New Book List

February 2007

FICTION

Shadow of the Giant - Card, Orson Scott

Booklist Starred Review. Card's latest installment in his Shadow subseries ( Ender's Shadow , etc.), which parallels the overarching series that began with Ender's Game (1985), does a superlative job of dramatically portraying the maturing process of child into adult. – Booklist

Black Wind - Cussler , Clive

About halfway through this rip-snorting adventure thriller, a "white-haired man" rescues heroes Dirk Pitt Jr. and his sister, Summer, from death by drowning. That man is revealed to be author Cussler ( Trojan Odyssey , etc.), reminding Dirk of "an older version of his own father," legendary oceanographer Dirk Pitt, hero of Cussler's previous novels. Just as the primary action baton is passed in this tale from Pitt Sr. to Jr., readers may note that Cussler's coauthor is his own son. But even if Cussler is beginning to pass on his writing baton, he's doing so with panache: thriller fans will revel in this action-packed yarn of land- and sea-based derring-do stuffed with technical details on matters from biochemical weapons "chimeras" to rocket launches. – Publishers Weekly

The Confessions of Max Tivoli - Greer, Andrew Sean

Booklist Starred Review: Max is one of the most unusual people one could ever meet, even in a novel. He ages backward. Mentally and emotionally, he progresses as do other children. Physically, however, he is born quite old and gets younger every year. Should he live long enough naturally, he will become a baby and die. When he is 5, his mother teaches him the most powerful lesson of his life, one that will enable him to coexist successfully with his fellow humans: "Be what they think you are." As a young, but physically elderly, man, Max meets and falls in love with 14-year-old Alice Levy. A relationship is impossible, and they go their separate ways, but Max is smitten for good. Years later, when Alice is in her thirties and Max is near that age, they meet again and, this time, marry. But after many childless years, Alice grows away from him, moves to Pasadena , and launches a successful career as a photographer. They meet again much later. Alice is in her fifties, and Max is a boy. Max's narrative, that of a man living in reverse and, perforce, rather alongside of his time than in it, becomes a deeply poignant and mature commentary on life that strums the heartstrings again and again. It's positively captivating. – Booklist

Dies the Fire - Stirling , S. M.

What is the foundation of our civilization? asks Stirling ( Conquistador ) in this rousing tale of the aftermath of an uncanny event, "the Change," that renders electronics and explosives (including firearms) inoperative. As American society disintegrates, without either a government able to maintain order or an economy capable of sustaining a large population, most of the world dies off from a combination of famine, plague, brigandage and just plain bad luck. The survivors are those who adapt most quickly, either by making it to the country and growing their own crops—or by taking those crops from others by force. Chief among the latter is a former professor of medieval history with visions of empire, who sends bicycling hordes of street thugs into the countryside. Those opposing him include an ex-Marine bush pilot, who teams up with a Texas horse wrangler and a teenage Tolkien fanatic to create something very much like the Riders of Rohan . Ultimately, Stirling shows that while our technology influences the means by which we live, it is the myths we believe in that determine how we live. The novel's dual themes—myth and technology—should appeal to both fantasy and hard SF readers as well as to techno-thriller fans. Publishers Weekly

Last Night - Salter, James

Booklist Starred Review: Perhaps this collection of Salter's artful yet definitely embraceable short stories will shake him free of the impositions of his reputation as a writer's writer. There is nothing wrong, of course, with being someone other writers like to read, but in most cases, and certainly in Salter's, a writer's writer is also someone anyone who appreciates good writing would enjoy. There are 10 stories here, and not one fails to showcase his superior talent in the form: his prose style, which is subtle but not abstruse, and his stories' points, which are also subtle but never vague. He deals in the broad subject of relationships, but within each relationship that he limns, he finds corners of peculiarity to illuminate, even though outward appearances may seem so ordinary. In the masterpiece "Comet," a man at a dinner party suddenly sees right through the transparency of his marriage to how wrongly he has led his life. The title story is a tour de force about assisted suicide gone wrong--for several reasons. Salter's genius is most apparent in the effectiveness of his short and direct dialogue, which he uses not only to reflect real people talking but also to distill character to sheer essence. – Booklist

Contents: Comet -- Eyes of the stars -- My Lord you -- Such fun -- Give -- Platinum -- Palm Court -- Bangkok -- Arlington -- Last night.

Next - Crichton, Michael

Bestseller Crichton ( Jurassic Park ) once again focuses on genetic engineering in his cerebral new thriller, though the science involved is a lot less far-fetched than creating dinosaurs from DNA. In an ambitious effort to show what's wrong with the U.S. 's current handling of gene patents and with the laws governing human tissues, the author interweaves many plot strands, one involving a California researcher, Henry Kendall, who has mixed human and chimp DNA while working at NIH. Kendall produces an intelligent hybrid whom he rescues from the government and tries to pass off as a fully human child. Some readers may be disappointed by the relative lack of action, the lame attempts to lighten the mood with humor (especially centering on an unusually bright parrot named Gerard), and the contrived convergence of the main characters toward the end. Still, few can match Crichton in crafting page-turners with intellectual substance, and his opinions this time are less likely to create a firestorm than his controversial take on global warming in 2004's State of Fear . – Publishers Weekly

Prep - Sittenfeld , Curtis

When Lee Fiona arrives at Boston 's prestigious Ault boarding school for her freshman year, she enters a world unlike anything she knew in South Bend , IN. "I always worried that someone would notice me," she says of her first bewildering weeks at the school. "And then when no one did, I felt lonely." This dilemma follows her throughout her four years. In her senior year, when she hooks up with star basketball player Cross Sugarman , she asks that he keep their relationship quiet. But she is appalled when she suspects that he has done just that. Sittenfeld has exquisitely captured the angst of the outsider in this fine coming-of-age novel. Lee is 24 when she recounts her boarding school history. Those few years' perspective give her an authentic voice that makes her sound less eccentric and more mainstream than Salinger's Holden Caulfield. Lee's world is peopled with the geeks and greats of the high school years–super-popular Aspeth Montgomery, who warns Lee away from a relationship with a townie; Aubrey, her math tutor, who professes his unrequited love; and enigmatic Cross, who initiates Lee into sex, but seems less than the full-fledged boyfriend she craves. Much more than stereotypes, Prep 's characters, in their depth and humanity, will appeal to readers, who will find themselves rooting for Lee despite her foibles and her insecurities. Her moments of self-doubt will reverberate with adolescents everywhere. – School Library Journal

