One afternoon, Liam finds an old knife while hunting for lost treasure in the backyard with his friend Max.  Later, he will pinpoint that moment as the one when everything began to change.  Soon after, the pair finds an abandoned child, who is eventually put into foster care.  While visiting baby Alison, Liam meets Crystal, a wild girl who won’t stay put, and Oliver, a refugee from war-torn Liberia with a disturbing but unknown past.

Raven Summer is a darkly introspective novel that will get young adults thinking about the potential for violence that might lie dormant in us all.  The story is told from the relatively naive perspective of Liam, who struggles with the thoughts of war in nearby countries and dealings with friends who explore the darker aspects of life.  The beautiful countryside of Liam’s home is described in vivid detail, making the more violent aspects of the story seem even more stark in comparison.  Vaguely unsettling, but important ideas to consider make this novel a good pick for modern readers.

Reviewed by Holly Scudero

Twelve-year-old Amelia and her family arrive in the tent-city of San Francisco with little money.  Amelia sees that selling newspapers is lucrative, but Julius isn’t about to let a girl into his newspaper gang.  When Amelia inquires about setting type in a newspaper office, the editor is adamant about girls knowing their place.

But Amelia is resourceful. She cuts her hair, dons boys’ clothes, and gets Julius to let her into the gang as Emile.  Soon she wins grudging respect.  Then she and a pal sneak into a site where a hot air balloon is being launched.  When asked to help with the sandbags, they find themselves suddenly aloft and being carried away on the wind.

They crash land in the gold fields, where a French mining couple nurse them back to health.  Amelia shares her story of the balloon flight and is given a byline in the Sonora Herald.  New and more frightening adventures await Amelia, making her decide that she is ready to be herself and in the future hold her own as a newsgirl. 

The action is fast-moving, the writing is crisp and vivid, and Amelia is a likeable and believable protagonist.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Varadan

In the 1930s, the Federal Writers’ Project was launched to put writers and researchers to work chronicling each of the fifty states and their unique identities, all while assembling a comprehensive picture of America.

In spirit, State by State is an update of that ambitious enterprise, letting fifty writers ponder and explore what’s truly distinctive about a given state. The forthright abruptness of Anthony Bourdain, the quirky informative stroll of Sarah Vowell, the painfully funny and self-aware musings of John Hodgman, and the styles of fourty-seven other writers and artists are brought to bear, making for a wildly eclectic reading experience.

Punctuated by demographic breakdowns and brief summaries of each state, the book also includes an appendix loaded with tables detailing population statistics, entertainment choices, overall health and other information, providing a tiny glimpse into the differences between the states.

With all of the questions raised by life in twenty-first century America, it’s a worthwhile endeavor to take a step back and consider for a few moments what unites us and what separates us. In that, State by State is a success. You’ll enjoy some of what you read and you’ll dislike some. That seems about right.

Reviewed by Glenn Dallas

Perfect, sweet, lovely.  Those are just few words to describe the content of this book.  Maryann Love re-created and expanded the original mother goose rhyming lullaby poem of Sleep, Baby, Sleep.  She developed it verse by verse and formed stanza by stanza to bring about such soothing and sweet mother goose.  Maryann picked and chose all kinds of living creatures, from tiny fireflies to large bears.  Each stanza carries a delightful and heart-warming message to the baby.

Shine, baby, shine,
Graceful child of mine.
Be like the firefly who glows
No matter how the darkness grows.
Shine, baby, shine.

Imagine you read and rhyme the lullaby to your child at bedtime…not surprised that eventually you and your child will be able to memorize the whole book effortlessly without ever getting bored of repeating the original Sleep, Baby, Sleep stanza over and over again.  Great pictorial presentation with vibrant watercolor matched harmoniously with its corresponding stanza.  Sleep, Baby, Sleep is a must-keep and must-give book.

