Reviews: Books for Adult/High School

Adult/High School–Inside this beautifully designed book lies the incredibly gruesome memoir of a 14th-century demon. As the story begins, Jakobok’s father has an abusive temper and his mother doesn’t listen. But that’s the least of his problems as he is soon fished from Hell by some demon-hunting priests from the above world. Despite their best efforts, he manages to escape again and again, hooking up with a partner in crime and leaving death, blood, and limbs in his wake. As the book nears its end, Johannes Gutenberg makes an appearance and the story goes off the rails a bit. Barker’s demon narrator addresses readers frequently, and though it would be tough to call him sympathetic, teens will relate to him. There are grand pronouncements about the nature of evil, and the evil of even the supposed moral arbiters, as well as the use of the printing press to disseminate both good and evil. Teens who devour the “Saw” movies will probably appreciate this well-written, if slightly messy, horror novel.–Jamie Watson, Harford County Public Library, MD

Adult/High School–The first book, originally published in Britain in 1905, is a set of six interconnected detective stories in which seemingly ordinary people find themselves in extraordinary and baffling situations, all of which are tied to the secretive Club of Queer Trades and its mysterious president. Only retired judge Basil Grant can separate illusion from reality to solve the mysteries. Teens who have read the Sherlock Holmes stories avidly will enjoy Basil Grant’s adventures. Kuzmin’s Wings, first issued in Russia in 1906 and newly translated for this publication, is a frank, though not explicit, exploration of a young man’s reaction to discovering his homosexual feelings. Quiet, studious Vanya is drawn to the slightly older and more sophisticated Larion but flees in confusion and anger when he discovers that Larion has a male lover. After a failed attempt at heterosexuality, he slowly reconsiders and meets Larion again, this time with a happier resolution. Teens will be drawn both to the love story and to the author’s philosophy that all love is a gift from heaven. Both titles are recommended for libraries seeking to expose students to the best in world literature.–Sandy Schmitz, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Adult/High School–On a dark and stormy night, a farm manager discovers a body displayed on bales of hay in the barn of a Thames Valley manor house and summons the police. In short order three more bodies are found inside the house. Among the victims are two young girls, stabbed in the heart while sleeping. The others are a male and a female adult, each stabbed repeatedly, the man also shot and the woman sexually assaulted. Murder is relatively rare in the area, and such a massacre is almost unheard of. Superintendent Mike Yeadings and his crew set about the task of finding the killer, and they learn that a member of the family, a 16-year-old boy, has gone missing. Could he be another victim, or should he be the prime suspect? After numerous red herrings, Yeadings eventually sorts it all out, but not before readers are treated to a close look at a highly dysfunctional family. Curzon has crafted another thrilling story of intrigue, the 16th in the series. Her strength is her plotting and careful examination of police procedure. She creates characters of interest–some odd, some troubled, some boorish–but does not dig deeply into anyone’s psyche. This is a good thing for readers who like their mysteries fast paced. And with this particular story, they should find a fascinating case study of a teen with serious issues.–Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Adult/High School–What is a teen with huge aspirations to do while living in a small town in the early ’70s? Catherine Grace Cline’s highlight every week is licking her Dilly Bar at the local Dairy Queen as she longs for the big-city life of Atlanta. As she dreams of leaving Ringgold, GA, population 1932, Catherine deals with her single father, who is a Baptist preacher; younger sister, Martha Ann; doting family friend, Gloria Jean; nosy neighbors; high school gossip; and a boyfriend, Hank. Eventually, and with high hopes, Catherine Grace boards the Greyhound. Through a series of letters from Martha Ann, readers learn about Catherine Grace’s Atlanta happenings and missed events back home. When she returns to Ringgold because of a tragedy, startling, personal events change her perspective and her heart for this small town, and she soon reflects that maybe it’s the best place to live after all. Gilmore engages teens with true-to-life family dynamics and life in a small town; secondary characters add to the story’s authenticity. Look for future literary works from this talented new voice.–Gregory Lum, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR

