The Shame of the Nation

Author: Jonathan Kozol

Category: Professional

Reviewer: Lindsay Donaldson

Department/Position: World Languages

Summary: The Shame of the Nation is what Kozol is calling "American Apartheid". He makes strong statements about how segregated schools are now, and how they are nearly as segregated as they were before Brown vs Board of Education. He visited schools in poor areas around the country, most of which are inner city and have very low enrollments of white students. He discusses the high teacher turnover and low student test scores in these schools which very often have neigboring schools with nearly all Caucasian enrollements. He points a finger at No Child Left Behind and the way its lack of funding is hurting these schools. He builds a good argument that segregated schools will not only lead to lower test scores (according to the way they're run now), but also that it's socially harmful to all students to attend schools in which they're not exposed to much diversity.

Recommended Audience: Teachers

Rating: 5

One Shot

Author:     Lee Child

Category:     Fiction     

Reviewer:     Jan Woodcock

Department/Position:     Library/Media

Summary: In the book's gripping opening, five people are killed when a shooter opens fire in a small unnamed Indiana city. But when ex-infantry specialist James Barr is apprehended, he refuses to talk, saying only, "Get Jack Reacher for me." But Reacher's already en route; having seen a news story on the shooting, he heads to the scene with disturbing news of his own: "[Barr's] done this before. And once was enough." Nothing is what it seems in the riveting puzzle, as vivid set pieces and rapid-fire dialogue culminate in a slam-bang showdown in the villains' lair,: a quintet of Russian émigrés, the stuff of everybody's worst nightmares, led by a wily 80-year-old who makes Freddy Krueger look like Little Lord Fauntleroy.    

Recommended Audience:     Young adult and adults who enjoy mysteries and suspense stories.     

Rating:     5

5th Horseman

Author:     James Patterson

Category:     Fiction     

Reviewer:     Jan Woodcock

Department/Position:     Library/Media

Summary: A young mother is recuperating in a San Francisco hospital when she is suddenly gasping for breath. The call button fails to bring help in time. The hospital's doctors, some of the best in the nation, are completely mystified by her death. How did this happen? This is not the first such case at the hospital. Just as patients are about to be released with a clean bill of health, their conditions take a devastating turn for the worse. Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer probes deeper into the incidents. Could these cases just be appalling coincidences? Or is a maniac playing God with people's lives? When someone close to the Women's Murder Club begins to exhibit the same frightening symptoms, Lindsay fears no one is safe. Lindsay's investigation reveals a hospital administration determined to shield its reputation at all costs. And while the hospital wages an explosive court battle that grips the entire nation, Lindsay and the Women's Murder Club hunt for a merciless killer among its esteemed medical staff.
    

Recommended Audience:     Young adult and adults who enjoy a good suspenseful novel.     

Rating:          4

The Tenth Circle

5th Horseman    

Author:     Jodi Picoult

Category:     Fiction     

Reviewer:     Jan Woodcock

Department/Position:     Library/Meida

Summary 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 unravel in the aftermath of the allegation. At the same time, wife and mother Laura, a Dante scholar, tries to mend their marriage after ending her affair with one of her students. Picoult has collaborated with graphic artist Dustin Weaver to illustrate her deft, complex exploration of Daniel and his beast within. Laura and Daniel follow their runaway daughter to Alaska. This story of a flawed family on the brink of destruction grips from start to finish.

Recommended Audience:     Young adults and adults. If you are familiar with Dante’s Inferno, this will be especially interesting to you.

