Seventeen years later,  questions still abound about how 9/11 could have happened.   Were those horrible events a well organized plan of radical Muslims or a coordinated, clandestine conspiracy of a few powerful people or even possibly, a plot orchestrated by the US government to undermine the status quo?

A Truther is a person who intensely believes that the tragedies of 9/11 were an organized cover-up by the United States Government.  In fact, there are numerous conspiracy theories about different events of the 20th century, like the Kennedy assassination.  The book, Truthers, reveals the different theories in interesting ways and makes compelling arguments for the possibility of conspiracy by either rich corporations or the actual US Government.  In searching for a release for her father from a mental institution, Katie discovers that some of his drug/alcohol ramblings may be true. Her father may know what really happened on 9/11, who was responsible for it and that she may be the only survivor of the horrible event.  The story is intriguing as a moment in time that deeply changed America well as a human interest story of a young girl trying to defend her father.  This is a good read about 9/11 and all the conspiracy theories that still surround it.

The ritualistic “sharing” begins with the affirmation: “He is the floor beneath our feet and the roof above our heads.  He is the walls around us.  He is the window through which we see into ourselves and the door that leads to a better understanding.  He is always watching…”  Thus beginneth the opportunity for four captured children to confess to an error and one of the four to take a torturous consequence on behalf of the group as part of His plan.  The four children are part of His networked cult and are brainwashed into acting and looking like 4 siblings from a distant time known as The Special Ones.  The Special Ones talk to followers online each night to give advice on how to live a pious life.  The Special Ones live in a compound without electricity or running water, with basic supplies arriving miraculously at night from Him, but with the expectation that they can farm and forage from themselves to survive.  When a Special One receives their “renewal” notice from Him, they don’t know if they will be let go from the kidnapping, kept captive elsewhere or killed.  And when one person leaves on renewal, a new person is “collected” and brought in to take their place.  Told from two points of view, that of a kidnapped sibling “Esther” and the “Him”, Bailey has a knack for eerie, suspense-laden story-telling.  The story moves quickly once the premise is realized and though it is not very realistic, it will keep readers wanting to see it through to the end.  Highly recommended for middle and high school libraries for fans of mystery and suspense.

How much abuse could you be dealt before it crushes your spirit?  Lisa Heathfield’s story of June’s child and young adulthood is a psychological twister, alternating chapters between before and after an event that changes everything.  Before, June’s mother had died and her father had remarried Kathleen.  After, June is talking to Reverend Shaw about forgiveness.  And then the Before takes off, where Kathleen seems like the perfect wife and doting mom when the father is around, but when he’s not, it’s purely mental and physical torture for June.  Force-feeding her over years to make June obese, coming into her room at night and cutting off some of her hair, and making Megan, the step-sister participate in the multiple physical and spiritual crimes, June hates her life but can not find the words to tell an adult.  Her only escape is a literal one.  When she received a bicycle for her birthday, she is able to ride to an area on the outskirts of town.  Here she meets Blister, a sensitive, creative, smart boy with whom she develops a deep friendship and eventual love interest in over the years.  While other students make fun of her at school and push her to take actions that get her in trouble, Blister sees into June’s soul but must remain a secret, else Kathleen will kill this happy aspect of her life too.  In the after chapters, Heathfield gives hints as readers start to piece together what could have happened between Kathleen and June, but this reader did not foresee the path this story would take.  Young adult readers from 7th and up will cringe with June and love with June and they will follow June until the very last moment.

Filled with magical realism reminiscent of Isabel Allende, Maggie Steifvater takes readers to the fantasy of town of Bicho Raro, Colorado, where strangers find themselves coming to “find themselves”.   Three cousins, who act more like siblings, Beatriz, Daniel and Joaquin, all possess the family power to bring out the inner darkness in people but it is up to the visitors themselves to find their own miracle cure in defeating their inner demons.  Young adult readers who are used to plot-driven contemporary coming of age novels will need to be patient with Steifvater’s writing and try to look at it via the lense of good art rather than entertainment.  Motifs of owls and roses, conflicts of inner powers vs outer perceptions, and landscapes both real and fantastical will swoon some readers and surprise previous Stiefvater fans. Plus, the gorgeous cover will sell this as well.  Recommended for upper middle and high school libraries.