Adult/High School–Gray demonstrates an imagination of high order here by placing two victims of separate kidnappings in the same room at the same time: one is named Edgar Allan Poe; the other, Charles Dickens. Even more outrageous is the premise that Poe is furiously engaged in the task of completing the missing final chapters of David Copperfield, and must seek Dickens’s help in doing so. What makes it all work is how well Gray sets the stage, masterfully bringing Poe and Dickens together in mid-19th-century Philadelphia. With considerable black humor and stylish wit, the author has crafted a sophisticated literary mystery/thriller sure to please fans of this increasingly popular subgenre. The period detail, especially the political and cultural realities of 1850 urban Philadelphia and Baltimore, is superb. The plot, although seemingly convoluted, holds together well. One possible hurdle for less-experienced readers is the author’s decision to tell his tale with two interwoven story lines: the first-person narrative of Poe’s lifelong “friend,” Dr. William Chivers, and the third-person narrative of another central character, Irish rebel Finn Devlin. Another possible challenge for some teens may be understanding the rationale for the extremely violent actions of Devlin and his cohorts. Gray does offer necessary background, but probably too brief and subtle an explanation for less-motivated readers. These caveats aside, Not Quite Dead should prove entertaining and informative for many teens.–Robert Saunderson, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Adult/High School–In 1975, 12-year-old Canada and her mother, Grace, live in the embassy enclave in Turkey. With an emotionally distant, and often absent, father and husband, they are left to their own devices as they pursue friendships and navigate life in a foreign city. While their paths often cross in the same social circles, Canada and Grace’s relationship is detached and at times hostile. But what mother and daughter have in common is their attraction to men who are forbidden to them. Canada is infatuated with the mysterious and manipulative houseboy of another diplomat’s family while Grace finds herself in an affair with Canada’s riding instructor. The story is told in the indistinguishable alternating voices of mother and daughter with brief excerpts from their lives prior to 1975. Despite the one-dimensional supporting characters, the strength of this novel lies in the author’s extensive use of descriptive language to paint a vivid picture of Ankara. The plot moves along at a steady pace, but the tension and drama do not escalate until the closing chapters when the consequences of Canada’s and Grace’s actions are revealed. Teens may be put off by the elevated vocabulary and somewhat confusing shifts in time. However, sophisticated readers will be drawn in by the subtle yet gripping tragedy that befalls the pair. Those looking for a story rich in atmospheric details and delicate descriptions will find this a satisfying read.–Lynn Rashid, Marriots Ridge High School, Marriotsville, MD

Adult/High School–During the 18th century, Aminata Diallo is kidnapped from her village, survives the ocean voyage on a slave ship, is purchased by an indigo producer from South Carolina, and gets caught in the Revolutionary War. Later, she is traded to a Jewish duty inspector. She marries Chekura, a boy from a neighboring village, and gives birth to two children. Aminata’s trials continue as she and her husband take part in Britain’s promise of freedom for Loyalists by traveling to Nova Scotia, where she continues to long to return to Africa, but ends up in London instead. Throughout the story, her major assets are her ability to read and write and to serve as a midwife, which help in her quest for freedom. With mature themes (e.g., a rape scene on the ship, descriptive killings, and sexual situations), this book is suited for older teens. Hill clearly researched multiple people and sources to provide an accurate account of Aminata’s heroic journey and brings to life crucial world history. Teens who enjoyed Sharon Draper’s Copper Sun (S & S, 2006) will appreciate this page-turning novel.–Gregory Lum, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR

