Columbine June 17, 2009

Title: Columbine

Author: Dave Cullen

Summary: On April 20, 1999, two boys entered their high school and proceeded to unleash the most unforgettable school shooting of the modern era. Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were troubled outcasts in black trench coats, picked on by jocks and preps, who, after years of listening to angry music and playing violent video games, finally snapped.

Or were they? Actually, none of these accepted facts about the young killers are true. In this absorbing book for mature readers, a reporter who was on the scene that day and followed the story long after the tragedy of school shootings became seemingly commonplace, dispels the myths behind the shooting, its perpetrators, and even its victims. Everyone knows what you mean when you say ‘Columbine,’ but not one of us has ever heard the whole story until now.

Who will like this book?: Mature teen readers interested in crime and detection stories. 

If you like this, try this: In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Give a Boy a Gun by Todd Strasser. A mature fictional work that deals, in part, with Columbine and it’s aftermath, The Hour I First Believed by Wally Lamb.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

The Blind Side August 8, 2008

Title: The Blind Side: The Evolution of a Game

Author: Michael Lewis

Summary: The game of football changed forever on November 18, 1985. As millions watched on Monday Night Football, Joe Theisman was sacked by Lawrence Taylor, and suffered a career-ending leg fracture. Taylor hit Theisman from the blind side; the quarterback never saw it coming. As a result, team owners and coaches scrambled to find a way to protect the quarterback’s blind side and the position of left tackle was transformed. Once just another interchangeable big man on the line, he is now often the highest paid player on the team. Good left tackles possess a freakish combination of speed and size, and they are very hard to find.

Michael Oher was born to a drug-addicted mother in Memphis. He doesn’t know his father, or even his own birthday. Growing up on the streets, he faced a very difficult future. But opportunities for an education and a career in the NFL all emerge, because at 6′6” with the speed of a basketball player, Oher was born to play left tackle. The Blind Side is more than just a riveting sports book. It makes you wonder: If Lawrence Taylor hadn’t landed that monster hit, would Micheal Oher be starting his senior season at Ole Miss today?

Who will like this book?: Football fans. People who like to read stories about life on the streets and kids who triumph over difficult odds.

If you like this, try this: Moneyball, also by Michael Lewis. Game by Walter Dean Myers.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

Jarhead July 1, 2008

Title: Jarhead: A Marine’s Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles

Author: Anthony Swofford

Summary: Anthony Swofford served in the first Gulf War as a Marine sniper and describes his time in Kuwait and Iraq, as well as his training and life after the conflict in this original, unsettling memoir. If you are looking for a heroic tale of the glories of combat, you won’t find it here – this book is free from many of the stereotypes you might associate with American war stories. For Swoff and company, the most difficult part of the war is the waiting – for battle, for news from home, and for a chance to use their training. When the fighting starts it seems to be over before it begins.

Operation Desert Storm was a short conflict. But it was brutal. The author doesn’t pull any punches (or leave much to the imagination) when describing battle, his comrades, or his personal life. This unique perspective on life as a solider is one you won’t soon forget. 

Who will like this book?: Mature readers interested in military and war stories. People who like intense personal stories.

If you like this, try this: The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien. Kipling’s Choice by Geert Spillbeen. Fallen Angels and Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

Counting Coup June 28, 2008

Title: Counting Coup: A True Story of Basketball and Honor on the Little Big Horn

Author:Larry Colton

Summary:  Sharon LaForge moves on the basketball court with fluidity and grace driven by an intuitive understanding of the game.  She is a gifted athlete and will lead her school team to a state championship, but no college recruiter will ever show an interest in her.  No offer of scholarship will ever be sent to Sharon because, as most people on her reservation believe, schools don’t like to take a chance that their athletic investment may not adjust to life off the reservation. 

Author Larry Colton went to Crow Agency searching for an answer as to why young Native American athletes, who dominate the basketball court in high school, leave school without a single college offer. What he found was Sharon LaForge.  In telling Sharon’s story, Colton tells the story of her fellow teammates, her family, her Indian community, and his own experiences with the people inside that community. 

Who will like this book?:  Fans of sports books and those interested in Native American life on a reservation.  Don’t be confused though, this isn’t a dry anthropological study of culture, but rather a very personal look into a young woman’s life, the choices she makes, and her community. 

If you like this, try this: In These Girls, Hope is Muscleby Madeleine Blias and Friday Night Lights: a Town, a Team, and a Dreamby H.G. Bissinger

Recommended by:Jen, Fairfield Woods Teen Librarian

Laika May 6, 2008

Title: Laika

Author: Nick Abadzis

Summary: This stunning graphic novel tells the true story of Laika, the first living being sent into space. After the launch of Sputnik, Soviet engineers are pressured to launch another satellite as soon as possilbe – this time, one that carries a passenger. High-spirited stray dog Kudryavka (Curly-Tail) is selected for the Soviet canine space program and becomes its star because of her ability to withstand the g-forces of liftoff and orbit, and her love of space gel ‘food.’ She is renamed Laika (Barker), and sent into space – but her satellite will never land.

You cannot help but fall in love with Laika. This heart-shattering book describes the Soviet story of the space race and the beginnings of the cold war, but it shows it’s true soul when telling the stories of the many people this scrappy little dog touched in her brief life: Her first owner, her sweet-natured trainer Yelena, and the chief of the Soviet satellite program – a complex man who was once a prisoner in a gulag, now a national hero. Recently a statue was dedicated to Laika in Moscow, a well-deserved tribute to an unforgettable dog.

Who will like this book?: People interested in the history of manned space flights. Animal lovers, if they are steely enough to make it all the way through…anyone who likes a book that makes them cry!

If you like this, try this: For another full-length graphic novel with a heart of gold (but with laughs instead of tears) try American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. For another heartfelt (yet offbeat) tale of a dog and friendship, look at the wordless Robot Dreams by Sara Varon.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian

A Fighter’s Heart May 3, 2008

Title: A Fighter’s Heart: One Man’s Journey Through the World of Fighting

Author: Sam Sheridan

Summary:  Author Sam Sheridan gets right to the heart of the matter: In order to succeed as a fighter, you need more than a passion for the sport. The best fighters possess a dedication and fearlessness that few people can muster. This book is exactly what it says it is: the author details his years of traveling around the world learning about and training in the various forms of martial arts. He goes to Bangkok to study Muay Thai, L.A. to meet with Olympic boxing hopefuls, Rio to train with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu masters, and Iowa for MMA lessons with the legendary Miletich camp. Along the way, he fights, he suffers injuries, and he learns about the depth of commitment these extraordinary men have for their sport.

To put it simply, these terms and names either mean something to you or they don’t. If you are a member of the rapidly expanding fan base of mixed martial arts, or other fighting styles, this book is indispensable.

Who will like this?:  Guys into MMA or more the more traditional martial arts. And don’t let the gory cover fool you – this is a fascinating biography for anyone in high school doing a project or report.

If you like this, try this: American Shaolin by Matthew Polly. Iceman: My Fighting Life by Chuck Liddell.

Recommended by: Nicole, Teen Librarian