Hip-Hop Culture, part of the Hip-Hop Insider series, takes one on an informative, fast-paced and fascinating trip through hip-hop history up to today’s influences such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s use of hip-hop in Hamilton. Written by history teacher/author Judy Dodge Cummings, readers quickly see the widespread influence hip-hop has had since 1973 with its birth by DJ Kool Herc trying to fulfill a need for new school clothes by throwing a “concert” at a local rec center where he and his sister charged admission.  Here he began combining songs during drum sections and this form of hip-hop became deejaying – one of four connected touchstones.  From ghetto to global stage, from need to commercialization, Cummings lays out the influence of deejaying as well as the other three –emceeing, dance, and graffiti — have had in cultivating hip-hop culture and likewise how hip-hop has influenced our word, dance, music, dress, and politics.  Complete with bright color photos and historic side-bars, a timeline, essential facts, glossary, resources, and notes for each chapter, the 112-page text maintains an upbeat feel.  While written for the young adult audience, Hip-Hop Culture provides provocative food for thought and discussions at a higher level that one would initially imagine.  Recommended for libraries who need a more recent copyright date.

The Negro Leagues: Celebrating Baseball’s Unsung Heroes by Matt Doeden is written in a simple, easy to understand format with lots of pictures, however, the issues are very complex.  At a time in history when baseball leagues were segregated by the color of one’s skin,  Doeden details some differences between the better-known baseball leagues where all players had light colored skin and the lesser known “negro leagues” where most players were of African American descent and the records were by word of mouth rather than written down.  It illustrates the difficulties of playing as people of African descent, yet the black community overcame many of these difficulties to produce interesting games and outstanding players.

This book also may help you to understand current controversies in the media.  We now view multiracial teams and players are recognized based on their ability to play, rather than the color of their skin.  However, it is the black team members who are silently protesting the national anthem at football games as black members of society are still not treated equally in our communities.  Unfortunately, white commentators and politicians fail to understand what they are protesting.

The book also illustrates the outcomes of integrating the baseball teams as the negro teams disintegrated as their best players joined the integrated teams. This can help us understand the current controversy of integrating Boy Scouts and allowing girls into their organization.  Will allowing girls into Boy Scouts lead to a weakening of Girl Scouts as it draws away the most involved supporters, families, and girls?

If a library doesn’t have a good text already covering this topic, The Negro Leagues: Celebrating Baseball’s Unsung Heroes fits the bill as an additional purchase.

All in Pieces by Suzanne Young stretches the drama of an unhappy, unloved teenage girl to the max. Savannah Sutton is in a reform high school for anger management for stabbing a pencil into the hand of her former boyfriend when he mocks her special needs brother. At Brooks Academy, Savannah meets Cameron, a modern day Prince Charming. In spite of Savannah’s resistance, Cameron breaks through her protective shield and “rescues” her from some uncomfortable situations. Learning to deal with anger when feeling powerless is addressed honestly. Being “saved” by a handsome, rich, altruistic guy is an unrealistic solution to the not uncommon problems of an alcoholic father, a runaway mother, a special needs sibling, and poverty. Rough language and a friend’s near-fatal overdose make the story teeter on the edge of “too much”!  The novel is timely in its choice of topics but totally off the mark in the resolution of being saved by a guy and the reliance of “others” to take care of  Savannah rather than showing how she could develop her own strength and self-reliance.  Not the best YA available.

Internet neutrality is a hot topic issue in the U.S. Congress at the moment.  The book Net Neutrality presents a concise forum for the discussion and explanation of different aspects regulating to the use and abuse of the world wide web.  Who should regulate the speed, source, and options of what is available on the internet?  Should the speed of the internet service be charged accordingly?  Is government involvement a good or bad idea?  The pros and cons of the debate are succinctly presented for consideration.  The legal battle is between the internet being a public, open use utility or a private, for-profit business.  How to regulate in order to protect consumers from high usage charges and yet stimulate internet businesses to grow, expand and innovate is the issue. This book gives a simple, beginning approach to the new problems of the information age and is recommended for high school libraries.