The Space Between Us - Umrigar , Thrity

Booklist Starred Review: Sera Dubash is an upper-middle-class Parsi housewife in modern-day Bombay . Bhima is her domestic servant. Though they inhabit dramatically different worlds, the two women have much in common. Both married men they alternately love and loathe: Sera's moody husband frequently beats her, and Bhima's betrothed falls into an alcohol-drenched depression after losing his job. Sera's civil treatment of her servant--she overlooks Bhima's frequent tardiness and treats her like an equal--dismays her neighbors and friends. She also offers to fund the college education of Bhima's granddaughter, Maya, whom Bhima adopted when the girl's mother died of AIDS. The bond between the two women deepens when Sera (whose own daughter is happily wed and expecting her first child) arranges an abortion for unmarried Maya. Veteran journalist and Case Western Reserve professor Umrigar ( Bom bay Time, 2001) renders a collection of compelling and complex characters, from kind, conflicted Sera to fiercely devoted Bhima (the latter is based on the novelist's own childhood housekeeper). Sadness suffuses this eloquent tale, whose heart-stopping plot twists reveal the ferocity of fate. – Booklist

A Sudden Country - Fisher, Karen

Publishers Weekly Starred Review: Fisher builds a grand, mesmerizing novel on the bare chronicle left by her ancestor Emma Ruth Ross Slavin , who was 11 when her family joined the 1847 Oregon migration. Emma's mother, Lucy Mitchell, is a widow, remarried despite her grief for her first husband and resenting the decision of her second husband, Israel Mitchell, to emigrate. James McLaren is a Scottish trapper for the Hudson Bay Company, uneasy both with the emigrants and with the Native Americans, whose fate is bound up with his own. When McLaren loses his children to smallpox and his Nez Perce wife to another trapper, he tracks the trapper to Lucy Mitchell's wagon train. Lucy and McLaren's charged encounter opens her up to the land and him to his own need for roots as he signs on to guide her little band on their trek from the Iowa banks of the Missouri to the Columbia River in Oregon . Fisher tells their storires , past and present, with a poet's sense of the sound and heft of each word. Her compassionate, unsentimental eye makes even minor characters unforgettable. She reveals the labor of running a household when there is no house; equally well, she shows us mountains of death and splendor. In the collision between household and wilderness, Fisher brilliantly illuminates both the tragedy and the new life wrought by manifest destiny. This is a great novel of the American West. – Publishers Weekly

The Tenth Circle - Picoult , Jodi

Publishers Weekly Starred Review: Some of Picoult's (author of My Sister's Keeper ) best storytelling distinguishes her twisting, metaphor-rich 13th novel about parental vigilance gone haywire, inner demons and the emotional risks of relationships. Comic book artist Daniel Stone is like the character in his graphic novel with the same title as this book—once a violent youth and the only white boy in an Alaskan Inuit village, now a loving, stay-at-home dad in Bethel, Maine—traveling figuratively through Dante's circles of hell to save his 14-year-old teenage daughter, Trixie . After she accuses her ex-boyfriend of rape, Trixie —and Daniel, whose fierce father-love morphs to murderous rage toward her assailant—unravel in the aftermath of the allegation. At the same time, wife and mother Laura, a Dante scholar, tries to mend her and Daniel's marriage after ending her affair with one of her students. Laura and Daniel follow their runaway daughter to Alaska , at which point Picoult drives the story with the heavy-handed Dante metaphor—not the characters. Still, this story of a flawed family on the brink of destruction grips from start to finish. – Publishers Weekly

An Unfinished Season - Just, Ward

Just's novels never exceed a tidy length. But they contain such a deep understanding of the long arm of history, the pernicious abuse of power and the folly of human nature that their intellectual and emotional weight should be measured in metaphorical tonnage. An assured chronicler of the American character, in his 14th novel Just returns to his own roots in the Midwest , examining the heartland as a state of mind. In the 1950s, narrator Wils Ravan's family lives in a Chicago suburb. At 19, about to graduate from high school, Wils is an observer of his parents' strained marriage and his father Teddy's stubborn resolve to defeat the union organizers behind the strike at his printing factory. Wils's summer job is as a copy boy at a Chicago tabloid, where he becomes aware of the routine corruption in city government and finds himself complicit in the yellow journalism that destroys reputations. On another level, he attends dozens of country club dances given for debutantes on the North Shore . At one of these events he meets Aurora Brule, the strong-willed daughter of a mysteriously aloof society psychiatrist, Jason "Jack" Brule, and they fall in love. Jack Brule, meanwhile, becomes the novel's most compelling character. Withdrawn, secretive, obsessive and "passionately coiled," he hides a harrowing memory that explodes at great cost. The summer's events leave Wils ruefully disillusioned and aware of his lost innocence, but committed to the social and ethical code that will guide his life. It's always a pleasure to read Just's prose—crisp and intelligent, animated by dry humor and by a realism that is too humane to be cynical. This novel, with its resonant questions about the class divisions that most Americans refuse to acknowledge, is one of his most trenchant works to date. – Publishers Weekly

War Trash - Jin, Ha

Ha Jin has made exposing hidden facets of China 's recent past his calling, and in this tour de force, he illuminates historical events that are as timely as they are shocking. Haunted by his Korean War experiences as a soldier in the Chinese army, Yu Yuan, 73, decides to commit his wracking memories to paper, and proves to be a remarkably sympathetic and compelling guide to a heretofore unknown circle of hell. Interned in an American POW camp after being seriously wounded, Yu Yuan is alarmed to discover that the Americans and Nationalist Chinese loyal to Chiang Kai-shek are forcing POWs to go to Taiwan upon their release instead of their homes in mainland China . The impetus is to weaken the communist base, but the result is the coalescence of a covert prisoners' resistance movement of great daring and ingenuity in spite of vicious divisiveness. As the captors seek to reduce the captives to "war trash" with brutal mind games and outright torture, the prisoners respond by staging dramatic protests. Singled out because of his fluency in English, spiritual-minded Yu Yuan, intent on returning home to his widowed mother and fiancee , treads a knife's edge as translator and go-between. Ha Jin's taut drama of war, incarceration, coercion, and survival is galvanizing, and his ardently observant narrator is heroic in his grappling with the paradox of humankind's savagery and hunger for the divine. - Booklist

