Dogs of War by Sheila Keenan & Nathan Fox YP FIC KEENAN

Boots, Loki, Sheba.  Three dogs in three wars that wagged their take in the face of death.  Boots braves the dangers and rats of trench warfare of WW I, Loki pulls a sled in a forgotten front of WW II, and Sheba sniffs out snipers and booby traps in the jungles of Vietnam. A harrowing but hopeful look at the ravages of war and the humanity and canine-ity  that comes from unlikely heroes.

This is a gorgeously illustrated and very well measured look at war.  It has all the rousing adventure and excitement that is common of classic war movies and stories, but looks at the all-too-high human cost of war. It never turns The Enemy into an evil monolithic force, and invites the reader to both feel the fear of being fired upon and the sadness of having to fire back to survive. Best of all is it has dogs!  Great, beautiful, heroic dogs that absolutely leap off the page and into your heart!  I felt as much (if not more) tension worrying what would happen to the dogs as I did for the human characters. the book does occasionally stray very close to cliche, but the unique and detailed artwork keeps it from every feeling cheesy or stagnant. Fox uses a slew of clever artistic devices to bring the reader into the action: tight, cramped panels to press the claustrophobia of trench warfare, the use of bright color against expanses of white and light blues to play off the feeling of being all too visible against an invisible enemy, dreams and reality fading into each other for a vet that is still in the jungle even when he make sit home, and more. The only gripe I have is that it perpetuates the long discredited myth of Vietnam veterans being spat upon when returning home. This is a commonly told myth, so it doesn't distract too much from the overall story. If you are a fan of comics, then you have a great beautiful book to read, and if you like war stories at all this could be a great way to break into graphic novels.

You can find Dogs of War in our catalog here.

Midwinter Blood by Marcus Sedgwick YP FIC SEDGWICK

A reporter in 2073 investigates a remote island said to have discovered the secret to immortality, an archeologist in 2011 tries to dig the island's secrets from the ground, a downed pilot in WW II trying to go home, further back a painter, further back a ghost, further still a vampire, and last or first a Viking king.  Throughout it all a love that lives and dies again and again.  Seven stories that all make on tale of Midwinter Blood.

I can see very easily why this won the prestigious Printz Award. It is dark, lyrical, haunting, and stays with you every time you put the book down. It is a sad, beautiful, and frightening look at lives interconnected by love, loss, and violence. This isn't a ghastly and gory look-out-it's-right-behind-you!!! kind of book, it's a much creepier slow building tension. The feeling of inevitable and inescapable doom. The very first chapters introduce you to a strange, seemingly perfect island. Since, we've all seen the movies and read the books about perfect small towns, that alone puts the reader on edge. Sedgwick ratchets up the tension quickly but vaguely. You know something is very wrong, but not what. This will be a recurring theme!  

Sedgwick jumps each story further back in time repeating images, phrases, and similar characters. This can be maddening at first, because you get so little to go on to solve the ever weirder mystery. Even when you finish the book entirely you may feel like you have more questions than answers. I'd like to go on record as calling that a good thing. It's so refreshing to read a book that respects teen readers enough to let them come up with their own answers.

What's so great about this book, is that it's deep and simple.  Sedgwick relies on as few words as necessary making it a stark and spare style that fits his story and themes perfectly. It also makes it so much easier to be swept quickly again and again on the currents of time. This is a rare and unique novel that should be read by anyone that loves a good story, especially a dark and haunting one

You can find Midwinter Blood in our catalog here.

 

The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice by Allen Say

Not a lot of kids can say they were living on their own by age 13.

As a boy, author Allen Say found himself navigating the urban jungle of Tokyo by himself. His parents had divorced and sent him to live with his grandmother. But that relationship, too, proved flammable, and it was decided what was best for everyone involved was to allow Say to live by himself. He took residence in a shabby 12 by 12-foot room with little more than a light bulb and a toilet in the way of amenities.

I lit a candle and turned on the overhead light, and thought about the day. Often I read the books I liked by candlelight. Grandmother would never have allowed it. Also she never let me stay up late. It was good to live alone.

