Joanne Mattern puts the events leading up to the writing of our national anthem into order from the building of Fort McHenry, to the battle observed by Francis Scott Key between the British and the United States’ troops at Fort McHenry during the War of 1812, and beyond.

“when British troops attacked American ships, [President James] Madison had had enough. The War of 1812 lasted about two years. In the end, Madison was seen as a popular President who stood strong against being bullied by the British.” (15) At the beginning of the War of 1812, the United States did not have a trained army and only three large ships in its navy, but Madison had the support of the American people.

The British had already burnt Washington, D.C. and were converging on Baltimore protected by Fort McHenry.

Each turn of the page has the text broken up with interesting side bars, maps, diagrams, illustrations and/or portraits of leaders from the time period, or photos of live re-enactments from Fort McHenry which is part of the National Park Service.

The third and final book in Rebecca Schaeffer’s trilogy that started with Not Even Bones and gained depth in Only Ashes Remain, might leave readers feeling a little disappointed in characters in When Villians Rise. Character development was a strong suit in book two of the series, yet this reader felt it could have been taken a step further here. While the main focus is on Nita surviving, the best aspect of this book is that Schaeffer didn’t let the text turn into a teenage romance novel. Instead, the reality of relationships not going down that path was refreshing. Much of the end was a shock with many twists and turns — maybe too many. Nonetheless, the storyline wraps up leaving a reader feeling satisfied. Finish the trilogy in your library if you have the other two.

In the sequel to Not Even Bones, Rebecca Schaeffer’s energy continues from the first and dives further into Nita and Fabricio histories — character development being the focus of Only Ashes Remain. It’s not often that an author can bring that energy to the backgrounds of characters and move the plot along as well. Schaeffer masterfully keeps readers guessing what will happen next while they also watch characters start to change, grow, and be resilient. This resiliency is a trait young readers need to recognize more often in today’s world. The villains are rising up, leaving a nice cliffhanger to keep readers wanting the next in the series and is aptly named as such. A well-constructed sequel, if students liked Not Even Bones, they will most likely enjoy this continuation Nita’s struggle to succeed in getting revenge.

The Seventh Raven, by David Elliott, ropes readers into a fantasy story of a family, their dreams, and their reality. In a family of seven boys, Jack and Jane would like a girl. Once born, April struggles to stay alive until a curse allows her to thrive at the cost of all of her brother’s lives. April will spend her young adult life trying to find a way to break the curse. But Robyn, the seventh boy, will not want to escape the curse. David Elliott’s poetic creativity here is masterful. He found just the right word choice, just the right cadence, and just the right tone for each character. All of these choices are also explained at the end of the text — an ah-ha for those that didn’t catch the stylistic and tonal shifts. This novel in verse could easily be used in the classroom for students to discover many aspects of poetry. For IB schools outside of the US, this would be an excellent work in translation. Highly recommended for lovers of literature.

The NBM Graphic Novels publisher has another home run with the terse writing of Alex Nikolavitch combined with the creative reflectiveness of Feliz Ruiz’s art in The Disney Bros.: The Fabulous Story of Walt and Roy. Nikolavitch thrusts the reader into the tension of Roy and Walt’s working relationship. Both men are “ideas” men but Walt comes off as a little more savvy and a little more gruff. Success was not immediate once Mickey Mouse came to life, but with playing his cards right in the Hollywood market, Walt and Roy are able slowly become the dominant force in the cartoon industry. Walt has been coined a visionary before and Nikolavitch portrays this aspect of his story as the strongest characteristic of the man — always looking for the next opportunity to go bigger. From comics to talkies to full-length feature movies to the crazy idea of an amusement park, Walt may have vented his frustrations in boisterous ways but he did not let frustrations stop his creativity in how the business could grow. Readers will also see that the business life of all things Disney were not all happy endings, despite their overall success.

Ruiz’s graphics were spot on, from the “Hollywoodland” version of the Hollywood sign in the 1920’s to TV cameras on set in the 1950’s. The variety of sizes of panes and overlapping of backgrounds felt perfect for the tension that existed between the two brothers. While students might not see this during a 1st read, it wouldn’t surprise this reader if students checked it out again and again, slowly realizing how well the graphics support the “angle” Nikolavitch refers to in the introduction of the book.

Overall, this is a highly recommended graphic biography for school and public libraries.

Lynette Noni’s darker adventure fantasy, The Prison Healer, will bring vibes of other popular fantasy, from Incarceron to The Hunger Games. Kiva Meridian has been living inside the prison of Zalindov for the past 10 years, using the teachings of her father to guide her as the prison’s primary doctor or healer. Kiva’s past comes to the reader in waves, while the plot rolls along quite rapidly over the course of fall season. Kiva also has the job to give new inmates the mark of the prison, as she cuts a “Z” into the top of an inmate’s hand upon arrival. The physical scarring doubles as mental scarring for Kiva as she believes she is wrongfully imprisoned. Yet she does want to do her job, one of the best ones to have in the prison, to the best of her abilities, including protecting the most important patient, the Rebel Queen. Kiva will be tested in her abilities to navigate a budding romance, maneuver political turmoil, and survive deadly “ordeals”. Two of the three she passes with flying colors as a pro-fem protagonist. This reader wishes Kiva discovered her own superpowers to survive the “ordeals” rather than relying on those of others. Still, the quick pacing of the plot and dialogue, with many twists and turns, will keep any fantasy reader entertained, even if they skim a few pages here and there. Complete with a cliffhanger that came at the last minute, The Prison Healer is worth adding to school library shelves grades 7 and up.

As a sequel to Give the Dark my Love, Revis didn’t grasp this reader’s attention as much as with the first book. It focused on the politics of the story and less on character development. It was a slower read as the character’s ideas were repetitive. The romance of the entire story didn’t sit well because of what felt like a forced coupling. Characters who had different goals and beliefs were put together leaving this reader thinking it would never work out. Only the last part of the book was worth the time to read as there is an unexpected twist.