The Chrysanthemum Palace - Wagner, Bruce

Publishers Weekly Starred Review: In his Cellular Trilogy , novelist Wagner gleefully excoriated Hollywood vanity and pretense. Obviously his hunger for butchering Tinseltown's sacred cows was not sated because in his latest work he continues to carve them up. His uproarious new satire focuses on a trio of psychologically and emotionally fragile actors, each of whom carries the added baggage of a very famous and successful parent. The story is told from the perspective of Bertie Krohn , the soon-to-be-middle-aged son of the "creator-producer in perpetua of TV's longest-running syndicated space opera, Starwatch : The Navigators ." After several attempts to make it on his own artistically, Bertie succumbs to nepotism and joins the cast of Starwatch . The book revolves around his interactions with two other actors who are appearing on the series. The first is Clea Fremantle, his childhood crush and the daughter of a "legendary film actress." The other is Thad Michelet, the 50-something son of a universally revered, award-winning author. Much as Jeffrey Frank did in his excellent novel The Columnist , Wagner crafts a savage meditation on contemporary self-involvement—his characters are vacuous, name-dropping black holes of self-absorption. The writing itself is wonderfully bad, as Bertie the hapless hack attempts to chronicle his melodramatic tale with 25-cent words ("commodious," "numinous," etc.) and wickedly overwrought metaphors ("Thad's hungry eyes surveyed the topography of human detail unfolding before him like a jet devouring a runway during takeoff"). It's a short, sharp book that puts a dagger right in the heart of Hollywood .

REFERENCE

The Ultimate Visual Dictionary of Science - DK Publishing

Here's a science dictionary worth poring over for hours. The concise, well-written text and amazing photos and drawings in The Ultimate Visual Dictionary of Science provide an overview of science, from physics to biology, astronomy to mathematics--nine major fields in all. Within the larger sections, each fairly broad subtopic (such as "Reptiles," "Catalysts," and "Medical Imaging") gets a two-page spread. A brief beginning section introduces science as a concept and the work of scientists, while a useful section in the back bolsters the dictionary material with tables of measurements and data. The real strength of a visual dictionary is its images, and this one doesn't disappoint. The illustrations, including intricate cross sections, explanatory diagrams, and fascinating photos, are topnotch. This edition is up-to-date, with information on computer networks and mammalian cloning--a great science reference. _ Amazon.com

Enciclopedia Escolar / Children's Encyclopedia - Lectorum Publications

A one-volume illustrated children's encyclopedia in Spanish.

Enciclopedia Estudiantil Hallazgos - World Book

A thirteen-volume illustrated children's encyclopedia in Spanish.

Historical Atlas of the United States - Hayes, Derek

Using more than five hundred historical maps from collections around the world, this stunning book is the first to tell the story of America 's past from a unique geographical perspective. Covering more than half a millennium in U.S. history--from conception to colonization to Hurricane Katrina--this atlas documents the discoveries and explorations, the intrigue and negotiations, the technology and the will that led the United States to become what it is today. Richly detailed, visually breathtaking maps are accompanied by extended captions that elucidate the stories and personalities behind their creation. Coasts and mountains, rivers and lakes, and peaks and plains are described by explorers encountering them for the first time. These maps can convey explorers' ideas of what lay over the mountains ahead, their notions about what was discovered, and their explanations of the land's potential for sponsors back home. The maps can also show a promoter's attempt to sell his project to settlers or a general's assessment of a coming battle. They chart the wars that created and molded the country: the French and Indian War and the War for Independence ; the Mexican and Civil Wars; the numerous Indian wars; as well as more localized battles of conquest and survival. Readers can follow the progression of map creation and design as more knowledge was gained about the American continent. – from the publisher

NONFICTION

Game Design for Teens - Pardew , Les

You might have a truly amazing idea for a game, but do you know what to do with it? Transforming your idea into an actual game can be a daunting task. You must have an understanding of game art, programming, audio, and business in order to produce the solid game design document that can turn your really cool idea into a really cool game. "Game Design for Teens" is here to help you develop the skills you need to do just that. Study several real-world examples and learn from the experience of industry professionals as you focus on the techniques and elements that go into creating a game design document. Get ready to set your idea into motion as you turn it from a concept into a reality! – from the publisher

Snowstruck : In the Grip of Avalanches - Fredston , Jill

Jill Fredston stalks avalanches. She predicts where and when they will strike, deliberately triggers them with explosives, teaches potential victims how to stay alive, and leads rescue efforts when tragedy strikes. Reaching deep into this trove of personal experience, Fredston captures the overwhelming force of avalanches from a panorama of perspectives: a skier making what may prove his final decision, a victim buried so tightly that he can't move a finger, rescuers racing time and weather, forecasters treading the line between reasonable risk and danger. Sweeping us into these stories, she also captures the mercurial fascination of snow itself, which first drew her to Alaska and then led her to the man who would become her lifelong partner in love and work. Having spent decades trying to keeping avalanches and people apart, Fredston has brought them together hauntingly in Snowstruck . – from the publisher

Contents: Moments of truth -- Union of circumstance -- Unburying the past -- Walk in the park -- Rules of engagement -- Game of jeapordy -- Silver screens -- Line of fire -- Heat of friction -- Faces in the dark -- Truth or consequences -- Acknowledgements.

The Pursuit of Happyness - Gardner, Chris

This is the true story of Chris Gardner, a Milwaukee African-American who escaped from his ex-convict mother and violent stepfather by joining the Navy and then becoming a San Francisco stockbroker, only to wind up as a homeless single father of a 19-month-old son. The story's colorful language and no-holds-barred humor make it captivating. It's a happy-ending morality tale that shows how ironclad determination can break negative cultural cycles and lead to financial and personal rewards. Inspiring, well-told and authentic. Few will forget it once they read it. – Audiofile

The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What it Means for Life on Earth - Flannery, Tim

Publishers Weekly Starred Review: Mammologist and paleontologist Flannery, who in recent years has become well known for his controversial ideas on conservation, the environment and population control, presents a straightforward and powerfully written look at the connection between climate change and global warming. It's destined to become required reading following Hurricane Katrina as the focus shifts to the natural forces that may have produced such a devastating event. Much of the book's success is rooted in Flannery's succinct and fascinating insights into related topics, such as the differences between the terms greenhouse effect , global warming and climate change , and how the El Niño cycle of extreme climatic events "had a profound re- organising effect on nature." But the heart of the book is Flannery's impassioned look at the earth's "colossal" carbon dioxide pollution problem and his argument for how we can shift from our current global reliance on fossil fuels [...]. Flannery consistently produces the hard goods related to his main message that our environmental behavior makes us all "weather makers" who "already possess all the tools required to avoid catastrophic climate change." – Publishers Weekly

Contents: The slow awakening -- 1: Gaia's tools -- Gaia -- The great aerial ocean -- The gaseous greenhouse -- The sages and the onion skin -- Time's gateways -- Born in the deep freeze -- Making the long summer -- Digging up the dead -- 2: One in ten thousand -- The unraveling world -- Peril at the poles -- The great stumpy reef? -- A warning from the golden toad -- Liquid gold: changes in rainfall -- An energetic onion skin -- Playing at Canute -- 3: The science of prediction -- Model worlds -- The commitment and approaching extreme danger -- Leveling the mountains - - How can they keep on moving? -- Boiling the abyss -- The pack of jokers -- Civilization: out with a whimper? -- 4: People in greenhouses -- A close-run thing -- The road to Kyoto -- Cost, cost, cost -- People in greenhouses shouldn't tell lies -- Engineering solutions? -- Last steps on the stairway to heaven? -- 5: The solution -- Bright as sunlight, light as wind -- Nuclear Lazarus? -- Of hybrids, minicats , and contrails -- The last act of God? -- The carbon dictatorship? -- Time's up -- Over to you.

