shiver up
her spine.”
Then they meet the campers.
This sequel to Surviving the Applewhites
has the same cast of slightly crazy characters with the addition of six campers who fit
right into the Wit’s End lunacy. It’s fun and
silly and, other than the annoying baby-talk
of young Destiny, this is a thoroughly enjoyable book for kids ten and up.
Book Reviews
ing the fireball before it touches down. Our
hero Randy winds up getting the greatest
hit of them all in a tale that tells children
that their own, unique personal strengths
are priceless.
Beautifully illustrated.
Reviewed by Joseph Arellano
Category
Picture
Books
book summaries.
Cindy Moo
By Lori Mortensen, Jeff Mack (illustrator)
Check this out!
When Cindy’s fellow cows on the Diddle
farm hear a nursery rhyme about a cow who
jumped over the moon, they scoff at the
idea. Cows can’t jump over the moon. Cindy
has her own ideas about that. The rhyme inspires her: Surely she’s just the cow to jump
the moon and prove her friends wrong.
But several attempts make her realize that
jumping the moon is not so easily done.
The moon is farther away than she thought.
Some creative thinking and a stroke of
luck lead her to a solution that will delight
youngsters (and maybe make them try to
jump over the moon themselves.)
Mortensen’s rhyme and rhythm are singsong-y and delightful, following the pattern
of the classic nursery rhyme. Jeff Mack’s
colorful illustrations capture bovine expressions and are full of life. This book is a fun
romp and will please parents and children
alike.
Reviewed by Elizabeth Varadan
Every Cowgirl Loves a Rodeo
By Rebecca Janni, Lynne Avril (illustrator)
Dial Books for Young Readers, $16.99,
32 pages
Check this out!
Bicycles have replaced horses in the
hearts of some little girls, but the dream lives
on. Every Cowgirl Loves a Rodeo is the story
of Nellie Sue and her bike, and her dreams
of winning a blue ribbon at the county fair
bicycle rodeo. Although she shows that she
has the stuff, as she demonstrates to the
current winner, she must make the horrible
choice of winning or saving her friend. She
makes the right choice, and rides off into
her own sunset, or sundae as the case may
be.
This is a fun book. The illustrations are
fun, and really get the fantasy and reality
across; this book would be recommended
for the artwork alone. However, it also
makes a great point about not only doing
the right thing, but also that two people
can be rivals and
still be friends;
when rivals are
villainized to the
point of absurdity
in most books, showing that they can be
friends and actually
help push each other
to success is a pretty
powerful message. This is a great book, and
one that preschoolers will enjoy.
Reviewed by Jamais Jochim
Randy Riley’s Really Big Hit
By Chris Van Dusen
Candlewick Press, $15.99, 32 pages
Check this out!
Author and illlustrator Chris Van Dusen
has fashioned a children’s book that should
be quite popular with male children, ages 4
and above. It will especially appeal to those
kids — male or female — who are just
becoming exposed
to the game of baseball, either Pee Wee
League style or softball.
Randy Riley is a
boy who would love, more than anything,
to be the next Ted Williams of his Little
League team. But while he’s a very smart
whiz-kid when it comes to space and science, he’s not able to hit a baseball, no matter how hard he tries. In this story set in the
1950s, Randy uses his powerful telescope
to determine that a meteor fireball is on its
way toward planet Earth and will destroy
the town he lives in.
Randy is unable to convince anyone —
including his absolutely clueless parents —
that the meteor is on its way. So he has just
19 days to find a solution; a way of destroy-
You Are a Lion! And Other Fun Yoga
Poses
By Taeeun Yoo
Nancy Paulsen Books, $16.99, 32 pages
Check this out!
You Are a Lion! And Other Fun Yoga Poses
by Taeeun Yoo is a simple introduction
to yoga for
children from 3
to 5. Yoo, who
is the author
and illustrator
of The Little
Red Fish, sets
the book up as
if your child is
entering a yoga
class. Gentle illustrations greet the reader
and accompany the child throughout. The
opening lines—and the pictures of children
practicing yoga moves and the verses that
follow—invite the reader into an easy and
calming class. Yoo’s language - “When
the golden sun rises” - gently rocks and
suggests calm.
Yoo provides simple instructions for children to capture the animals of the yoga poses: a lion, a butterfly, a dog, a snake, a frog,
and a cat. At the end, the children come together in mountain pose, finishing to “Relax
in silence.” Each child in the book demonstrates the getting into a pose; the following pages include the child in scenery of the
animal. For example, the child demonstrating cat pose kneels on one page, rounds her
back in the second illustration and, turn the
page, a cat and a child creep quietly along a
tree branch like a cat meowing at the moon.
