NONFICTION (NOT HISTORY) Ackerman, Jennifer. Ah-Choo!: The Uncommon Life of Your Common Cold. JH What a delightful read! If you have any interest in colds, the operations of your body, viruses or science in general, you will want to read this book! In sprightly, organized, entertaining form, the book informs the reader about what colds are and aren't, how colds operate in the body, how they spread, and how you should take care of yourself to treat or avoid catching one, blasting many old wives tales and misinformation you might think true. Chance in the Hands of Fate: A Natural History of Heredity. H Nonfiction The book is a really good, up to date review of how genetics works--or doesn't work, as the case may be. You really have to be interested in the biology of genetics and how our genes work chemically to read this book because it is dense with information. Be prepared to spend a big chunk of time. Well written, interesting, but not necessarily entertaining. Appleman-jurman, Alicia. Alicia. H Great nonfiction of the Holocaust--but with a difference from most other holocaust memoirs. Alicia actually never was sent to the death camps. She manages to hide, escape detection, even join resistance groups and survive with help of many nonJews. However, the Holocaust makes its mark on her since almost everyone she knows and loves DOESN'T survive. Her story after the war ends, as a consequence, is marked by continuing danger and some pretty unpleasant incidents as she works smuggling Jews into Israel. Dramatic, but definitely adult Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone. Nonfiction. H You've heard of the "lost boys." This memoir traces the experiences of a then 13 year old boy from Sierra Leone, forced to become a "soldier," forced to perpetrate horrible atrocities. After rebel forces raided Beah's village and scattered his family, he and a handful of others escape. He survives, barely, until he is taken to a village run by the regular army. There he is safe--until the rebels take the surrounding area. Then the protecting armed forces forcibly "recruit" the boy refugees, drugging them and arming them and "training" them. He and his peers kill, torture, torment, persecute--a lot. Then he is taken by UN forces to the capital to be rehabilitated, a long, gradual process that saves him--until rebel forces attack the capital. This young man has near total recall, so his narrative is detailed, explicit, and harsh, but an excellent eye opener to what a youth can live through and overcome. Berri, David J. The Wages of Wins. Nonfiction H In order to like this book, you must be interested in two categories, sports and economics. Though the authors do not include the esoteric mathematical computations and formulae they use to come up with their conclusions, they DO talk of the economics of sports to show how much of the accepted beliefs about economics and sports doesn't hold true, and which of those beliefs do. I found their breezy, informal style lots of fun to read, and though I have no training in economics, I understood their clear accounts of their reasoning. I learned a lot about how owners, managers and coaches make their player decisions, sometimes without basing those decisions on the economic truths they think they understand. but really do not. One problem: the book's most recent figures and examples come from the 2004 sports seasons, so as years go by, the book will become dated. Too bad. It's readable and informative. Bird, Larry and Magic Johnson. When the Game was Ours. H Ok, so you really have to like basketball to enjoy this book. It's an engaging account of the rivalry between Larry Bird (playing for the Celtics, in the East) and Magic Johnson (playing for the Lakers in the West) that really MADE pro basketball into a spectator favorite rivaling pro baseball and football. This team met for the championship several times during the 80-'s, almost always to dramatic games with results unpredictable. Though these superstars' personalities contast strongly, they find their approach to the intensity of pro ball and their total dedication to winning made them very much alike. I enjoyed this book. The book does deal with Johnson's diagnosis of HIV and how it affected his retirement and his fellow players, but tastefully. Blum, Deborah. The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York. H This book traces the development of forensic toxicology in New York City from the early 1900's on, with details of crimes of poisoning and how scientists took over the study of poison deaths from the elected or politically appointed coroners--but not without a fight. The stories are gripping, and the personalities involved are endlessly interesting. It's a great read for those who are interested in true crime, science, and/or CSI. Although this book traces the history of this field, it contains enough science and psychology to be on this list. Bradley, James with Ron Powers. Flags of our Fathers. H. This interesting story tells the adventure of a young man who finds after his father's death that his dad had been one of the marines in the iconic