With surname like hers, the young heroine in Lianne Oelke’s debut novel, Nice Try, Jane Sinner, certainly has good reason to have, when it hits, a crisis of identity regarding her faith in light of her family’s strong religious beliefs. Feeling like a fraud, Jane makes a failed but public attempt at ending it all, only to find herself still alive and politely asked to leave her high school so she won’t provide a bad example to her fellow students.

Determined to somehow make a new start and find her true self, Jane reluctantly enrolls in the ersatz Elbow River Community College and auditions for a reality show in which, to her surprise, she is cast. Called “House of Orange” in homage to the vintage orange shag carpeting in the house, the online competition features other quirky characters vying to win money and a car by outlasting each other: the last resident wins. Under the constant scrutiny of the HOO camera crew and the student producer, Jane keeps a journal of her progress and her tactics to survive, sparing herself nothing in the way of truth. Her journey is engrossing and humorous, taking the reader along for the bumpy ride of finding love, her voice, her backbone, her hope and herself.

Set in Canada, this book is satisfying, worthwhile and highly recommended for Young Adult readers ages 14 and up.

Eye of the Storm is a well researched and skillfully written description of a NASA’s critically important project to study the dynamics of Hurricane Intensification. The text is oriented toward intermediate readers. Scientific jargon is either replaced with concise plain language or clearly defined so as not to be off-putting. The book begins with a human interest story relating to the experience of a Staten Island family that chose to ride out Hurricane Sandy at home. Due to reports designation Sandy as a Category 1 storm, the lowest level of sustained wind, this choice seemed sound. Unexpectedly, Sandy suddenly intensified and completely devastated the area where the Dresch family lived. The mother lived, but the father and daughter perished. The NASA project, the Hurricane and Severe Storm Sentinel (HS3) drone was implemented to study the way hurricanes form and build strength. In this way, forecasts can be much more useful in determining emergency response needs and accurate evacuation requirements. The book is a well-balanced combination of the science of cyclonic storms, the technology NASA is using to study them, and the people performing the work. This is supported by excellent photography and detailed graphics. The politics surrounding these devastating storms is also examined. Eye of the Storm is a compelling treatment of this valuable NASA project and is recommended.

Seventeen years later,  questions still abound about how 9/11 could have happened.   Were those horrible events a well organized plan of radical Muslims or a coordinated, clandestine conspiracy of a few powerful people or even possibly, a plot orchestrated by the US government to undermine the status quo?

A Truther is a person who intensely believes that the tragedies of 9/11 were an organized cover-up by the United States Government.  In fact, there are numerous conspiracy theories about different events of the 20th century, like the Kennedy assassination.  The book, Truthers, reveals the different theories in interesting ways and makes compelling arguments for the possibility of conspiracy by either rich corporations or the actual US Government.  In searching for a release for her father from a mental institution, Katie discovers that some of his drug/alcohol ramblings may be true. Her father may know what really happened on 9/11, who was responsible for it and that she may be the only survivor of the horrible event.  The story is intriguing as a moment in time that deeply changed America well as a human interest story of a young girl trying to defend her father.  This is a good read about 9/11 and all the conspiracy theories that still surround it.

The ritualistic “sharing” begins with the affirmation: “He is the floor beneath our feet and the roof above our heads.  He is the walls around us.  He is the window through which we see into ourselves and the door that leads to a better understanding.  He is always watching…”  Thus beginneth the opportunity for four captured children to confess to an error and one of the four to take a torturous consequence on behalf of the group as part of His plan.  The four children are part of His networked cult and are brainwashed into acting and looking like 4 siblings from a distant time known as The Special Ones.  The Special Ones talk to followers online each night to give advice on how to live a pious life.  The Special Ones live in a compound without electricity or running water, with basic supplies arriving miraculously at night from Him, but with the expectation that they can farm and forage from themselves to survive.  When a Special One receives their “renewal” notice from Him, they don’t know if they will be let go from the kidnapping, kept captive elsewhere or killed.  And when one person leaves on renewal, a new person is “collected” and brought in to take their place.  Told from two points of view, that of a kidnapped sibling “Esther” and the “Him”, Bailey has a knack for eerie, suspense-laden story-telling.  The story moves quickly once the premise is realized and though it is not very realistic, it will keep readers wanting to see it through to the end.  Highly recommended for middle and high school libraries for fans of mystery and suspense.

How much abuse could you be dealt before it crushes your spirit?  Lisa Heathfield’s story of June’s child and young adulthood is a psychological twister, alternating chapters between before and after an event that changes everything.  Before, June’s mother had died and her father had remarried Kathleen.  After, June is talking to Reverend Shaw about forgiveness.  And then the Before takes off, where Kathleen seems like the perfect wife and doting mom when the father is around, but when he’s not, it’s purely mental and physical torture for June.  Force-feeding her over years to make June obese, coming into her room at night and cutting off some of her hair, and making Megan, the step-sister participate in the multiple physical and spiritual crimes, June hates her life but can not find the words to tell an adult.  Her only escape is a literal one.  When she received a bicycle for her birthday, she is able to ride to an area on the outskirts of town.  Here she meets Blister, a sensitive, creative, smart boy with whom she develops a deep friendship and eventual love interest in over the years.  While other students make fun of her at school and push her to take actions that get her in trouble, Blister sees into June’s soul but must remain a secret, else Kathleen will kill this happy aspect of her life too.  In the after chapters, Heathfield gives hints as readers start to piece together what could have happened between Kathleen and June, but this reader did not foresee the path this story would take.  Young adult readers from 7th and up will cringe with June and love with June and they will follow June until the very last moment.