GOODBYE, cont’d from page 7
on parts of his marriage that he hadn’t
considered, allowing him to see Dorothy
in a new way and helping him to let go.
The Beginner’s Goodbye is wittily
named after the series of books that
Aaron edits, books with titles like The
Beginner’s Wine Guide and The Beginner’s Monthly Budget. “Anything is manageable if it’s divided into small enough
increments, was the theory; even life’s
most complicated lessons.” Even saying
goodbye to a loved one? Aaron certainly
bungles the process and could use some
help. His poignant mishaps and socially
awkward interactions inspire a wry smile
and a desire for readers to save him from
himself.
Kids
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Book Reviews
have a better life.
Sam is hired to be a stand-in for Trevor
because he looks so much like him they
could be twins. When Trevor’s mother
sees them together she gets Sam fired and
banned from the studio. The boys talk and
discover they are both adopted. Maybe they
could really be twins. Trevor’s movie-star
friend McKenna Steele, on whom Sam has
an immediate crush (and the feeling is mutual), helps the boys trade places for a couple
of weeks. But then the wheels start to come
off. Think The Prince and the Pauper in modern-day Hollywood. This is great fun—a
story both boys and girls of middle-school
age will like a lot.
Category
Kids’
Books
book summaries.
Nasty Bugs
By Lee Bennett Hopkins, Will Terry
(illustrator)
Dial, $17.99, 32 pages
Check this out!
The sixteen poems in Nasty Bugs are not
for the faint of heart. These nasty bugs will
suck your blood, sting your skin, eat your
crops, and destroy your furniture. And then
they’ll ask for more! Fun and educational,
these poems playfully describe the lives and
appetites of mankind’s least favorite insects.
With titles like “Ode to a Dead Mosquito”
and “Barbed and Dangerous,” Nasty Bugs
will make curious readers squeal “Eeeeww,
gross!” with delight.
Terry’s bright and colorful illustrations
are realistic enough to give young entymologists a clear idea of what the insects look like,
while being cartoonish enough to contribute
to the book’s sense of fun. The expressions
on both the insects’ and their victims’ faces
made me laugh. The book concludes with a
section titled “About the Nasty Bugs,” which
features a thumbnail picture of each bug, its
scientific name, and a few interesting facts.
Information embedded in poetry, combined with silly illustrations, gives Nasty
Bugs the right balance between education
and entertainment.
Kaspar the Titanic Cat
By Michael Morpurgo, Michael Foreman
(illustrator)
Check this out!
Orphan Johnny Trott works as a bell-boy
at the Savoy Hotel. Opera singer Count-
ess Kandinsky stays at the hotel for three
months with her cat Kaspar. Johnny takes
care of the cat, walking him during his
breaks and making sure he is fed and cared
for when the Countess is away at practices
and performances. When the countess is
killed in a traffic accident, Johnny takes
care of Kaspar, but the cat will not eat. He
loses weight and his
coat dulls. A wealthy
American family, the
Stantons, comes to the
Savoy for two months
prior to their up-coming trip on the new
ocean liner, the Titanic. The Stanton’s young
daughter, Lizziebeth,
discovers Kaspar and
gets him to eat again. They become great
friends, and Lizziebeth befriends Johnny as
well. Johnny ends up saving her life and the
Stantons reward him. When it is the time
for them to leave, Johnny gives Kaspar to
Lizziebeth, and the Stantons take Johnny
along to help them settle in on the Titanic.
Johnny stows away on the ill-fated ship.
Michael Morpurgo is a master story-teller and this lovely story will not disappoint
middle-school readers. Both boys and girls
will like it equally well.
Pinch Hit
By Tim Green
Check this out!
Trevor is a star. No, really, a movie star.
He’s thirteen years old and has a dressing
room trailer, a movie-star mother and
big-shot dad, and he lives in a mansion in
Bel Air. He has everything, except what he
really wants—to play baseball on a team
with other kids.
Sam lives in a trailer in a garbage dump
with his father, an
aspiring screenwriter.
Sam plays baseball
and he is good. Really
good. Going-to-themajors-someday good.
He wants his dad to
succeed in movies to
The Bell Bandit
By Jacqueline Davies
Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, $15.99,
192 pages
Check this out!
