Far far away - Tom McNeal

Far far away - McNeal, Tom

Summary: "When Jeremy Johnson Johnson's strange ability to speak to the ghost of Jacob Grimm draws the interest of his classmate Ginger Boltinghouse, the two find themselves at the center of a series of disappearances in their hometown"-- Provided by publisher.


Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* So it begins: What follows is the strange and fateful tale of a boy, a girl, and a ghost. Ghostly Jacob Grimm, of the famous Brothers, narrates this tale of Jeremy and Ginger and their near-tragic encounter with town baker Sten Blix, whose long-held grudges figure in the disappearance of several village children. Unappreciated as a youngster, Blix has elevated revenge to a sweet art, and he holds Jeremy, Ginger, and an additional victim, Frank Bailey, in a hidden dungeon under the bakery, while Jacob desperately tries to tell parents and friends of the predicament. If he fails, the three may become grist in the baker's next batch of Prince Cakes. Reminiscent of Hansel and Gretel and rife with allusions to the Brothers Grimm tales, this is a masterful story of outcasts, the power of faith, and the triumph of good over evil. McNeal's deft touch extends to the characterizations, where the ritual speech of traditional tales (Listen, if you will) establishes Jacob's phantasmagoric presence amid the modernist American West. There are moments of horror (as there were in the Brothers Grimm original tales), but they are accomplished through the power of suggestion. Details aplenty about Jacob and his famous sibling make this a fiction connector to both fairy tales and Grimm biographies, too. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.

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Cress - Marissa Meyer

Cress - Meyer, Marissa

Summary: Cinder and Captain Thorne are fugitives on the run, now with Scarlet and Wolf in tow. Together, they're plotting to overthrow Queen Levana and prevent her army from invading Earth. Their best hope lies with Cress, a girl trapped on a satellite since childhood who's only ever had her netscreens as company.


Horn Book Magazine Reviews
Meyer's fairy tale/sci-fi hybrid series (Cinder, rev. 1/12; Scarlet, rev. 3/13) continues with a "Rapunzel"-inspired story. Cress, taken from her Lunar parents as a baby, is forced to live alone on a satellite, spying on the Earthens for Queen Levana. But her real loyalty lies with cyborg Cinder's plan to protect Earth by dethroning Levana. After a rescue attempt of Cress goes awry, Cinder and an injured Wolf head to Africa in search of Dr. Erland; Scarlet becomes Levana's prisoner on Luna; and Cress and a temporarily blinded Thorne survive a crash landing on Earth and subsequent desert trek. Eventually everyone but Scarlet reunites, and they return to New Beijing to stop Emperor Kai's wedding to Levana. This multilayered, action-packed page-turner is sure to please series fans. Cress is a sympathetic protagonist, socially awkward due to her isolated youth but highly skilled in technology, and her teenage crush on Thorne evolves into a believable romance. And balanced nicely with Cress's story is Cinder's continuing journey -- she accepts her new identity as Princess Selene, the long-lost Lunar heir, but must find the inner strength she'll need in order to lead a revolution in the upcoming final installment, Winter. cynthia k. ritte Copyright 2014 Horn Book Magazine.

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The roads to Santiago - Derry Brabbs

The roads to Santiago: the medieval pilgrim routes through France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela - Brabbs, Derry

Summary: Brabbs traces the four main routes within France leading to Santiago de Compostella, the third most important pilgrimage destination for medieval travelers. His photographs of the journeys are breathtaking, showing the tiny towns and grand cathedrals where the pilgrims took, and still take, shelter. In many towns of France and Spain the scallop symbol of St. James can still be found at wayside inns and hostels. Brabbs has written an informative and lively text to accompany his photos. This not only gives the background of the pilgrimage sites and the purpose behind the journey, but also describes the personal reactions of one who followed the same path as thousands over the centuries. Today there are more than religious reasons for making a pilgrimage to Compostella, but, as Brabbs shows so beautifully, anyone who follows the old roads there cannot avoid being affected by the journey.

Derry Brabbs is regarded as one of England's finest photographers within the sphere of heritage and landscape, with over 20 illustrated books to his credit. His stunning color photographs for the worldwide best-seller James Herriot's Yorkshire contributed to its success. He is the author of several beautifully photographed titles celebrating England's landscape and architectural legacy. His other titles for Frances Lincoln include The River Thames, Hadrian's Wall, A Year in the Life of Rutland, A Year in the Life of the Welsh Marches and Coast to Coast with Wainwright.
- (Mbi Pub Co)

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The extraordinary adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (DVD)

The extraordinary adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec (DVD)

Summary: In 1912, author Adèle Blanc-Sec journeys to ancient Egyptian tombs to find a mummified doctor to help heal her ailing sister.

Video Librarian Reviews
Inspired by Jacques Tardi's European comic book series, director Luc Besson's Edwardian special-effects-laden whimsical fantasy set in 1912 stars Louise Bourgoin as a one-woman, uh, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. Adèle Blanc-Sec is a fearless French Nellie Bly-style globetrotting reporter, who travels to Egypt in order to steal the 4,000-year-old mummy of ancient Egypt's greatest physician. Her ultimate objective: revive the long-dead doctor to help heal Adèle's comatose twin sister. Unfortunately, the eccentric old professor who is actually able to resurrect the trussed-up dead Egyptian is stuck in prison, although he is psychically bonded to a newly-hatched pterodactyl that is terrorizing Paris. Elements of Indiana Jones, Jurassic Park, the Brendan Fraser Mummy romps and Warren Beatty's Dick Tracy (makeup distorts many character's faces into funny-papers dimensions) combine here to make for a giddy, lighthearted, comedy-fantasy family-fare bonbon. Highly recommended. (C. Cassady)Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2011.

