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KLIATT publishes reviews
of paperback books, hardcover young adult fiction, audiobooks,
and educational software recommended for libraries and classrooms serving
young adults. The following code is used to help readers determine if
the material reviewed is appropriate for their needs:
J -- Recommended for junior
high & middle school students
S -- Recommended for senior high students
A -- Recommended for advanced students and adults.
* -- The asterisk highlights exceptional
material.
SAMPLE REVIEWS FROM KLIATT'S LATEST ISSUE:
HARDCOVER YOUNG ADULT FICTION
Spradlin, Michael P. Keeper
of the Grail. (The Youngest Templar, Book One.) Penguin, Putnam.
249p. c2008. 978-0-399-24763-7. $17.99. JS*
This is
a winner! The Holy Grail, the Knights Templar, even Rosslyn
might remind readers of The Da Vinci Code,
of course, and Spradlin might be having some fun
playing on that familiarity. The setting is 1191. Richard the Lionheart and a young archer from Sherwood Forest named Robard
share the story line with the hero and narrator, Tristam.
They are in the Holy Land, fighting the Saracens, but also struggling to survive
the evil machinations of Sir Hugh, an English knight. Tristam
is an orphan, eager to know the details of his heritage. Cistercian monks
have lovingly raised him, and as the story begins, Tristam
at 15 is invited to accompany Sir Thomas, a Knight Templar, to the
Crusades. Sir Thomas and others appear to recognize Tristam,
but his true identity is not revealed in this first in the series. What
happens, and what is so appealing about the story, is endless
action--attacks, escapes, suspense and camaraderie. There’s wit throughout,
and readers are fully committed to liking Tristam
and being excited about his life and his world, so different from our own.
The whole Christian-Arab conflict is tamped down, by the way—with the true
villains fellow Christians in Tristan’s experience, and the introduction of
Maryam, an Arab, who by the end of the book has
become a sympathetic character, leaving with Tristam
(entrusted with the Holy Grail—no, not Mary Magdalene’s child) and Robard to sail back to England and safety. We’ll see.
Terrific adventure, which even younger YAs can
follow as they learn something about a totally different world. Claire
Rosser, KLIATT
GRAPHIC
NOVELS
Mutsuki, Lay. Yggdrasil. Go! Comi. 200p. illus. c2008. 978-1933617916. $10.99. JS
Something
is amiss in the land of Yggdrasil. Monsters spawn in unlikely
places, and the nature of reality is becoming undone. The Phantom has
returned after a long absence, with his mighty magical items and his
special pet, the hound of Cerberus. Or has he? The real Phantom, long since
retired, realizes that someone is impersonating him. He and his friend Haruno investigate, and they are joined by Aoi, an elfish minstrel, and Gyoku,
who types with a funny accent and wants to get the e-mail addresses of all
the female avatars. Yes, you heard right. Yggdrasil
isn’t set in a fantasy realm; it is a MMORG (massive multiplayer online
role-playing game).
Yggdrasil is set in two realms: the real
world, in which Koki is a typical high school student; and Yggdrasil, where he has two avatars. Koki’s father is a
programmer, which is why he has access to the Phantom. The plot revolves
around Koki’s relationship with childhood friend, Haruna,
and the deviltry afoot on Yggdrasil. Hopefully
the second volume will focus on the latter plot, which is more interesting.
The b/w art is character based, with sketchy backgrounds; a few of the
action sequences are a bit hard to follow. Yggdrasil contains comic book
violence and mild vulgarities (pissed) and is recommended for libraries
with large manga collections; fantasy fans will
also enjoy this. George Galuschak, YA
Librarian, Montvale PL, Montvale, NJ
HISTORY
Bess, Michael. Choices under fire; moral dimensions of World War
II. Random House,
Vintage. 395p. illus. notes. bibliog.
index. c2006.
978-0-307-27680-6. $15.95. SA*
Unlike
the Vietnam War, WW II never had to undergo the searching, even scathing,
moral evaluations that the later conflict has engendered. Partly this was
part of the “Good War” syndrome, whereby the world unanimously understands
that the Good Guys overwhelmed the aggressors of Imperial Japan and the
genuinely evil Third Reich. Having fought a bitter worldwide struggle to
preserve Western democracy, the veterans and the Baby Boomer generation
were in no mood for academic darts about the morality of their wartime
actions. The ambiguousness that enveloped the Vietnam conflict, however, and the
eventual ferocity of its opposition, changed all that. The Iraq War has
only confirmed that, for years to come, no future conflict will go
unexamined.