Reviewed by Sophie Masri

In the jungle of eastern Panama, graduate student Jenny Dunfree struggles to complete an assignment in advanced ornithology: observe nesting harpy eagles without annoying the local indigenous tribe of Kuna. Jenny, intent on completing her own studies, gradually realizes that she, herself, is increasingly an object of study. The Kuna are fascinated by her: a tall young blond woman from Montana with binoculars and a clipboard.   The story details the development of friendships and more between Jenny and the tribe. Young describes the characters with engaging detail, and there are myriad seductions amongst myriad spirits: of people, place, mystery and science.

Louise Young, the anthropologist who wrote this work of fiction, has, in fact, been welcomed and embraced by the Kuna’s since 1996.  And this direct experience with the rain forest people brings vibrancy to her descriptions and authenticity to her insights.  But as fiction, the book doesn’t work.  Young explains that she originally intended to write a National Geographic-style work about the Kuna’s and her experiences in Panama, and she does not cleanly decide which type of writer she is.  The book lacks the requisite plot and movement of good fiction, but is clearly not a work of science; thus, the reader is left uncertain of the book’s purpose and ill inclined to commit to it.  

Reviewed by Marcia Jo

The original Wiffle ball was made of wood. Mr. Ed’s real name was Bamboo Harvester. The Buffalo Bills logo is actually a bison. James Monroe’s wife, Elizabeth, had the servants address her as “Your Majesty.” Sixteen of the twenty most polluted cities in the world are in China. Head lice can change color to blend in with hair.

These are just a few of the numerous nuggets of trivia found within the pages of The Essential Book of Useless Information, a collection that truly lives up to its name. The latest entry in the bestselling Useless Information series, covers everything from television, animals, and food to the human body, music, and the microscopic world.

Though the book is mostly an elaborate and immensely thorough depository of knowledge, it’s not without its share of snarky comments and tongue-in-cheek factoids. (The one that comes to mind is “MTV actually played music videos at one time.”)

All in all, The Essential Book of Useless Information delivers on the promise of its title, and it’s a great way to spend a few hours. Personally, it makes me want to play a round or two of Trivial Pursuit.

Reviewed by Glenn Dallas

If nothing else, The Enigma of Isaac Babel is a well-titled essay collection.  Since his execution by Stalin’s thugs, Babel has now received his due recognition as one of the last century’s greatest.  Yet much about this author remains a mystery, owing largely to the NKVD’s thoroughness in destroying his papers, but also to Babel’s own desire to cultivate an air of mystery which now maddeningly obscures scholars wishing to understand his work. 

This volume arises out of a Stanford conference that sought to “tease out something more about Isaac Babel.”  While the contributors are all eminent scholars, they achieve mixed results.  On matters of biography, they too easily succumb to the temptation to read the author back into his work.  Regarding his milieu and work they are more successful; several of the essays on his experiences as a journalist riding with the Soviet cavalry and the complex status of Jews in USSR glisten with insight.  Those unfamiliar with Babel will get little from this work, for those who have reveled in his stories and wish to understand more, this book offers some insights. 

Reviewed by Jordan Magill

Without a doubt Sue Henry can write well; she is able to set a scene for any reader to visualize. Henry paints a pretty picture of Homer, Alaska. Unfortunately what she fails to do in this book is create any real mystery.

The book reads more like a daily diary: I woke up, let the dog out to take care of business, made some coffee. She walks us through the day to day lives of Maxie (the main human character) and Stretch ( Maxine’s dog left by her late husband). What the reader gets are the fairly mundane details of Maxine and Stretch’s daily lives. There is a suicide or possible murder that occurs about a quarter of the way into the book and another murder that occurs at the end of the book but there is no real suspense leading up to these.

Part of the problem with The End of the Road is that the book moves really slowly until you get to the end where things are thrown hastily together for a conclusion that doesn’t seem plausible.

If you can’t sleep, start reading this book it will put you out in no time.

Reviewed by Marc Filippelli

Frightening and unpatriotic in its premise, well-researched and surprisingly making some sense, Stauber tries to sell us the idea that America and life in general would have been better off without our complete independence from Britain in 1783.