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Blood song - Anthony Ryan

Blood song - Ryan, Anthony

Summary: Raised by the Brothers of the Sixth Order, Vaelin Al Sorna, a Warrior of the Faith, must battle the Empire and even his own father.

Booklist Reviews
The first of a trilogy, Blood Song is this British author's first fantasy novel, and the first one to be printed. It was originally an e-book, as were three science-fiction novels Ryan has also written. The plot is standard: a young boy's father abandons him at the door of the Sixth, or fighting, Order of the national faith. He is raised to be a warrior, and becomes one of the most effective in the forces of his king, Janus, of the Unified Realm. But a number of vital questions arise as the story progresses, starting with why his father cast him out of the family and into the Faith in the first place. While the plot is standard, it is deftly and originally executed, as are the characters. They are complex characters, not archetypes. The setting is medieval-based, but with a number of original differences (especially the religion!). Ryan's style makes Blood Song a page-turner. Apt turns of phrase, descriptions that linger, questions answered at unexpected times all make the story definitely superior to much of the genre. It should please a wide audience, but those who do not care for gory fantasy adventure are hereby warned. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.

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Zealot - Reza Aslan

Zealot: the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth - Aslan, Reza

Summary: Presents a meticulously researched biography of Jesus that draws on biblical and historical sources to place his achievements and influence against the turbulent backdrop of his time.

Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Aslan brings a fine popular style, shorn of all jargon, to bear on the presentation of Jesus of Nazareth as only a man. What's more, as he pares the supernatural or divine away from Jesus, he refrains from deriding it. He isn't interested in attacking religion or even the church, much less in comparing Christianity unfavorably to another religion. He would have us admire Jesus as one of the many would-be messiahs who sprang up during Rome's occupation of Palestine, animated by zeal for "strict adherence to the Torah and the Law," refusal to serve a human master, and devotion to God, and therefore dedicated to throwing off Rome and repudiating Roman religion. Before and after Jesus, such zeal entailed violent revolution, but Jesus proceeded against Rome in the conviction that zealous spirit was sufficient. It wasn't, and Rome executed him. This depiction of Jesus makes sense, as we say, though many Christians will find holes in its fabric; indeed, Aslan grants one of the largest, the fact that no one who attested to the Resurrection recanted. But you don't have to lose your religion to learn much that's vitally germane to its history from Aslan's absorbing, reader-friendly book. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.

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Gravity (DVD)

Gravity (DVD)

Summary: Dr. Ryan Stone is a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky. On a seemingly routine spacewalk, the shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left, and the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

An astronaut's guide to life on Earth - Chris Hadfield

An astronaut's guide to life on Earth - Hadfield, Chris

Summary: Colonel Chris Hadfield has spent decades training as an astronaut and has logged nearly 4000 hours in space. Through stories filled with the adrenaline of launch, the mesmerizing wonder of spacewalks and the measured, calm responses mandated by crises, he explains how conventional wisdom can get in the way of achievement and happiness.

Kirkus Reviews
Hadfield chronicles what it took to achieve his dream of becoming an astronaut. The author explains how the excitement of watching Neil Armstrong's televised moon landing changed his life. At age 9, he "knew, with absolute clarity that I wanted to be an astronaut." Though the odds were particularly slim due to the fact that he was (and remains) a Canadian, he succeeded in becoming a top NASA astronaut. The author explains how he charted his career with fierce determination. He joined the Canadian air force, studied engineering with a military scholarship and then volunteered to be a test pilot. He was then chosen to be one of a few fortunate Canadian airmen tracked into NASA. By the time of his retirement in 2012, he had served as director of NASA operations in Russia and chief of International Space Station Operations. On his last space mission, Hadfield served as commander of the International Space Station, where he spent 146 days in space while making 2,336 orbits around the Earth. The author provides a satisfying behind-the-scenes look at the life of an astronaut, which is a useful corrective to the popular celebrity image. He explains that being in space helped him to keep his perspective even while enjoying the excitement of his job--"most people, including me, tend to applaud the wrong things: the showy, dramatic record-setting sprint rather than the years of dogged preparation or the unwavering grace displayed during a string of losses." The author emphasizes that becoming an astronaut involved developing physical capabilities and technical skills through tireless practice and a fanatic attention to detail. However, he also delivers a lively account of his experiences with the joys of weightlessness as well as the discomfort of leaving the ship for a space walk. A page-turning memoir of life as a decorated astronaut. Copyright Kirkus 2013 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.

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Salinger - David Shields

Salinger - Shields, David

Summary: Draws on extensive research and exclusive interviews to share previously undisclosed aspects of the enigmatic writer's life, from his private relationships and service in World War II to his legal concerns and innermost secrets.

Publishers Weekly Reviews
The culmination of over 200 interviews and almost a decade of research, Shields (How Literature Saved My Life) and Salerno, director of the documentary accompanying the book, offer an oral history, effectively blended with narrative and analysis of the iconic writer and his body of work. In lesser hands, this approach could quickly spiral out of control, but Shields and Salerno keep the story on track. Granted, many mileposts and lore—such as Salinger's predilection for young girls or Catcher in the Rye's influence on high-profile assassinations—will not be all that revelatory but the authors' impressive collection of first-person accounts by those who were there gives readers greater insight into the writer and his place in the world. Literary snippets, such as "I'm Crazy," a short story Salinger wrote in Europe that was the first story narrated by Holden Caulfield, and asides—"Jesus, he has a helluva talent," Hemingway is reported to have said of Salinger—combined with a number of photos will make this a must-read for fans of the celebrated author. Photos. (Sept.)