The Terror: The Merciless War for Freedom in Revolutionary France - Andress , David

Covering the crescendo of the French Revolution, historian Andress narrates its most radical phase, from Louis XVI's attempted flight abroad in 1791 to the 1794 guillotining of Maximilien Robespierre. Andress is a trustworthy guide to an extraordinary period in which hardly any event or personage is historically uncontroversial. In retrospect, the foiled royal escape was the turning point, convincing revolutionaries and the Parisian crowd of two things: the Revolution was incomplete, and counter-revolution was a genuine conspiracy, not fantasy. Grasping this dual aspect of the febrile revolutionary mentality, Andress meticulously recounts the progressive eclipse of moderate factions in the midst of foreign invasion and internal revolt throughout France . It was to master this crisis that the National Convention instituted the Terror, succeeding ruthlessly but undergoing a series of lethal political crises over revolutionary purity. At his explanatory best when invoking the interpersonal animosity and suspicion that preceded a faction's dispatch to the guillotine, Andress viscerally re-creates the Reign of Terror's deadly spectacle. – Booklist

Contents: Night flight -- Hankering after destruction -- The fall -- The September massacres -- Dawn of a new age -- Things fall apart -- Holding the centre -- Saturnalia -- Faction and conspiracy -- Glaciation -- Triumph and collapse -- Terror against terror.

The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success - Stark, Rodney

Starred Review (Booklist): At first glance, this book appears to be a retort to geographic theories of societal evolution, of the sort advanced by Jared Diamond's popular Guns, Germs, and Steel . Rather than patterns of weather and agriculture, Stark argues, Europe 's primacy in economic, political, and social progress was due to its embrace of Christianity, which opened a space for reason and hence science-driven technology. Emphasizing the connection between medieval scholasticism, with its notion of theological progress--the logical science of thinking one's way closer to God--and Renaissance capitalism, Stark maintains that Christianity alone embraced reason and logic, and this gave Christian regions a tactical advantage in developing commerce. An argument made with unavoidably broad strokes, its actual targets are Max Weber's notion of the Protestant work ethic and the conventional story that religion was a barrier to be overcome en route to progress. – Booklist

Contents: Introduction : Reason and progress -- Pt. I. Foundations. Blessings of rational theology -- Medieval progress : technical, cultural, and religious -- Tyranny and the "rebirth" of freedom -- pt. II. Fulfillment. Perfecting Italian capitalism -- Capitalisms moves North -- "Catholic" anticapitalism : Spanish and French despotism - - Feudalism and capitalism in the new world -- Globalization and modernity.

The Battle Over Homework: Common Ground for Administrators, Teachers, and Parents - Cooper, Harris M.

Harris Cooper revises his best-selling book, The Battle Over Homework , with new findings to help everyone involved in the process make sound decisions about homework. This new edition provides readers with the terms, definitions, and research evidence needed to explore the issues of homework in a constructive manner. A decade of new findings has been added to the research summaries Results of Coopers extensive survey of over 80 teachers and 700 families regarding how the homework process unfolds in their lives. There is increased emphasis on the influence of parents and the home in the homework process. – from the publisher

Contents: Finding the common ground -- Does homework work? -- Time spent on homework assignments -- The homework assignment - - Home and community influences on homework -- Homework policies for school districts, schools, and classrooms -- Quick tips for parents and students.

501 Spanish Verbs with CDROM - Kendris , Christopher

A new edition of the old standby, this time with a CD. The book presents the most important and most commonly used Spanish verbs arranged alphabetically with English translations in chart form, one verb per page, and conjugated in all persons and tenses, both active and passive. The accompanying CD-ROM gives students practice exercises in verb conjugation plus a concise grammar review. This combined book and software package is a comprehensive guide to Spanish verb usage with a wealth of reference material and language tips, including a bilingual list of more than 1,250 additional Spanish verbs, helpful expressions and idioms for travelers, and verb drills and short tests with all questions answered and explained.

A Man Without a Country - Vonnegut, Kurt, Jr.

A Man Without a Country is Kurt Vonnegut's hilarious and razor-sharp look at life ("If I die-God forbid-I would like to go to heaven to ask somebody in charge up there, 'Hey, what was the good news and what was the bad news?'"), art ("To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it."), politics ("I asked former Yankees pitcher Jim Bouton what he thought of our great victory over Iraq and he said, 'Mohammed Ali versus Mr. Rogers.'"), and the condition of the soul of America today ("What has happened to us?"). Gleaned from short essays and speeches composed over the last five years and plentifully illustrated with artwork by the author throughout, A Man Without a Country gives us Vonnegut both speaking out with indignation and writing tenderly to his fellow Americans, sometimes joking, at other times hopeless, always searching. – from the publisher

Boss Tweed: The Rise and Fall of the Corrupt Pol Who Conceived the Soul of Modern New York - Ackerman, Kenneth D.

Publishers Weekly Starred Review: William Marcy Tweed didn't invent graft, but he rigged elections and stole from the public on an unprecedented scale, gaining a stranglehold on New York City and amassing a vast personal fortune. By the early 1870s, he and his "ring" had skimmed between $25 and $40 million from the municipal treasury, a staggering amount even in an era notorious for robber barons and market manipulators. Ackerman, the author of The Gold Ring: Jim Fisk, Jay Gould, and Black Friday 1869, a book about two other Gilded Age scoundrels, deftly chronicles Tweed 's epic rise and ultimate disgrace, giving us a nuanced portrait of the "Boss." Early in his career, Tweed brilliantly recognized that he could win power by mobilizing New York 's teeming working-class and immigrant wards. Through patronage and largesse, Tweed recruited an army of ballot-box stuffers who helped install his cronies in office, allowing him to award jobs and contracts to friends while punishing enemies. Tweed's ring borrowed vast amounts on the city's tab and spent lavishly on such public projects as Central Park, making Tweed "the city's grand benefactor, Santa Claus with a diamond pin." But while Ackerman gives Tweed his due, describing how the Boss's machine aided the poor and helped modernize a crowded, chaotic city, the author is too clear-eyed to present his subject as a latter-day Robin Hood. Ackerman's Boss Tweed robbed everyone-and kept plenty for himself . And ultimately, Tweed 's corruption and fiscal recklessness had crippling consequences for the city long after he died, penniless, in jail. In the end, this book is not only a compelling look at the colorful yet ruthless man who invented the big city political machine, it is also the gripping story of how dedicated newspapermen and zealous reformers brought down a notorious kingpin. – Publishers Weekly