Jessie and Evan travel with their mother
(who they strangely think of as Mrs. Treski)
to see their grandmother in the hospital after a house fire and a bad fall. When they
arrive, they find the house damaged much
worse than expected. Clearly, this holiday
season won’t be what they are used to. To
top everything off, they find that Grandmother’s bell, the ringing of which is a New
Year’s Eve tradition, has been stolen! Jessie
meets a neighbor boy, Maxwell, who has odd
habits, odd ways of moving, and difficulty
communicating. While Evan works sideby-side with the man repairing the house,
Jessie befriends Maxwell and decides they
should become spies and find the bell thief.
When Grandmother comes home, she is
not herself. At times
she doesn’t know who
Evan is, and she makes
poor choices that put
her in danger. Jessie
and Maxwell run into
trouble when they spy
on some “mean boys”
in the neighborhood
while looking for the
bell.
This is a well-structured mystery that
will engage young readers with the story
while taking on difficult issues such as Alzheimer’s and autism. Sometimes the point
of view is a bit confusing, but overall kids
will like this book.
The Super Sluggers: Rainmaker
By Kevin Markey
Check this out!
The Rambletown Rounders are in their last
season together and headed into playoffs
and, hopefully, the championship. There
is just one problem – their star pitcher,
Slingshot Slocum, can’t get a pitch over the
plate. More than that, every time he tries
to pitch, rain pours down so hard and fast,
thoughts of building an ark spring to mind.
The Rounders win one game, because they
are ahead when the rain comes and another
through gutsy play
without Slingshot in
the line-up. The boys
get a well-deserved
break for a camping
and rafting trip down
the Big Fork River,
home of the ghostly
tale of the Moonlight
Bandit and the Devil’s Furnace. When
Slingshot starts skipping stones, the boys’
raft is swept right into the Devil’s Furnace.
Will they find the treasure? Can they ever
get out? And then there’s the championship
game.
This final book in Kevin Markey’s Super Slugger series will give his fans lots to
cheer about. The boys face some really tough
challenges and persevere. There are lots of
laughs and a good mystery wrapped up in
this fast-paced page turner for young kids.
The Big Green Book of the Big Blue Sea
By Helaine Becker, Willow Dawson
(illustrator)
Kids Can Press, $15.95, 80 pages
Check this out!
This hands-on book about the ocean
offers interesting experiments to illustrate the extensive information offered.
The participation through these activities
gives children a better knowledge of the
ocean.
What makes the
ocean salty? What happens when it reaches
the sea? After an introduction to the ocean,
icebergs, tsunami, global warming, and
more are explained in the first section, “Wet
and Wild.” Section two offers “Fun with
Fish,” teaching about camouflage, glow-inthe-dark, what keeps fish floating and not
sinking, and how fish breathe, to name a
few. Part three shares “More Marine Marvels” from feathers, blubber, shapes, and
sizes, to squids, spots, and jellyfish. Each
topic includes the answers to “What’s Going
On?” and “What’s Happening Now?” that
furthers a fuller understanding.
Concluding with “The Ocean of the Future,” the book’s message is clearly stated:
“The ocean is so important to
all of Earth’s creatures and
processes that one plain fact
becomes clear: If the ocean
isn’t healthy, then nothing else
on Earth can be healthy.”
“The ocean’s well-being is in your hands and
in the hands of ordinary people everywhere
who want to make a difference.”
This method of pairing science instruction with a sense of personal responsibility
is an encouraging way to teach children.
Reviewed by Angie Mangino
Book Reviews
Category
Biography &
Memoir
book summaries.
Eisenhower in War and Peace
By Jean Edward Smith
Random House, $40.00, 950 pages
Check this out!
Just when you thought that
award winning biographer Jean Edward
Smith could not out-do his prize winner
FDR and Pulitzer finalist Grant, he dazzles
us with the topper to them both in a
no-holds-barred account of the life and
trials of Dwight David Eisenhower. Smith
recalls the journey from a general’s general
to Commander-In-Chief, showing how
Ike made it look easy while unveiling the
personal struggles that threatened to ruin
him at every turn.
Ike’s accomplishments rival contemporary national heroes. In WWII he commanded the largest multinational army ever
assembled, and as President of the United
States he enjoyed the highest average approval rating since that era, all the while
fielding detractors lobbing rumors about
Miss Kay Summersby and his executive
golf habit. A soldier who understood the human cost of war and pricelessness of peace,
Eisenhower ended Truman’s three-year
bloodletting in Korea, and for the next eight
years not a single American died in combat.
He stone-walled pressure to use nuclear
weapons and faced down Khrushchev over
Berlin. And yet, Smith reveals why Ike remains on of the most underrated men of his
generation.
Reviewed by C.D. Quyn
James Madison: A Son of Virginia and a
Founder of the Nation
By Jeff Broadwater
University of North Carolina Press, $30.00,
266 pages
Check this out!