Black Holes by Sara Latta is non-fiction book that is a quick and captivating read for those who are interested in astronomy and physics but not becoming actual astronomers or physicists.

Latta presents the history and backstory of how the concept of black holes, which started out being called dark stars, has grown into our modern conceptual and theoretical knowledge we now use in studying these unique celestial bodies. From Newton’s Principia, to John Mitchell who first theorized about “dark stars,” to Einstein, Hawking and beyond, Latta presents a scientific history that doesn’t bog the reader down with the overwhelming amount of mathematics which underlies the hypotheses and theories of black holes, but gives a taste to accentuate and assist with the concepts being explained.

The book is laid out in timeline order that would flow smoothly and transition easily, except for an abundance of side notes that explain different concepts. The side notes are interesting and informative, but break the train of thought as you move through the book– some being up to two pages long.

As a nonfiction text, the use of pictures and drawings assist the reader with the concept of imagining the unimaginable. They introduce the reader to the scientists and devices used, the data as it is gathered and assembled, and examples that try to put the scope of vastness being described into context.

Black Holes is about a topic that not everyone would take an interest in without prompting or reason, but not giving this book a chance would leave one with a “hole” in their knowledge of the universe around them. Therefore this books is recommended for the casual to interested science reader.  

Labyrinth, by Israel Keats, is a juvenile fiction book in the science fiction genre that is fast paced and action packed.

The story begins with two teens, a boy from a dysfunctional family who feels that he has nothing to live for, and a girl from a caring home, but one in comparison where the parents schedule every minute of her day, picking classes and outside activities for her. Set in the near future of 2089, when a gaming company L33T C0RP has developed the next stage in virtual reality in which you are an actual player, their task is to work together to complete the game before either time or their lives run out. The stakes are high– win or remain in the game forever. 

Keats does a good job of working the different aspects of the teens’ lives such as the boy-girl dynamic, athlete/non-athlete, middle class/lower class, student/non-student in the short 117 pages of this reluctant reader style book.  The characters dive into the plot immediately, with action on almost every page. There are also riddles that the character(s) need to solve that may leave you stumped. The dynamic conflicts between the two characters are resolved as effectively as possible with little stereotyping or cliche.

This book is recommended to those who like video games as the setting is inside a video game, and fast-paced action stories.  

Like sappy love stories — this is not it.  The Last True Love Story does not take place in a high school.  The Last True Love Story does not have a female protagonist.  The Last True Love Story does not have an amazing happily-ever-after ending.  The Last True Love Story is about love that is deeper than the superficial stuff most teens crave.  And that is why this book can succeed.  Teddy has a lot on his shoulders.  His mother travels for work.  His father drove off a bridge when he was much too young to remember anything about him.  His Gpa, whom he visits on a regular basis, is battling Alzheimer’s.  But Gpa does remember how much he loved his wife and the last thing he wants is to lose her again.  When fate allows Teddy to meet Corrina, an acoustic guitar playing, non-theatrical music buff who desperately wants to go to New York City, causes Teddy’s mom to be out of town but the car left behind, and proposes the chance to drive across country to take Gpa back to his long-lost home in Ithica, New York, Teddy takes a leap of faith like he’s never done before.  The love themes explored in this book is veiny, deep, and rings more true than most hokey love stories for young adult fiction.  And while this is such a huge part of the book, this reader is afraid the title alone will keep males from reading it.  Well-versed musicians and music history fans will appreciate all the references to decades of songs.  This is a good read that might be overlooked.