Battle of Iwo Gima flagraising photo, and hid it from him and his family for the rest of his life. The young man traces the battle, the taking of the photo(s), and what happened to the marines in that photo, finding tragedy and triumph in their lives. It's been awhile since I read this book. There may be language issues. Brafman, Ori and Rom Brafman. Sway. H Another great nonfiction read, this book examines the ways in which we derail our decisions, ignoring rational considerations for the irrational pull of obstinacy or out of perceptions of unfairness. The engaging writing helps a lot, but what's most fun to read is the experiences and experiments that support and dramatize the "pull of irrational behavior" the authors are discussing. Some of the most fun: if someone you cannot identify must divide a sum of money, offering you as much (or as little) as they want, knowing that if you refuse their offer, neither of you will get the money, will you take the offer if they offer less than half? Will it matter if the sum is large or small? Can contestants on the program "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" trust the answers the audience gives? Research shows it depends on rhe country: they can trust US audiences, but French audiences may deliberately steer them wrong, and Russian audiences--well, read and find out. The answers will surprise you! Brown, Mark. Emergency!:True Stories from the Nation’s ERs. H Some of these true stories from nurses and doctors that work in emergency rooms are inspiring and fun to read. Some are amusing, but others are offensively irreverent and unfunny and really negative. The book's an ok read, but not as good as I expected. Cohen, Jared. Children of Jihad. H What could be more unlikely than a New York Jewish kid acting as voice for young Moslems all over the Arab world. This story of the young man’s journey through Lebanon, Syria, Iraq and Iran is amazing. He interviews countless youth who express their hopes, dreams and fears. The book is a source of hope, and a good book for Americans of all ages to read. It will challenge stereotypes and open up doors to understanding those who most admire us and those who would like to destroy our way of life. Very positive. Cox, Lynne with Martha Kaplan. Swimming to Antarctica. Nonfiction H If you like people like you who accomplish extraordinary feats, if you like sports narratives, if you like swimming--this book is for you. I'm not much into sports narratives, but this one is enchanting. Even though the narrator is world famous, deservedly, for completing some of the most challenging swims ever attempted (she begins with the English Channel and goes from there), she is unassuming and just plain nice. Readers will enjoy her positive values, including patriotism, peacemakingness, and love of people, and her honesty. D’Ambrosio, Richard Anthony. No Language but a Cry. Nonfiction JH Gripping and inspiring tribute to human survival--this memoir of a psychologist tells the story of a girl as an infant fried in a frying pan by abusive parents. Her trauma has left her to grow up not speaking, barely able to get around, raised by kind nuns in an orphanage. The nuns appeal to the psychologist to help the girl--and this book is his account of the girl's triumph over circumstances that should have kept her a victim, but instead make her an inspiring example. VERY positive. Denby, David. Great Books. H This book should be required reading for every English/literature teacher, and really is a good book for anyone interested in the most important writinigs of Western civilization. It sounds a bit ordinary: a journalist decides, as an adult 20 years out of college, to go back and repeat his Contemporary Civilization and Literature Humanities classes required for freshman at Columbia. And then he writes about what he reads and what the class and its professor discuss about all of these basic texts. As a journalist, Denby has mastered writing and knows what is interesting. Weaving exerpts from the texts with his own thinking, the thinking of his classmates and professors, and with his own life experiences, Denby presents these texts in a way that will help every experienced reader relive his/her reading adventures and will entice inexperienced readers to examine these important texts. It helps that I agree with his thoughts on contemporary literary criticism and teaching, as well as appreciate many of his opinions about the very important questions these texts raise. It has taken me two weeks to complete this "great book"--and the book was worth the time and thought! I am motivated to read Beauvoir, reread Woolf and wade more deeply into Nietzsche, Rousseau and the other philosophers I have merely sampled. Didion, Joan. The Year of Magical Thinking. H Sometimes life comes at you fast…like a hardthrown ball-missile in a lightning fast game of dodge ball—only you can’t duck. That’s what has happened to Joan Didion in this autobiographical account of one tragic year in her life, beginning with the day her husband died suddenly, in the midst of a family crisis. Their only daughter