The third James Madison biography to
come out this year, this book focuses on
a couple of different aspects of Madison’s
life: his time as president, and his views on
slavery. This biography covers his early
life and career quickly, from his time at
school to his struggle
to settle into a career
before the Revolution.
He quickly became
involved in politics
and was elected many
times. His role in the convention was to
speak about his ideas, but also to keep notes
of what others were saying. After he became
president he started to realize the limits of
power and that changes might be needed.
His views on slavery changed over time, and
he felt that for Virginia to prosper, it must
end slavery and resettle free slaves back in
Africa.
Broadwater does a good job describing
Madison’s life and views and how they shifted over the years as circumstances changed.
Madison could change his mind about topics and believed it was important for politicians to see their errors and to change with
the times. The biography is short and one of
the better researched ones on the market.
Reviewed by Kevin Winter
for experiencing black history on an intense
level, Dean saddled up his horse, Sankofa, and traveled across the United States.
Through the vagaries
of traffic, weather, and
circumstance, we hear
tales of black slaves,
abolitionists, soldiers,
jockies, cowboys, and
more. For those who
yearn for non-fiction,
this highly readable
story appeals to the
senses and the intellect. Teen readers, especially males, will enjoy this opportunity to
study history from the shared perspective
of an African-American adult male with a
dream of adventure and the guts to carry it
out. Winkler has included a map with notes
about Miles Dean’s cross-country travels,
a reading group guide, and an index. All of
these handy tools would assist history buffs
or the teacher who might assign the book for
class.
Reviewed by Alicia Latimer
Uncovering the Truth About Meriwether
Lewis
By Thomas C. Danisi
Prometheus Books, $26.00, 466 pages
Thomas Danisi’s most recent work about
the life of Meriwether Lewis brings to light
newly discovered evidence to lay to rest the
most controversial issues of the famed ex-
On the Trail of the Ancestors: A Black
Cowboy’s Ride Across America
By Lisa K. Winkler
CreateSpace, $12.95, 150 pages
Actively engaging young people in the
learning process can be a challenge. When
it comes to ensuring that little-known facts
are provided for inquiring minds, it seems
that encasing these facts within an interesting story line is a highly workable process.
Lisa K. Winkler, in describing the journey
of African-American cowboy Miles Dean,
shares with the reader the joys and hardships encountered on a modern-day 5000
mile journey on horseback. With a passion
plorer. Among these, Danisi includes in the
appendix—which takes up half the book—
documentary exhibits heretofore lost for
the past two hundred years.
This work might be best viewed as a supplement to the critically acclaimed biography, Meriwether Lewis, which Danisi recently co-authored. We are drawn into Danisi’s
insatiable curiosity to explore the events
of Lewis’s life now
that the entire court
martial
proceeding
transcript vindicates
the young officer of
all previous assumptions. Documentation
confirms that Lewis
suffered from the
incurable disease of
malaria, which alters the paradigm of his
whole life and tragic death. Coupled with
more evidence to refute claims that General James Wilkinson orchestrated Lewis’s
death, and the role Major Neelly played in
Lewis’s last days, Danisi’s work sets aside
the speculation of other reputable historians that Lewis committed suicide. Equally
critical to solving the mysteries of Lewis’s
life and demise, Danisi demonstrates how
Lewis’s financial problems were created by
an over zealous clerk accountant of the War
Department.
Reviewed by C.D. Quyn
Book Reviews
have been known to catch their prey on the
wing, while docile birds like ducks remain
sharply aware of dangers from above with
the senses nature has provided them.
Birds have to recognize calls, danger, and
predatory animals. They have to persevere
and struggle to survive, to endure flight
to reach new breeding grounds or hunting
grounds and to avoid becoming another
bird’s lunch.
The author invigorates the reader with a
constant flow of fresh, enlightening material, enriching the overall discussions under
each topic. He does so utilizing extensive
resources, many long forgotten. Like The
Private Lives of Birds by Bridget Stutchbury,
Bird Sense is a special volume—a gem that
should be recognized as the hallmark of bird
studies.
Reviewed by D. Wayne Dworsky
Category
Nature &
Science
book summaries.
Bird Sense: What It’s Like to Be a Bird
By Tim Birkhead
Walker, $25.00, 355 pages
Check this out!
Describing the senses of birds provides
an unusually informative insight into what
it’s like to be the creature. According to
Birkhead, birds have
a special knack of seeing, hearing, smelling, touching, and
otherwise feeling and
sensing the stimuli
in the environment.