When one of two star-crossed lovers full of teen agnst run falls off of a cliff in the 1st chapter, readers of Keep Me In Mind by Jaime Reed will be anxiously ready to turn the next pages.  Alternating chapters between each, Ellia Dawson and Liam McPherson tell their side of the story in dealing with love, parents who want to keep them apart, and one other huge issue — amnesia.  Ellia’s fall causes her to lose her memory of her last year with Liam.  He claims he is her boyfriend, that they were in love, but then why are her parents so concerned with them not seeing each other?  Is it only because she is black and he is white?  This clever idea taken from the best of soap operas get a little old about half way into the book.  No doubt Liam will begin to flounder in his feelings and a chaotic choice at the school dance will put his efforts to get Ellia back into a tail spin. Reed’s writing is just as good as any, but the idea looses steam despite efforts to be mysterious.  This reader isn’t even sure why the “race card” is part of the story.  Keep Me In Mind will keep readers who stay committed to the end reading but other students may just leave it in their locker for months until the overdue notices pile up.  But with no sex, drugs or rock and roll, this can span into the middle school library, a rarity for young adult lit these days.

The Icarus Show, by Sally Christie, is a tender and insightful examination of strategies used to cope with uncomfortable situations and how they can interfere with living a full life.  Alex has devised the perfect coping strategy for his first year in secondary school: no matter what happens, do not react in any way.  David, the boy who lives next door, does react when Alan, the class bully, trips him on the first day of school.  This reaction earns him a very insulting nickname.  Then a mysterious note appears in Alex’s bag.  Alex is amazed to find that the note announces a coming event where a boy will fly.  Is Alex the only one to receive such a note, or did others receive one also, and is it only a hoax?  Subsequent notes and objects make it clear that there is such an event planned and the planner is known only as Icarus.  Alex is frantic to solve the mystery so he enlists the assistance of Maisie, who once lived in the house where Alex lives and her son Donald.  Alex also begins to make friends with David and his perfect coping strategy slips enough to make him very uncomfortable.  Alex, Maisie, and Donald  must unravel the mystery before the event occurs because a boy cannot fly, or can he?  The situation appears farfetched, but as the story unfolds, the reader learns that what is really happening is not at all unusual, and learns how coping strategies can restrict our lives.  With constantly mounting tension, clever plot twists, believable characters, and a real cliff hanger ending, The Icarus Show is a very enjoyable read.  Highly recommended.

Set on an island off the South Carolina coast, Illusion is the third book in the Heirs of Watson Island series.  Southern Gothic fiction steeped in mysticism and spirits with strange disappearances and characters who live for centuries, readers who pick up this book without having read the first two will have a difficult time keeping track of the characters even with the family tree that is presented in the first pages. The story revolves around three families with adjoining plantations including waterfront property who have existed on the island for centuries. Barrie Watson is trying to heal the wounds of these families who have grown to distrust each other while still keeping the essence of all that is Waston’s Landing.  The writing is descriptive with easy visualization and moves along at a good pace.  This will force our library to attain the 1st two books as well.  

Author Jenn Bennett immediately builds curiosity and tension in the summer adventure that Bailey “Mink” Rydell is embarking on as she descends a central California airport escalator.  Choosing to come live with her father on the California coast, readers soon put together that this is the same town her online crush “Alex” lives in.  Alex and Bailey have chatted online for some time now as they watch old classic movies together.  Bailey, also nicknamed the “Artful Dodger” because of her desire to avoid conflict, plans to scope out who Alex is before she tries to meet up with him.  So begins the 1st plot line.  All great stories have multiple plot lines and Bennett does a nice job weaving together three of them.  Bailey is soon accosted by two surfer boys, Davy and Porter.  Both argumentative and rude, she later realizes that Porter is a security guard at the quirky museum where she is hired to sell tickets.  Porter and Bailey’s instinct to quarrel with each other over petty things also ironically develops their friendship and soon to be passion.  But wait, there’s more.  Readers will get to learn the other traumatic reason why Bailey is needing to leave her past behind in a 3rd storyline that will allow Bailey to grow in strength as well as trust.  But if Bailey likes Porter, what happened to her interest in “Alex”?  2/3 of the way most readers will see where the story will resolve itself, but it will not be a smooth ride.  All in all, Bennett’s premise is unique, slightly far-fetched, yet fun enough to keep readers going.  While the cover will probably draw in readers, it is a horrible representation of the story — they never hung out in a pool and Bailey’s not comfortable with her body yet to be in public in a bikini. Still this novel is recommended for high school age students.