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Out of their minds - Luis Humberto Crosthwaite

Out of their minds: the incredible and (sometimes) sad story of Ramon and Cornelio - Crosthwaite, Luis Humberto

Summary: Ramon and Cornelio are best friends, driven by boredom as teenagers to start a band. Not just any band. A norteño band, playing God's favorite music. God even pitches in to write the songs. Success, disaster and good music follow.

"Hey, what's up, come a little closer, I have something to tell you," God said to Cornelio. The deal was simple: God would be the silent partner in the norteño band that Cornelio had started with his best friend Ramon. Cornelio would sing and play the bajo sexto, Ramon the accordion, and God would write the songs. Cornelio agreed; he would sell his soul to God.

Success and disaster followed. The band went from playing bars in Tijuana to playing the biggest stadiums in Mexico. Women started fan clubs dedicated to their heroes Ramon and Cornelio. It seemed to Cornelio and Ramon that they had everything, but fame was a cruel mistress. Ramon and Cornelio’s story has some loose parallels to a real Mexican band, but it’s also the apocryphal story of the Beatles and the kids tuning up in the garage down the street.

Luis Humberto Crosthwaite is an award-winning writer, editor, and journalist who teaches at the University of Iowa. His fiction has garnered critical attention for his ability to express the complexities of living on the US/Mexico border. Among his best known books are Estrella de la Calle Sexta, Aparta de mí este Cáliz, Idos de la Mente, Instrucciones para Cruzar la Frontera, and Tijuana: Crimen y Olvido. His translated novels are The Moon will Forever be a Distant Love and Out of their Minds. He is also co-editor of Puro Border: Dispatches, Snapshots, & Graffiti from the US/Mexico Border.

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Rosie Revere, engineer - Andrea Beaty

Rosie Revere, engineer - Beaty, Andrea

Summary: A young aspiring engineer must first conquer her fear of failure.

Horn Book Guide Reviews
After a confidence-shattering incident when she was younger, little budding engineer Rosie Revere is too timid to show anyone her machines. Then great-great-aunt Rose, an engineer herself, teaches Rosie the true meaning of a successful invention. Beaty's rhymes are cleverly constructed, and Roberts's meticulous illustrations, some on drafting paper, capture the quirkiness of the girl and her gizmos.

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The book of Mormon original Broadway cast recording (CD)

The book of Mormon original Broadway cast recording (CD)

The 2011 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album and nine 2011 Tony Awards® say it's the Best Musical of the Year. Vogue says, "It's the funniest musical of all time." And The New York Times says, "It's the best musical of this century." It's THE BOOK OF MORMON, the Broadway musical from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and Avenue Q co-creator Robert Lopez. The Daily Show's Jon Stewart calls it "A crowning achievement. So good, it makes me angry."

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Everything is perfect when you're a liar - Kelly Oxford

Everything is perfect when you're a liar - Oxford, Kelly

Summary: A Twitter sensation and popular writer uses her trademark blend of biting wit and self-deprecation to find hilarity in everyday life.

Kirkus Reviews
Autobiographical vignettes from Twitter comedian Oxford. These stories fall into roughly three stages of the author's life: obnoxiously precocious childhood, confused young adulthood and parenthood. When Oxford tells us about her childhood and teen years, she doesn't hold back, giving us mortifying stories about wetting herself in a gas station and puking in her friend's father's car before a party. She also comes across as somewhat bratty and entitled. Her young adulthood was appropriately wacky. She flew from Canada to Los Angeles on a whim in a desperate attempt to meet Leonardo DiCaprio and bought, then sold, a dilapidated camper van. When describing her adulthood and parenthood, she grows into her precociousness. "An Open Letter to the Nurse Who Gave Me an Enema Bottle" is entertaining, and the last sentence is genuinely funny and unexpected. "How I Met Your Father" is sweetly raunchy, the kind of story that will horrify her children but delight her grandchildren. As amusing as some of these stories are, Oxford is a mostly unremarkable writer with a remarkable claim to fame: her successful use of Twitter to gain an audience for her humor and writing. Yet this, the most interesting fact about her, receives very little attention in the book. She does share her experience meeting David Copperfield as a result of a Twitter exchange, but the story readers will most likely want to hear--how she got started with Twitter and how her tweets got the attention of significant public figures like Copperfield and Roger Ebert--is absent from the narrative. Alternately grating and amusing, Oxford skips the most interesting part of her life: her canny use of Twitter. Copyright Kirkus 2013 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.

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Twenty feet from stardom (DVD)

Twenty feet from stardom (DVD)

Summary: They are the voices behind the greatest rock, pop and R&B hits of all time, but no one knows their names. Now, in this award-winning documentary, director Morgan Neville shines the spotlight on the untold stories of such legendary background singers as Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer, Judith Hill, and more.

"While the lead singers in rock, pop, and R&B are the ones who get the glory, knowledgeable music fans will tell you the backing vocalists often add the touches that make a performance truly memorable, and though many backup singers have the respect of their peers in the music business, they're all but unknown to the average listener. Twenty Feet From Stardom pays homage to some of these unsung heroes, including Darlene Love (the un-credited lead voice on some of Phil Spector's most memorable productions of the 1960s), Merry Clayton (who contributed a striking vocal cameo on the Rolling Stones' ""Gimme Shelter"", Lisa Fischer (who has appeared on albums by Sting, Tina Turner, and Aretha Franklin, as well as touring with the Rolling Stones), and the Waters Family (they sang with Michael Jackson on the album Thriller and lent their voices to the films The Lion King and Avatar)." - (Alert)

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The second half of life - Angeles Arrien

The second half of life: opening the eight gates of wisdom - Arrien, Angeles

Summary: When you find the courage to change at midlife," Angeles Arrien teaches, "a miracle happens." Your character is opened, deepened, strengthened, softened. You return to your soul's highest values. You are now prepared to create your legacy: an imprint of your dream for our world-a dream that can fully come true in The Second Half of Life. Working with images, poetry, metaphors, and other forms of symbolic language from diverse world cultures, Dr. Arrien introduces us to the Eight Gates of Initiation. By mastering their lessons and gifts, you harvest the meaning and purpose of your life, and come into spiritual maturity. With The Second Half of Life, she takes you step-by-step through each gate to deepen your most valuable relationships, reclaim your untended creative talents, and shift your focus from ambition to meaning to grow into the exceptional elder you've always imagined you would one day become. Book jacket. - (Soundstrue)

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The sweetness at the bottom of the pie - Alan C. Bradley

The sweetness at the bottom of the pie - Bradley, Alan C.

