Monthly Archives: June 2014

Project Cain by Geoffery Girard

25 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by in Science Fiction, Young Adult

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Get ready to be afraid – very afraid!

Jeff has just had his world come crashing down around him.  His father explains that all he ever knew about himself was a lie.  His mother did not die; she didn’t even really exist. His father wasn’t his real father; he wasn’t even really fourteen years old.  He was part of a secret government project, DSTI, to create killing machines using DNA from serial killers, and he is a clone of Jeffery Dahmer. Then, his father leaves him and, for whatever reason, sets free all the clones still living at the Massey Institute, which he succeeds in doing; thus setting a group of killer clones loose in the U.S.

A rogue agent from DSTI, named Castillo saves Jeff from being taken by either DSTI or the killer clones. The killer clones begin a killing spree across the U.S, and Castillo and Jeff have to track down the killers using the notes Jeff’s “father” left. Jeff also has some type of psychic connection to the killers, but he begins to realize that the connection works two ways. There may be more to this story to follow.

Nature or Nurture has always been the big question about criminals.  Girard has given us a thought-provoking work couched in the plot of a horror sci-fi book.  He also tells us about real secret government projects that have involved using humans as guinea pigs – some of which the reader may know about, and others, which- after a good internet search- the reader will come to realize are only too true. Could the events really happen? The answer is, unfortunately, a resounding YES.  The story is written for high school students, but although it is dark and somewhat violent, it could be read by a good middle school reader.

Victoria by Silvana Goldemberg

25 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by in Young Adult

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Scan0058

An amazing story of the resiliency of a young girl being abused and living in poverty in Argentina! Victoria’s mother has died and she, along with her twin brothers, must live with her Aunt Marta. Marta, Juan (Marta’s live-in-boy friend), and her daughter, Betina, live with Doña Norma, Victoria’s great-aunt. Doña Norma owns the house where they live, but she is an invalid.  Victoria yearns to be a teacher, but Aunt Marta forces her to quit school and help with the work around the home and with her ironing business.

Juan has made advances in the past, but when he gets very aggressive in his advances to her, Victoria realizes she can not continue living in the home and be safe.  When she runs away, she soon realizes that life on the streets can be as dangerous as what she ran away from.

Fortunately for her, a street boy named Marko befriends her and helps her learn how to survive without having to resort to prostitution or to selling drugs – the usual result for young Argentinian street girls .  While Marko looks out for Victoria and manages to keep other men from messing with her, he cannot get himself out of the grip of drug dealers. Victoria realizes he is in danger but is powerless to help him.

However, along with the bad people she encounters, several good people do come into her life to help save her. Victoria is smart enough to see where life on the streets will take her, and wise enough to take advantage of the good that people offer her.

While there are descriptions of violence and sexual advances, there are no overt scenes.  I think this book is an excellent way to show young women that they can be true survivors when bad things happen to them. I recommend this for middle school and high school libraries. The cost is $12.95 for the paperback version, but I would hope that wouldn’t be a deterrent to purchasing it.

At Home in Her Tomb by Christine Liu-Perkins

18 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by in Archeology, Children's Books, History

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China

Lui-Perkins has provided the young reader with a captivating book about archeology and Chinese burials of important people. The tomb of Lady Dai and other treasures of Mawangdui have amazed the archeologists who first uncovered them and those who still study the contents of Lady Dai’s tomb.

The most fascinating thing was that her body was so remarkably preserved.  Her skin and internal organs had not decayed; therefore, the doctors were even able to perform an autopsy on her.  i.e. The contents of her stomach indicated that she had been eating melon shortly before she died. Not only was the body in good condition for a 2,000 year-old-corpse, the tomb contained books and other written information that many had supposed to be destroyed by the Han dynasty. One of the later emperors of the Han dynasty had burned all the books on military, political and health that he could locate because he felt threatened by their contents.  To find these in Lady Dai’s tomb and so well-preserved was a miracle.

The text is nicely illustrated with color photographs and drawings.  The author has included a timeline, a glossary, a source list, a bibliography, and an index for the reader. Most pages have sidebars of information that help the reader understand more about China two thousand years ago.  The books will be useful to anyone who is interested in China or who is interested in archeology in general.  I highly recommend its purchase for the middle school through high school libraries.

Ambassador by William Alexander

12 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by in Children's Books, Science Fiction

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I don’t have a picture for this book because I read a “prepub” edition, but I think it deserves to be looked at when it is published.  Here is the review I sent to the publisher:

Alexander has given us a whole new way of looking at aliens – both human and non-human. Gabe is an ordinary boy who thinks his summer will be the usual thing of playing with his friends and helping his parents care for his twin siblings.  His world is turned upside down when an alien named the Envoy invites him to be Earth’s ambassador to the Universe and thus to save the Earth.  This excites Gabe, yet he doesn’t understand how he, as a boy, can help save the world.

At the same time, his parents are arrested because they are illegal aliens and his parents are in danger of being deported. A neighbor offers to take care of Gabe and the twins because they are American citizens. His older sister has gone into hiding because she, also, is an illegal alien.  Gabe had no idea that his parents were not American citizens, and he also has no idea how to save his family.

As an ambassador, Gabe learns about conflict resolution, about talking of similarities of the inhabitants of the universe, and about trying to solve problems rather than fighting.   He still doesn’t know what he can do to save his family, but he knows that anger will not solve his problems.

This is an excellent book to help younger readers see that they are not alone with their conflicts.  It may help readers learn methods of communication, which are so very necessary in our world.  It would appear that there may be more stories of Gabe, the ambassador to come.  If that is true, I trust they will continue along the same line. I recommend this book for the elementary library.  The publisher is Simon and Schuster.

 

Dark Lord:School’s Out by Jamie Thompson

05 Thursday Jun 2014

Posted by in Children's Books, Fantasy

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The saga of the Dark Lord continues.  In this tale Sooz is in the Darklands, and Dark Lord (aka Dirk Lloyd) along with Chris is trying to get her back.  At the same time he is trying to get back to his realm and continue his reign as the terror of the Darklands.

Sooz is accepted by the Dark Lord’s minions as his fiancé.  They make her their queen, and she institutes some changes for good in the kingdom, but Sooz is captured by Lord Hasdruban who is intending to kill her.

Dirk and Chris get back to the Darklands and save Sooz, but Dirk changes back into the Dark Lord.  He begins to live the evil life he had lived before, but his minions refuse to go back to the evil they had to endure before.

Sooz manages to change him back to a boy and the three of them go back to the real world where they hope to be free of Lord Hasdruban – only to find that he has become their new principal. More to come, obviously.

This is a fun “read” for upper elementary students.  It teaches students that looks aren’t everything and that good can really conquer evil. I recommend it – especially if you already have the first of the series.