suffered with a traumatic septic pneumonia and spent weeks in a coma. This book traces Didion’s moods and thoughts and imaginings and rememberings during that fateful year. The book should only be read by people with strong enough beliefs or optimism or ego strength not to be swept into the depression and despair of the book. Ultimately a positive testimony that life, does, indeed, go on, Ms. Didion’s psychic journey is painful and can fill the reader with empathy and compassion as reader and author relive and assess the ending of a valued and valuable life together. Emsley, John. Molecules of Murder. H Nonfiction. If you have any interest in poisons and how they work chemically and biologically, this book will entrance you. Each chapter informs the reader about one common poison. The author adds narrative accounts of famous poisonings to illustrate his chemical and biological explanations of the poisons and how they work in our bodies. Farrell, Jeanette. Invisible Enemies: Stories of Infectious Disease. DRP 66 JH Nonfiction Well written, illustrated with historical graphics, this history of seven major historical diseases covers both the disease itself and how it is spread and the history of each disease. Gory and excellent, but the last disease covered is AIDS. The book takes the “politically correct” view of homosexuals and their role in the spread of the epidemic, sympathetically describing some behaviors that would be found objectionable by Nebo patrons. Invisible Allies: Microbes that Shape Our Lives. JH Nonfiction A good companion to her other book--Though the book about the role of bacteria and fungi in our food, our gut and in rotting everything dead is classified young adult, it provides fun, interesting reading for all. Clear, entertaining, informative, the book is a great addition to a nonfiction library. Fleischman, John. Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science. MJH Nonfiction. This fascinating story reads like fiction: Phineas Gage, a young construction foreman, is supervising a crew blasting a railroad through a granite mountain when an explosion hurls an iron bar up through his cheek into his brain--and he lives, but is forever changed in motivation, emotion, personality and behavior, all those things which make us human. The account brings in what was known about the brain at the time of the accident, 1848, what is known now, how the accident changed him and why, and the outcome in his life. The book is appropriate for any young reader interested in medicine, the brain, or weird gruesome things that happen randomly. Two gruesome illustrations are the only things kids need to watch for, and they’re pretty tame, considering the subject. Flinn, Kathleen. The Sharper the Knife, the Less You Cry. H Kathleen Flynn doesn't like her corporate life, but she's still devastated when she loses her job. On a whim she moves to Paris and goes to the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu gourmet cooking school. This book details her time there--what she learned about, not just cooking techniques, mystery ingredients and presentation, but also French and the French, love and herself. Good read. (PS it comes with recipes.) Foer, Joshua. Moonwalking with Einstein. H Another book that reveals a group of people I never knew existed: people compete in memory challenges, even international competitions, that require one to memorize and recite multitudinous digital numbers, matched names and faces, lists of random words, even poetry. The author goes to research an article on this subculture and is inveigled into training and competing! The book includes the author's research into the history of memorizing, as well as his investigations of the research being done on memory and what it has revealed. An interesting read! Gladwell, Malcolm. Blink. H This book gives everyone a great reason to submerse themselves in reading scriptures (no, the book is NOT religious), positive self help books, and positive fiction because the thesis of this book is that we make most decisions "in a blink," NOT from reasoned principles. It is only after we act that we think about why, and hope our actions follow our espoused principles and not just expediency and pressure. If we want to make good decisions, then, we must pack our unconscious with good, positive people, experiences, reading, etc, so that when we act in that "blink," our unconsidered decisions will be positive ones. Outliers. H This book examines what makes one person achieve beyond the normal, while another, with about the same education and background, doesn't. It challenges commonly held ideas of what makes a person successful. Very insightful and fun to read. The Tipping Point. The thing I like about Gladwell is that he explores interesting social trends and writes them so that they are clear and fun to read. The tipping point exposes the reader to those social factors that tip individual actions or fashions or books or whatever into trends or movements, then into cultural givens that everyone accepts. What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures. H Another great