The author found that
birds’ visual processing is 10 times as fast as
that of humans. Their three types of vision
means that birds, depending on whether
predator or prey, have evolved to deal with
any predicament.
Apparently, birds of prey need binocular
vision, like humans, to be able to see depth,
and calculate distances. Grazing birds,
which are often prey to other birds and animals, have evolved ways to keep up. They’ve
developed eyes on the sides of their heads
for a wider field of vision, not needing a field
of depth. The birds’ eyes have additional
devices that enable richer vision and faster
image processing, and give predatory birds
deadly precision.
Most animals can either see fine detail
or can quickly spot a moving target. Birds
appear to possess both high visual acuity
and intensely high processing power, like
a camera on steroids. In addition, it appears as though some birds such as owls
are designed as sound receptors. Owls glide
through the night air soundlessly, acutely
aware of rustling sounds that small mammals make in the woods. They clutch their
prey with deadly talons before the prey even
knows it. Many large birds such as falcons
Category
Spirituality &
Religion
book summaries.
Ordinary Sacred: The Simple Beauty of
Everyday Life
By Kent Nerburn
New World Library, $14.00, 122 pages
We’ve all heard the phrase “stop and smell
the roses.” It’s in the time we take to notice
the beauty in the ordinary, in day-to-day
life that we will see the “divine,” the sacred.
Even if you’re not a religious person, it’s hard
to deny the beauty in the world around us,
and if we take the time to notice, to listen,
to truly see, we can acknowledge a certain
“sacredness” about what we see.
Author Kent Nerburn shows us, in simple
observations that if we truly take the time,
we will see something
worth seeing and
learning from. Nerburn’s prose is easily
read. He has a talent
with words, and a
keen eye for finding
the extraordinary in
what most might see
How We Age: A Doctor’s Journey into
the Heart of Growing Old
By Marc Agronin
Da Capo Lifelong Books, $15.00, 320 pages
Check this out!
In this youth obsessed culture, aging is a
topic that is shunned. Yet all of us, if fortunate, will ultimately attain the golden years.
For those lacking the experience, Dr. Agronin presents a vivid picture of how the older
person changes both physically, emotionally, and cerebrally. In his role as a geriatric
psychiatrist working in a nursing home in
Miami, he encounters a diverse population
of seniors who might be labeled as septagenarians (70), octagenarians (80), nonagenarians (90), and even some who pass the
hundred or centarian level. Within the five
sections, the author describes his family
influences, especially his reverence for his
grandparents. Clinically, several case studies from his practice are compassionately
as ordinary. I was especially moved by his
experience and observations from attending
the funeral of a former student in the environment and traditions of Native Americans on a reservation. It was powerful and
made a big impact upon him. It’s through
Nerburn’s imagry-filled writing style that
we might sense a “spirit” in things as simple
as birdsongs, kites, even the rhythm of a
pow wow drum. Just open your eyes, open
your ears, open your heart to the possibility.
Reviewed by Laura Friedkin
Small Mercies: Glimpses of God in
Everyday Life
By Nancy Jo Sullivan
Loyola Press, $12.95, 112 pages
This sliver of a book is a pearl. Nancy Jo
Sullivan embarks on a journey to share the
mercies, blessings from the Extraordinary,
in the ordinary of everyday routine. Her
honesty is expressed as she deals with the
loss of a daughter and a marriage, and she
opens her heart to every bit of compassion
that God has to offer. She encourages her
readers to also look for these “glimpses of
God” in a morning cup of coffee, the afterschool drive with the teens and a friendly
reviewed. A portrayal
of the aging guru Eric
Ericson is especially
moving. Dementia, depression, spiritual rejuvenation, reassessment
of values; both the lows
and highs, those features that influence the
mental outlook of the
maturing individuals are analyzed and dissected. For the baby boomers whose increasing numbers will attempt to break through
the barrier of invisibility that seniors are
now accorded, this is a valuable book that
looks into the mind of our elders.
The Storytelling Animal: How Stories
Make Us Human
By Jonathan Gottschall
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24.00,
256 pages
Check this out!
It’s about time someone has chosen to put
storytelling into its proper perspective.
And the author does so in superb detail.
The Storytelling Animal is a fun-packed
adventure of the human soul, driving the
reader into the familiar domain that grabs
our attention.
He raises the important question: why
do humans tell stories at all? The manner
in which he addresses this concern triggers
digging into the heart of the human animal
- making us the storytelling animal. In that
pursuit, the book is peppered with delightful old-world photos and many, many illustrations of the human condition. He brings
our innate drive to the forefront, where we
can appreciate storytelling and how it sets
us apart as being human.