The Cold War: A New History - Gaddis, John Lewis

Publishers Weekly Starred Review: If it's difficult to imagine a history of the Cold War that can be described as thrilling, that should add more luster to Yale historian Gaddis's crown. Gaddis, who's written some half-dozen studies of the Cold War, delivers an utterly engrossing account of Soviet-U.S. relations from WWII to the collapse of the U.S.S.R. The ideological clash between democratic capitalism and communism predated the war, of course, but the emergence of nuclear weapons created a new political situation. Suddenly, it was easy to imagine total war that might destroy not only the enemy but also the victor. Gaddis assesses what he sees as the positive contributions Thatcher, Reagan and Pope John Paul II made to furthering the disintegration of the U.S.S.R. and concludes with a sympathetic portrait of Gorbachev; his refusal to use force ultimately cost him both communism and his country, but, says Gaddis, it also made him "the most deserving recipient ever of the Nobel Peace Prize." The interpretations on offer are not startlingly original—we've read this before, mostly in other books by Gaddis himself—but a new, concise narration was Gaddis's aim here, and he succeeds royally. His synthesis is sure to reign with general history readers and in undergraduate classrooms. – Publishers Weekly

Dreams of the Solo Trapeze: Offstage with the Cirque du Soleil - Schreiber, Mark

Schreiber loves the circus, and he is particularly fond of that immensely successful blend of acrobatics, theater, dance, music, and spectacle known as Cirque du Soleil. His deep appreciation shines (perhaps too brightly at times) on every page of his account of the behind-the-scenes life of the artists who perform in Saltimbanco , one of the company's many shows. The American writer turned a chance encounter with a Russian trapeze artist, Olga Sidorova , into an opportunity to hang out with the circus as it moved through Amsterdam , Barcelona , and Vienna . He met many intriguing characters, but none more fascinating than she. The highly talented performer is by turns feisty, charming, furious, endearing, and infuriating, but at all times devoted to her art. Any teen with ambitions of a career in the performing arts, as well as anyone who has attended a Cirque du Soleil show, should be especially attracted to this informed and enjoyable glimpse into the high-energy world of the circus performer. – School Library Journal

The Driving Book: Everything New Drivers Need to Know But Don't Know to Ask - Gravelle , Karen

School Library Journal Starred Review: This outstanding, common-sense guide covers important topics not mentioned in standard manuals such as automobile maintenance, getting gasoline, the differences between city and country driving, bad weather, the usefulness of cell phones in emergencies, and road rage. The book is clearly written and well organized, but it is also humorous and appealing, with lighthearted illustrations throughout. Gravelle emphasizes points with anecdotes from teen drivers. This title is particularly good in that it also discusses the special psychological and social issues facing adolescents, such as handling peer pressure to drive unsafely and dealing with nervous parents. Because getting a driver's license is such a rite of passage for teens, this book belongs in every library. – School Library Journal

The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time - Sachs, Jeffrey

Sachs came to fame advising "shock therapy" for moribund economies in the 1980s (with arguably positive results); more recently, as director of Columbia University's Earth Institute, he has made news with a plan to end global "extreme poverty"--which, he says, kills 20,000 people a day--within 20 years. While much of the plan has been known to economists and government leaders for a number of years (including Kofi Annan , to whom Sachs is special advisor), this is Sachs's first systematic exposition of it for a general audience, and it is a landmark book. For on-the-ground research in reducing disease, poverty, armed conflict and environmental damage, Sachs has been to more than 100 countries, representing 90% of the world's population. The book combines his practical experience with sharp professional analysis and clear exposition. Over 18 chapters, Sachs builds his case carefully, offering a variety of case studies, detailing small-scale projects that have worked and crunching large amounts of data. His basic argument is that "[W]hen the preconditions of basic infrastructure (roads, power, and ports) and human capital (health and education) are in place, markets are powerful engines of development." In order to tread "the path to peace and prosperity," Sachs believes it is incumbent upon successful market economies to bring the few areas of the world that still need help onto "the ladder of development." Writing in a straightforward but engaging first person, Sachs keeps his tone even whether discussing failed states or thriving ones. For the many who will buy this book but, perhaps, not make it all the way through, chapters 12 through 14 contain the blueprint for Sachs's solution to poverty, with the final four making a rigorous case for why rich countries (and individuals) should collectively undertake it--and why it is affordable for them to do so. If there is any one work to put extreme poverty back onto the global agenda, this is it. – Publishers Weekly

The Ghost Map: The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic-- And How it Changed the Way We Think about Disease, Cities, Science, and the Modern World - Johnson, Steven

Booklist Starred Review: More than two million people were squeezed into 30 square miles in Victorian London, producing massive quantities of waste that, before modern public waste disposal systems, fouled both land and the Thames River . Indeed, Johnson says, "No extended description of London from that period failed to mention the stench of the city." Some, called miasmatists , believed foul odors caused disease. Many believed the lifestyles of the poor and ignorant masses made them more susceptible to illness. Thus, in late summer of 1854, when cholera began claiming poor -working-class residents of the Golden Square neighborhood, popular opinion blamed the city's excavation of a nearby burial ground. But Dr. John Snow, an anesthesia expert and consultant to the queen, and the Reverend Henry Whitehead thought the pathogen might have a different source. Their dogged efforts soon ended the deadly epidemic. They demonstrated that Vibrio cholerae had been contracted by drinking contaminated water from the neighborhood pump. In the short run, Snow and Whitehead saved hundreds, perhaps thousands, of lives. In the long run, their work, part of which consisted of mapping the disease's spread, resulted in efficient public waste disposal systems and disease control measures that saved millions worldwide. And that work is hardly done. – Booklist

Globalization: A Very Short Introduction - Steger, Manfred B.