Rating:     4

Templar Legacy

Author: Steve Berry

Category: Fiction

Reviewer: Jan Woodcock

Department/Position: Library/Media

Summary The Knights Templar, a small monastic military order formed in the early 1100s to protect travelers to the Holy Land, eventually grew and became wealthy beyond imagination. In 1307, the French king, feeling jealous and greedy, killed off the Templars, and by 1311, the last master, Jacques de Molay, was burned at the stake. The whereabouts of the Templars' treasure--and their secrets--have been the subject of legend ever since. Ex-U.S. Justice Department agent Cotton Malone is intrigued when he sees a purse snatcher fling himself from a Copenhagen tower to avoid capture. Further snooping introduces him to the medieval religious order of the Knights Templar and the fervid subculture searching for the Great Devise, an ancient Templar.. The trail leads to a French village replete with arcane clues to the archive's whereabouts, and to an oddball cast of scholar-sleuths. Code-inspired anagrams, dead language inscriptions and art symbolism, debate inconsistencies in the Gospels and regale each other with Templar lore. Lively characters and action set pieces make this a readable version of the typical gnostic occult thriller.:

Recommended Audience: Older young adults and adults who enjoyed The DaVinci Code.

Rating: 4

Mary, Mary

Author:     James Paterson

Category:     Fiction     

Reviewer:     Jan Woodcock

Department/Position:     Library/Media

Summary: FBI agent Alex Cross is on vacation with his family at Disneyland when he gets a call from the Director. A well-known actress was shot outside her home in Beverly Hills. Shortly afterward, an editor for the Los Angeles Times receives an e-mail describing the murder in vivid detail. Alex quickly learns that this is not an isolated incident. The killer, known as Mary Smith, has done this before and plans to kill again. Right from the beginning, this case is like nothing Alex has ever confronted. Is this the plan of an obsessed fan or a spurned actor, or is it part of something much more frightening? And particularly baffling, how could a woman be capable of these vicious crimes? Members of Hollywood’s A-list fear they’re next on Mary’s list, and the case grows by blockbuster proportions as the LAPD and FBI scramble to find a pattern before Mary can send one more chilling update.

Recommended Audience:     Young Adult and Adult – A continuation of the Alex Cross series.

Rating:     4

This book is available in the AHS Library

The Eye of the Wolf

Author:     Margaret Coel

Category:     Fiction     

Reviewer:     Jan Woodcock

Department/Position:     Library/Media

Summary: Father John O'Malley is  alarmed on receiving a cryptic voice-mail message that leads him to a century-old battlefield and three newly slain Shoshones. Could these be revenge killings for the bloody battle that took place between the now co-existing Arapahos and Shoshones? When a client of Arapaho attorney Vicky Holden, Frankie Montana, is accused of the murders, Vicky's law partner and lover, Adam Lone Eagle, urges her to pass Montana to the attractive new lawyer in town. Past experience sets off her warning bells, and Vicky begins to wonder about Adam's interest in the beautiful blond newcomer. The wary familiarity between Vicky and Father John continues even as the two are drawn into an expanding circle of death.

Recommended Audience:     Young Adult and Adult An interesting read for those who enjoy Western and Arapaho Nation history.

Rating:     4

This book is available in the AHS Library

The Perfect Shot

Author:     Elaine Alphin

Category:     Fiction     

Reviewer:     Jan Woodcock

Department/Position:     Library/Media

Summary: Brian's girlfriend, Amanda; her sister; and their mother are shot to death in their garage. The girls' father is put on trial for the crime. On the day of the murders, however, Brian saw something that he thinks might affect the case. The story is told in flashbacks as he struggles for his life after being shot–as readers will suspect–by the true killer. What might have been a straightforward mystery grows richer as Brian compares Amanda's father's situation to the 1913 Leo Frank murder case he is researching for class. Another thread follows the arrest of Brian's friend and basketball teammate Julius, one of the few African Americans in their small Indiana town. Brian must also cope with pressure from his father to excel in basketball, and with his overwhelming grief over Amanda's death. Sports fans will enjoy the basketball elements throughout the story.

Recommended Audience:     Young Adult – A great read for those who enjoy a good mystery and a suspenseful tale.

Rating:     5

This book is available in the AHS Library

S is for Silence

Author:     Sue Grafton

Category:     Fiction     

Reviewer:     Jan Woodcock

Department/Position:     Library/Media
Summary:The daughter of a neglectful mother has been haunted by her mother's disappearance from a Fourth of July celebration when the daughter was only seven years old. Part of the intrigue from this case comes from Grafton's sensitive portrayal of the psychological consequences of neglect. Millhone doesn't have much hope for the case but starts digging. Grafton juxtaposes flashbacks to 1953, when the mother disappeared, with the current investigation, giving different points of view on the woman.