See STORYTELLING, cont’d on page 14
smile from a stranger. God spreads his love
all around; all it takes is the invitation of an
open heart and willing mind.
A slim read that entertains and amuses
its readers, Small Merciesenters the everyday, and, along with that, the funny sides
of living. Don’t miss the date cookie chapter. Remember mercies
come in all shapes, sizes and flavors. At the
end of each chapter
she shares “Receive the
Mercies,” which offers
a prayer, fasting and
almsgiving
prompt.
These quick and enlivening intentions are
inspiring and thought-provoking, lending
deeper meaning and connection to both
your Creator and yourself. Though it may
only take an afternoon to read, this book
may sit on your nightstand as a reminder to
take it all in, maybe even lending to a second and third read.
Reviewed by Sky Sanchez-Fischer
Book Reviews
Category
Fantasy
book summaries.
1636: The Kremlin Games (Ring of Fire)
By Eric Flint, Gorg Huff, Paula Goodlett
Baen, $25.00, 409 pages
Check this out!
Bernie hadn’t adjusted well when his
town of Grantville was suddenly wrenched
out of the twentieth century and plopped
down in 15th century Germany. His mom
had died from lack of
the medications that
were keeping her alive.
He had no immediate skills that were in
demand. How many
car mechanics did you
need when there was
no gas? He had been
working on the road
gangs and drinking for some time. When
the Russians came calling and asked him to
go with them he figured what did he have to
lose? What Bernie didn’t know is what he,
and the country he would come to regard
as his own, had to gain. Bernie didn’t even
know what he knew, or what he could learn,
but he and those with him would gradually make sweeping changes, of the head,
heart, and soul. I love this series, but this
is a standout even in a wonderful series. It
has war, political intrigue, romance, even
car chases! It follows Russia from the first
rumors of the ring of fire, and brings it up to
date with the rest of the series. Don’t miss
this!
Reviewed by Beth Revers
Destroyer of Worlds (Kingdom of the
Serpent, Book 3)
By Mark Chadbourn
Pyr, $17.95, 390 pages
The end time is here. For all the doom
and gloom prophesied in the Kingdom of
Category
Horror
book summaries.
The Best Horror of the Year Volume 4
By Ellen Datlow (editor)
Night Shade Books, $15.99, 387 pages
Check this out!
“Best of the Year” is not a title to take
lightly, but this anthology does live up to
its name. It is jam-packed with famous, and
infamous, writers from around the world.
The book stars off strong with the help of
horror champion Stephen King. It ends
triumphantly with a
short by Peter Straub.
If you don’t know these
names, this is a great
pace to get acquainted
with great storytellers. While each story is
different, all have the
same theme: fear comes
in all shapes and sizes.
Do not let the word “horror” or the terrifying black cover scare you away from
this book. The spectrum of feelings that
it presents is not limited only to shades of
fear. There are moments that are funny, sad,
charming, and chilling. The book is diverse.
Each of the stories are short, with the longest being 50 pages, so it is quick to read.
There are some stories I fell in love with, like
“Final Girl Theory” by A.C. Wise, and “The
Moraine” by Simon Bestwick. I also liked
the overall theme. Each story showcases
fear and paranoia in a different manner, and
it was exciting to read. Horror fan and fans
of great storytelling, pick up this book now.
Reviewed by Kevin Brown
The Cabin in the Woods: The Official
Movie Novelization
By Tim Lebbon
Titan Books, $7.99, 272 pages
Five college friends gather for a fun weekend at a remote lakeside cabin in the woods,
unaware of the horrors that await them.
Serpent books, it all comes to a head at this
point in time. Jack Churchill, our protagonist from the very beginning, must take the
fight to the Enemy. He brings with him the
acquaintances that he made along the extended journey. Not only is he joined with
Gods, Myths, and legends, but even his
own band of friends.
When the dust settles,
Church’s finds out that
there are more surprises in his future than he
thought.
All of the books
have been leading to
this point. For being
the final book, it does
pull out all the stops to make for a very fast
paced, enjoyable adventure. Chadbourn
keeps a strong focus throughout the book.
There are no loose ends or questions left at
the end of the book. It is great to see these
characters change and grow throughout
the series. Like the other books, Destroyer
of Worlds is able to sneak in philosophical
questions about the essences of being and
moral decisions. It is enough to be thoughtprovoking, but not overly preachy. For those
that have read the last two books, pick this
one up right now.
Reviewed by Kevin Brown
The Black Opera
By Mary Gentle
Night Shade Books, $15.99, 550 pages
Check this out!
