Three Times Lucky

Because I work at the library, I feel under some pressure to come up with the perfect book for every family member's birthday. It can be pretty tricky, given the wide range of ages and interests. Their tastes run the gamut, from dry, historical nonfiction for my dad to Captain Underpants for my youngest nephew. Last year, the biggest hit with my tween nieces was Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos. This year, the clear winner is sure to be Three Times Lucky by Sheila Turnage.

Moses (Mo) LeBeau is an 11 year old girl in Tupelo Landing, North Carolina. When she was a newborn baby, Mo was set loose on a homemade raft into the rising floodwater during a hurricane and was found floating downstream. Mo is always searching for her Upstream Mother, despite having been adopted by the eccentric, but loving couple, Miss Lana and the amnesiac Colonel. Mo writes never-sent letters to her Upstream mother and she enlists friends and neighbors to release messages in glass bottles up and down the river.

The story begins when Detective Joe Starr comes into the local diner, asking questions about a recent murder in another town. When a local man winds up dead soon thereafter, the investigation really gets underway. Together with her best friend, Dale Earnhardt Johnson III, Mo searches for clues. With this brief synopsis, Three Times Lucky sounds like a children's mystery. However, it is so much more than just that. Sheila Turnage has created a unique and wonderful character in Mo LeBeau, and Mo's voice brings the characters in the town to life.The story is ultimately one about friendship, love and acceptance within a community. Highly recommended for all ages!

~Susannah

Reader Assistance Requested

I know we're supposed to be the reading experts here, but I'm requesting your help this week.  I have over 1700 titles in my to-read list.  I realize that even if I stopped working right this second (and since I haven't won the lottery that doesn't look to be happening any time soon) and did nothing but read books all day every day, I still wouldn't get through this list.  This is where you come in.  I figure I should probably whittle down my list a bit.  Chip away a book here and there.  So following are six titles on my to-read list that were popular at the time that I read the review.  Tell me what you think (apologies to the Clash), should they stay or should they go?  And if you haven't read them yet, perhaps I can make your to-read list six titles longer.

Leverage by Joshua Cohen

In Leverage, by Joshua Cohen, everybody knows that the football players at Oregrove High are like gods. They can get away with any amount of bullying, hazing, and pranking, and nobody will say anything as long as they keep winning games. Well, Danny Meehan is tired of it. He and the rest of the men’s gymnastics team are going to take a stand and fight back.

But fighting back just escalates the football team’s rage. When an innocent gets caught in the crossfire, with terrible consequences, Danny realizes that he needs a man on the inside. He might just have what he needs in Kurt, the new guy on the team who’s disgusted with his teammates’ behavior. But can two boys with a tentative friendship really take on undisputed gods?

Cohen takes on a sensational, current topic and shows how it comes to pass. Who has given these boys the carte blanche to act as they do? What effect does it have on a community, and on an individual? And most importantly, what does it take to bring the bullying to an end? Disturbing, raw, and terribly real, this book will stick with you.

From Cook to Convict

For over a century, American society demonized Mary Mallon. As recently as 2005, she was labeled, "the most dangerous woman in America." An Internet search of Mary Mallon yields thousands of results. Prominent newspapers, including the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times, continue to run articles about her. Yet she is far from a household name, unless you're aware of what a New York City paper dubbed her in 1910 - "Typhoid Mary."

Blending biography and fiction, Mary Beth Keane's compulsively readable novel Fever is the account of Mary who, as a teenager, traveled alone from Ireland to New York City in 1883. Starting life in her new country as a laundress, she quickly harnessed her talent and passion for cooking and worked her way into the kitchens of the New York elite. Her story opens with the simple line, "The day started with sour milk and got worse." and weaves through her complicated journey from cook to convict. Accused of being an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid - infecting her clients through her cooking - she was forcibly quarantined on North Brother Island for close to 30 years (dying on the island in 1938) but maintained her innocence to the end of her life.

Fever is a fascinating study of both Mary and the times, and perfectly captures the personalities, climate and catastrophes of turn-of-the century New York including the General Slocum ferry disaster and Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire. During its annual award honoring young writers, the National Book Foundation named Keane one of 5 Under 35 and her tender portrayal of Mary's loves and losses is one of the reasons.