Series: Flavia de Luce Mysteries

Summary: Eleven-year-old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist with a passion for poison, must exonerate her father of murder. Armed with more than enough knowledge to tie two distant deaths together and examine new suspects, she begins a search that will lead her all the way to the King of England himself.


Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Canadian Alan Bradley's first full-length crime novel is delightful. Like fellow Canadian Louise Penny, his book is the recipient of the Debut Dagger Award from Canada's Crime Writers' Association. Sweetness introduces a charming and engaging sleuth who is only 11 years old. Flavia is one of three precocious and extremely literate daughters being raised by English widower Colonel de Luce in 1950. Flavia's passion is chemistry (with a special interest in poisons). She is able to pursue her passion in the fully equipped Victorian laboratory in Buckshaw, the English mansion where the de Luce family lives. The story begins with a dead snipe (with a rare stamp embedded on its beak) found on the back doorstep. This is followed by a dead human body in the garden and, later, by a poisonous custard pie. Revelations about the mysterious past of Colonel de Luce complicate matters. Others supporting players include the housekeeper, Mrs. Mullet, and the gardener, Dogger, who suffers from shell shock. When Colonel de Luce is arrested for murder, it's up to Flavia to solve the mystery. The 11-year-old claims she is not afraid because "this was by far the most interesting thing that had ever happened to me in my entire life." Only those who dislike precocious young heroines with extraordinary vocabulary and audacious courage can fail to like this amazingly entertaining book. Expect more from the talented Bradley. Copyright 2009 Booklist Reviews.

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The Vogue years - Francoise Hardy (CD)

The Vogue years - Francoise Hardy (CD)

Summary: Compiled from her recordings for the prestigious French record label Vogue, this definitive 49 track collection includes her international million-selling hit, the self-penned 'Tous Les Garcons Et Les Filles'. All tracks here are gorgeously sung in her native French. During her time, on Vogue,Hardy was able to to blend American and British production sophistication with a Continental European sensibility, with almost operatic backing vocals, sounding sometimes Spector-esque. Includes extensive sleevenotes and rare photos.

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The painted girls - Cathy Marie Buchanan

The painted girls - Buchanan, Cathy Marie

Summary: In belle époque Paris, the Van Goethem sisters struggle for survival after the sudden death of their father, a situation that prompts young Marie's ballet training and her introduction to a genius painter.


Booklist Reviews
Buchanan's exquisite historical novel details the lives of would-be ballerinas Antoinette, Marie, and Charlotte van Goethem. Responsible for fending for themselves after the death of their father and the absinthe-soaked decline of their mother, the van Goethem sisters struggle to eke out an existence while subsidizing their ambitions at the harshly competitive school of the Paris Opéra. When Marie is selected by Edgar Degas to pose for his future masterpiece, Little Dancer Aged Fourteen,and Antoinette snags a bit part in the stage adaptation of Émile Zola's L'Assommoir, the extra income enables them to avoid, for a while, the tragic pitfalls of life on the lower slopes of Montmartre. To make things even more interesting, Buchannan links the sisters' stories with that of convicted criminals Emile Abadie and Michel Knobloch, the subjects of Degas' Criminal Physiognomies. By intertwining the narrative threads of these drawn-from-history characters, she paints a realistically robust portrait of working-class life in late nineteenth-century Paris. Guaranteed to appeal to fans of Tracy Chevalier, Susan Vreeland, and Melanie Benjamin. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.

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Archangel - Sharon Shinn

Archangel - Shinn, Sharon

Summary: Generations after first settling Samaria, corruption threatens to destroy the colony, and the only hope of avoiding an Armageddon is the crowning of a new Archangel, Gabriel, who must first marry a mortal woman, Rachel, who has her own ideas about her life - (Baker & Taylor)

BookList
Next in line to become archangel in the angel-led dominion of Samaria, Gabriel must lead the next chorale praising the god Jovah, which means he needs a wife--fast--to sing beside him. Guided by the local oracle and the light emanating from the Kiss of the Gods (a homing device in his wrist), he finds his Jovah-selected fiancee in a common Edori slave girl named Rachel. The marriage proves, however, anything but romantic. Far from rejoicing in the sudden freedom that her marriage brings, Rachel quickly becomes a thorn in Gabriel's side, using her newfound influence to help her downtrodden Edori brethren. Displaying sure command of characterization and vividly imagined settings, Shinn absorbs us in the story of how Rachel and Gabriel eventually unite in true love and respect. With place-names such as Gaza and Jordana, she tantalizingly hints at her Samaria's connection to an ancient Israeli past, and she tempers the angelic milieu with talk of her angels' technological heritage in an entertaining sf-fantasy blend that should please fans of both genres. ((Reviewed May 1, 1996)) -- Carl Hays

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The girl of fire and thorns - Rae Carson

The girl of fire and thorns - Rae Carson

Summary: A fearful sixteen-year-old princess discovers her heroic destiny after being married off to the king of a neighboring country in turmoil and pursued by enemies seething with dark magic.