nonfiction read from Gladwell, this book doesn't have a central thesis, but wanders through people who create such products as hair dye and the birth control pill, through problems and paradoxes of such topics as enron, homelessness, intelligence, and the Challenger explosion, ending with criminal profiling, the relationship of genius and precocity, and some of the fallacies that come with hiring practices, pit bulls, and intelligence measures. The first few accounts were kind of slow, but the book gathers interest and engages more grippingly as it goes forward. For teachers in conservative districts: the accounts of birth control and mammograms do include details, but they're very tastefully handled. The book is aimed at adults and the accounts do include concepts parents need to read with their kids, but the book is so informative about many of the misconceptions our society propagates Gantos, Jack. hole in my life. H This memoir begins with Jack’s prison photo. At nineteen, he casually agreed to help an acquaintance of an acquaintance smuggle a huge amount of drugs on a small boat from the Caribbean to New York City. The consequences of that amorally committed act marked him: he was caught and sent to prison, where he spent, luckily, fifteen months (luckily, because he could have spent six years there, according to his sentence). His narrative is frank and gripping. This book should be required reading for the amoral drug abusers and drug dealers in our student bodies. However, all others should be warned about Gantos’s casual attitude about drugs, about smuggling and dealing drugs, about the brutality in prison, and the frank way in which Gantos considers the sexual danger he runs and describes a victim of that danger. He decides to obey rules in prison, not from any sense of right and wrong—he never displays that—but because he is afraid of the punishments and consequences he might suffer. Gawande, Atul. Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance. H This book seconds everything we try to communicate to kids in our classes. It's a successful surgeon's conclusions about the values that make people accomplish more/do better than others, qualities and values that provide excellence. He uses his considerable medical experiences with different people to illustrate his conclusions. His thesis: one needs diligence, the choices of right, ingenuity to excel at anything! Great read! Grann, David. The Lost City of Z. H This book gives readers a double adventure: the author goes to the depths of the primitive Amazon full of insects, jungle, and interesting native peoples. He goes to investigate the story of a different Amazonian adventure--the story of P.H.Fawcett, an early 20th C explorer who became obsessed with finding the legendary El Dorado civilization--taking his son and a friend deep into the Amazon to find it, and disappearing, never to be found. Both stories are told in clear and engaging detail. Both reveal all kinds of fascinating personalities. Grogan, John. Marley and Me. JH (New York Times bestseller for many weeks in 2007) This adult book records Grogan’s memories of his dog, Marley, a golden lab who is ADHD and frantically and uncontrollably active, loving and mischievous. The patience and longsuffering of Grogan and his wife develop over the couple’s growing up time, from newlywedded bliss to long established family. The book explores what Grogan and his family give to this dog, and what the dog gives to them. It’s sweet, though there is some language and frank sexual discussion (adult themes, but in context of trying to have a baby in a married relationship). Groopman, Jerome M.D. The Anatomy of Hope. The book is just what it says it is, a thorough analysis of hope—what it is, why it is, how it affects us and what happens to us, both the psychological and physiological experience of hope. The book treats the doctor’s own experience with serious disease, as well as drawing on his experience treating seriously ill patients. It’s good for adults, but probably doesn’t move fast enough for kids. It might be a good book for kids taking psychology. Jennings, Ken. Braniac. H If you are interested in the subculture of trivia buffs or are a fan of jeopardy, this book is for you. I had no idea of the history, interest in, and people obsessed with trivia. The book alternates between Jennings’s own story of the road to success and money on Jeopardy and the history of trivia, with his research and interviews with trivia book writers, question researchers, and a whole host of people (and towns) who center their lives on trivia competitions. It’s a “hilarious, silly, engaging, and erudite” read. Positive. Junger, Sebastian. The Perfect Storm. H OK, there is some reason to read this book: it graphically and vividly illustrates the theme that nature is far superior to man in strength and unpredictability. The book teaches what a "perfect storm" is--a concatenation of atmospheric forces that produces a deadly whirling violence of wind and water. Woe unto the fisherman or boatman that challenges such force! That's what the story is all about. Well