The focus of this book is to investigate Internet privacy and the spying of companies and governments against their own employees and citizens.  There is an explanation of “cookies” and how they facilitate a third party viewing an internet account.  The legitimacy of surveillance for purposes of protection and the legal “greater good” of society is contrasted with the expectation of  individual’s constitutional rights of  privacy. A person may unknowingly allow a company access to private information by clicking user agreements. Digital privacy is at risk the world over and stricter controls are needed on data tracking. This book offers a brief, informative investigations of a growing problem.

Ebola: fears and facts  clearly discusses the terrible disease, the terror it evokes and the search for a cure.  The Ebola epidemic of 2014 killed nearly 10,000 people and terrified the world with the fear of an uncontrollable pandemic.  The book is clear and concise, using photos and graphs to explain the spread of the disease and how it is contracted. Although there is not a “cure” for Ebola,  methods have been developed to curtail the spread of the disease.  Care to not touch an infected body and a prohibition against eating bush meat are both effective.  In a brief clear manner, this book answers many questions about a world problem.  It could be very useful in writing a middle school report.

Fuel Under Fire assesses the fuel industry and its many problems.  It is an informative read to learn about the fossil fuel industry.  There is little discussion in the book about the spectrum of green fuel alternatives currently under development and commercially viable alternatives that are not being promoted by energy companies and investors in general.  Millions of dollars have been invested in renewable resources over the past couple of decades while billions of dollars are spent on fossil fuel projects.  The book missed the mark on electric cars in failing to point out how the market has advanced with the introduction of the Tesla electric car and the public demand for practical cars that consume less gas.  Alternatives are being developed but at a slow rate.  When the cost of fossil fuel becomes prohibitive, change will happen.

Liberia by Scholastic Press gives a concise overview of the beautiful, troubled African country of Liberia.  The book begins with the table of contents with definite subject areas to obtain the information a student may need for a research project. Starting with a historical perspective and the founding of Liberia by former American slaves, the book also includes information about the geography of a biodiverse country with statistics displayed with  charts and diagrams.  Many photos of the social life and traditions of the people add to useful information in this book. Recommended for students from the middle and high school grade levels.

The bright, colorful children’s book , Hurry Up, Alfie, playfully looks at the difference between a child’s sense of time and a parent’s.  While being coaxed to “hurry” to get ready to go to the park, Alfie is repeatedly distracted by his imagination.  He is gently encouraged to continue by his patient Mom.  The antics of Alfie are charming and the illustrations delightfully enhance the story. This is a very sweet book for kindergarten or first grade readers.

Review of Becoming Maria

         Sonia Manzano’s memoir, Becoming Maria, is an honest, heart-wrenching account of growing up in the chaotic world of Puerto Rican New York City in the 1950s. The recollections of her early life of severe poverty, parental strife and constant moving are stated with frank realism. There is voice of authenticity as she observes the events with curiosity, confusion and occasional anger. Passion for music and a natural talent for theater are her ticket to a different life.  She continues a split life while living in the barrio and attending a performing art high school.  She then earns a scholarship to the Drama department of Carnegie Mellon University. This memoir shows that drive, determination, hard work and a dream of a better future CAN change a life.  Sonia Manzano always knew she wanted more than to just repeat the life she saw around her.  This book is inspiring for anyone with a past they wish to escape and a dream to pursue.

Three Little Culottes is a children’s book about three pigs that stand up for themselves when their culottes (pants) are stolen from them in the middle of the night.  It is a nod to the traditional Three Little Pigs story in that each house they visit is made out of straw, sticks or bricks. Colorful illustrations using a collage effect of line drawings, photo cutouts and pencil sketches enhance the whimsy and playfulness of the book.  Humorous rhyme adds to the delightfulness of this charming book, with just a hint of French for an exotic flair!  The book begs to be read aloud with playful rhyme and the inclusion of silly words. The kindness and problem-solving lesson at the end gives an added depth and sensitivity to this sweet little book.