Booklist Reviews
In 16-year-old Elisa, first-time novelist Carson has created a fascinating and credible heroine who battles her way through her own timidity and self-doubt to discover her abilities to love, lead, and suffer loss without denying her future or her faith. Set in an alternative premodern Iberian- and Christianity-hued Saharan-like world, Elisa's adventures include an arranged marriage, a politically and religiously inspired kidnapping, hand-to-hand combat with knife and wits against men trained for battle, the traumatic death of her beloved, and the care of a six-year-old boy. She, as well as the central drama of this promising series starter, depends on the guidance of the holy gem she carries in her navel: the Godstone, which marks her as one whose service shows forth through history-changing practice as well as belief. Carson presents a thorough theology (complete with holy texts), complex characters, dramatic landscapes, royal courts, and a range of difficulties solved through wisdom rather than accident. Romantic, lush, and thought provoking. Copyright 2011 Booklist Reviews.

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Short term 12 (DVD)

Short term 12 (DVD)

Summary: A young woman experiences the highs and lows of being a supervisor at a foster care facility.

Video Librarian Reviews
Written and directed by Destin Daniel Cretton, this poignant psychological drama about troubled teens earned accolades at film festivals worldwide. Twentysomething Grace (Brie Larson) is a group supervisor at a live-in foster-care facility for at-risk kids. Working with her supportive, longtime boyfriend, Mason (John Gallagher Jr.), and new employee, Nate (Rami Malek), Grace does her best to comfort troubled residents, such as nearly-18-year-old Marcus (Keith Stanfield), who is terrified about living on his own for the first time, and can only express his fear and fury in a rap song. But it's the arrival of violently angry Jayden (Kaitlyn Dever)—who writes and illustrates a revelatory fable about an octopus and a shark—that pressures Grace into not only acknowledging her own difficult past but also coming to terms with her unanticipated future. Grace, Mason, and Nate aren't therapists; as counselors, their job is to create a safe environment and keep the damaged adolescents under their protection from hurting themselves and others. But sometimes they perceive more than the mental health professionals, so tension naturally escalates when their evaluations and suggested treatments don't align with the observations of vigilant staffers. Basing the sensitive story on his own experience working at a similar institution, Cretton's direction is realistic and unsentimental. Recommended. (S. Granger)Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2011.

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The shining girls - Lauren Beukes

The shining girls - Beukes, Lauren

Summary: "A time-traveling serial killer is impossible to trace-- until one of his victims survives. In Depression-era Chicago, Harper Curtis finds a key to a house that opens on to other times. But it comes at a cost. He has to kill the shining girls: bright young women, burning with potential. He stalks them through their lives across different eras until, in 1989, one of his victims, Kirby Mazrachi, survives and starts hunting him back. Working with an ex-homicide reporter who is falling for her, Kirby has to unravel an impossible mystery"--Publisher's web site.


Booklist Reviews
Harper Curtis isn't your run-of-the-mill serial killer. He gets to time travel from the 1920s through the 1980s, killing girls in different decades, all to satisfy a bloodthirsty Chicago bungalow. Yes, you read that correctly: the house makes him do it. In this genre-bending novel, Beukes never explains the origins of this evil house or how it manages to transport Harper from year to year. All we know is that Harper is compelled to track down and murder specific "shining girls" in gruesome ways (usually evisceration), and he gets away with it since he can escape across time. Until he leaves Kirby Mazrachi behind in 1989, that is. Kirby miraculously recovers from the vicious attack and is determined to track down her assailant, even if the police consider it a closed case. She enlists the help of Dan, a reporter at the Sun-Times, and they slowly uncover odd clues left behind in a dozen unsolved murder cases; it turns out Harper has been leaving behind items from the future. Not for all tastes, but fans of urban fantasy may be interested in this clever and detailed supernatural thriller. Copyright 2012 Booklist Reviews.

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Warm bodies - Isaac Marion

Warm bodies - Marion, Isaac

Summary: Alienated from his fellow zombies because of his dislike of having to kill humans and his enjoyment of Sinatra music, "R" meets a living girl who sharply contrasts with his cold and dreary world and whom he resolves to protect in spite of her delicious appearance.


Kirkus Reviews

A jubilant story about two star-crossed lovers, one of them dead and hungry for more than love.

Debut novelist Marion hits the pulse of the Twilight crowd with this morbidly romantic look at how affection really feels when your heart beats no more. "I am dead, but it's not so bad," says our zombie narrator, by way of introduction. "I've learned to live with it. This is "R," so named because it's all he can remember. But this is no Team Edward sob story. R really is a zombie, carrying the pink brains of his victims back to his communal lair for a snack. But one day, R chomps down on Perry Kelvin, a teenager whose sole affection is for his girlfriend, Julie. R begins absorbing Perry's memories, which in turn inspire him not to treat Julie like a bucket of KFC. And so the weirdest courting in the history of literature begins, as R and Julie spend time together prowling food courts and half-destroyed 747s. Julie, who could have been a simplistic mechanism to drive the book's plot, turns out to be its most inspired character, inhabiting that odd space between fear and curiosity. "Maybe you're not such a monster, Mr. Zombie," she admits at one point. "I mean, anyone who appreciates a good beer is halfway okay in my book." R begins to change, redeveloping his ability to communicate, and noticing a physical transformation to accompany his emotional awakening. But the path of true love never runs smooth, and the unlikely duo soon find themselves caught between R's ravenous companions and Julie's soldier father.

Originally self-published, this DIY success story is already slated for a film adaptation, making these quixotic lovers the grateful dead indeed.


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The dead in the their vaulted arches - Alan C. Bradley

The dead in the their vaulted arches - Bradley, Alan C.

