Big Crunch

General YA Fiction

G/A Hautman, Pete. The Big Crunch. Scholastic Press, 2011. 288p. 9780545240758. 17.99.

June never gets close to anyone. She can’t since her family moves all the time for her father’s work. But when she starts her sixth school in four years in a small Minnesota town she can’t help but feel a real connection with Wes. Big Crunch follows the development of June and Wes’ relationship over the course of one year, including another new job and another move for June’s family. Readers looking for a realistic romance without major drama or over-the-top girliness will enjoy this book. Loren Spector, LAPL, Felipe de Neve

Trapped

General YA Fiction

G/A Northrop, Michael. Trapped. Scholastic Press, 2011. 232p. 978-0-545-21012-6. 17.99.

Seven teenagers are trapped in their high school while a huge snowstorm passes through their New England town. The snow does not appear to be letting up and everyday it grows higher and higher, covering the roads and burying the nearby houses. Tensions inside the school rise with the snow. These seven unlikely friends must figure out how to survive, not knowing how long they will be stranded. It’s like Breakfast Club without the detention. Loren Spector, LAPL, Felipe de Neve

Slice of Cherry

High School Fiction

F/M Reeves, Dia. Slice of Cherry. Simon Pulse, 2011. 512p. 9781416986201. 16.99.

Fancy and Kit Cordelle live in the shadow of their serial killer father. In their strange, monster-filled town of Portero, Texas, the residents think of the sisters as monsters too. That is until they start their own killing spree, but only of people who “deserve” it. Each sister possesses special abilities that help them kill without leaving evidence behind. This twisted novel is not for the faint of heart; it is gruesome, creepy and sexual. Loren Spector, LAPL, Felipe de Neve

Anya’s War

G/A Alban, Andrea. Anya’s War. New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2011. ISBN: 978-0-312-37093-0 188p. $16.99.

Fourteen years old Anya lives with her parents in Shanghai, China. Anya’s family came from Odessa, Russia and they are Jewish. Because Anya’s father was a war correspondence, the family resided in China. Stella, Anya’s mother, was an opera singer and she hoped that one day Anya will be a great opera singer like her. On the eve of World War II, Anya was startled by a baby girl on the pavement and spilled her grocery everywhere from her bicycle. She picked up the Chinese baby girl and immediately was attracted to her lovely face. She named her “Kisa” because she sounded like a little kitten. She wanted to send the girl away to the home of foundlings, but when she learned what happened to baby girls in China – most would be drowned. She picked up the baby and took her home. Trying to hide a baby from the entire family is not easy, eventually her parents discovered the truth and made Anya turn in the girl for adoption at the Jesuit Church. While she was going to the church, Anya’s younger brother, Georgi followed her. Eventually the mother of the baby came back for the little one. Georgi and Anya spent the rest of the day in the Great World Amusement Park. There were two Chinese plans overhead and one of them dropped a bomb onto the amusement park accidentally. Georgi broke his arm and Anya had blood all over her. They were sent to the hospital for treatment.

The story was based upon the experience of the author’s parents and grandparents. Even though the title was called Anya’s War, the story did not have too much details about World War II. It is mainly about Anya’s life and her dream. After the experience of her brother’s injury, she wanted to become a doctor in America. Dora Ho – Los Angeles Public Library, Youth Services.

Jane Austen: A Life Revealed

General YA Nonfiction

G/A Reef, Catherine. Jane Austen: A Life Revealed. Clarion, 2011. 208 p. 9780547370217 $18.99

Catherine Reef explores Jane's life as a single woman in England at a time when to be an unmarried woman meant being forever dependent on your relatives. Throughout the biography, Reef summarizes her novels putting them in the context of life at that time and Jane's life in particular. A good introduction to the life and works of Jane Austen.

Sarah Mae Harper, CoLAPL- AC Bilbrew Library

Lincoln’s Flying Spies

Good/Average, Middle School


Lincoln’s Flying Spies: Thaddeus Lowe and the Civil War Balloon Corps by Gail Jarrow


From 1861-1863, the Union Army had a special Balloon division that spied on Confederate forces during the Civil War. From high in the air, armed with a telegraph, Thaddeus Lowe and his team would tell commanders about camp and troop movements, so much so that the Confederate forces would hide their numbers and even made fake cannons out of tree trunks to fool the Union. Cannons were fired at the balloons, but mostly they were too far out of range to hit, except when the balloons were being raised or lowered. This book is filled with black and white photos, illustrations, and other documentation of this short-lived aeronautical force. Extensive endnotes are included along with a timeline and extensive index. This biographical work is appropriate for school reports for the middle grades, as well as general interest reading about this little known specialized force and the hard work of one man to create it.

-Corinda J. Humphrey, Los Angeles Public Library

The Steps Across the Water

Fantasy, Elementary/Middle School, VG/A

Gopnik, Adam (Author), McCall, Bruce (Illustrator). The Steps Across the Water. Hyperion, 2010. 304p. 978-1423112136. $17.99

This is a charming story about Rose, a young girl who lives in New York City. Rose is adopted and although she feels absolutely loved and accepted by her family, she still can’t help feeling a little bit of an outsider at times. One of the things Rose feels most self-conscious about is her habit of inverting words. For instance, she’ll say “U Nork” instead of saying “New York”. This all comes to have great significance when Rose discovers that there really is a place called U Nork and that it’s at the other end of “The Steps Across the Water” in Central Park. U Nork is similar to, but also fantastically different from, New York City. In U Nork, buildings have thousands of floors, giant pigeons and zeppelins populate the skies and a centralized prison inhabits their version of Central Park known as “Sin-Trail Park”. Unfortunately, U Nork is also in need of saving from an evil villain known as the Ice Queen. Much to Rose’s surprise, the citizens of U Nork seem convinced that Rose is key to defeating the Ice Queen. One can’t help but cheer for Rose, our immensely likeable if unsuspecting hero. There are also some truly funny passages in the book like the “truth” behind NYC taxi drivers. Sophisticated readers might work out the plot twists but even if they do, it’s still a fun read.

-Patsy Pinedo Tuck, Eagle Rock Branch, Los Angeles Public Library