Code Talker

YA FIC BRU

"Strong words outlast the paper they are written upon."

Six-year-old Ned Begay leaves his Navajo home for boarding school, where he learns the English language and American ways. At 16, he enlists in the U.S. Marines during World War II and is trained as a code talker, using his native language to radio battlefield information and commands in a code that was kept secret until 1969. Rooted in his Navajo consciousness and traditions even in dealing with fear, loneliness, and the horrors of the battlefield, Ned tells of his experiences in Hawaii, Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. 

Check out the official website of the Navajo Code Talkers by clicking here.

The Smile

YA FIC NAP

In the Florentine countryside, Monna Elisabetta struggles to become the noblewoman she's destined to be. Although her father is challenged to keep his silk business thriving during difficult economic times, Monna's mother is planning to give her an elaborate 13th birthday party in order to meet a suitable husband. But upon Mamma's sudden death, the event is canceled, and Monna turns her grief into preparing meals and working alongside her father. His friend Leonardo da Vinci has introduced her to Giuliano de' Medici, who becomes smitten with her smile. When her father remarries into nobility, Monna is forced into an arranged marriage, despite the fact that she has given her heart to Giuliano. 

(Summary from School Library Journal)

Never Fall Down

YA FIC MCC

“I see all this, smell the blood . . . But I don’t feel anything. If you feel, you go crazy.”

When soldiers arrive at his hometown in Cambodia, Arn is just a kid, dancing to rock 'n' roll, hustling for spare change, and selling ice cream with his brother. But after the soldiers march the entire population into the countryside, his life is changed forever. Arn is separated from his family and assigned to a labor camp: working in the rice paddies under a blazing sun, he sees the other children, weak from hunger, malaria, or sheer exhaustion, dying before his eyes. He sees prisoners marched to a nearby mango grove, never to return. And he learns to be invisible to the sadistic Khmer Rouge, who can give or take away life on a whim.

One day, the soldiers ask if any of the kids can play an instrument. Arn's never played a note in his life, but he volunteers. In order to survive, he must quickly master the strange revolutionary songs the soldiers demand—and steal food to keep the other kids alive. This decision will save his life, but it will pull him into the very center of what we know today as the Killing Fields. And just as the country is about to be liberated from the Khmer Rouge, Arn is handed a gun and forced to become a soldier. He lives by the simple credo: Over and over I tell myself one thing: never fall down.
Based on the true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, this is an achingly raw and powerful novel about a child of war who becomes a man of peace, from National Book Award finalist Patricia McCormick.

country is about to be liberated from the Khmer Rouge, Arn is handed a gun and forced to become a soldier. He lives by the simple credo: Over and over I tell myself one thing: never fall down.

 

Based on the true story of Arn Chorn-Pond, this is an achingly raw and powerful novel about a child of war who becomes a man of peace, from National Book Award finalist Patricia McCormick.

(Book Description from amazon.com)

The Boy Who Dared

YA FIC BAR


In October, 1942 when 16-year-old Helmut Hubner listens to the BBC news on an illegal short-wave radio, he quickly discovers Germany is lying to the people. But when he tries to expose the truth with leaflets, he's tried for treason. Sentenced to death and waiting in a jail cell, Helmut's story emerges in a series of flashbacks that show his growth from a naive child caught up in the patriotism of the times, to a sensitive and mature young man who thinks for himself.

(Book description from Amazon.com)

The official book trailer, including author Susan Campbell Bartoletti discussing her novel:

Picture the Dead

YA FIC GRI

On the home front near Boston in 1864, Jennie feels her twin’s presence like “a wave crashing over me” moments after he dies in a Union field hospital. Over the next year, she senses his presence and, more strongly, that of her fiancé, their cousin Will, who also died in the war. Will’s brother Quinn arrives home wounded, gaunt, and haunted by his experiences. When his painful revelations change the way she thinks about Will, Jennie faces hard choices and tries to contact the dead for guidance in discovering the truth. Brown’s evocative black-and-white drawings of photographs, letters, and other documents such as newspaper clippings appear between chapters in four-page, black-paper sections representing Jennie’s scrapbooks and, equally, possible evidence in the mystery.

(Review from Booklist)

The Books of Fell

 

YA FIC KER

If things seem too good to be true, they probably are.

A fateful car accident with a mysterious stranger sets a young man on a startling new path, tangled with promise, mystery, and danger. Presented with an offer too good to refuse, working-class John Fell gives up his name to run with the rich kids at a fancy prep school. It's a place ruled by an elite association of young men, whose members pledge to watch out for their own -- for life. Soon, like it or not, Fell is drawn into a complicated world. And even when the last thing he wants to do is get involved, it seems that somehow, he already is...and getting deeper by the minute.

(Book Description from Amazon.com)

The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin

YA FIC BER

Being a hefty, deaf newcomer almost makes Will Halpin the least popular guy at Coaler High. But when he befriends the only guy less popular than him, the dork-namic duo has the smarts and guts to figure out who knocked off the star quarterback. Will can’t hear what’s going on, but he’s a great observer. So, who did it? And why does that guy talk to his fingers? And will the beautiful girl ever notice him? (Okay, so Will’s interested in more than just murder . . .)

(Book Description from Amazon.com)

Little Brother

YA FIC DOC

Chaos ensues when the San Francesco Bridge is destroyed by a terrorist attack. The only ones found at the scene by the Department of Home Land Security are:

Marcus Yellow - a 17 year-old tech junkie who enjoys cutting school to play alternate reality games as the leader of his foursome of friends.

Darryl Glover - the best friend of Marcus who handles all the details of the group’s gaming plans.

Vanessa Park - a North Korean techy who attends an all-girls Catholic school and comes up with all the ideas.

Jois Torrez - The vain, tech savvy, genius who handles all the technical aspects of the group.

Together do they make 4 average, game playing, high-school students, just ditching school to play the latest round of Harajuku Fun Madness? Or are they really a threat to national security?