Adult/High School–After a decade attending university and seeing the world, Emily Tempest, the daughter of a white Australian prospector and an Aboriginal woman, returns to Moonlight Downs, the camp in the Australian Outback where she was raised after her mother’s death. Shortly after her arrival, Lincoln Flinders, the leader of the camp and father of her childhood friend, is slain, and Emily is determined to find out who killed him and why. Is the murderer an Aboriginal sorcerer with whom Lincoln had quarreled? Lincoln’s brother, ambitious to take Lincoln’s place as leader? An aggressive white rancher, angry at Lincoln’s rejection of his demands? Or is it one of the whites in the nearby poverty-stricken town, whose smiling face hides racial rage? As she uncovers the events that led to the murder, Emily slowly comes to grips with what led her to leave the Outback years ago, and what is bringing her back there now. Comfortable with her biracial ancestry but caught between Aboriginals and whites struggling with the cultural adaptations necessary to live together peacefully, Emily is a sympathetic protagonist. This glimpse into Aboriginal culture will whet teens’ appetites for reading more about the land and people portrayed.–Sandy Schmitz, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Adult/High School–Omar Yussef, principal of a United Nations girls’ school in a refugee camp near Bethlehem, accompanies two UN officials on a routine school inspection in the Gaza Strip. Routine is quickly set aside, though, after a teacher at one of the institutions is arrested for accusing officials at the local university of corruption. Omar Yussef and his colleagues try to intervene on the teacher’s behalf, only to be drawn deeper and deeper into both the open and the covert struggles for political power in Gaza City. When one inspector is kidnapped and the other killed, Omar Yussef is left alone to disentangle the schemes of various political and criminal factions in a last-ditch effort to save his colleague’s life as well as his own. Gaza is less a mystery than a suspense novel. What mystery there is lies in determining the links between the various factions. Nonetheless, it is a fascinating view into a much-discussed but little-understood part of the world. Omar Yussef is a champion of the common people, those who try to live quiet and peaceful lives amid social and political chaos. Teens with an interest in the Middle East will find this a fascinating and sobering read.–Sandy Schmitz, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Adult/High School–Frederick Langlois is a 17-year-old philosopher in the tradition of a young Thomas Wolfe or Jack Kerouac. In wordy, raw, sometimes aggressive prose, he mourns the insincerity of the adult world, his own isolation, the apathetic wastefulness of his father’s life, and a powerful disconnection from the Catholic Church. At the same time, Frederick’s precise understanding and intense warmth intensify his connection to those who surround him. Moments with his mother, grandmother, siblings, and friends pulse with gratitude and tenderness. Frederick describes his relationship with one friend: “we quickly became buddies who understand each other in secret, like the uvula and the epiglottis.” He is complex, passionate, loquacious, and thoughtful. He is also in a hospital ward, dying of bone cancer. Though it would be tempting, given this setting and context, to create a pitiable or overtly angelic protagonist, Trudel does an excellent job of avoiding either option. Instead, he creates a well-formed, likable, yet flawed character: a bright, confused, and frightened teenager grappling with existence. Life in the hospital ward, aside from its inherent philosophical musings, is extreme, equally full of heartbreak and dark humor. Frederick and his intensive-care compatriots create mock tumors, raid the hospital’s chapel, and have “last words” competitions. This is an affecting, well-conceived story, and its style and themes are sure to strike a chord with readers.–Shannon Peterson, Kitsap Regional Library, WA

Adult/High School–Tamara Hayle, detective and single mother of a teenage son, finds herself embroiled in a case that includes a missing baby, a 16-year-old girl, and some people who are nasty even for someone used to the hard-bitten streets of urban New Jersey. The plot gets rolling when an old acquaintance appears in Tamara’s office threatening to blackmail her if she doesn’t help find her baby–but she seems to be motivated by something other than maternal anxiety. Tamara is no sooner on the case than she’s up against the baby’s grandfather–an old gangster–and the child’s aunt, a teenager who thinks her own sister isn’t a fit mom. There are several offstage deaths, none of them gentle, and Tamara’s son offers a subplot of plot-advancing rebelliousness that, readers will note, Tamara doesn’t handle gracefully. This detective is a feisty but credibly anxious African-American woman with some street smarts and a large dose of self-doubt when it comes to both the men in her life and her own parenting skills. Urban fiction fans will find this relatively mild–in spite of the series of murders–but can enjoy a twisting plot that keeps both Tamara and her readers on edge and guessing the true identity and motive of the murderer right up to the final chapter.–Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia

Adult/High School–This colorfully illustrated book provides introductory information describing manga and anime, the differences between manga themes for boys (shonen) and girls (shojo), a basic materials list including some cursory computer graphics information, as well as tips on costumery, character types, storyboarding, and script writing. Aimed at the fledgling hobbyist or newly curious fan, this book does not cover art technique in depth. Depictions are G-rated and appropriate for middle as well as high school. Library staff with no familiarity with Japanese comics may find this a good starting place for terminology.–Jodi Mitchell, Berkeley Public Library, CA