Part of its series Women of Action, Chicago Review Press presents these brief

biographies of women past and present who have made a difference that resulted in

betterment for all. These fighters for human, civil, reproductive, worker’s, farmers’

rights and world peace are engagingly presented by the author, who includes resources,

useful bibliographies and notes to aid readers in future study. Further, sidebars put

stories in the context of the locations and prevailing customs and practices of the times.

Ross crosses ‘barriers’ of age, place and time to highlight the bravery of 16

women who took action rather than accepting the status quo and in so doing, changed

the face of history and the lives of all women. Often, their activism carried a high cost –

jail, attack, assassination attempts, vilification, ostracism, and outraged society. Still,

they prevailed, gathering to their causes other strong, dedicated women to whom the

struggle was well worth the cost.

Readers learn about Megan Grassell (empowerment through bras), Margaret

Sanger (abortion rights), Alice Paul (Equal Rights), Maggie Kuhn (Grey Panthers), Sampat

Pal Devi (the Gulabi Gang), Dana Edell (Girl Power), Malala Yousafzai (girls’ education),

Mary “Mother” Jones (organizing), Vandana Shiva (food and farmers), Rigoberta

Menchu Tum (indigenous rights), Kalpona Akter (garment workers’ struggles), Jane

Addams (peace and the safety net), Ida B. Wells (anti-lynching), Buffy Sainte-Marie

(Native activism through music), Judy Baca (mural activism), and Leymah Gbowee

(Women in White for peace). Each exploration into these lives is fascinating, vibrantly

depicted and filled with new information about each woman in the context of her time.

It is an important document for times like these and a worthy new addition to collective biographies for you library.

Recommended.

CitizenKid, an imprint of Kids Can Press, offers a collection of books that inform

children about real issues in the world to inspire them to be better global citizens.

This graphic novel, Child Soldier, tells the harrowing true story of Michel

Chikwanine, a 5-year- old boy abducted from his village and his intellectual, activist

father and loving family, forced to join a filthy army of rebel terrorists and other

victimized children. Dehumanized, trained to commit unspeakable brutalities, the

children kill, maim, torture (often each other) in an endless hell of civil war. Threatened

with death if they try to flee, tanked up on drugs, abused and used, they also are told

they cannot return home because of the terrible stigma their societies attach to the

crimes and killings they have committed. Hope dies.

Already haunted by his ‘initiation’ in which, blindfolded, he kills his best friend,

after many months Michel does flee and finds his way home to a loving and forgiving

family which in turn suffers through the persecution and ultimate murder of Michel’s

father. The survivors finally make a new life in Canada, but the scars Michel carries give

rise to this book that tells the similar story of hundreds of thousands of boys and girls

forced to abandon their humanity, enslaved to thugs perpetrating hideous acts of war.

Beautifully, carefully illustrated, this book ends with information about the plight

of child soldiers in many parts of the world, making a case for abolition of this practice

to every level of government and the law, giving young readers avenues for activism. As

Michel’s father said: “If you ever think you are too small to make a difference, try

sleeping in a room with a mosquito.”

Highly recommended.

In Silent Alarm by Jennifer Banash, the author creates a visually explicit story filled with detailed character development in a traumatic high school event.  The various stages of grief are followed as Alyse Aronson’s young life as a violinist is interrupted when her brother shoots and kills fifteen students at their high school resulting in Alyse’s guilt and internal struggles. The story follows Alyse’s life as she first hand discovers that the school shooter is her brother and the aftermath which follows her family who has been left behind to face the harsh realities of the school trauma. Throughout the book, the author has taken enormous care to develop all of the books characters and events in such heightened detail. However, these character descriptions can be excessively over developed and the reader could become lost within the narrative.  The intensively creative detailed language allows the reader to experience the range of emotions of a young high school student could feel in this situation, including the betrayal from her friends, parents, and a boyfriend.  The emotions are incredibly fierce and raw throughout the narrative.  Readers will appreciate the painstaking and haunting details which force them into such a terrible incident that is becoming too common in our high school communities.  All readers will travel this path with Alyse as she fights an internal struggle between loving her brother and wanting him back with their family to the unknown person who killed her friends and almost turned the gun on her.  Recommended for its point of view on a school shooting.