Filled with magical realism reminiscent of Isabel Allende, Maggie Steifvater takes readers to the fantasy of town of Bicho Raro, Colorado, where strangers find themselves coming to “find themselves”.   Three cousins, who act more like siblings, Beatriz, Daniel and Joaquin, all possess the family power to bring out the inner darkness in people but it is up to the visitors themselves to find their own miracle cure in defeating their inner demons.  Young adult readers who are used to plot-driven contemporary coming of age novels will need to be patient with Steifvater’s writing and try to look at it via the lense of good art rather than entertainment.  Motifs of owls and roses, conflicts of inner powers vs outer perceptions, and landscapes both real and fantastical will swoon some readers and surprise previous Stiefvater fans. Plus, the gorgeous cover will sell this as well.  Recommended for upper middle and high school libraries.

Hip-Hop Culture, part of the Hip-Hop Insider series, takes one on an informative, fast-paced and fascinating trip through hip-hop history up to today’s influences such as Lin-Manuel Miranda’s use of hip-hop in Hamilton. Written by history teacher/author Judy Dodge Cummings, readers quickly see the widespread influence hip-hop has had since 1973 with its birth by DJ Kool Herc trying to fulfill a need for new school clothes by throwing a “concert” at a local rec center where he and his sister charged admission.  Here he began combining songs during drum sections and this form of hip-hop became deejaying – one of four connected touchstones.  From ghetto to global stage, from need to commercialization, Cummings lays out the influence of deejaying as well as the other three –emceeing, dance, and graffiti — have had in cultivating hip-hop culture and likewise how hip-hop has influenced our word, dance, music, dress, and politics.  Complete with bright color photos and historic side-bars, a timeline, essential facts, glossary, resources, and notes for each chapter, the 112-page text maintains an upbeat feel.  While written for the young adult audience, Hip-Hop Culture provides provocative food for thought and discussions at a higher level that one would initially imagine.  Recommended for libraries who need a more recent copyright date.

The Negro Leagues: Celebrating Baseball’s Unsung Heroes by Matt Doeden is written in a simple, easy to understand format with lots of pictures, however, the issues are very complex.  At a time in history when baseball leagues were segregated by the color of one’s skin,  Doeden details some differences between the better-known baseball leagues where all players had light colored skin and the lesser known “negro leagues” where most players were of African American descent and the records were by word of mouth rather than written down.  It illustrates the difficulties of playing as people of African descent, yet the black community overcame many of these difficulties to produce interesting games and outstanding players.

This book also may help you to understand current controversies in the media.  We now view multiracial teams and players are recognized based on their ability to play, rather than the color of their skin.  However, it is the black team members who are silently protesting the national anthem at football games as black members of society are still not treated equally in our communities.  Unfortunately, white commentators and politicians fail to understand what they are protesting.

The book also illustrates the outcomes of integrating the baseball teams as the negro teams disintegrated as their best players joined the integrated teams. This can help us understand the current controversy of integrating Boy Scouts and allowing girls into their organization.  Will allowing girls into Boy Scouts lead to a weakening of Girl Scouts as it draws away the most involved supporters, families, and girls?

If a library doesn’t have a good text already covering this topic, The Negro Leagues: Celebrating Baseball’s Unsung Heroes fits the bill as an additional purchase.

All in Pieces by Suzanne Young stretches the drama of an unhappy, unloved teenage girl to the max. Savannah Sutton is in a reform high school for anger management for stabbing a pencil into the hand of her former boyfriend when he mocks her special needs brother. At Brooks Academy, Savannah meets Cameron, a modern day Prince Charming. In spite of Savannah’s resistance, Cameron breaks through her protective shield and “rescues” her from some uncomfortable situations. Learning to deal with anger when feeling powerless is addressed honestly. Being “saved” by a handsome, rich, altruistic guy is an unrealistic solution to the not uncommon problems of an alcoholic father, a runaway mother, a special needs sibling, and poverty. Rough language and a friend’s near-fatal overdose make the story teeter on the edge of “too much”!  The novel is timely in its choice of topics but totally off the mark in the resolution of being saved by a guy and the reliance of “others” to take care of  Savannah rather than showing how she could develop her own strength and self-reliance.  Not the best YA available.

Internet neutrality is a hot topic issue in the U.S. Congress at the moment.  The book Net Neutrality presents a concise forum for the discussion and explanation of different aspects regulating to the use and abuse of the world wide web.  Who should regulate the speed, source, and options of what is available on the internet?  Should the speed of the internet service be charged accordingly?  Is government involvement a good or bad idea?  The pros and cons of the debate are succinctly presented for consideration.  The legal battle is between the internet being a public, open use utility or a private, for-profit business.  How to regulate in order to protect consumers from high usage charges and yet stimulate internet businesses to grow, expand and innovate is the issue. This book gives a simple, beginning approach to the new problems of the information age and is recommended for high school libraries.