Love My Library

 Edward is a Saskatchewn farm boy who, like many young men, thinks war is glamorous. His mother has died and against his father’s express wishes, he enlists to fight against the Huns who have killed his brother. Much to his dismay, he is sent to horse-training duty in England. Although he loves the horse he is given to train and is rather enamoured with a oretty nurse, Emily, he wants to be on the front lines. When he is finally allowed to join a mounted regiment, he is horrified that he is being sent to fight the Turks in Palestine. This is desert warfare at its most horrible. This is warfare I had never really heard about before. This is warfare where Edward has to re-evaluate much of what he has believed is certain in his life. This is a book to read- to remind ourselves that glory in war is only a myth and the reality of war is gut-wrenching. This would be a good companion book for Four Steps to Death by John Wilson, also in the YA section of our school library.
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Keturah is the village story-teller; this story is one she perhaps should not have told, for it appears to be true. It begins with Keturah wandering too far into the woods and meeting up with Death in the form of a man. As a result of wandering so far into the wood, he could demand her life but offers her a reprieve. If she will choose someone else from the village to die, her life will be spared. Keturah rejects every name Death suggests as she sees value in each one of them. As an alternate, she suggests she tell him an irresistable story which he allows her to do. To keep Death from taking her life, she must continue to meet with him and spin a story that will enchant and ultimately satisfy him. This book is written in an old world style but the story itself is other-worldly and has an eerie appeal that will satisfy lovers of a well-woven tale.
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This story had my heart in my throat right from the beginning- it feels exactly like we are sucked into the emotions of 15 year-old Francis whose dad has committed suicide. We are taken through the whole gamut of emotions he suffers: anger,shame,guilt and profound sadness. After refers to the year after his father’s death and anyone who thinks there is a quick fix for life’s problems needs to read this to realize that there is no easy way through grief and there is a huge range of emotions to work through on the way to healing. A slim volume. only 133 pages, this is nonetheless a gripping and realistic story of a young man’s struggle to come to terms with a great tragedy.
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Ready for a thrilling underwater , futuristic adventure? Then The Aquanauts is for you. If you happen to have read the City of Faar, part of the Pendragon series, or Monica Hughes, under the sea, you will already have a taste for this type of adventure.
Sixteen year old Greta Kovachi joins her father in his laboratory at the bottom of the ocean. Just a week-long trip during holidays sounds okay although there were other things she’d rather be doing. Some other rather odd-ball characters are there as well for reasons of their own, so at least she’s not stuck there alone. But it soon becomes obvious that this will be no ordinary summer vacation as they take their first trip on the tractor, a huge underwater machine, not too unlike a submarine. When Nicky is given the controls with disastrous results, they all soon find out that this is indeed a dangerous world they have entered. Then a freak acccident hurtles them all billions of years into the future and it becomes up to the group of young people who band together as the Aquanauts to save them all and find a way to travel back in time. Action-packed, fast-paced- this is a story to set your teeth on edge and be thankful for firm earh beneath your feet.
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 Sixteen-year old Bernice Dodd is angry. Much of this anger is directed at her mother, Celia, who spends her time on drinking binges and forcing them to flee irate landlords because the rent is not yet paid. The suddenly, a strange twist comes into their lives- her mother has inherited a piece of property called Black Spruce Lodge. The hitch is, her mother does not want to go- but Bernice is determined to make a new start for her family and she is insistent that they take this opportunity. She meets a neighbour boy, Jack,but also the older, good looking novelist across the lake. At times, her anger seems to spiral out of control and tears down everyone in her path. This is a story of learning what you can change, what you can’t change and rebuilding trust that seems to have been lost forever.

Listen to an excerpt from the story.

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I Am A Taxi is by the author of The Breadwinner, Parvanna’s Journey and Mud City, all  take place in Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are a realistic look at recent conditions under the rule of the Taliban. I Am A Taxi now takes us to Bolivia, one of the poorest countries in the world. Diego is in jail- he is not a prisoner, but both his parents are. As a prison kid, he is allowed more freedom and runs errands for other prisoners, thus earning a little income for his family; thus the term “taxi”. But Diego is tempted by a job that should provide more money but takes him out of the city and into the Bolivian jungles. There, he and the other boys are worked extremely hard and it soon becomes apparent that not only will they not be seeing any payment, but their very lives are in danger. Why? He is working for people who make cocaine in order to market it.Will Diego be able to escape this horror?

Luckily, there is a sequel to this book because it leaves you somewhat on the edge of your seat.

Listen to an excerpt from the book.