Say decided to take his extraordinary circumstances one step further by seeking out the famous cartoonist Noro Shinpei as his mentor. In The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice, he shares the autobiographical story of that apprenticeship, which paved the way for his later career as an author and illustrator.

Shinpei proceeds to train Say in art and illustration. But more than that, the cartoonist serves as a father figure for the boy over the next three years, serving as a grounding influence as the boy navigates the vicissitudes of friends, female classmates, family tensions and the real world without the protective buffer that parents typically provide.

We learn that his mother was disowned by her family when she married Say's father, a Korean. But war has changed everything. Say comes from an old samurai family but World War II left his grandparents impoverished; his mother, who owns a small cosmetic shop in nearby Yokohama, must now support his grandmother.

Say paints his life in clear, undiluted strokes. He doesn't soften his experiences — such as an almost casual act of self-mutilation by Say's friend and fellow apprentice, the fiery Tokida, or the sad, remote relationship that Say has with his parents — nor does he thrust them upon us. He simply lays them out for us to absorb with his thoughtful, measured writing style.

In the process, we, as readers, get a glimpse of what life was like in post-World War II-Japan: the bombed out building scattered throughout the city, the encroaching influence of Western culture, the constant smoking, the bustling train stations.

This is a lovely, understated story of a Say's early experiences, many of which have gone on to greatly influence him as a person and artist. In one interview, Say said:

I was incredibly lucky, because Noro Shinpei recognized I was searching for a father and he adopted me. To this day, I am still his child. He is still living and is eighty-five years old. We continue to communicate. I send him all the books I do and he still critiques my work. He was only thirty-five years old when I met him.

Say speaks more on the topic in this video:

Draw the Dark by Ilsa J. Bick YP FIC BICK

The people of Winter, Wisconsin want to forget the past. That’s why they hate Christian Cage. Christian draws their memories, thoughts, secrets and even deaths. One drawing he made as a child led his teacher to suicide, another so upset his aunt she had a fatal car accident, and every since his mother and father disappeared into what Christian calls ‘the dark place’, the things he draws are even worse. Finally, Christian has decided he wants to stop hiding from the past and find out what secrets his drawings hide, but secrets have a life of their own and can be deadly.

This is a very suspenseful read that will keep you guessing and wondering. Christian is an interesting character and his torment and doubt always seem real and raw. The book is also full of strong supporting characters with their own secrets and grief. The main focus is on an unsolved murder, so the book has a great central mystery to go along with the paranormal aspects of the story. It is creepy, dark, and fascinating and shows a surprising and little known side of American history: POW camps for Nazis on American soil! This is a really good read for fans of mysteries with a paranormal twist or fans of dark thrillers.

We Are on Our Own: A Memoir by Miriam Katin YP FIC KATIN

Told as a series of flashbacks, this is a graphic novel memoir of Miriam Katin’s childhood escape from the Nazi occupation of the Eastern European nation of Budapest. Facing discovery first from the Nazi’s and later fearing the advance of Russian soldiers, Miriam and her mother struggle to survive as the same Antisemitism and inhumanity that threatened them in Budapest follows them throughout their journey. Along the way they find the best and worst of humanity at every turn leading Miriam conflicted about her faith and her relationship with her own daughter.

This is an amazing story of triumph and struggle that can be very dark and depressing, but also has many moments of tenderness and hope. This is not a sentimental look at the past and confronts firsthand the atrocities that women and children often face in war. The art has a rough look to it because of the heavy hatch marks used for shading. The art seems similar to the style of storybooks which works well because this is a story of a child’s memories. This is an amazing work that stands up with other graphic works like Maus by Art Spiegelman(940.5318 SPIEGEL) and should be a good companion piece to Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl (949.2 FRANK).

Annexed by Sharon Dogar YP FIC DOGAR

Peter van Pels lies in a ‘hospital’ in a concentration camp designed to eliminate his people from the Earth. As he is ravaged by disease he remembers his terrifying and maddening ordeal of hiding two years in an attic growing from a boy into manhood stuck endlessly with his family and another: the Franks. As time goes on his loneliness and anger is softened by the optimism, hope, and gentle spirit of Anne Frank. You’ve heard her story, now see it gan through the eyes of the boy she loved.