Summary: "Bishop's Lacey is never short of two things: Mysteries to solve and pre-adolescent detectives to solve them. In this New York Times bestselling series of cozy mysteries, young chemist and aspiring detective Flavia de Luce once again brings her knowledge of poisons and her indefatigable spirit to solve the most dastardly crimes the English countryside has to offer and, in the process, comes closer than ever to solving her life's greatest mystery--her mother's disappearance.."-- Provided by publisher.

Booklist Reviews
The irrepressible, nearly 12-year-old Flavia de Luce, amateur detective, faces a particularly personal crisis in this, her sixth outing. Her mother, lost in the Himalayas when Flavia was a baby, is coming home in a coffin, escorted by none other than former British prime minister Winston Churchill. If that isn't odd enough, the great man, before leaving, approaches Flavia and asks her if she has "acquired a taste for pheasant sandwiches." Shortly thereafter, she is approached by another man with an equally cryptic message, after which he is crushed beneath a train. Despite her curiosity, Flavia must temporarily push such strange occurrences aside to evaluate her feelings about her mother and the ongoing difficulties she is having with her odious sisters and distant father. If the somewhat tangled plot requires a bit of patience to negotiate, be assured that Flavia (who leaves "the fingerprints of her brilliant mind" on nearly everything) is as fetching as ever; her chatty musings and her combination of childish vulnerability and seemingly boundless self-confidence hasn't changed a bit. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.

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Spider woman's daughter - Anne Hillerman

Spider woman's daughter - Hillerman, Anne

Summary: "Navajo Nation Police Officer Bernadette Manualito witnesses the cold-blooded shooting of someone very close to her. With the victim fighting for his life, the entire squad and the local FBI office are hell-bent on catching the gunman. Bernie, too, wants in on the investigation, despite regulations forbidding eyewitness involvement. But that doesn't mean she's going to sit idly by, especially when her husband, Sergeant Jim Chee, is in charge of finding the shooter. Bernie and Chee discover that a cold case involving his former boss and partner, retired Inspector Joe Leaphorn, may hold the key. Digging into the old investigation, husband and wife find themselves inching closer to the truth-- and closer to a killer determined to prevent justice from taking its course" -- from publisher's web page.

Library Journal Reviews
Tony Hillerman's 18 mysteries followed the investigations of Navajo cops Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. Fans mourned when Hillerman died in 2008. Now the late author's beloved characters return in this series relaunch by his daughter, Anne. The book opens with an act of unexpected violence against a dear friend, witnessed by police officer Bernadette Manualito. She and her husband, Jim Chee, begin to piece together clues and determine who would commit this crime, even questioning the motives of the unaccounted-for Louisa Bourbonnette, Leaphorn's friend and housemate. Interspersed throughout the tale, yet important to character development and emphasizing the role of Navajo culture and beliefs (a highlight of the previous series), are vignettes of Bernadette's troubled sister and Jim's past studies to become a Navajo healer and descriptions of Navajo creation stories. Characters from 1988's Thief of Time play a dominant role in the unfolding of the plot. Pot hunters, archaeologists, controversy over the museum display of tribal objects, and insurance fraud culminate in a heart-stopping, action-packed conclusion as Bernadette and Jim risk their lives to bring a would-be assassin to justice. VERDICT Fans of Southwestern mysteries will cheer this return of Leaphorn and Chee. [See Prepub Alert, 4/29/13; also highlighted at LJ's Day of Dialog Editors' Picks panel.—Ed.]—Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel

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On the trail of Genghis Khan - Tim Cope

On the trail of Genghis Khan: an epic journey through the land of the nomads - Cope, Time


Summary: Undertaking a journey not successfully completed since the days of Genghis Khan, a professional adventurer recounts his travels by horseback across the entire length of the Eurasian steppe, a 6,000-mile, three-year-long trip.


Booklist Reviews
An adventurer who has sailed down Siberia's Yenesei River, among other quests, Cope mounted a horse in Mongolia in 2004 and set out for the opposite end of the Eurasian steppe, Hungary. This was the vast sphere conquered by the Mongol Empire in the 1200s, the historical memory of which accompanied Cope as surely as did his contemporary education in nomadic living. Embarking without much prior experience in things equestrian but gifted with foreign-language skills, Cope proceeded across exceedingly challenging if not downright dangerous landscapes of deserts, mountains, and plains. At many points, Cope's journey seemed sure to be thwarted by wolves, thieves, or bureaucrats, but three years later, Cope, his steeds, and his dog, Tigon, arrived triumphantly in Hungary. Within this theme of difficulties met and mastered, the people Cope met on the way become vividly characterized as jocular or menacing, helpful or hindering in the narrative's large stock of intercultural encounters. (Cope is Australian.) Weaving acute observation, honest introspection, and a sense of history, Cope crafts a marvelously perceptive travelogue of an audacious odyssey. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.

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The invention of wings - Sue Monk Kidd

The invention of wings - Kidd, Sue Monk

Summary: "The story follows Hetty 'Handful' Grimke, a Charleston slave, and Sarah, the daughter of the wealthy Grimke family. The novel begins on Sarah's eleventh birthday, when she is given ownership over Handful, who is to be her handmaid. "The Invention of Wings" follows the next thirty-five years of their lives. Inspired in part by the historical figure of Sarah Grimke (a feminist, suffragist and, importantly, an abolitionist), Kidd allows herself to go beyond the record to flesh out the inner lives of all the characters, both real and imagined"-- Provided by publisher.

Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* Inspired by the true story of early-nineteenth-century abolitionist and suffragist Sarah Grimké, Kidd paints a moving portrait of two women inextricably linked by the horrors of slavery. Sarah, daughter of a wealthy South Carolina plantation owner, exhibits an independent spirit and strong belief in the equality of all. Thwarted from her dreams of becoming a lawyer, she struggles throughout life to find an outlet for her convictions. Handful, a slave in the Grimké household, displays a sharp intellect and brave, rebellious disposition. She maintains a compliant exterior, while planning for a brighter future. Told in first person, the chapters alternate between the two main characters' perspectives, as we follow their unlikely friendship (characterized by both respect and resentment) from childhood to middle age. While their pain and struggle cannot be equated, both women strive to be set free—Sarah from the bonds of patriarchy and Southern bigotry, and Handful from the inhuman bonds of slavery. Kidd is a master storyteller, and, with smooth and graceful prose, she immerses the reader in the lives of these fascinating women as they navigate religion, family drama, slave revolts, and the abolitionist movement. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Beginning with her phenomenally successful debut, The Secret Life of Bees (2002), Kidd's novels have found an intense readership among library patrons, who will be eager to get their hands on her latest one. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.

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Ye-ye girls of 60s French pop - Jean Emmanuel

Ye-ye girls of 60s French pop - Emmanuel, Jean

Summary; Yé-yé is a delightful style of pop music featuring young female
singers that influenced France, Québec and other European countries with its
"camp" style throughout the 1960s.

This collection by pop music expert Jean-Emmanuel Deluxe includes many
interviews with the original singers and producers, and hundreds of visual
examples of record covers, magazines, and a teenaged fan’s scrapbook from
the period.

This book includes the famous Yé-Yé practitioners Sylvie Vartan, France Gall, Françoise Hardy, Chantal Goya, Brigitte Bardot, Jane Birkin and dozens of others, including perverse Serge Gainsbourg.

Yé-Yé had secondary explosions in the 1970s and 1990s in Japan and Europe
through the likes of Lio (who provides this book’s foreword), and in the
United States through singers like April March, whose Yé-Yé number "Chick
Habit" was heard in the Quentin Tarantino film Death Proof. Interest in Yé-Yé
exploded again when Megan Draper sang the Yé-Yé number "Zou Bisou Bisou,”
originally made famous by Gillian Hills, in the 5th season of Mad Men.

Be prepared to be immersed in this beloved but cruelly neglected pop
music genre.
- (Perseus Publishing)

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Before sunrise (DVD)

Summary: A young American man meets a beautiful French student on a train bound for Paris, falls in love and asks her to share his last night in Vienna.

Before sunset (DVD)

Summary: "Two strangers met by chance, spent a night together in Vienna, and parted before sunrise. Nine years later, Jesse has written a book about the encounter. During his accelerated European book tour, he meets up with Celine in Paris. Before Jesse's flight home, he joins Celine for a picturesque walk around the city and they have an intimate conversation, ending at Celine's apartment. Will they get the chance to fall in love all over again?"

Video Librarian Reviews
A little 80-minute gem of walky-talky romance, this sequel to Before Sunrise takes place nine years after that film's single night of intellectual and spiritual magic between two backpacking Eurorail summer-break tourists (Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) in Paris. As they fleetingly promised in 1995, these sharp-witted, contemplative, and captivating characters do meet again, picking up right where they left off--except with nearly a decade's worth of worldly wisdom, and memories of each other that continue to produce emotional ripples. Hawke, Delpy, and director Richard Linklater (who all collaborated on this story that plays out spontaneously and unaffectedly) have created a simple yet psychologically complex, real-time narrative of long single takes and fluid free-association, resulting in a modest masterpiece of modern romance that culminates in a moment of wondrous warmth so stirring and memorable that it wipes away any doubt about the decision to leave the finale of its predecessor open-ended. Highly recommended. (R. Blackwelder) Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2004.

Before midnight(DVD)

Summary: Follows Jesse and Céline nine years later in Greece, almost two decades since they first met on a train bound for Vienna.

Video Librarian Reviews
This third chapter in Richard Linklater's emotionally vibrant examination of a constantly evolving romantic relationship follows 1995's Before Sunrise, in which American novelist Jesse (Ethan Hawke) met spunky Frenchwoman Celine (Julie Delpy) on a train, and 2004's Before Sunset, in which the lovers reunited a decade later. Now in their 40s, Jesse and Celine are living together in Paris. Jesse is seeing his adolescent son Hank (Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick) off at Kalamata Airport in Greece, returning him to Jesse's hostile ex-wife in Chicago after a summer vacation spent with Jesse, Celine, and their twin daughters. After dropping the girls off with friends, Jesse and Celine head out for what is supposed to be an idyllic, festive night at a picturesque seaside hotel. But a marital crisis erupts. Jesse feels guilty that he can't spend more time with Hank—which would involve moving back to the United States—and environmental activist Celine has been offered an exciting, career-changing opportunity. Add to that the inevitable challenges, resentments, and disappointments that come with raising children and facing middle age. As with the first two films, Before Midnight is about two fully-developed characters who authentically communicate their deepest feelings and frustrations. While not making a commitment to marriage, Jesse and Celine have nevertheless taken on added responsibilities that curtail their creativity and their freedom. All of this is explored in this beautifully naturalistic film written by Linklater, Hawke, and Delpy, featuring carefully scripted, teasing, taunting dialogue that rings painfully true. Highly recommended. Editor's Choice. (S. Granger)Copyright Video Librarian Reviews 2011.

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C'est chic: French girl singers of the 1960s (CD)

C'est chic: French girl singers of the 1960s (CD)

Summary: Comprising 24 tracks by 20 acts - Françoise Hardy, France Gall, Jacqueline Taïeb and the country's top girl group Les Gam's are each represented by two titles - C'est Chic! features many of the premier female stars of Gallic pop, plus a few French-singing non-nationals for good measure.

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Ava Gardner: The secret conversations - Peter Evans

Ava Gardner: The secret conversations - Evans, Peter

Summary: A self-portrait of the late film legend's golden-era Hollywood life traces her impoverished childhood in North Carolina through the heights of her career, sharing details of her relationships with such figures as Mickey Rooney, Frank Sinatra, and George C. Scott.