Recommended Audience:     Young Adult and Adult – The reader should be aware that there is some sexual content in this book.     

Rating:     3

This book is available in the AHS Library

The Camel Club

Author: David Balducci

Category: Fiction

Reviewer: Jan Woodcock

Department/Position: Library Media

Summary: Conspiracy theories--everybody has one. The difference with this conspiracy is that it's all too real. David Baldacci's The Camel Club takes readers inside the Beltway as four unlikely misfits struggle not only to survive, but to save their president and their country from a plot that will lead to nuclear disaster.


Recommended Audience: Young adults/adults

Rating: 4

This book is available in the AHS library.

First Things First

Author: Stephen Covey, Roger Merrill, Rebecca Merrill

Category: Professional

Reviewer: Frasier

Department/Position: Business/Marketing

Summary: First Things First is about the life of a busy business person or any busy person for that matter. Those of us that are always busy and always have too much on our plates will do well from not only reading this book but putting the practices it suggests into practice. The authors have found a way for everyone to be able to reorganize their lives and set priorities. As you read through the book you will find a need to set it down and think about how you deal with people and problems. This book takes some time to get through. Instead of running our lives by the clock the author helps create individual compasses and direction for each reader. This is a great follow up to the reading The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People which is a great book!

Recommended Audience: This is a thick book…better suited for an older person, college or beyond. It will test your ideas and ideals. I recommend it to the older sort because you have to be wiling to agree that you don't have all the answers. The rating is due to the length, it definitely took awhile to get through.

Rating: 4

This book is available in the AHS library.

Flyboys

Author: James Bradley

Category: Non-Fiction

Reviewer: Brian Hatak

Department/Position: Science/Teacher

Summary:
The book tells the story of pilots in the Pacific theater of WWII. The story concentrates on the lives of eight pilots who were involved in the fighting over Chichi Jima, a radio station on an island south of Japan. The story of these pilots is told from before and during the war up to their deaths. All were Prisoners of War or Killed in Action (except for George Bush). The story is about both sides of the war and the struggles that each part had. The fighting is described in detail, at least for the air war over Japan. The book can be difficult to read as the descriptions become graphic at times. The detail in this book is what caught my attention. I enjoyed the way that the men's home life was described so you knew a little about them. It was not only the Americans that were discussed in the book but the Japanese also. The war through the Japanese's eyes was very interesting along with the history of some of the islands involved. The history of these men is an important story to tell as the documents only recently became declassified. The fact that even some of the families of the pilots did not know what happened to them shows the struggle that the military had with getting the right amount of information out to the public. The book was difficult to read for any extended amounts of time since there was a connection to the individuals and the description of their deaths was sometimes very disturbing. I would even enjoy reading this book again.

Recommended Audience: Adult and high school readers interested in WWII history and its stories.

Rating: 4

This book is available in the AHS library.

Zorro

Author:     Isabel Allende

Category:     Fiction     

Reviewer:     Anne Smith

Department/Position:     Language Arts Teacher

Summary: Zorro is the story of Diego de al Vega's ascension into the role of Zorro.  It is a fictional tale of his birth to Regina and Alejandro, who are a mismatched couple from completely different backgrounds, but whose passion for one another leads to their marriage and conception of Diego.  We are also introduced to Diego's "milk brother" Bernardo.  We see the two boys grow up and apart through distance but still manage to maintain a wonderful spiritual connection through their Indian background.  The tale is set in early California, ventures down to South America, and across the ocean to Spain where Diego becomes a member of the secret society La Justicia.  From his membership, he manages to defeat several rivals who even follow him across the ocean back to America to seek revenge while Diego is trying to save his father's estate.  It is a very interesting look at the background of Zorro and is a creative interpretation of his history.

Recommended Audience:     This book is recommended for high school and adult readers     

Rating:     3

This book is available in the AHS library.