The concept sounds baffling at first but when considering Britain outlawed slavery in 1833 and Lincoln didn’t make his Emancipation Proclamation until 1863, it isn’t so farfetched. Where other former colonies modeled themselves after Britain’s parliament, our fervor to be as anti-British as possible created a system of checks and balances that is best described as cumbersome.

As interesting as it is to play the “what if” game, you can’t change the facts. For good or bad, the American Revolution happened and it is the event we all stand behind as a shining moment in American history. Stauber tended to drone on about other governments, other colonies, and other emancipations to the point that the reader was left wondering what the point of this book was. If the information had instead been presented in a short essay, it might anger a lot less people.

Reviewed by Gwen Stackler

Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street is not for the casual fan of the 40-year-old show.  It starts with biographies of all the people involved in wanting to make television educational for young children.  There are many more people who went into this project other than the puppet master-mind Jim Henson. 

Like millions of children all over the world, I grew up watching Big Bird, Cookie Monster, and even with the lesser-known Country Worm and City Worm.  Not only has the show taught the alphabet to all these children, but has tackled tough subjects like divorce and death.  The book is very thorough, but, at times, can be a little dry.  The information that I found most fascinating was the advocacy for television actually being used to educate.  There were many steps to the creation of Sesame Street that readers will have never thought of.  It explains the reasons behind how this show came to be the longest running television show to date. 

If I had to chose between reading this book again and actually watching the show, I would chose the show any day. 

Reviewed by Jennifer LeBrun

The Leakeys’ achievements have been immense in demolishing the prevailing wisdom in the first half of last century that mankind originated in Europe and Asia.  The family’s relentless search for the evidence that East Africa was the cradle comes through in their characters: single minded, courageous, and possessing supreme self-belief. This led to breakups with the scientific community and each other. That they had to work in the harsh and often primitive conditions of an Africa, throwing off the reins of British rule, makes their achievements that much more impressive.

Mary Bowman-Kruhm almost but not quite pulls these strands together. Her biography of the three generations can’t decide if it’s also an academic analysis, a primer for high school, a casual reference book, or an introduction to African politics. 

“Mary …walked slowly along the bare brown earth. As her eye moved up the incline, she noticed a tooth. She yelled for Louis and they realized the tooth was embedded in a jaw. The skull was fragmented but it was obvious this was truly a find … Proconsul africanus had been found.”

Just as one theme is developed, it either does not go far enough or goes on too long. The book lists the personal timeline of the family dynasty but cries out also for a family tree of the fossils, showing where they belong and how far back they date. 

Bowman-Kruhm does give a very good impartial and objective account of the controversy over who discovered “Lucy,” and the book is worth reading for that. 

Reviewed by Martin Rushmere

Global warming is a reality and, though it might be a heavy topic that most parents aren’t quite ready to explain with children in the age range this book is intended for (4-7), as responsible adults, starting early could be the key to saving the planet. Educating our children at a young age that every action carries a much more long-term impact on our world than what is obvious in the moment. The Last Polar Bear tells the story of Tigluk, a young Eskimo boy, and his wise grandmother Aka, and the coming fate of the polar bear, as a result of the melting ice floes due to global warming. Beautifully illustrated with colorful, realistic paintings by Wendell Minor, The Last Polar Bear is a simple story with a powerful challenge. The future of such a majestic creature as the polar bear is precarious and their very survival depends on all of us. Readers young and old alike will love this sweet little book with a big message. All living things are connected, and we all need to be observant of our actions and deeds and be responsible. Our own future is at stake, not just that of the polar bear.

Author Jean Craighead George finds a gentle way to make it easier to start early in educating the youth of our planet to take responsibility and to do their part to insure the future of all creatures for generations to come, before it’s too late.

Reviewed by Laura Friedkin

When Jana marries an older, rich man, she’s whisked into the glamorous, fast-paced life of a Hollywood wife.  This is a drastic change for Jana, who spent her single life devoted to Biblical study, strengthening her relationship with God.  Unfortunately, her new husband uses Jana’s faith to manipulate her into becoming the kind of woman she never wanted to be.