told, the story will grasp the reader and not let go until the story ends--badly, of course. That's why I don't wholeheartedly recommend this book. If you don't mind tragedy, if you like being reminded we mortals are just that, mere specks in the eyes of mom nature, who can casually wipe us out of her eyes without acknowledging our existence, then you'll like this book. Kean, Sam. The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements. JH I'm not scientific, and haven't had chemistry since 1960, but I could follow and understand this fascinating tale, actually a collection of true anecdotes interspersed in this history of the development of the periodic table, complete with all kinds of information told entertainingly about each element thereon. What an adventure among the intellects, nerds and eccentrics of science! Even the least interested among us will enjoy this book. Krakauer, Jon. Into the Wild. Nonfiction. H. OK, I'll admit it, I don't like books about stupid people doing stupid things. Admittedly, this kid was a kid and can't be blamed for being stupid--it often comes with the territory. I still just don't see why people like reading this book. The protagonist isn't admirable, quite the contrary. And he goes against all wisdom about living in wilderness. And the consequences, deservedly, follow. (A good book for any adolescent who has a hankering for isolating himself from society to lead his own life in the wilderness.) The language used may be offensive to some readers. Into Thin Air. DRP 66. Nonfiction. This book tells the story of the doomed climbers of Mt. Everest, caught at the summit by a fatal storm in May 1996 from the point of view of one of the few of the twenty vulnerable climbers who survived. The account is riveting, and presents the moral dilemma: if you know other climbers are in trouble in a blinding storm, but also know that in trying to rescue them, you have little chance for saving their lives and will probably lose your own life, as well, should you go out to try to help? Be warned: the book is aimed at adults and includes R rated language (F word, included) and frank consideration of immoral behavior that will offend some readers. Positive. Kurson, Robert. Shadow Divers. H This book reveals a world most of us don’t touch: a world of people, mostly men, who risk their lives exploring sunken ships and submarines in the bottom of the oceans. This fascinating story deals with the exploration of a World War II German submarine found off the coast of New Jersey—where no German sub was supposed to have been sunk. The divers who explored it, some with dire results, struggled to identify it, and finally succeeded, after suffering much opposition to do so. The narrative includes sailors’ language, so must be rated PG 13, but the story is well told and interesting to anyone into war, diving, adventure, and boats. Lanewiesche, William. The Outlaw Sea. H This very adult book looks at the sea’s human dangers: piracy, international and corporational corruption, government indifference and incompetence that results in death and destruction. The book is actually very frightening. You don’t want to read it if you are taking an extended cruise any time soon. Some of the incidents are portrayed graphically enough for a PG 13 rating for violence and abuse. Be careful Lilienfield, Scott L. 50 Greatest Myths of Popular Psychology. JH Everything you think you know about psychology probably isn't true! Left brain/right brain dichotomy, the influence of environment over heredity, schizophrenia as split personality, all kinds of other popularly held "knowledge" about the human psyche--studies prove these and many others to be false. This well documented book, with citations of relevant studies and copious source pages, discusses the fifty most basic untrue beliefs about human thinking and behavior and adds many others not so widely held. Excellent knowledge and fun to read. Mahmoody, Betty. Not Without My Daughter. H This memoir tells the vivid adventure of a woman who marries an Iranian born doctor in the US and begins a family. Then as he faces misfortune, the man changes, or reveals who he is, becoming abusive emotionally and physically as the woman tries to salvage her marriage and the life she thought she had chosen. Then the man takes the woman and her daughter to Iran for a "visit" to his family--which he reveals, once he arrives, that he intends the move to be permanent. Life in the oppressive Islamic republic under the finger of her Islamic husband and his family becomes worse and worse. The husband tells her she can leave--but not without her daughter. Gripping adventure follows. The movie doesn't tell the half of her tale. Masson, Jeffrey Moussaieff. When Elephants Weep. H This nonfiction book takes a good look at animals to bolster the conclusion that animals do indeed feel emotions, many of which are very like human emotions. With copious, interesting examples from animals studied in the wild and also in captivity, the book traces one emotion after another, even discussing such complex concepts as aesthetics in animals. Though