'Globalization' has become the buzz-word of our time. A growing number of scholars and political activists have invoked the term to describe a variety of changing economic, political, cultural, ideological, and environmental processes that are alleged to have accelerated in the last few decades. Rather than forcing such a complex social phenomenon into a single conceptual framework, Manfred Steger presents globalization in plain, readable English as a multifaceted process encompassing global, regional, and local aspects of social life. In addition to explaining the various dimensions of globalization, the author explores whether globalization should be considered a 'good' or 'bad' thing - a question that has been hotly debated in classrooms, boardrooms, and on the streets. – from the publisher

The Great Brain Book: An Inside Look at the Inside of Your Head - Newquist , H. P.

This detailed and informative book offers in-depth descriptions of brain processes coupled with engaging content. Intriguing illustrations and diagrams and clear, full-color photos enliven the text. Historical information pairs nicely with modern scientific knowledge and practice to provide a complete picture of the brain. The hardcore science is balanced with anecdotes that will capture student interest, such as how tightrope walkers rewire the fear centers of their brains and how lobotomies came to be popular. This is an excellent resource for reports as it is much more detailed than an encyclopedia entry or book chapter in a general physiology reference. It includes a short but effective index and a one-page list of Web resources. A handsome addition. – School Library Journal

Lost Mountain: A Year in the Vanishing W ilderness-- Radical Strip Mining and the Devastation of Appalachia - Reece, Erik

Booklist Starred Review: Criminal. That's the word that comes to mind upon reading Reece's excoriating expose of the coal industry's pernicious rape of the mountains of eastern Kentucky . Once the site of the oldest and most ecologically diverse forest in the country, now this stretch of Appalachian wilderness has gone from being a verdant North American rain forest to a bleak and dismal lunar landscape, thanks to the severely destructive strip-mining process known as "mountaintop removal." Under this radical form of coal retrieval, ore is mined by literally blasting away tops of mountains, dumping waste into the valleys below, burying streams, polluting wells, undermining buildings, and altering fragile ecologies. Reece spent a year intimately observing and chronicling the demolition of the ironically named Lost Mountain, hiking to its summit, fording its streams' headwaters, interviewing its residents, and visiting cemeteries to pay respect to those who ultimately succumbed to the pollution and violence perpetrated in the name of energy efficiency and economic viability. The tale of Kentucky 's mutilated environment is one that, like the mountain, has been lost. Resounding kudos to Reece for vividly bringing this critical story to light. – Booklist

The Lost Painting: The Quest for a Caravaggio Masterpiece - Harr , Jonathan

In 1992 a young art student uncovered a clue in an obscure Italian archive that led to the discovery of Caravaggio's original The Taking of the Christ , a painting that had been presumed lost for over 200 years. How this clue--a single entry in an old listing of family possessions--led to a residence in Ireland and the subsequent restoration of this Italian Baroque masterpiece is the subject of this brisk and enthralling detective story. The Lost Painting reads more like a historical novel than art history, as Harr smoothly weaves several narratives together to bring the story alive. Though he does not provide an in-depth examination of the painting itself--the book is not aimed specifically at art experts-- Harr does include many details for lay readers about restoration, the various methods used to track artwork through history, how originals are distinguished from copies, and an inside view of the art world, past and present. He also discusses various forensic approaches, including X ray, infrared reflectography , chemical analysis of the paints and canvas, and other modern techniques. But most of the book is focused on more primitive methods, including dogged research through dusty archives and meticulous attention to detail. This entertaining book boasts an engaging cast of characters, all of whom are inflicted with the "Caravaggio disease," including some of the foremost Caravaggio scholars in the world, persistent students, obsessive restorers, and most of all, the artist himself. Mercurial, supremely gifted, and prone to violence, Caravaggio lived like an outlaw and a pauper most of his troubled life. Yet even when he attained wealth and fame--and briefly, respectability--he was still hounded by the law (for murder) and numerous vengeful enemies. Harr does an admirable job of bringing the man alive in these pages while keeping his long-lost painting at the center of the action. – Amazon.com

Mozart's Women: His Family, His Friends, His Music - Glover, Jane

Mozart (1756-91) was involved with four groups of women during his life. His mother, sister Nannerl (1751-1829), and cousin were with him when his father insisted on touring him and Nannerl as child prodigies throughout the main cities of Europe . He fell in love with the members of the second group, the Weber daughters, all of whom performed in his operas and concerts, eventually marrying Constanze (1762-1842). The female singers and the female characters in his operas make up the third and fourth groups, respectively, according to Glover, who is exceptionally clear--indeed, a joy to read----as she explains the part each woman, real and fictive, played in Mozart's life. The last chapter chronicles the life that Constanze , Nannerl , and Mozart's two surviving sons led after the composer's early death. While very little original research went into it, Glover's book accounts for what made Mozart tick as do few others. – Booklist

A History of the Jews in the Modern World - Sachar , Howard Morley

Booklist Starred Review: Sachar , author of 15 books and the editor of the 39-volume Rise of Israel: A Documentary History , begins his new, compelling, and comprehensive book with an account of the European Jews and anti-Semitism they faced as early as the sixteenth century, in what he calls their "indeterminate status as non-Europeans." He goes on to describe such events as their life in western Europe during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the French Revolution and Jewish questions, the Jews of czarist Russia , their struggle for civil rights in the 1830s and 1840s, and their place in what Sachar labels an emancipated economy. There are chapters on such topics as the impact of Western culture on Jewish life and coping with Jewish identity, the rise of Jewish life in America , the era of pogroms in Russia , the migration of east European Jewry (1881-1914), and the onset of modern anti-Semitism. Sachar discusses the life of Theodor Herzl and the rise of political Zionism, the effect of World War I on European Jews and postwar anti-Semitism, the Balfour Declaration in 1917, quotas limiting Jewish immigration to the U.S. in 1921, the rise of Hitler and the Holocaust, and the birth of Israel . Sachar does not discuss the State of Israel, saying that the history of an independent nation deserves independent treatment, but otherwise he has written the definitive history of the Jews, unparalleled in its scope and depth. – Booklist

Contents: Foreword --The Jews as Non-European -- A Glimmering of Dawn in the West -- An Ambivalent Emancipation in the West -- Incarceration: The Jews of Tsarist Russia -- The Triumph of Emancipation in the West -- Jews in an Emancipated Economy -- The Impact of Western Culture on Jewish Life -- A Sephardic-Oriental Diaspora -- The Rise of Jewish Life in America -- False Dawn in the East: Alexander II and the Era of “Enlightenment” -- Russian Twilight: The Era of Pogroms and May Laws -- A Migration of East European Jewry: 1881–1914 -- The Onset of Modern Anti-Semitism -- The Mutation of Racism -- The Rise of Zionism -- The Evolution of Jewish Radicalism: Tsarist Russia -- Socialist “Internationalism” in Western Europe: The Trauma of World War I -- The Triumph of Bolshevism -- The Balfour Declaration and the Jewish National Home -- The Legacy of Progressivism: Immigrant Jewry in the United States -- Successor States and Minority Guarantees: 1919–1939 -- The Triumph of East European Fascism -- A Final Symbiosis of Jewish and Western Culture --A Climatic Onslaught of Postwar Anti-Semitism -- The Triumph of Nazism -- The Quest for Sanctuary 1933–1939 -- The Holocaust of European Jewry -- The Final Solution and the Struggle for Jewish Survival -- The Birth of Israel -- Eastern Jewry in the Postwar: A Failed Convalescence -- A Precarious Revival in Western Europe -- The Jews of the British Commonwealth -- A Latin Israel in the Southern Hemisphere -- The Efflorescence of American-Jewish Community -- The Jewish State and World Jewry -- Israel, the United States, and the Struggle for Soviet Jewry -- Afterword -- Bibliography -- Index.

