Fallout: Spies, Superbombs, and the Ultimate Cold War Showdown

 

If you liked Bomb, you will love Fallout!  This book chronicles the years following the development of nuclear weapons and the impact that development had on global relationships.  Readers will get a brief picture of how Kennedy and Kruschev came into power in the United States and the Soviet Union respectively and how they dealt with the impending threat of doom that was the Cold War.

There are Russian spies trying to steal secrets from the United States government, including the worst spy ever, who is practically asking to be caught.  The book opens with a paper delivery boy who drops his tip down a flight of stairs and discovers a hollowed-out nickel with tiny microfilm inside.  It's a great story and a great entry point to the narrative.

Sheinkin portrays the stand-off at the Bay of Pigs with clarity, tension, and suspense.  It's crazy to believe that world leaders would make statements over the national media to determine the actual fate of the world.  

As always, Sheinkin does an excellent job of weaving in the details and people that make the story informative and entertaining.  I could not put this one down!  Highly recommended.

Revolution in Our Time: The Black Panther Party's Promise to the People

 Magoon's newest book is a must purchase for libraries and anyone interested in social history.  I had the opportunity to read this book early in association with an author panel I moderated for the Texas Library Association Annual Conference in April.  This book won't be out until September, but the author has been working on it since she published her debut novel, The Rock and the River in 2009.  Revolution in Our Time is the first comprehensive picture of the Black Panther Party written for young adults.  

Magoon puts the Black Panthers in the greater context of race in America and draws a thread from slavery through to the party itself.  And an epilogue shows the influence of the party of social justice movements today.  She provides the background knowledge to contextualize the events of the '60s and '70s for a young adult audience who may not have the background knowledge to do so automatically.  

Many people have a single image of Black men with guns when we think of the Black Panthers, but that was actually a small part of the party's origin.  The party was really about education, literacy, and social reform.  Magoon focuses on the ways party members acted to feed and support members of their communities who were falling through the cracks.

While there may have been misogyny in the early days of the party, soon women were taking active roles, and eventually, the majority of the membership and the leaders were women.  

This was an eye-opening book for me, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants a better understanding of race in America, adult or young adult. This would be a good companion piece to Stamped by Kendi and Reynolds.  Highly recommended.

Rivals

The rivalry between Walthorne North and Walthorne South middle schools runs deep.  They always play the first and last game of every season against each other, and this year is no different.  Walthorne North wins the first game, but their star player leaves with an injury that could jeopardize the entire season.  Austin Chamber is team captain, and he's been working his entire life to try to live up to his father's legacy.  Even with all the extra coaching his parents' money can buy, he's still not the star of the team.  But he's not even really sure if he wants to be.  The pressure to win is overwhelming.  

Carter Haswell is team captain for Walthorne South and a naturally gifted player, but he already feels pressure from his parents to get a scholarship and play in the NBA.  He will be their ticket out of poverty, but sometimes the pressure is so intense it's hard to love the game.

Add to that the intense rivalry between the schools, and you have a situation primed to explode.  The kids at Walthorne North have more money, more privilege, and more access to private coaches and expensive shoes, and they take every opportunity to rub it in the Walthorne South kids' faces.  It's hard to end up on top when you don't have any of the advantages.  Sometimes it was easier when they were just little kids on the playground enjoying the game.

Tommy Greenwald's new book is in a similar format to Game Changer which transcripts, news articles, and text conversations sprinkled throughout.  This is an interesting look at youth sports and the challenges that get in the way.  There is the pressure from adults, the inequalities between girls' and boys' sports, and the disparities between kids of different socioeconomic classes.  This is a sports novel that will make you think.

Eyes of the Forest

Bridget is RM Haldon's biggest fan.  She was probably too young to start reading Swords and Shadows, his epic fantasy series when she did, but it was the one thing that got her through her mother's battle and eventual death from cancer.  No one knows she is actually part of Haldon's support staff.  After correcting him on a detail from the books at an event, she became the keeper of a huge database of information about books.  Whenever Haldon has a question about the world he created, Bridget has the information at her fingertips.

Haldon is suffering from a massive case of writer's block.  The conclusion to his wildly successful series is long overdue.  The fans, and his publisher, are starting to get frustrated.  

When Bridget doesn't hear from him for a while, she isn't worried at first, but when his response to her email is strange and even a bit cruel, she's confused.  What is going on with the author?  Soon Bridget comes to believe the author has been kidnapped, but no one believes her.  Can she uncover the truth before it's too late?

I am a big April Henry fan, and my students devour her books.  Do I think kids will enjoy this?  Yes, but it's not my favorite of her books.  I pretty much hated the forced weight-loss subplot which may have colored my view of the entire story.  There are some pretty gruesome scenes, and the stakes are definitely high by the end.  Henry's fan will definitely enjoy this and easily pick up on the Game of Thrones connections.

When Life Gives You Mangos

Life is good for Clara on her island home in the Caribbean.  Sometimes there are hurricanes, but that is to be expected when you live on an island.  Everyone knows everyone in her small community outside the city, but that's how she likes it...most of the time! The only thing unusual about Clara is she can't remember anything that happened last summer.  Sometimes people will tell her things, but it still feels odd to know she was there but can't remember.

Her best friend is her cousin Gaynah.  They don't always agree, but they've been best friends since they were tiny.  They love to race around the neighborhood playing games with the other kids, but sometimes they sneak into their secret hideout, a dugout they made hidden behind some bushes.  No one knows about it, and it's the perfect place to share secrets with a friend or hideout when you need some alone time.

Lately, though, Gaynah has been acting mean to Clara.  Clara can't figure out why her best friend would turn on her like this, but it's really putting a wrench in her summer plans.  Gaynah just wants to be flirt with boys and treat Clara like a little kid.

When the kids hear about a new girl coming to visit from the United States, they are excited.  They never have new people in Sycamore.  Clara is afraid Gaynah will get to the new girl first and tell her about Clara's memory problems.  She doesn't want this new girl to think she is a freak before they've even met, especially now that her relationship with Gaynah is on rocky ground.  

I really enjoyed this coming of age story from Kereen Getten.  It's a sweet story of friendship and acceptance with lots of small-town adventure.  I don't want to spoil anything, but the twist in this book actually caught me off guard.  No spoilers!  But this is well-written and very enjoyable.  Highly recommended.

Star Daughter

Sheetal's mother has been gone since she was a little girl, but she carries her mother's legacy.  As the daughter of a star who fell in love and came to earth for a time, she left Sheetal with silvery hair and the ability to hear the stars singing.  Sheetal's auntie and father have always told her to keep her secret hidden, so she covers her hair with black dye and she's never sung in public even though singing is her favorite thing.

But now something strange is happening.  Her hair seems to reject the black dye, and the starsong is so strong sometimes he can't ignore it.  One day her emotions run strong and she accidentally burns her father with starfire.  The only remedy is blood from a full star, so Sheetal and her best friend leave on a quest to save her father.

When she arrives, nothing is what she expected.  Her family has been calling her to join them and participate in a competition for control of the celestial court.  Sheetal only wants to save her father, but she won't be able to do that unless she agrees to help her mother's family.

I really wanted to like Sveta Thakrar's new book, but it just wasn't for me.  The minute it turned into America's Got Talent, Celestial Edition, I completely lost interest.  It all seemed a little silly.  Also, silver hair is a thing.  Why didn't she just let it go and tell people she dyed it?