the book deals with many abstracts, the discussions and examples make it a fascinating read. Mortenson, Greg and David Oliver Relin. Three Cups of Tea. H This fascinating and gentle narrative tells the story of Greg Mortenson, who strays off the trail and gets lost in the high Pakistani mountains after a failed attempt at climbing G2. His life is saved when he is found and cared for in a small, remote Pakistani Moslem village. Once recovered, out of gratitude and growing affection and respect for the villagers, he promises the village he will return to build a school where even girls can learn. The narrative traces his struggle to raise money, then overcome hurdles of culture, religion and poverty, to build not just one village school, but many. This narrative is especially relevant today, since readers come to understand, at least a little, the way of life and cultures of the peoples who live in the Pakistani and Afghan mountain villages in which many of the terrorist and suicide bombers originate, and peek at the beliefs, fears and privations that motivate them and the vast majority of their countrymen to whom their violence brings shame. The wisdom and charm, the pride and goodness of many of the people Mortenson meets helps offset the stereotypes the Western world has formed of Moslems from this area in the wake of 911. The narrative is positive and uplifting, showing the good that one courageous individual can do in the world. Mowat, Farley. Never Cry Wolf. Nonfiction. JH Great nonfiction tale of a biologist commissioned by the Canadian government in the bad old days before environmentalism to study wolves--so that the government could give the go ahead to slaughter them and eliminate predators that endangered game hunters love and livestock ranchers wanted to preserve. He finds the wolves to be much he did not expect. His account of studying and actually living like the wolves is fascinating and entertaining. (A bit crude in one place when he marks his territory like his canine counterparts) Myers, Gary. The Catch: One Play, Two Dynasties, and the Game that Changed the NFL. H I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. I am not normally a sports fan, though I grew up playing and watching a LOT of sports. This book, focused on one climactic football pass play in the 1982 playoff game between the 49'ers and the Cowboys, is well told. The author proves how important the play proved to be, marking the beginning of a 49er dynasty and the beginning of the end of the Dallas coach's career. The book examines everyone involved with "the catch" on both sides--Cowboys and 49'ers-detailing what happened to everyone before and after "the catch." You’ll find some crude language and references. Nagami, Pamela. The Woman with a Worm in Her Head: and other True Stories of Infectious Disease. Great collection of accounts about this doctor's investigations of infectious diseases from valley fever to worms from pork, to septic shock and chicken pox. Warning: one of the diseases is AIDS, so if you're in a teacher in a super conservative district, you may want to read the account first. This book is graphic in its depictions of symptoms and effects of these horrible diseases and very dense in its information, so may only be really gripping for advanced teen readers. Obmascik, Mark. The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and Fowl Obsession. H Who could have thought a book about people obsessed with birdwatching could end up being gripping and fun? At first I almost stopped reading, but then I got caught up in the competition of three men who were trying for the most birds in US territories in one year! And the competition is close through the year. The amount of money spent, the "great race" components, and the weird variety of birds the men go after, not to mention the character and lives of each of these men, make this book a good read for anyone with any interest in people and their idiosyncrasies. Opdyke, Irene. In my Hands: Memories of a Holocaust Rescuer. Nonfiction H MATURE. Wow! This holocaust narrative takes the story from a different point of view--from a girl who sacrifices A LOT to save those most threatened by the Nazis. Well worth reading. The book poses the ethical dilemma--what if you are called upon to sacrifice the ultimate to save many lives--at the cost of your possible salvation. What would you do? Great read, but mature. The choice the girl faces is R rated—but told tastefully. Panati, Charles. Extraordinary Endings of Practically Everything and Everybody. H with PG13 rating. This book is everything it says it is: it tells the ending of everybody from bequests of the US presidents to the deaths of notorious characters of the Old West, from different kinds of dying, to ancient extinctions, to vanished customs (including sexual practices--so the book isn't for the faint of heart). Piers, Paul Read. Alive. Nonfiction. H This true account of the rugby team survivors of a plane rash in the high Andes in winter proves that man will do anything to survive. This book is not for the faint of heart. It details, and I do mean