The Orthodox Church: Second Edition - Ware, Timothy

Since its first publication thirty years ago, Timothy Ware's book has become established throughout the English-speaking world as the standard introduction to the Orthodox Church. In this newly revised and updated edition he explains the Orthodox views on such widely ranging matters as ecumenical councils, sacraments, free will, purgatory, the papacy and the relations between the different Orthodox Churches. In Part One he describes the history of the Eastern Church over the last two thousand years with particular reference to its problems in twentieth-century Russia, and in Part Two he explains the beliefs and worship of the Orthodox Church today. Finally, he considers the possibilities of reunion between East and West. In this latest edition, he takes full account of the totally new situation confronting Eastern Christians since the collapse of Communism. – from the publisher

A People's History of Science: Miners, Midwives, and "Low Mechanicks " - Conner, Clifford D.

In this persuasive history, Conner aggressively pursues evidence of how, since the earliest civilizations, elite scientists have suppressed and excluded lower class innovators while learning from and using their discoveries, often without giving them credit. As Conner notes, many of the "Great Man" myths about people like Galileo and Columbus, once believed to have made their contributions to science out of their own genius, have been debunked, but even those persist in the popular imagination, and others have never been addressed. The pages are dense with information and quotes from both primary sources and modern revisionist historians, and Conner tries to cover too much in too little space, but he writes clearly and skillfully shows connections as he ranges across time periods and disciplines from medicine to art to astronomy. This book is a valuable synthesis of previously spotty attempts to show science's reliance on the anonymous multitudes for many important advances. – Publishers Weekly

Contents: What science? What history? What people? -- Prehistory : were hunter-gatherers stupid? -- What "Greek miracle"? -- Blue-water sailors and the navigational sciences -- Who were the revolutionaries in the scientific revolution? -- Who were the winners in the scientific revolution? -- The "union of capital and science" -- The scientific-industrial complex.

Spanning the World: The Crazy Universe of Big-Time Sports, All-Star Egos, and Hall of Fame Bloopers - Berman, Len

Berman has been a fixture on the New York City sports scene since the 1980s, but he is best know nationally for the sports bloopers he collects in his "Spanning the World" pieces on the Tonight Show. This collection of funny or unusual anecdotes draws from both "Spanning" video and his own memory bank. Along the way, Berman offers insights into such various sports figures as Bob Knight and Arthur Ashe, but it's the oddball stuff that will most interest readers, including the story of a practical joke played by Detroit Piston Rick Mahorn , who told a referee during a game that teammate Joe Dumars had just scored his twenty-thousandth career point. Dumars was actually 5,000 short, but Mahorn's deception generated an impromptu ceremony that interrupted the game. There are hundreds of similar stand-alone anecdotes collected here, loosely organized around themes. Try a couple of chapters at a time for maximum enjoyment. – Booklist

Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 - Judt , Tony

World War II may have ended in 1945, but according to historian Tony Judt , the conflict's epilogue lasted for nearly the rest of the century. Calling 1945-1989 "an interim age," Judt examines what happened on each side of the Iron Curtain, with the West nervously inching forward while the East endured the "peace of the prison yard" until the fall of Communism in 1989 signaled their chance to progress. Though he proposes no grand, overarching theory of the postwar period, Judt's massive work covers the broad strokes as well as the fine details of the years 1945 to 2005. No one book (even at nearly a thousand pages) could fully encompass this complex period, but Postwar comes close, and is impressive for its scope, synthesis, clarity, and narrative cohesion. Judt treats the entire continent as a whole, providing equal coverage of social changes, economic forces, and cultural shifts in western and eastern Europe. He offers a county-by-county analysis of how each Eastern nation shed Communism and traces the rise of the European Union, looking at what it represents both economically and ideologically. Along with the dealings between European nations, he also covers Europe's conflicted relationship with the United States , which learned much different lessons from World War II than did Europe . In particular, he studies the success of the Marshall Plan and the way the West both appreciated and resented the help, for acceptance of it reminded them of their diminished place in the world. No impartial observer, Judt offers his judgments and opinions throughout the book in an attempt to instruct as well as inform. If a moral lesson is to come from World War II, Judt writes, "then it will have to be taught afresh with each passing generation . ' European Union' may be an answer to history, but it can never be a substitute." This book would be an excellent place to start that lesson. – Amazon.com

Contents: Introduction -- Part 1 Post-War: 1945-1953 -- The Legacy of War -- Retribution -- The Rehabilitation of Europe -- IV The Impossible Settlement -- The Coming of the Cold War -- VI Into the Whirlwind -- Culture Wars -- Coda: The End of Old Europe -- Part 2 Prosperity and Its Discontents: 1953-1971 -- The Politics of Stability -- Lost Illusions -- The Age of Affluence -- The Social Democratic Hour -- The Spectre of Revolution -- The End of the Affair --Part 3 Recessional: 1971-1989 -- Diminished Expectations -- Politics in a New Key -- A Time of Transition -- The New Realism -- The Power of the Powerless -- The End of the Old Order -- Part 4 After the Fall: 1989-2005 -- A Fissile Continent -- The Reckoning -- The Old Europe-and the New -- The Varieties of Europe -- Europe as a Way of Life -- Epilogue: From the House of the Dead: An Essay on Modern European Memory – Index.