In the hip-hop spirit of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical, Hamilton, David Elliot has crafted a reimagining of the myth of the Minotaur voiced in poetic forms by those that influenced the tragic life of Asterion, a gentle intelligent boy born with the head of a bull and the body of a man, whom his mother calls Ruler of the Stars.

He is destroyed by Poseidon, King of the Sea, whose fury at Minos, King of Crete leads him to manipulate Daedalus, The Royal Engineer; Pasiphae, Asterion’s mother the Queen of Crete; and Ariadne, Asterion’s half-sister, into the cruelty and abandonment that drives Asterion into final madness as he becomes the beast of myth, ultimately destroyed by Theseus.

This format makes Bull a fast but deeply memorable read, forever casting new light upon the making of a monster and the culpability of gods and humans in so doing.  Elliot gives an elucidating description of the poetic forms chosen for each character and delves into the origins of Asterion’s birth, something previous tellings of the myth do not include.  It’s also noteworthy to say that there is strong language and imagery at times, thus the target audience is probably the upper grades in high school and into college.  Recommended.

Megan Atwood’s short novella, Stay in the Game, is riveting from page one. The

overriding theme is that ”Is it okay to do harm for a good motive?” and “Does not knowing the

consequences of an action, make one not responsible?” James is desperate to get medical help

for his dying grandfather. He is contacted by the Benefactor to accomplish 10 tasks with the

possibility of winning 10 million dollars. He is given no information as to the purpose of the

tasks. As he completes each task, he becomes in more aware of the damage he is doing to

innocent people. The story ends with a cliffhanger, setting up for the next book in the series.

The writing is high interest, action packed, fast moving with concise writing and easily

understood vocabulary. An enjoyable read for the reluctant reader or an ELL student. The

cover design seems to imply the book could be about a sport, which is very misleading. Stay in

the Game is a fast, good read that is very appropriate for the YA audience.

Dinosaurs and race cars! What could be better?!  Dino-Racing is a fun, action-packed book about different kinds of car races with wildly colorful dinosaurs as the drivers. Shown are drag racing, off road racing, speedway racing and stock car racing.  The rhyming verses entertain as the action moves through the scenes of different race styles.  Both boy and girl dinos drive and repair the cars. There is a lot of behind the scenes action to interest young readers of any age. A dynamic, fun book, sure to be a winner!

Max uses his “super secret” powers to overcome obstacles that appear during his adventures. The illustrations reflect the movement of Max as whooshes with his jet pack or zooms in his race car. He meets and defeats each challenge until he dead-ends at the door with a secret combination, broken with the code word, HOME!  The author/illustrator, Stephen Shaskan, does a beautiful job of combining movement, sound and story to carry a young boy on an exciting adventure using his “super-secret” imagination.   A delightful book.

The colorful  illustrations in primary colors with whimsical facial expressions on the toilet are the saving feature of the book, The Saddest Toilet in the World. In an attempt to help a child overcome his fear of potty training, the toilet is personified as having feelings and emotions.  The toilet “runs away” from the home because the boy would not sit on it.  A search ensues for where the toilet could be. In the attempt to be playful, the antics of the toilet become a bit absurd. Maybe a child would find it entertaining to make the potty topic humorous but the delivery falls short. This is not a book that would be recommended.

Extremely cute animals face off against extremely mean bullies with extremely heavy machines.  Just ‘cause you’re cute doesn’t mean you can’t defeat the big bad bullies, especially if you’re smart and you have friends.  The illustration of the pink tutu-clad girl bunny welding a steel beam shows how to overcome bullies: with strength and determination. Bullies are mean, they hurt feelings, but they can be defeated and even reformed.  The happy ending includes letting the bullies share in the fun of the grandest sand castle/amusement park built by biggest, baddest machines ever.  It is a simple story with a powerful message: facing challenges with compassion and forgiveness.  A worthwhile, fun read from David Gordon.