details, the survivors’ ethical choice to eat those who died in the crash in order to have any hope of surviving. The book is positive, but can be disturbing. It presents an ethical choice no one should be forced to make. Preston, Richard. Panic in Level 4: Cannibals, Killer Viruses, and Other Journeys to the Edge of Science. H This nonfiction collection of essays about scientific anomalies begins with a very good discussion of the author's approach to writing nonfiction narrative and how he "climbs into the pot" to write about "soup," that is, comes as close as he can to experiencing what the people he writes about experience. The accounts of such diverse scientific adventures as the account two brothers who build a homemade supercomputer to compute pi, the story of the doctors who worked on an Ebola outbreak, and the scientists who worked on a collection of Medieval tapestries are told engagingly, with quotations directly from participants. Ralston, Aaron. Between a Rock and a Hard Place. Nonfiction. H Aron Ralston's account of his ordeal in the desert stuck in a rock crevice makes for gripping reading. Unintentionally, the book also reveals the character of this young man, as he risks not only his own life, but the life of his friends and those who have to rescue him--again and again. He comes across as self indulgent and egoistic, and not particularly admirable or likable. He is ready to throw away his friendships and love interests and to abuse his family's love--just to climb mountains. Robison, John Elder. Look me in the Eye. H (but only the paperback version—hardback not recommended because of language, etc) Be sure to get the paperback version, because he's cleaned it up a lot for youth to read. This frank autobiography traces the life of a remarkable man who taught himself to overcome the isolating effects of Asperger's syndrome and lead a successful life finding what he wanted and how he could relate to others in a "normal" way. Especially interesting, because this guy designed sound, explosive guitars and other effects for Kiss. Roach, Mary. Packing for Mars. H (Readers are strongly cautioned.) This book is packed with all kinds of great tidbits about what astronauts had to do to prepare for outer space life (along with all of the testing and experiments scientists did to prepare for the astronauts), then what living in a space capsule, module, ship or station is like for the astronauts--with all the grossest details. And that's what will offend many readers: the author holds nothing back about elimination and defecation in space, nor about sex in space. I really like the author's style. She mixes hard information with anecdotes and quotes from the actual astronauts, along with wry and witty commentary. The book is fun to read, as well as informative, but readers need to take into account their own sensibilities about chapters about bodily wastes. Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. H This very weird book deals with all things having to do with dead bodies, from Victorian "resurrection men" to odd medical treatments and cannibalism, to using cadavers as crash dummies. I thought it bogged down a little for me in the last couple of chapters. The merry, irreverent voice entertains: imagine chuckling about cadavers, which the reader does throughout the book! The book is informative and exhaustive. Careful about recommending it to young readers, since a couple of footnotes and a few paragraphs deal with research into male/female genitalia and briefly treat necrophilia. Samaras, Tim. Tornado Hunter: Getting Inside the Most Violent Storms on Earth. H If you have any urge to see a tornado, even by proxy, this book's for you. It details the story of Tim Samaras and many other "tornado hunters," who risk life and limb, sacrificing time and livelihood during tornado seasons, to search out, photograph and study tornadoes. Readers will learn about this kind of devastating storm as the author tells the history of those studying this phenomenon, throwing in harrowing tales of some of the most devastating storms that have destroyed towns and lives during the last hundred years. Seife, Charles. Proofiness. H Everyone should be required to read this book. In these days of political machinations, media with its obsession with polls, and questions of global warming and environmental health threats, all of us need to understand that numbers— which seem so objective—really can too easily be falsified, manipulated and misinterpreted, depending on the understanding or the agenda of those communicating the numbers. The book is really readable, with copious contemporary examples and a touch of history. (And you don’t have to have a background in math or statistics, though it will prove interesting for those who do.) Sheff, David. Beautiful Boy: A Father’s Journey through his Son’s Addiction. H. Nonfiction This gripping first person account traces the author's involvement with his son who falls into meth addiction, and the author's attempts to help him climb out of his addiction. I found it realistic. It shows how much a parent's love and sense of