Wodehouse: A Life - McCrum , Robert

This revealing biography of British novelist Wodehouse hinges on his wartime internment in Germany and its aftermath. In Wodehouse's disastrous 1941 decision to record a series of readings for Berlin Radio, McCrum discerns the political blindness of a gifted author whose work in farce and comedy had left him uninitiated into life's sterner realities. That initiation--belated and painful--came for Wodehouse when his Berlin broadcasts ignited a firestorm of denunciation. Government investigators eventually cleared him of charges of collaboration, but intense hostility in Britain still forced Wodehouse to relocate to the U.S. , where he rehabilitated his reputation through a renewed commitment to his beguiling tales of Edwardian frivolity. In time, cultural heavyweights--including Wittgenstein, Welty, and Updike--were too busy praising Wodehouse's deft artistry to mention his wartime blunder. Curiously, though, by making Wodehouse's biggest mistake the very center of his biography, McCrum makes it easier for his many readers to forgive him as they renew their appreciation for the gifted creator not only of Bertie and Jeeves but also Psmith , Mulliner , and so many other delightful characters. – Booklist

Contents: 'Does aught befall you? It is good' -- I: Getting started (1881-1914) -- ' My childhood went like a breeze' (1881-1894) -- "The boy, what will he become?' (1894-1900) -- 'First-fruits of a genius' (1900-1902) -- 'My wild lone' (1902-1904) -- 'I have arrived' (1904-1909) -- 'I want to butt into the big league' (1909-1914) -- II: Something new (1914-1929) -- 'An angel in human form' (1914-1915) -- 'Musical comedy was my dish (1916-1918) -- 'A bloke called Bertie Wooster' (1918-1923) -- 'All dizzy with work' (1924-1927) -- 'I am planning a vast campaign' (1927-1929) -- III: In the chips (1930-1939) -- 'I altered all the characters to Earls and butlers' (1930-1931) -- 'My worst year since I started writing' (1932-1934) -- "The one ideal spot in the world' (1934-1936) -- 'I am leading a very quiet life here' (1936-1937) -- 'I have become a biggish bug these days' (1937-1939) -- IV: Disgrace (1940-1947) -- 'The hors d'oeuvre in fate's banquet (1940) -- 'Camp was really great fun' (1940-1941) -- 'It was a loony thing to do' (June 1941) -- 'The global howl' (July 1941) -- 'Now I shall have nothing to worry about until 1944' (1941-1943) -- 'I made an ass of myself, and must pay the penalty' (1943-1947) -- V: Atonement (1947-1975) -- 'My world has been shot to pieces (1947-1951) -- 'Our slogan must be entertainment' (1951-1954) -- 'I keep plugging away at my art' (1955-1961) -- 'The grand old man of English literature' (1961-1975) -- The afterlife of P.G. Wodehouse.

Catholicism & Orthodox Christianity - Brown, Stephen F.

Traces Catholicism from its roots in early Christian churches to the way the religions are observed today. Recounted here is the historical passage of the Catholic and Orthodox faiths, from the original teachings of Jesus Christ to the early separation of the Eastern and Western Churches and recent attempts at reconciliation. The central doctrines of Catholicism and Orthodox Christianity are explored as background to such current issues as the child abuse scandals of the Roman Catholic Church in the United States and the many tensions over abortion and gay marriage that exist in American society. The death of Pope John Paul II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI are also highlighted. – from the publisher

Clay: The History and Evolution of Humankind's Relationship with Earth's Most Primal Element - Staubach , Suzanne

Staubach , a potter and freelance writer, successfully communicates the passion she feels for her material (both literal and literary) in this extensively researched overview of clay. What is this ubiquitous stuff? It began as granite, which over millions of years was ground down by rain, sleet, snow and chemical forces into what we now know as clay. The first known clay objects were small religious figures, followed by pottery vessels, in Neolithic times. The oldest such pottery known was produced by the Joman peoples of Japan . In addition to an informed discussion of clay ovens used by various cultures over time, the author compares these cultures' designs as pottery grew to be an art form. Ancient Greeks, for example, created a unique appearance by controlling the atmosphere of their kilns. Clay, Staubach says, has served many purposes: clay tablets were used for the earliest writing; it also became the key ingredient for building houses and, in modern times, sewer pipes and flush toilets. Some sections of this account will be of most interest to potters, pottery aficionados or those with an interest in earth science, but Staubach leavens her facts with captivating anecdotes throughout. – Publishers Weekly

Drugs Explained: The Real Deal on Alcohol, Pot, Ecstasy, and More - Mezinski , Pierre

Offers solid information and advice in a friendly, conversational style. The first part is a fictional diary in which a teen describes her encounters with drugs and alcohol, including a friend who tried them, got in trouble, and decided to stop using. The second part explains what drugs do to the body, how to avoid addiction, and what to do if a friend uses drugs. The third part presents the debate on whether drugs should be legalized, a self-administered test with answers, a table of principal substances, and statistical facts about teen use. Colorful and at times humorous paintings combine with a supportive, upbeat text. The approachable writing style, often-funny cartoons, and portable format make this offering one that teens and reluctant readers may actually consult and enjoy. – School Library Journal

Tears of the Cheetah: And Other Tales from the Genetic Frontier - O'Brien, Stephen J.

The 14 firsthand evolutionary yarns collected here are the equivalent of genomic Aesop's fables. By turns passionate, understated, unexpectedly literate and historically astute, O'Brien, head of the National Institutes of Health's Laboratory of Genomic Diversity, is a breath of fresh air: he's written a genetics book that neither probes the ambiguous legacy of genetic engineering nor seeks to entice us with yet another last-word account of the race to map the human genome-and judiciously dispensing with jargon wherever possible, O'Brien's a smooth read as well. The author does not tell us the genetic fable of how the leopard got its spots, but he comes close. The title story recounts his research team's startling discovery of near-complete genetic uniformity among cheetahs, derived possibly from a brush with extinction that forced inbreeding. O'Brien enters a century-old debate on the taxonomy of the endangered panda, whether it belongs to the bear or the raccoon family: a little molecular-genetic detective work revealed it to be either, depending on the species (there is actually more than one). He reads and learns from the genetic histories of the humpback whale and other exotic species. An underlying theme of the book is how these parables illuminate human medicine-how, for example, insights into cat immunodeficiency could lead to a cure for AIDS. O'Brien is an explorer of the first order, intrepid and curious. His accomplishments, including this modest book, are considerable. – Publishers Weekly

MEDIA

An Inconvenient Truth (DVD)

Former Vice President Al Gore presents his view on global warming and arguments that the dangers of global warning have reached the level of crisis, and addresses the efforts of certain interests to discredit the anti- global warming cause. Between lecture segments, Gore discusses his personal commitment to the environment, sharing anecdotes from his experiences.

Special features: Commentary with director Davis Guggenheim -- Commentary with producers Laurie David, Lawrence Bender, Scott Z. Burns and Leslie Chilcott -- An update with former Vice-President Al Gore.

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