In this
atmosphere, author Michael Bess has managed to produce a thoughtful
critique of the manner in which both the western Allies and the Axis powers
prosecuted the war that swept the world. A decent study of this subject
would, of course, require several fat volumes, but Professor Bess is
writing for the common reader. He writes with the precision of the true
academic but never lets himself get bogged down in minutiae, or in wordy
scholarship. He tamed his massive subject by paring it down to a few major
issues and then took care to make them accessible: the decisions to go to
war; the bombing of civilian populations; the morality of allying with one
brutal dictator to overcome another; and, of course, the US’s decision to
drop the atomic bombs. The ramifications of the Holocaust are presented,
along with a discourse on the Kamikazi suicide
attacks and—somewhat surprisingly--the moral factors in the Battle of
Midway.
Bess’s
objectivity and his evenhanded tone keep him far from coming across as a
self-righteous moralist or, worse, a classroom scold. Thus, the reader is
more prepared to accept conclusions that challenge his comfort zone as well
as those that confirm his personal beliefs. This is no mean feat, and Dr. Bess
is to be congratulated for pulling it off. Raymond L. Puffer , Ph.D.,
Historian (retired), Edwards AFB, Lancaster, CA
AUDIOBOOKS—FICTION
Levine,
Gail Carson. Fairest. Read
by Sarah Naughton and the Full Cast Family. 8 cds. 8.25 hrs. Full Cast Audio. 2007.
978-1-934180-13-6. $55.00. Vinyl binder; plot, author notes. JS*
Aza has a beautiful singing voice, but she’s big and ugly
compared to the rest of her family. Abandoned on a doorstep as a baby, she
lives at the Featherbed Inn with her adoptive family who love her despite
her appearance. She has the unusual talent of being able to project her
voice and mimic other people. The beautiful but wicked new queen tricks Aza into being her voice for the singing performances
so popular in the land. Tired of being insulted because of her looks, Aza drinks a magic potion that makes her slim and
beautiful, but before it wears off, she discovers what is more important
than physical beauty. (This could be a springboard for discussing body
image with young girls.) Ogres, gnomes, dungeons, and a talking mirror
provide nonstop action. Very loosely based on the fairy tale “Snow White,”
fantasy author Levine’s story will appeal to both children and adults,
making it an excellent choice for family travels or classroom listening,
Composer director Todd Hobin has created melodies
for all the story’s lyrics and songs, making it a portable Broadway
musical. Full Cast Audio uses richly expressive voices with a variety of
accents to create a delightful listening experience. Shirley Fetherolf, Library Media Specialist, Little Rock, Arkansas
AUDIOBOOKS—NONFICTION
Winik, Jay. The
great upheaval; America and the birth of the modern world, 1788-1800. Read by Jonathan Davis. 26
tapes. 31.5 hrs. Recorded Books. 2007/2008. 978-1-4281-8095-6. $113.75.
Vinyl binder; plot, reader notes. A*
Winik's history weaves together the fates of America, Russia and France in a tour de force that reads
like fiction. The main characters are all there--Jefferson, Hamilton, Washington, Adams, Robespierre, Danton, Marat, Louis XVI and
his queen, Catherine the Great. They are joined by hundreds of others--Stanislas, Kosciusko, Lafayette, John Paul Jones,
Prince Potemkin, Tom
Paine--in this superb narrative that deals not only with politics and the
creation of nations but also with religion and social concerns such as
slavery, women's rights, freedom for peasants, and education. Rebellions,
coups, wars, persecution, and executions are recounted. We are there with
Marie Antoinette in her cell before her beheading and with Tom Paine and
Lafayette as they languish in jail cells in Europe. We are there when Poland and the Muslim Ottoman Empire
are dismembered and 250,000 die in the Terror in France, 85% of whom
were commoners, not aristocrats. The promise of a new age with the American
Revolution and an inspiring Constitution is overshadowed by the turmoil in Europe and Russia. There is turmoil too in the
nascent America as Washington must deal with a contentious
cabinet and a national debt of $76 million. Award-winning narrator Davis
captures the excitement of this era with verve. He gets to use many
accents--Italian, French, Polish, Russian, British--as well as the
occasional Latin phrase. He is equally at home with tragedy and pathos, war
and peace. He puts listeners in the center of the action that Winik's dramatic history creates. Janet Julian,
English Teacher (retired), Grafton, MA
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