Demetrios, Heather. Bad Romance.

Demetrios, Heather. Bad Romance. Macmillan/Henry Holt       2017  360p. $17.99  ISBN 978-1-62779-772-6      hs       Realistic Fiction          E-BN

Grace, a junior in high school, lives in a dysfunctional household with her mother and the bullying stepfather she calls The Giant.  She wants to save money so that she can escape her life and move to a city for college.  Her plans go awry when she falls for Gavin, a popular senior rock star in the making.  Narrated in the first person by Grace, the novel tells us right away that the relationship was doomed, and that she ignored significant red flags, the chief one being Gavin’s failed suicide attempt when his last relationship failed. 

Despite warnings from her sister and her friend, smart, witty Grace is slow to realize that she is in a controlling, emotionally abusive relationship.  The promise of love and protection, a respite from her Cinderella-like home life, is intoxicating.  Yet in the end, Grace learns to rely upon her friends and her own inner strength to break free of the cycle of abuse. 

With the currency of the #metoo movement, this realistic look at abuse in a teenage relationship will resonate with young women with a message of strength and resiliency. 

Summary: When popular Gavin starts a relationship with nerdy Grace, she can’t believe her good fortune, until she realizes that Gavin isn’t as perfect as he seems.                                         

Abusive Relationships-Fiction                              --Lisa Teixeira

Kenney, Sean. Building Amazing Creations.

Kenney, Sean. Building Amazing Creations. Macmillan/Henry Holt  2017  382p.  $24.99          ISBN 978-1-62779-018-5          all ages               Nonfiction  E-BN  

This is a coffee-table book that is crammed with over 800 illustrations of Sean Kenney’s LEGO creations. Kenney is known for creating miniature and large-scale LEGO animals, towns, buildings, flowers and portraits.  Kenney’s artistic efforts are on display around the world in corporate offices, public gardens, museums and art galleries. School librarians who are involved in Maker Spaces will undoubtedly know his “Cool” book series that shows how to create LEGO projects. In the short text accompanying each illustration, readers learn about his background of earning a college degree in computer science and how he became restive and pursued his passion for art by founding his own company to create LEGO sculptures. The text under illustrations encourages readers to look carefully at individual LEGO pieces that are used in creative ways, such as a helmet for the feet of robots, and how to get a mirrored effect. His step-by-step details from concept to finished creation, which include the methods by which projects are sketched, created, and shipped or installed, provide insider knowledge that can kickstart readers into creating their own unique LEGO projects. This is a great book for any fan of LEGOs, for art students, and for any person who appreciates intricacy of design. WOW, this book cannot be categorized, as everyone who opens it, regardless of age, will be captivated by something.                            

Summary: For any lover of LEGOs, Sean Kenney has chronicled his most amazing projects. This book is part biography, part an “I Spy” look at how LEGO pieces are repurposed in a creation, and an imagination kickstarter for Maker Spaces in schools. For all ages.          

Legos                                                                         --Lois McNicol

Rosenblatt, Darcey. Lost Boys.

Rosenblatt, Darcey. Lost Boys. Macmillan/Henry Holt    2017     279p.   $16.99      ISBN 978-1-62779-758-0          ms/jr    Historical Fiction          E-BN

Expecting a The Red Badge of Courage, the reader will be greeted by more of a The Great Escape in this debut novel by Darcey Rosenblatt. This book has it all, and young readers will be horrified at first, then gratified, when they complete their reading.  "Horrified" covers a mother giving up her son to a war effort with the thought that he will be received by God and treated as a martyr should he die in battle, and "horrified" covers readers’ emotions as they read of the atrocities experienced by Reza and the other 12-year-olds in a prisoner-of-war camp in Iraq.  Reza suffers more than any child should, first with the loss of his father, then his uncle, then his best friend Ebi.  For a large part of the book, Reza does not know if Ebi survived their first encounter, an absolutely astounding example of history that allowed boys to lead a battle without arms and to find themselves sacrificed to detonate the bombs before armed soldiers could attack.  But two miracles save Reza.  The first miracle is his love of music, which is with him throughout his imprisonment.  The other miracle is his teacher, an Irishman who introduces Reza to his “tar”, AKA guitar, which becomes Reza’s salvation in more ways than one.  The relationships that Reza builds over time help him survive the harshness of the camp.  Without them he would surely perish.  When Reza’s life is threatened by the evil guard, Abass, Reza knows he must leave.  In a harrowing escape, he finds a voice telling him how to proceed in this life, a voice comprised of everything he has learned from all the good people of this world.  What emotions the reader will experience!  What sorrow he/she will feel that there are young people in this world who do not have the freedom to grow up due to the politics and/or religious beliefs surrounding us.  Powerful and poignant, yet hopeful and uplifting.

Summary: When Reza’s best friend Ebi wants to enlist in the Iranian army, Reza finds himself reluctantly pulled into a nightmare from which he cannot return.  First rejected by his own mother who insists that he serve his country, then sent to the front to face the enemy, he survives to become a prisoner in an Iraqi camp where horrors abound.                 

Iran-Iraq War-Fiction                                                          --Martha Squaresky

Sanders, Bernie. Guide To Political Revolution.

Sanders, Bernie. Guide To Political Revolution. Macmillan/Henry Holt  2017  226p.  $16.99  ISBN 978-1-250-13890-3            ms/hs  Nonfiction  VG-BN         

Sanders addresses young people and describes the issues he is most passionate about -- health care reform, climate change, economic equality, Wall Street reform, higher eduction, immigration. He explains the need for economic justice and other changes he feels should be made in language that a middle-school student will understand. The illustrations help to break up the text and keep it from becoming too dense and dry for the reader. At times the illustrations also add a modicum of humor, which is most welcome. There are issues Bernie steers clear of, such as the US's involvement in wars, but he does a good job with the issues he decides to take on. The index and general organization of the book are good. This should be included in every collection serving young people, as Bernie Sanders' campaign appealed to many young people and should be available for people to learn about.
                                   

Summary: In this heartfelt appeal to young readers, Bernie Sanders makes his case for a kinder, more just America.

Politics                                                                                               --Carol Kennedy