When young, I was part of a stage management team and, from time to time, our
(Rest assured on one count: no spoilers appear in this review!) Although this description might sound like a dozen plots you’ve
read before, you’re in for a thrilling surprise.
You’ve likely seen trailers for The Cabin in the
Woods, a film from Joss Whedon, the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Drew
Goddard, writer of Cloverfield. If watching
the trailer made your heart race, pick up the
official movie novelization by Tim Lebbon.
Readers will discover twists and turns upon
twists and turns.
Even if you have
already seen the
film, the book will
still be a fun read.
Lebbon fills in
the details behind
the
characters’
emotions and actions. Because the
book is based on a
movie, reading it
really does feel like
a trip to the theater, and your mind provides
the specific visual details. This can often be
even scarier than watching someone else’s
creation on screen. You never know what is
lurking in the depths of your own creative
mind.
theater staged operas. That experience
considerably enhanced my enjoyment of
The Black Opera by Mary Gentle, which details the conception, writing, and staging
of a classical opera. Imagine an alternate
history for our world in which supernatural things happen and some magic works.
Now suppose that when, as an experiment,
dark operatic arias are sung to this world’s
equivalent of Krakatoa, it erupts. It could
be coincidence or it could be the first step to
destroy European civilization by provoking
all the major Italian volcanoes to spread ash
everywhere and ruin
agricultural production. The Black Opera
is intended as the ultimate act of Satanic
terrorism. So the Italian kings must stage a
“white opera” to keep
Etna and Stromboli
quiet. Except there’s
only six weeks to the critical date. And, of
course, the black team sabotage and, if necessary, murder members of the white team
to stop them from completing the work on
time.
Mary Gentle has yet again produced a
magnificent alternate history, cleverly exploiting ideas about the power of emotion
through music to change the world. The result is wonderfully entertaining.
Reviewed by David Marshall
STORYTELLING, cont’d from page 13
spirit. In these detailed accounts he categorizes the various forms of story and identifies the mechanics of each form. Later, he
relates anecdotes that
further strengthen
his story concept. And
he repeats this message throughout the
book. He describes all
the aspects of story,
such as the riddle of
fiction, how hell is
story-friendly, night
story, and he explains that the mind is a
storyteller. Don’t forget about the “story” in
“history.”
The author has crafted an account of
something we all take for granted and yet
need to hear. In the end, he describes the future of story as the natural outcome of the
human event. We are storytelling animals.
PutThe Storytelling Animal on your summer
reading list.
Reviewed by D. Wayne Dworsky
Book Reviews
York time, on September 11, 2001…
After the first sample
broke into the shape
of a cross and a crossshaped davit bit came
up with a section
of rope draped over
its arms, a Russian
scientist eerily lamented that the objects were a bad omen and that a third cross
would soon be seen.”
The combination of research from expeditions, survivor stories, and current tragedy made for a more powerful account of the
Titanic than I have ever read before.
Reviewed by Angie Mangino
Category
History &
Current
Events
book summaries.
Farewell, Titanic: Her Final Legacy
By Charles Pellegrino
Wiley, $27.95, 333 pages
Pellegrino’s writing has captured so much
information in a readable and compassionate way. He offers information from deepsea explorations of more than twenty-five
years complemented by firsthand accounts
of the tragedy from Titanic survivors. Readers get a deeper sense of being there when
survivors describe conditions before, dur-
ing, and after hitting the iceberg.
Sixteen pages of color photographs of the
sunken Titanic add to a better understanding of the vessel before the ship’s infrastructure collapses in the next few years.
What I found particularly chilling were
the events recounted during the September
2001 research expedition that synchronized so closely to another tragedy of lost
innocent lives. The caption under one of the
photographs describes it: “At 7:30 a.m. New
Hide & Seek: The Irish Priest in the
Vatican Who Defied the Nazi Command
By Stephen Walker
Lyons Press, $24.95, 306 pages
The Swastika flew over Rome in 1943 and
its shadow fell heavily over the Vatican as
well. While the Pope remained outwardly
neutral, Monsignor Hugh O’Flaherty made
the decision that he could not stand by and
do nothing. With the help of British Envoy
to the Vatican, D’Arcy Osborne, O’Flaherty
aided, fed, sheltered, and just plain saved
over 8,000 Allied POWs and Jews.
Herbert Kappler, the Nazi SS Obersturmbanfuhrer in Rome, was determined to put
a stop to O’Flaherty’s “Escape Line,” going
so far as to attempt kidnapping him multiple times with plans to assassinate him.