Another take on the quest for treasure, good vs. evil genre of children’s books.  The illustrations are in a  “video game” style with different levels to survive and unusual terrains to traverse.  The multitude of little characters and side humor jokes keeps the book interesting in spite of the rather usual story line.  Heroes such as a Unicorn and a Gnome add to its appeal for children.  A silly reason for the theft–the Old Oak stole the Mystical Crystals of Life to buy a speedboat–lessen the depth, therefore the interest in the story.  It is an okay book for a possible one or two time read, not destined to be the long-held treasured favorite, read every night book. 

A delightful, rough-edged presentation of basic manners. Pirates are pirates: they burp and fight and plunder but they don’t forget to say “please” and “thank you” or share fairly or use their “inside voice”.  Zany, colorful illustrations plus humorous rhyming text add to the message of manners amid chaos. This would be a fun book to read to children around three to eight-year-old. Thoroughly entertaining!  Bravo to Corinne Demas and Artemis Roehrig.

Lucille O’Malley teen years are not footloose and fancy-free.  In the heart of the Depression, the O’Malley family barely makes it by on the small profits from doing other people’s dirty business – their laundry.  Lucille’s mother always has a happy outlook, but Lucille desperately wants to find other means to support her family.  Unfortunately, it was another kind of dirty business that allows her an opportunity.  While delivering garments one afternoon, Lucille witnesses a New York mobster, Salvatore Benedetto, kill another man.  With the police already on Sal’s heals, he doesn’t shoot Lucille too.  But when the police question Lucille, she covers for Sal.  Impressed but still worried she might spill the beans at some point, Sal grants her wish to move to Hollywood and arranges for her to become an actress with an agent.

In a parallel storyline, Frederick Preston Aloysius van der Waals, the heir to a business and lifestyle of power and extreme wealth in New York, is learning that he doesn’t like his life either.  He appreciates his betrothed girlfriend who wants to marry the 17-year-old but he doesn’t love her.  He used to love his father but learns that he is a back-stabbing, lying, money-hungry power monger who has no sense of remorse or empathy for others.  Wanting nothing to do with the family “business” anymore, he disappears and begins to cross the country, heading for California.

The 2 plot lines remain separate for part 1 and 2 of the book.  Lucille learns what it takes to be a Hollywood starlet and Frederick bums his way across the country with the aid of a companion named Ben.  How their paths cross is unique and it is quickly realized that they will eventually couple up.  But each keeps their secret of how they ended up in California from each other until the fates push out the truth.  Frederick’s greedy father and notorious Sal both make resurgences to bring about the climax.  How the issue with Sal is wrapped up feels rushed and weak considering his gangster status but the relief of tension between Frederick and his father is satisfying.  Authors Adam Shankman and Laura Sullivan keep this plot driving forward, especially in part 3 as another gunshot puts Lucille in the center of a high-profile Hollywood scandal.  Looking at these author’s own profiles helps explain why this text is such a well-written young adult novel that feels like it could go straight to a screenplay.   Both male and female teens would enjoy this story if only the publisher hadn’t put a picture of a female on the front.  Why do they do that??? Highly recommended for middle or high school libraries.

Overdrive, by Dawn Ius, deals with the importance of family and the effects of loss, while taking the reader on a wild ride through the Las Vegas underworld of auto theft.  Jules is “The Ghost,” a seventeen-year-old lost in the Foster Care System.  She boosts cars to sell to make extra money to help give her little sister Ems a better life.  The Ghost lets her looser boyfriend talk her into a jacking that doesn’t feel quite right and it lands her in police custody.  The only way she can stay out of jail and not be separated from Ems is to accept the offer of a mysterious benefactor, Roger, and join three other teens at his palatial home as his “family.”  The situation in which Jules finds herself is a bit fantastic, but the characters are believable.  The language, while rough, fits the situation and the characters.  It is a good romance story, and the romance is not restricted to person to person.  There is also the romance between people and cars, people and thrills, and people and their memories.  The story is well written and fast paced.  It deals sensitively with loss and how different people cope in different ways.  Overdrive features a blistering pace, numerous clever plot twists, characters that surprise with unexpected behaviors, muscle cars to boost, and a surprise ending.  Recommended.