Jedi Squirrel!

Jedi come in all shapes and sizes, including our favorite woodland critter, the squirrel! Enjoy!

BoTW: The Eleventh Plague

I am a big fan of The Walking Dead series. I've read the first graphic novel compendium and watched both seasons of the TV series on AMC. Young adult literature didn't really have an equivalent until Jeff Hirsch wrote The Eleventh Plague, a book that mirrors everything about The Walking Dead except for the roving hordes of flesh-eating zombies.

The book opens up with Stephen helping his Dad bury Stephen's grandfather. Some years ago, the United States went to war with China. The U.S. launched nuclear weapons at China, China reciprocated by unleashing a deadly flu virus at the United States called P11H3, aka the Eleventh Plague. Stephen's grandfather just died, his mother died some years ago, and now it's just Stephen and his Dad. They are scavengers, people who roam the desolated U.S. landscape looking for bits and scraps that they can trade for food, clothes, and ammunition.

After they bury grandfather, the father and son set out again, making their way south towards Florida and a trading outpost. Along the way, they stumble upon a crashed U.S. Airforce bomber. They investigate inside the busted fuselage and discover some treasures, a warm blanket and a can of pears. The latter they choose to devour rather than save to trade later. In this post-apocalyptic world, a can of food is worth its weight in gold. Stephen and his Dad can't resist eating its contents anyways.

The two linger too long at the plane crash site and a pair of slavers stumble upon them. A thunderstorm erupting above them, Stephen and his Dad flee for their lives after unsuccessfully confronting the evil men. Running for their lives, they end up at the edge of a sharp ravine, a raging river below them. Scanning for a new escape avenue, the ground suddenly gives way underneath Stephen's Dad and the river takes him. Stephen sheds his gear and clothes and dives in after him. He grabs Dad in the middle of the churning water, but when he drags him ashore, he finds his father badly injured: a skull fracture and a broken arm and leg.

Truly alone now, how will Stephen survive? How will he care for his father without the modern luxuries of a hospital or medical supplies? Read The Eleventh Plague by Jeff Hirsch and find out! It may not have hungry, brain-munching zombies but it's still a great read!

New Arrival! Only the Good Spy Young

By the same author that wrote Heist Society, Only the good Spy Young by Ally Carter is the latest in the Spy School for Girls series.

Destiny says, "Cammie Morgan questions the loyalty of her classmates and friends after she learns that one of her most trusted allies is actually a double-agent, and now danger follows her everywhere."

If you like danger, intrigue, and espionage, this sounds like a must read!

Run for your life! It's the Wampug!

What do you get when you cross an adorable pug with a ferocious wampa? This!

BoTW: The Dead and the Gone

The Dead and the Gone by Susan Pfeffer is a book about a Puerto Rican family trying to survive a devastated planet Earth. The story begins when a meteor slams into the moon, knocking it out of its typical orbit. The collision brings about catastrophic climate changes to Earth, plunging the world into a sudden Ice Age. As the temperature drops worldwide, crops fail, hunger ensues, and people starve and die by the millions.

Alex Morales, all of sixteen years old, must protect and provide for his two sisters. The entire books takes place in the middle of a New York City in the midst anarchy and destruction. Be forewarned, this book is stark and serious and not for the faint of heart. It deals liberally with a variety of moral issues, including the bleak choices that come with hard survival.

The Dead and the Gone is a 2009 Lone Star award winner. It can be found on the new release shelf with the other Lone Star winners.

BoTW: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate

When I first saw the cover of The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly, my immediate thought was, "I don't want to read this book." I'll be the first to admit, I was once again judging a book by its cover. In my defense, the cover does depict the silhouette of a girl holding her hand out for a hovering dragonfly, a butterfly net slack at her side. At first glance, I thought the book was about frolicking in meadows and sewing pretty dresses, and as a dude accustomed to reading manly books like Leviathan, I had no inclination to read about a girl and her butterfly net.

You'd think I'd learn.

On a whim, I decided to give Calpurnia Tate a chance. I'm glad I did. Inside, I found an engrossing book about a young girl growing up in central Texas more than one hundred years ago. I love historical fiction and Calpurnia Tate does an exceptional job of painting a picture of what life must have been like in turn-of-the-20th century Texas.

Each chapter of the book begins with a quote from Charles Darwin's The Origin of Species and depicts one in a series of typical events in the life of Calpurnia Tate, the book's main character. Calpurnia is eleven years old, the only daughter of a family of six boys! She lives on a pecan farm not far from Austin and loves more than anything to spend time with her grandfather exploring the countryside studying the local flora and fauna.

What Calpurnia doesn't enjoy doing is everything expected of a girl growing up in 19th century Texas: sewing, cooking, knitting, piano playing, and behaving like a lady. Calpurnia struggles with the weight of these expectations throughout the entire book because deep down she knows she wants nothing more than to go to college and become a natural scientist, a life-long dream that runs counter to her mother and the community in general.

In the middle of Calpurnia's struggle to be a scientist instead of a housewife, Jacqueline Kelly masterfully describes life in the post-Civil War era. One of my favorite chapters entitled "Thanksgiving" tells the story of how Calpurnia's little brother Travis gets the responsibility of caring for the family's three turkeys, all destined for the holiday plate. Travis, a softy for all critters, wastes no time naming all three turkeys and they soon become his very own pets to the point where the turkey trio come running up to greet him whenever he approaches. When Travis discovers the family means to eat the turkeys come Thanksgiving, he does everything he can to "accidentally" allow the birds to escape. It's a hilarious and insightful chapter, but not one that ends happily for Reggie, Tom Turkey, and Lavania.

In some ways, the book's series of anecdotal stories reminds me of the 70s show Little House on the Praire. Calpurnia Tate bears a passing resemblance to the spunky Laura Ingalls. However, Calpurnia Tate is not nearly as full of homespun goodness as Little House. Unlike the TV show, which very often preached a moral code, Calpurnia Tate very much feels like a real person growing up in a unique period of U.S. history.

As you can tell by now, I highly recommend the book. It's smartly written, contains interesting, admirable characters, and is an invaluable prism for gazing into life in Texas a century ago, and yet another example of giving a book a try despite its butterfly girl cover.

New Arrival! Torn

Torn by Margaret Peterson Haddix is the fourth book in the popular and suspenseful The Missing series. Destiny says:

"Time travelers Jonah and Katherine arrive in 1611 to rescue John Hudson, the missing son of explorer Henry Hudson, but just as the mutiny on the "Discovery" is supposed to start, Jonah and Katherine's knowledge of history is tested once again and they fear that more is at stake than just one boy's life. Includes facts about Henry Hudson's explorations."

Stop by the library and check out Torn today!