guilt help keep him in denial about addiction and its power to transform a beloved son into a monster-sociopath, willing to do anything for the drug he has chosen. The book also shows very grippingly how a son's addiction shatters the lives of everyone who loves him. (Warning: some language—we’re dealing with the drug culture.) Sparks, Beatrice PhD. Almost Lost. Nonfiction. H. This is the story of 15-year-old Sam who got into drugs, left home and survived on the street with the aid of his gang family. Told by his therapist from recorded tapes of his therapy, the story traces his growing trust of her and growing control of his own depression and self destructiveness. Positive, with reservations—it’s pretty explicit in language and lifestyle. I would like to get a reaction of a teen reader. The therapist is pretty preachy throughout with moralizing and advice and very affectionate compliments and loving remarks towards this boy throughout the narrative. It happened to Nancy. DRP 53. JH Nonfiction. The true story of a 14 year old (within weeks of being 15) thrown into “love” with a college boy who deceives her into vulnerability, rapes her, then promptly leaves her--with HIV, which quickly proceeds into AIDS. Her growth emotionally as she faces her disease and tries to have a “normal” life comes through her diary, allowing teen readers to identify with her in the two+ years this book chronicles to her death. The book is positive, but there ARE sexual references, obviously. Teachers need to read this before giving it out. I would rate it PG13 only for the sexual questions she has to ask herself, after the rape in regards to her “good” boyfriend, and in consequences of the rape. The editor has treated all of the sexual material quite sensitively, but still it requires a fairly mature reader. Stewart, Amy. Wicked Plants. JH If you have ever had any inclination to learn about plants that threaten man because they are poisonous or dangerous or threaten other plants and animals important to us, this is the book for you. Entertainingly written, informative, with wonderful (and scary) sketch-illustrations, this book will educate you about the houseplants, jungle plants; plants common and rare; that play their sinister part in our world. Summit, Pat. Raise the Roof. JH If you’re interested in women’s basketball, or if you like a good sports story, this nonfiction narrative is for you. The story of the undefeated 1997-8 Tennessee Lady Volunteers, who achieved the almost unprecedented “threepeat” of the NCAA women’s basketball championship, this book reveals the behind the scenes conflicts and dramas of a pressure laden season of play. The nature of the coach and how she is changed by the special nature of that particular team of young women makes this book touching as well as gripping. Positive. Thoms, Annie (ed.) with their eyes. New York: Harper Tempest, 2002. JH Stuyvesant High School is only four blocks from the twin towers/Ground Zero. The magnet high school for high achieving students draws kids from all over New York City. This unique account is their way of dealing with 911 only a few months after it happened: they wrote what they experienced and interviewed other people, including adults, about what happened to them during and after the trauma. They then took on personas other than their own to act out, using the free verse monologues as the basis for cathartic drama. This book collects all of the free verse monologues. It is a little unengaging at first, since all the participants skirt the idea of death and violence, focusing on the buildings and their own reactions to what they heard and saw, but not including much detail. However, the verse narratives are arranged to become more and more dramatic and thoughtful and bring up and confront the difficult issues the students were forced to wrestle. Excellent in showing how people react in the face of such crisis--including all of the denial. Very positive. Excellent for teaching free verse narrative, multiple points of view, and living history. Wiesenthal, Simon. The Sunflower. H This book deals with one episode from the life of this extraordinary man and poses the question, can or should a person victimized in the holocaust give forgiveness to an SS man on his deathbed for a horrendous deed he did in the holocaust? Wiesenthal tells the story of this episode in his life, then many people from different viewpoints discuss the issue of forgiveness and issues of the holocaust. Woodlief, Jennifer. A Wall of White: The True Story of Heroism and Survival in the Face of a Deadly Avalanche. H This account of a 1982 avalanche in a ski resort near Lake Tahoe begins by introducing the people who experienced it. The reader knows that seven of these people will be killed in the avalanche--but not which ones. The author then tells the fateful events leading up to the avalanche and the tiny decisions and events that determine the fate of its victims. The account of the avalanche and its aftermath is riveting. (English teachers--this account really pairs well with The Bridge of San Luis Rey, if anyone teaches this classic.)