Staff Recommendations
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In Memory's Kitchen: A Legacy from the Women of Terezin
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionMarch 12, 2016
Call Number: 940.5472437 I355
This book is of special interest for Women’s Heritage Month, and in reference to the exhibit at Central Library, State of Deception: The Power of Nazi Propaganda.The subject matter of this book does not directly or completely address Nazi propaganda, but does so partially and in an oblique way.The setting was Terezin, a concentration camp which also was a transit center, with one section created as "a paradise ghetto" for propaganda, and at the very end as a death factory... Read Full Review
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Illuminae
by Kaufman, Amie.
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryFebruary 22, 2016
Call Number: YA
When Kady Grant got up in the morning, she thought breaking up with her soon to be ex-boyfriend, Ezra Mason, would be the most eventful thing to happen. Living on Kerenza IV, an illegal mining colony on the edge of the universe and farthest from anything exciting means routine is the norm. And then the ships came thundering out of the sky, bombing the mine and destroying anything else they could target. As upset with Ezra as she is, Kady can’t leave him to die at their school. The two of them take her truck to get away. She wants to go to the hospital where her mom is a Doctor. Ezra wants to... Read Full Review
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All the Birds in the Sky
by Anders, Charlie
Reviewed by: Andrea Borchert, Librarian, Koreatown Media LabFebruary 14, 2016
All the birds in the sky is a slightly dystopian, romantic, comedic bildungsroman wrapped in a rich, creamy sci-fi, fantasy wrapper. It has everything you need from urban fantasy and science fiction: artificial intelligence, talking cats, great dialogue, flying, nerd parties, magic schools, doomsday machines, time travel, assassins posing as guidance counselors, riddles, loneliness, and love. The story, told in a series of flashbacks and in the present, follows two lonely kids: Laurence, who builds his own time machine and wears it on his wrist (it’s less useful than you... Read Full Review
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A Gathering of Shadows
by Schwab, Victoria.
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryFebruary 1, 2016
In A darker shade of magic Victoria Schwab presented Kell and Lila set within their worlds of four different Londons. The magic and adventure continue in this sequel.
It has been four months since the Black Night, when the rulers of White London attempted to take over Red London, leaving chaos and casualties in the wake of the attack. While Kell saved the kingdom from this threat, he is also blamed for what happened. Once a trusted member of the royal family, he is now viewed with suspicion, doubt,... Read Full Review -
Neurotribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity
by Silberman, Steve
Reviewed by: Andrea Borchert, Librarian, Koreatown Media LabJanuary 25, 2016
Call Number: 370.157 S5825
How do you classify a condition like autism? The condition affects so many different people in such different ways that, the saying goes, “If you’ve met one person with autism, you’ve met one person with autism”. How can a condition that may have affected as diverse a group as Alan Turing, Leonardo Da Vinci, Temple Grandin, and Emily Dickinson be treated? What, or who, is to blame? What is there to celebrate in a life with autism? Our understanding of autism has changed so much and NueroTribes: the legacy of autism and the future of neurodiversity covers every step of that change... Read Full Review
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Voracious : a hungry reader cooks her way through great books
by Nicoletti, Cara,
Reviewed by: Sheryn Morris, Librarian, Literature & FictionJanuary 13, 2016
Call Number: 641.5 N643
A recurring dream, shared by generations of immigrant parents and grandparents, is that they their offspring get an education, a good job and not have to earn a living doing manual labor. According to Cara Nicoletti her grandfather, “ . . . always said he wanted us to ‘sit at a desk and have clean hands.’ “ She and her female relatives all worked in the family butcher shop, and Cara attended New York University, earning a degree in English literature. However, the very job her grandfather would not have wished her to have was the one she loved. Coming from... Read Full Review
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Winter.
by Meyer, Marissa.
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryDecember 29, 2015
Call Number: YA
In Cinder, Marissa Meyer took readers to an Earth set several hundred years in the future to tell a version of Cinderella, with overtones of Anastasia, where the titular character is not only a cyborg, but may also be a long dead princess. Skillfully blending fairy tales with science fiction Meyer retold the classic story with flair and contemporary sensibilities. In the subsequent books in The Lunar Chronicles series, Meyer added other fairy tale characters: Red Riding Hood and her... Read Full Review
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Maze : solve the world's most challenging puzzle
by Manson, Christopher.
Reviewed by: Andrea Borchert, Librarian, Koreatown Media LabDecember 21, 2015
Call Number: 793.4 M289
In 1985 there was a competition to solve a puzzle--a puzzle in the shape of a book. Christopher Manson presented this strange puzzle in an eerie picture book that he wrote and illustrated. Taken all together, the book itself is the maze. You enter the maze by turning the first page. But once you do, will you be able to find the center? Will you find your way back out again? Each page of the book represents a room. Each room has multiple doors that lead to different pages, and you have to chose the right ones to walk through. As you make your way through the maze the... Read Full Review
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The girl at midnight
by Grey, Melissa.
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryDecember 7, 2015
Call Number: YA
Deep beneath New York City's Grand Central Station, there is a whole other world unknown to humans. It is the world of the Avicen, a magical race of humanoids with feathers instead of hair and decidedly avian instincts and culture. The Avicen have been at war with the Drakharin, another magical race of humanoids with the instincts and attributes of dragons, for longer than either race can remember. The last major engagement between the two races took place over a hundred years ago, with regular skirmishes occurring in order to increase the number of casualties, and to decrease any sense of... Read Full Review
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Made to kill
by Christopher, Adam, 1978-
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryNovember 30, 2015
Raymond Chandler HATED science fiction and he made no bones about it. In a letter to his editor written in 1953, while working on what would ultimately be his last novel, Chandler wrote this:
"Did you ever read what they call Science Fiction? It's a scream. It is written like this: 'I checked out with K19 on Aldabaran III, and stepped out through the crummalite hatch on my 22 Model Sirus Hardtop. I cocked the timejector in secondary and waded through the bright blue manda grass. My breath froze into pink pretzels. I flicked on the heat bars and the Brylls ran swiftly on five... Read Full Review
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The traitor Baru Cormorant
by Dickinson, Seth.
Reviewed by: Andrea Borchert, Librarian, Koreatown Media LabNovember 23, 2015
The traitor Baru Cormorant is a political-military thriller set in a fantasy world crushed under the boot heels of the Empire of Masks. The Empire has conquered most of the world, and is busily remaking the world in it’s image. This means a range of different things. Sometimes it means vaccinations and functioning sewer systems for the masses, but it also entails eugenics, and setting up special schools to indoctrinate children from conquered lands.
Baru Cormorant is one such child who grows up in a charitable school run by the Empire. Always looking over her... Read Full Review
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Sorcerer to the crown
by Cho, Zen,
Reviewed by: Daryl M., Librarian, West Valley Regional Branch LibraryNovember 16, 2015
It is a difficult time for The Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers. While they are one of the most respected organizations in pursuit of the study and practice of magic in the world, certainly the foremost in all of England, recent events have thrown the society into chaos. While there are many Unnatural Philosophers, or Thaumaturges, in England only a magic-user with a familiar (a native of Fairyland who has chosen to exile itself and bond with a human) may call himself a Sorcerer. And the number of Sorcerers within England has been declining at an alarming rate for years.... Read Full Review