This book, like Anne Frank Diary of a Young Girl (949.2 FRANK) is incredibly powerful, sad, nut ultimately uplifting. It is a fictional story based on real events so it is not the historical document that Anne Frank is, but it still has an impressive power and beauty like Anne Frank. My only criticism is that the story starts sort of slow, because Peter is very quiet and inward focused. However, this pays off because when Peter does slowly open himself up to romance with Anne it makes it all the more important and powerful. I urge anyone that hasn’t read Anne Frank to read it and when they are done to read Annexed. It really is a worthy companion piece and conveys the true horrors of genocide and the inspiring strength of a people that refused to be erased from history.The author has also included information at the end on what is fact and what is fictionalized and how she developed the fiction, which is very helpful for readers.

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Leviathan is the first book of a new steampunk trilogy written by young adult, sci-fi writer, Scott Westerfeld. Steampunk is a genre of science fiction writing that encompasses a unique mix of past and future. The first steampunk novels were written by H.G. Wells (War of the Worlds) and Jules Verne (Journey to the Center of the Earth). Originally, steampunk was set in the Victoria era with futurist possibilities, like flying machines, computer-like contraptions, and weapons. The genre eventually evolved to include sub-genres known as clockpunk (16th Century) and dieselpunk (WWI era).

Westerfeld’s new series begins in 1914 with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, which was the event that sparked World War I. Instead of accurately retelling the events of WWI, Westerfeld creates an alternate history, where countries are divided by science and warfare. Countries, like Germany and Austria, known as Clankers, have highly developed war machines. Other countries, such as England, have trusted Darwinists scientists, who developed living war machines and new animals through cross breeding DNA. The Leviathan is part whale, part airship, and it is the pride of the Air Service.

At the beginning of the story we meet young Aleksander (Alek), son of the assassinated Archduke, who is forced to flee his homeland. He is being chased by the Germans and Austrians because he is a threat to the Austrian Empire. The story also introduces Deryn, a young girl who is passing as a teen boy in order to join the British Air Service. She is a talented airman, but women aren’t allowed to fly.

The two cross paths at the start of the war. Alek and his men, who escaped to Switzerland, encounter Deryn and the Leviathan crew when the airship crashes after a German air assault. This book starts an around the world journey and a clash of thinking on man, machine, and science.

Watch this:
Leviathan Book Trailer

Scott Westerfeld has written a number of novels and many of them are available at the library. You may be familiar with the previous series, Pretties, Uglies, Specials, and Extras. Vampire enthusiasts may be familiar with Peeps and The Last Days.

The Blitz: London's Longest Night (DVD)

On the night of December 29, 1940 the Germans dropped tens of thousands of bombs on the city of London. This movie is complete with reenactments, actual footage and survivor stories. Of course you probably know the ending of that night, but it is riveting to learn which historic buildings survived as well as stories of some survivors. This PBS Production is not just another boring documentary, it had me gripping the sofa cushions in suspense. DVD 940.54 BLITZ

The Girls They Left Behind by Bernice Thurman Hunter

Seventeen year-old Beryl keeps a diary while World War II is going on. She lives in Canada and works at several factories waiting for her male friends and her cousin to come home from the war. This book provides a realistic narrative of how it must have been like to live during the war. At one of Beryl's jobs working at De Havilland she was make a forelady although when the war was over and she had to give up her job and go back to school. She was concerned that she would not be able to type fast enough in order to meet graduation requirements! If you have grandparents or elderly relatives that might remember living during WWII this is a good book that you can read together. YP FIC HUNTER

London Calling by Edward Bloor

Okay... story about a boy who inherits a WWII era radio from his grandmother and is taken back in time to the London Blitz by a ghost his own age named Jimmy. Not exactly a happy ending bit not a terrible ending either. Secrets are revealed and stuff gets resolved. End of story.