 Sun Signs- Shelley Hrdlitschka

This is a new type of novel in that it is told through e-mail and on-line communication. Fifteen year old Kaleigh is battling cancer and can’t attend school, so has to take her courses by correspondence. When she is assigned a science project, she decides to do it on astrology and enlists the help of her on-line buddies. Although Mr. Selenski, her teacher, is at first skeptical, she convinces him that she will be able to acquire some scientific data. Her premise can be summed up in the musings of her on-line pal, Blondie. “The weird thing is, I don’t think I would have bothered tracking her down if I hadn’t read my horoscope that morning. I mean… what are the chances? So the question is… do horoscopes appear to come true because we read and act on them? Do we subconsciously look for incidents that would fit the prediction? Or do they come true because the astrologer knew they would? It’s the old what-comes-first question, the chicken or the egg?”

Can you imagine trying to track data to prove one of those sides? This is especially true as Kaleigh becomes aware that her on-line buddies are not always being forthright with her and can hide behind their screen image. Just how reliable can people you don’t really know be? And what does that mean for her research paper? Although this book screams “girl” with its hot pink cover, the characters are of both genders, and is a powerful look at the dangers of blind faith in an increasing electronic age. Listen to an excerpt from the story.

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 Skybreaker- Kenneth Oppel 

Much-loved author of the amazing bat fantasy series: Silverwing, Sunwing, Firewing, Oppel is back with more of a science fiction twist. Skybreaker follows Airborn, and although you would be more familiar with the characters if you read it first, it isn’t necessary as Skybreaker can stand on its own. Written in the first person, this story revolves around Matt Cruise who now attends the Airship Academy. It doesn’t matter if you have an interest in flying machines or not, you will be fascinated with the construction and use of the airships. Matt comes into the possession of some coordinates for a legendary lost craft, reputed to be filled with riches. So now he is the hunter, and the hunted. Many others want to access that ship for their own reasons. Piracy is in the air! Chocker block full of adventure, this 340 page novel will have you on the edge of your seat. Check out pages 28-29 for an account of his first meeting with Kate; itself making the book worthwhile. The following web-site is fun! Check it out! http://www.airborn.ca/

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 Shattered- Eric Walters

Fifteen year old Ian’s world is turned upside down when a history assignment leads him, not to the fun”Club” he envisioned, but to a soup kitchen in a very unsavoury part of town. Danger appears to stalk him at every turn although he is thankful to be encouraged by the owner of the kitchen, Max, who, to his horror, actually lives at the soup kitchen. Sarge, the unkempt homeless man who initially saves him from a mugging, turns out to be a man of great mystery. Gradually, he becomes aware of Sarge’s history; that he had been a soldier in the Canadian Armed Forces, his last tour of duty as a peacekeeper in Rwanda. Although initially he is very reluctant to speak about his past, eventually he challenges Ian to find out for himself about the Rwandan genocide.

“Genocide. I knew that word. It was like the Holocaust… World War II… what Hitler and the Nazis had done to the Jews. Genocide wasn’t about soldiers killing soldiers—- that was bad enough, but that’s what happened in wars, what soldiers expected to happen. In a genocide it was just regular people being killed— slaughtered— because of who they were.

At least I knew something about the Holocaust. We’d taken it in history classes and I’d watched war movies on TV, and my grandfather had even been in that war. Why didn’t I know anything about Rwanda? No wonder Sarge had been so angry and upset. He’d been there, been part of that insanity, that tragedy, and I didn’t even know anything about it. Nothing. How was that even possible?

Ian learns more than he had bargained for- more than he ever would have learned in a history book and it turns his world forever upside down.

Listen to an excerpt from the book.

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Wild Orchid- Bev Brenna

This was one of my absolute favourite reads last year. Written by Bev Brenna, who is a consultant in our division, this is the story of an 18 year old autistic girl. Taylor, not allowed to be alone for the summer, has to follow her mom to Waskesieu where Taylor’s mom will be working in her boyfriend’s pizza shop. Taylor is largely left to her own resources and is encouraged by her mom to explore on her own. Like any 18 year old, she would like to explore the possibility of having a boyfriend but doesn’t quite know how to go about it. Because she takes things very literally, there is often a great deal of humour in her responses to people and situations and there were many times where I just stopped to have a good chuckle. Taylor has just met a young man who engages her in some conversation.

“Do you want to go for a walk”? he asked from behind me.

“I am walking,” I said and kept on going, but I’m not sure if he heard me because I think I was mumbling. He didn’t follow and I heard him bounce the volleyball on the stone walk in front of the nature centre. You’re not supposed to dribble volleyballs. Basketballs are for dribbling.

I wonder if he wants to be my boyfriend. He looks like he’s a few years younger than me, but that’s okay. Everyone I went to school with was younger. That’s because I spent an extra year in Kindergarten to work on my social skills.

Those are the type of little incidents that give us a little insight into how Taylor’s mind works and of how confusing the world often seems for her. But don’t let her way of thinking make you doubt her intelligence- it’s just her perception of the world that is different and is a great way to gain some insight and empathy for the child in the autistic world.

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