Booklist Reviews
*Starred Review* In 1988, only two years before her death, legendary actress Ava Gardner, then living in semiseclusion in London and running low on money, asked the late Evans to ghostwrite her autobiography: "I either write the book or sell the jewels, and I'm kinda sentimental about the jewels." Gardner didn't want to do a sugarcoated memoir, preferring to tell it straight, the real story of the marriages to Mickey Rooney, Artie Shaw, and Frank Sinatra, the multiple affairs (with Howard Hughes, among many others), the hardscrabble childhood in North Carolina tobacco country. But as the two met and Gardner began speaking of her life, it became clear to Evans that the actress was more reticent about telling it straight than she pretended to be. The conversations were uninhibited, to be sure, but Gardner balked at the finished chapters ("I sound too fucking vulgar"), leading ultimately to the project being abandoned. Shortly before his own death in 2012, Evans wrote this memoir of a memoir-in-progress, transcribing Gardner's recollections and providing connective passages setting the scenes. What emerges doesn't cover the sweep of the movie icon's remarkable life as fully as Lee Server's Ava Gardner (2006), but it does capture Gardner's indelible voice—vulgar, yes, but humanly so as well as unfailingly witty and movingly melancholic. Finally, 25 years after the fact, we have at least a facsimile of the unbuttoned version Gardner claimed she wanted to tell. Movie buffs will be as transfixed by the actress' own words as they have always been by her drop-dead beauty on the screen. Copyright 2013 Booklist Reviews.

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Hyperbole and a half - Allie Brosh

Hyperbole and a half: unfortunate situations, flawed coping mechanisms, mayhem, and other things that happened - Brosh, Allie

Summary: Collects autobiographical, illustrated essays and cartoons from the author's popular blog and related new material that humorously and candidly deals with her own idiosyncrasies and battles with depression.

Kirkus Reviews
A quirky, humorous memoir/collection of illustrated essays. Brosh is a good example of how new literary forms are evolving. An immensely successful blogger, the author's Hyperbole and a Half earned her a 2011 Bloggies Award and also garnered a spot on PC World's "Funniest Sites on the Web." Suffice it to say, she has become something of an Internet sensation. However, as many readers know, web writing often does not translate well to a book (and vice versa). Brosh makes a solid first attempt to bridge this literary gap. Anyone who takes years' worth of blog posts and tries to pare them down into book form is facing a formidable task, whether the writing is any good or not (in this case, it is, though some essays are stronger than others). Blog followers don't usually binge read, but book readers do. That said, holding a book may leave some with a yearning for more cohesion. It does feel choppy in places, but the wit, hilarity and poignancy of the subject matter trump structural concerns. Brosh is a connoisseur of the human condition. In her typical self-deprecating and dramatic manner (hence the hyperbole reference), she tells personal stories that name things we can all relate to, including fear, love, depression and hope. Perhaps the most endearing thing about her writing is that she approaches her subject matter from a vulnerable, childlike place, complete with Paintbrush caricatures that have arguably already earned iconic status. Brosh's longtime fans and cult followers will be happy to learn that half of the material for this book is new and unpublished. The other half is comprised of Internet favorites, including "Simple Dog," "The God of Cake" and "Adventures in Depression." Part graphic novel, part confessional, overall delightful. An obvious choice for Hyperbole fans, but this will also appeal to fans of other oddball web presences like Homestar Runner and The Oatmeal. Copyright Kirkus 2013 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved.

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The big burn - Timothy Egan

 The big burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the fire that saved America - Timothy Egan

Summary: Narrates the struggles of the overmatched rangers against the implacable fire of August, 1910, and Teddy Roosevelt's pioneering conservation efforts that helped turn public opinion permanently in favor of the forests, though it changed the mission of the forest service with consequences felt in the fires of today.


BookPage Reviews
The recent “Station Fire” in California’s Angeles National Forest, the worst in Los Angeles County history, burned more than 160,000 acres and killed two firefighters. In comparison, the 1910 Northern Rockies forest fire remembered in The Big Burn covered nearly 3.2 million acres in Washington, Idaho and Montana. At least 85 people were killed, most of them members of ill-trained firefighting crews. That blowout, the biggest wildfire in American history, devastated the economy of a booming timber and mining region. It traumatized the survivors—and as New York Times columnist Timothy Egan shows in The Big Burn, it set the course for U.S. forest conservation for the next hundred years, for good and ill. The national forests that burned were brand new, the product of President Theodore Roosevelt’s conservation crusade. Spurred on by fellow aristocrat Gifford Pinchot, the founding head of the National Forest Service, Roosevelt had worked at breakneck pace to protect millions of acres from logging, railroad and mine companies. But when Roosevelt left office, the land barons’ allies in his own party starved the Forest Service of resources, and forced out Pinchot. The scope of the disaster and the heroism of so many forest rangers turned public opinion in favor of conservation at a crucial moment. National forests were subsequently created throughout the country, and the Forest Service became a thriving agency. For his National Book Award-winning account of the Dust Bowl, The Worst Hard Time, Egan was able to interview survivors. For The Big Burn, he had to comb through Forest Service reports, memoirs and old newspapers. But he’s equally effective here in telling the story through individuals—the homesteaders, the fire crews of immigrants and drifters, the idealistic Ivy League grads who followed Pinchot’s siren call to the Forest Service. Egan is a gorgeous writer. His chapters on the “blowup,” when thousands fled burning towns and desperate fire crews burrowed in mine shafts or submerged in streams to escape the inferno, should become a classic account of an American Pompeii. Anne Bartlett is a journalist in Washington, D.C.

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