O’Flaherty and Kappler played a deadly cat
and mouse game up until the day that the
Allies rode their tanks through the streets
of Rome.
Special and well-deserved attention is
given to the Ardeatine Caves Massacre of
March 24, 1944, when Kappler led his men
in the killing of 335 Italians as a reprisal for
the Resistance killing thirty-two German
soldiers with a bombing. Kappler was put on
trial for war crimes
and sentenced to
life imprisonment
where again, he
crossed paths with
O’Flaherty in a very
different way.
The story of what
some were willing
to risk to do to save
lives is compelling
and the aftermath of those choices is at
times painful. Walker’s work gives a view
of the Vatican that is more favorable than
most and again emphasizes just how many
shades of gray there were during the war.
Lines in the sand are easily drawn, but forgiveness is often the hardest thing to do.
Reviewed by Gwen Stackler
Genealogy
for
Programming
Family History Month
Hardesty Regional Library • 8316 E. 93rd St.
Family History Month programs are presented by Tulsa City-County Library’s Genealogy Center.
For more information about programs, call the Genealogy Center at 918-549-7691.
Beginning Genealogy Workshop
Saturday, July 7 • 9:30 a.m.-noon
Learn how to begin your family history
research.
Free Genealogy Websites
Saturday, July 7 • 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Join Genealogy Center associate Liz Walker
and discover useful free genealogy websites.
Information Overload:
Organizing Your Genealogy Records
Saturday, July 7 • 3-4 p.m.
Discover solutions to managing all of your
genealogy information at home, online and
on the road.
Treasure Hunting in the Oklahoma
Historical Society’s Indian Archives
Saturday, July 14 • 10-11:30 a.m.
The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS)
is home to one of the country’s largest
collections of American Indian materials.
Join Mary Jane Warde, retired OHS Indian
historian and archivist, as she takes us on a
tour of the collection and highlights some of
its most popular items.
Historygeo.com Historic Maps
Saturday, July 14 • 2-3:30 p.m.
Historygeo.com is a new family history
software service for linking old maps and
land records to your genealogy research.
Join software creator Greg Boyd and learn
how to use this new groundbreaking tool.
Adoptees Have Rights, Too!
Locating Online Manuscripts
Navigating the Genealogy Center’s
New Web Page
Beginning to Understand
Land Records
Saturday, July 21 • 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Many adoptees would like to know their
family history but find it difficult because
records are sealed in most states. Join
adoption researcher Linda Colvard to learn
the steps necessary to open the records and
gain access to your family history.
Saturday, July 21 • 11 a.m.-noon
The Genealogy Center will tout a new virtual
look in July, along with Tulsa City-County
Library’s new website design. Let Genealogy
Center associates Liz Walker and Carissa
Kellerby be your guides to navigate our new
layout. They will show you how to find the
genealogy resources and databases you’ve
come to know and love.
Tulsa Area Genealogy
Libraries and Museums
Saturday, July 21 • 1:30-3 p.m.
Join representatives from the Broken Arrow
Genealogical Society, the Sapulpa Public
Library and the Sand Springs Museum for
an overview of their genealogy collections
and services.
What’s Coming on the Internet
Saturday, July 28 • 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Learn about the new players and websites
coming to an online site near you. Join
popular genealogy speaker and lecturer
Mark Lowe and discover what the big guys
are saying and what sites are becoming
quick favorites with genealogists.
Saturday, July 28 • 11 a.m.-noon
Discover the wonderful letters, diaries, family
histories and documents that tell the story of
early families and pioneer settlers. Certified
genealogist and Tulsa favorite Mark Lowe will
show you how and where to find these items
to further your research.
Saturday, July 28 • 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Join popular genealogist Mark
Lowe and learn the basics of
following an individual through
property records and how to
trace a specific property over time.
Sift Through South Carolina
Saturday, July 28 • 3-4 p.m.
Understand how this colony began and the
strategies you need to find ancestors there.
Popular genealogist Mark Lowe will show us
how to make every record count.
Step-by-Step:
Finding Ancestors in the Civil War
Sunday, July 29 • 1:30-4:30 p.m.
Using a record-based approach, learn to find
the basic records of your Civil War ancestor,
both Union and Confederate. Genealogy
researcher and lecturer Mark Lowe will review
basic military records and follow a soldier
throughout all available records (online and
textual). He will discuss and share a variety of
alternate records, including local civil records,
state agency records, home guard and militia
records, manuscripts and newspapers.
Imagery from the Beryl Ford Collection.

A Tribute to Community - Tulsa City

Transcription

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