Vicki Ann

LOL - Swedish Style

If you thought that contemporary Swedish literature was limited to the darkly noir (courtesy of the late Steig Larsson's Millenium Trilogy) you'll be thrilled to discover the other side of the coin or - more accurately - the crown (Sweden's monetary unit) in Jonas Jonasson's brilliant comic criminal caper, The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed out of the Window and Disappeared.

With less than an hour to go before his BIG birthday party, Allan Karllson boycotts the festivities, opens the window of his room at the Old Folks Home and steps into the flower bed. From the flower bed, he makes his way to the bus station and purchases a ticket. Waiting at the station is another prospective passenger - a very angry, slightly built young man with long greasy blond hair and a scraggly beard wearing a jean jacket with the words "Never Again" on the back and wheeling a large gray suitcase. Needing to use the restroom, which is a bit too narrow for both man and suitcase, he asks Allan to keep it in sight. When he emerges from the restroom, both the suitcase and Allan are gone.

The Mystery of Autumn

I have a confession to make. True-blue lifelong desert dwellers who are happiest above 110 degrees, avert your eyes if necessary. Okay, ready? Here goes:

I am ready for summer to be over.

Don't get me wrong, it’s been fun--but this is the time of year when I start getting wistful about putting on a sweater. I sniff the air on cool days to see if there's any trace of that spicy, October-y something hidden in the breeze. If you're like me and are waiting not-so-patiently for Tucson's lovely, nuanced cool-weather self to make its first appearance, you too might be looking for a seasonal read to get you in the mood for fall. While I wait for summer to wind itself down over the next few weeks, I’m getting a head start by snuggling up with a cozy mystery, G.M. Malliet’s Wicked Autumn.

This witty novel opens with an introduction to new vicar Max Tudor. When we meet him, Max has settled nicely into his first position as the vicar of St. Edwold's in Nether Monkslip, a sleepy and genteel village full of picturesque lanes and (these days) New Age specialty shops. While some people might find that sort of burg boring, Max will gratefully take all the benign normality he can get. You see, Max is a former MI5 agent, and the vicar thing is his fresh start after a career of secrecy and tiptoeing through the shadows. He now takes pleasure in his engagement with village community life, composing each week's sermon and working with the Women's Institute to plan the annual Harvest Fayre. Until, that is, the head of the Institute turns up dead. Whether he likes it or not, intrigue lurks behind the peaceful façade of Nether Monkslip, and even though Max has traded his badge in for a collar, he can't resist trying to find the killer.

The story that follows is a great mystery with a cast of likable, entertaining characters and a satisfying array of possibilities that will keep you guessing. Who killed the victim, and why? Will Max's investigation ruin the bucolic new life he's built for himself in Nether Monkslip? And how will this calamity affect the future of the Harvest Fayre? Wicked Autumn is a perfect weekend read, equally well-suited to chilly evenings ahead and the rainy days we're treated to at the end of monsoon season. Especially recommended for fans of M.C. Beaton, Agatha Christie, Lillian Braun Jackson, and the Inspector Lewis mysteries.

--Sara

On the Outside

Things are rough all over is the defining statement of S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders. A classic young adult novel, periodically challenged for violence, strong language, and family dysfunction, it is a short and fascinating read for both teens and adults. Required reading in my 5th grade English class, the story remains my all-time favorite book from school.

Ponyboy Curtis, his brothers, and their gang are known as Greasers - poor, rough, juvenile delinquents who commit crimes and wear too much hair gel. Their rivalry with the Socs (Socials, the gang of rich kids from the good side of town), simmers until one night when Ponyboy and his best friend Johnny are jumped at a neighborhood park. Johnny kills one of the attackers, forcing the two teens to leave town. Problems continue to multiply for Ponyboy, his family and his friends as violence escalates between the gangs.

This is a compelling story, easy to get sucked into, and worth reading. Or rereading. Despite being written over 40 years ago, The Outsiders continues to be popular.


-Elizabeth