I don’t read many romance novels, but I imagine it would be difficult for someone with Christian values to appreciate the typical bodice-ripper.  But fans of bodice-rippers might not love this particular genre either; this is definitely a Christian romance novel.  The sexual escapades take place between married couples isn’t a problem in and of itself.  It’s just that Jana’s husband isn’t all that likable, so, personally, I felt like I was watching a friend keep running back to someone wrong for her, and there was nothing I could do about it.

But Jana’s faith is enduring (and endearing), and the message at the end of the book will be a big hit with anyone who’s ever felt a conflict between their inner relationship with God and their outer relationship with the rest of the world.

Reviewed by Amanda Mitchell

Simon Axler, “the last of the best of the classical American stage actors” at 65 faces an unimaginable crisis, finding his talent evaporated while performing a double bill of The Tempest and Macbeth.  So begins Philip Roth’s 30th novel, The Humbling.  Unable to cope, Axler’s personal life crumbles around him.  Axler retreats to his farm house to mourn in solitude.  Then his friend’s daughter Pegeen, a lesbian academic, literally appears on his doorstep.  Their unlikely affair is equally destructive for both self absorbed characters. Axler, in failing to rebuild his talent instead lavishes Pegeen with gifts of clothing and jewelry, remaking her into the lover he desires.

While The Humbling has been heaped with familiar indictments of misogyny and coarseness, this is neither Roth’s most vulgar nor least successful novel.  The themes–bodily betrayal old age, the fleetingness of perceived immortality, the shortcomings of ability– are ones Roth has understandably much explored of late and he does so with great success.  While the dialogue occasionally grows flaccid, this novel reminds us why Roth remains perhaps America’s most celebrated living author.

Reviewed by Jordan Magill

The setting of mid-20th Century Dubai is perhaps the most interesting aspect of Maha Gargesh’s debut novel, Sand Fish: A Novel of Dubai.  At seventeen, Noora already carries the burdens of her mother’s death and her father’s madness when her brother marries her off to a pearl merchant who lives far away from their remote mountain home, in the distant coastal villages of Dubai.  There Noora must navigate the shoals of being her husband’s third wife and the weighty expectation that she will provide him with the child he craves.

While Garesh’s clean prose keep the story moving along at a brisk pace, in the end the novel remains a quite conventional – and ultimately predictable – romance.  One sees quite a bit through this window into the life of a far simpler time, though at times the narrative can grow claustrophobic and the melodramatic symbolism can come to feel oppressive.  Most disappointing of all, I was excited to read something that would give a window into modern Dubai, with all its complexity and contradictions.  Sadly, this novel never gets there, nor offers much that I found memorable. 

Reviewed by Jordan Magill

If you’ve not yet overdosed on the demise of the Lehman Brothers Investment Bank, this may appeal to you.   Although it’s an insider’s take on the course of events, the book’s focus comes from a senior investment banker’s perspective rather than that of an equities trader as in A Colossal Failure of Common Sense.   “Joseph Tibman” makes clear that his choice of anonymity is intended to allow for the possibility of his future employment in the investment banking industry.

“Hell, if the government handed us the mandate, we would have captured Bin Laden!”

Tibman strives to convey the impact that the single-minded focus of the Lehman upper management team had on long-time employees like himself.   He describes his emotional scars with awkward phrasing and a generous dose of profanity.   The writing suffers from a lack of editing.   While he does an excellent job of describing the valiant spirit exhibited by Lehman employees after 9/11, this sense of urgency and focus is missing from the rest of the book.   In contrast, Lawrence McDonald’s narrative in Colossal Failure placed the reader in the action.   Tibman’s anonymity sacrifices an opportunity for the reader to feel empathy and engagement with the writer.   This book feels like a weak second-hand account.

Uninspiring.

Reviewed by Ruta Arellano