Adult/High School–Twenty years after spending time in a New York City shelter, Erlbaum returned as a volunteer, bearing beads for crafts therapy and a desire to make a difference. Breaking the rule against playing favorites among residents, she found a kindred spirit in tragic, brilliant Sam. Erlbaum giddily forged a connection with the teen, discussing books and philosophy; feeling outrage at her tales of parental abuse, drugs, and life on the streets; and acting as an advocate to get Sam the help she needed. During Sam’s multiple stays in the hospital for increasingly serious infections, Erlbaum encouraged her to focus on getting well and into rehab, spending hours next to hospital beds and on the phone, taking time away from work and her partner. An AIDS diagnosis intensified the strong feelings Erlbaum was developing for Sam and set the ball of discovery rolling as she realized that the girl, who had almost become an adopted daughter, was not what she seemed. Throughout, Erlbaum is honest about her own motives; she mocks her own selfish drive to be important. The chatty narrative, heartrending and funny, is full of dialogue reconstructed from journals; the writing is unobtrusively good and compulsively readable. Teens who enjoy gritty reality like James Frey’s A Million Little Pieces (Doubleday, 2003) or the twisted humor of Augusten Burroughs’s Running with Scissors (St. Martins, 2002) will race through this one and come back for Erlbaum’s chronicle of her own unstable past, Girlbomb: A Halfway Homeless Memoir (Villard, 2006). –Jenny Gasset, Orange County Public Library, CA

Adult/High School–Published on the centenary of Georges Remi’s birth, this introduction to the creator behind comic-book hero Tintin serves as an excellent introduction to and provides fine background material on European–and to a degree, international–popular culture in the 20th century. In addition to the requisite biographical information about Remi (whose pen name is the French phonetic spelling of his initials reversed), there are details about his political travails, his devotion to the avant-garde art scene (he and Andy Warhol became friendly enough to exchange portraits of each other), and the role and growth of scouting during the 20th century. With brief chapters on such topics as journalism and cinematography, the text is richly illustrated with archival photos, well-chosen drawings from “Tintin” and other works by Hergé, related or relevant artwork by others (including both friends and contemporaries), and reproductions of publications beyond the comics world in which Remi involved himself. Although the author tellingly makes no mention of the controversy–then or now–around Tintin in the Congo, he does address other aspects of how politics and art came a cropper of one another in both Tintin’s adventures and Remi’s professional life. Accessible and engaging, this is a good first serious biography of the Belgian artist.–Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia

Adult/High School–Conscientious diners who show concern about the “food miles” that meats and produce travel in order to satisfy those craving strawberries in winter or olive oil in Minnesota will be surprised to realize that civilizations have been moving foods around the globe for thousands of years. Murray uses a modest shopping basket containing about a dozen foodstuffs–canned tomatoes, tea, corn, etc.–as the linchpin on which she hangs a well-informed and engaging history of first-century olive oil export-and-import methods, the Berlin Airlift, Mongolian diets in the 21st century, and related facts about the food industry, transport, and changing tastes. As much a history of both technology and culture as a critique of how we treat what we eat, there is something here for almost all readers: fascinating trivia, answers to imponderables about salmon and about taste buds at 32,000 feet, and heartwarming stories of Cold War-era CARE packages. This is a descriptive narrative rather than a prescriptive one, but teens who come to it in search of facts will finish with the fodder for and interest in forming their own opinions. The writing is accessible but matter-of-fact, and the detailed index will make this a good resource for researchers who don’t intend to chew on the whole story.–Francisca Goldsmith, Halifax Public Libraries, Nova Scotia

Adult/High School–This is the fifth title to come out of WriteGirl, a creative writing and mentoring organization for teen girls in the Los Angeles area. Unlike many such anthologies, this collection includes the work of experienced mentors who volunteered their time to the project, as well as the teen participants. The result is a dynamic exchange of shared prompts, ideas, and projects as well as an obvious display of the inspired, caring, multigenerational relationships that were formed in the process. This appealing volume is broken into 10 sections: self, writing, Los Angeles, friendship, love, rants, family, place, origins, and writing experiments. The poetry and prose found in each one are sincere and personal, and one gets the feeling of having discovered a dog-eared, doodle-laden journal among the refuse of a high school parking lot. The writing is at times hilarious, as in Zoe Lateju’s instructions from “Eight Ways to Get Over Your Long-term Crush”: “#2 Take a different route than the usual you use to stalk him….#7 Start playing your PS3–most electronic games deal with violence and it helps to release pent up anger.” At other times, it is heartbreaking as it describes the struggles of young urban women from diverse backgrounds: the drug problems of loved ones, the complexities of culture and immigration, or abuse and poverty. This anthology is sure to be picked up by aspiring young writers as well as educators looking for inspired samples and interactive exercises.–Shannon Peterson, Kitsap Regional Library, WA