Tag Archive | villains

Marauding killer robots, crime, superheroes, and the SECOND CHANCE OF DARIUS LOGAN, by David F. Walker (YA fiction)

May12
Book cover of The Second Chance of Darius Logan, by David F. Walker. A black teen wearing a hoodie stands on a dark wrecked street corner, hands in his pockets as he stares across at brightly lit intact city buildings.

Superhero-fueled kid dreams,
teen nightmare cop chase!
What next?!

His abusive uncle drank up Darius’ survivor checks following the killer robot Attack that slaughtered thousands, including the young Black boy’s parents and newborn brother.

After bouncing around foster homes, one bad decision has the now 17 year old facing prison… or a Second Chance with the Super Justice Force that stopped the Attack from annihilating humanity.

At SJF World Headquarters, he meets superheroes like Captain Freedom whose merchandise enthralled him as a kid and metahumans with exceptional abilities, as well as other Second Chancers – criminals (including former supervillains) given this same opportunity to rehabilitate before it’s too late.

Darius likes his boss Manny and how they support SJF’s crimefighting work on Earth and beyond, appreciates Dr. Sam getting him into Second Chance, and tries to avoid security chief Maslon who’s hated Darius since the moment they met.

Completing school with online classes, meeting beautiful Elladia (Manny’s niece), getting leave to visit new superhero friends’ home for a cookout – great!
Being confined to World HQ, repeated drug tests and meeting with a counselor, being harassed by Maslon – not great.

When outside forces try to infiltrate HQ, his familiarity with every corridor and room helps Darius in the hunt – but what do they want to steal?

A high-stakes story of despair and hope, evil and redemption, friendship, love, and justice – first YA novel by long-time comic writer, filmmaker, professor, and journalist David F. Walker.

Your favorite superhero?
**kmm

Book info: The Second Chance of Darius Logan / David F. Walker. Scholastic Press, 2024. [author site https://davidfwalker.com/] [publisher site https://shop.scholastic.com/teachers-ecommerce/teacher/books/the-second-chance-of-darius-logan-9781338826425.html] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Z is New Zealand DAWN RAID targeting of immigrant homes – time to protest! by Pauline Vaeluaga Smith & Mat Hunkin (MG fiction) #AtoZ

Apr30
Book cover of Dawn Raid, by Pauline Vaeluaga Smith, art by Mat Hunkin. Shows a dark-skinned young teen girl with long hair, hugging a book and wearing a dress and sandals. She is a bright image, walking with many monochrome-tinted native Maori and Pasifika immigrant people carrying signs and using a megaphone in New Zealand protest.

The right to free speech,
the right to education and work,
for everyone, right?

As the only girl squished in among so many rambunctious brothers, Sofia feels overlooked at home. Even her 13th birthday celebration in 1976 gets postponed when the boys get silly with darts and have to go to emergency room!

She gets too much attention in their small town school – for being Samoan, for reading her speech at assembly, for supporting the march by Maori people protesting theft of their traditional lands.

The New Zealand economy has turned bad, so the government says people with dark skin are the problem, making native Maori and immigrant Pacific Islanders alike easy targets for police harassment.

Sofia is now old enough to get a milk delivery job like her big brother. Despite all the heavy glass bottles and hearing complaints about price increases, she can save up for those groovy tall white boots she sees on TV!

Yay! Her grandparents are coming from Samoa to visit, so the whole family will take time off from school and work to go meet them in Auckland.

Oh, no… Polynesian Panthers are being jailed, just because they protest news silence about the government’s dawn raids of homes where an Islander might have overstayed their work or visitor visa!

Hmmm… Sofia has to write a new speech for the area competition about something she knows a lot about… like Islander people being the only group of overstayers being arrested.

Through Sofia’s diary entries and sketches, the 1976 Maori and Islander protests come alive, echoing the American Civil Rights movement that she learns about in school, as well as the current ICE raids in the US.

Reading what folks in other places and situations have written is a great way to know more about them – originally published by Scholastic New Zealand, brought to North America by Levine Querido, with discussion guide here: https://www.levinequerido.com/dawn-raid.

How do you support family members in difficult times?
**kmm

Book info: Dawn Raid / Pauline Vaeluaga Smith; illustrated by Mat Hunkin. Lantern/ Levine Querido, 2023. [author interview https://www.thesapling.co.nz/2018-04-17-author-interview-pauline-vaeluaga-smith/] [illustrator site https://www.mathunkin.com/illustration] [publisher site https://www.levinequerido.com/dawn-raid] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

X is unknown: KEPLER26: THE INVITATION to abandoned brothers – to a safe place? by Parvela, Sortland, Pitkanen, and Witesman (MG Fiction) #AtoZ

Apr28
Book cover of Kepler62: The Invitation, by/ Timo Parvela & Bjorn Sortland; art by Pasi Pitkanen; translated by Owen Witesman. Shows a short Black boy and a taller white tween boy with sticking-up hair, half-brothers who hold hands as they walk into a dark hangar. Through the open hangar doors emblazoned with a fierce bird, is a large passenger jet plane taking off into a vivid red and orange sky.

Too many people, too much pollution,
not enough work or food,
a computer game offers escape and a secret…

With Mom always gone, 13-year-old Ari shoplifts to feed little half-brother Joni. The hoopla about the upcoming space expedition to find another habitable planet doesn’t fill an empty stomach.

“A lady” gives Joni the video game that everyone is talking about: Kepler62, rumored to have a secret ending if you master all the levels.

Two days, two nights – the game starts with easy quests, then gets much harder. Online gamer forums say no one has solved level 99 yet.

As they try yet again, Joni insists that Ari choose an unconventional weapon, and onward they go in the dark tunnel… success!

Then things the boys have never ever seen appear on-screen – mountains and trees and a meadow where a tall pale boy runs with a kite as a young dark boy follows… is that them?

Joni wakes up with a fever, so they go to the health center where a very young girl with implanted medical knowledge prescribes a medication that triggers alarms when they accept it. The lady who gave Joni the game helps them escape, but the men in grey suits are fast!

Why did the government just now discover the boys’ mother hasn’t been home in a while?
Oh, those men’s eyes have that glint like the girl doctor – have their brains been altered, too?
Joni is sure there’s something else in the game – can the brothers find it?

This first book in the Kepler62 illustrated novel series (https://www.simonandschuster.com/series/Kepler62) was simultaneously released in Finnish and Norwegian, then translated into English.

What’s your favorite reality-escape video game?
**kmm

Book info: Kepler62: The Invitation / Timo Parvela & Bjorn Sortland; art by Pasi Pitkanen; translated by Owen Witesman. Arctis Books, 2023. [Timo’s site https://www.timoparvela.fi/en] [Bjorn’s site https://bjornsortland.no/boker.html] [Pasi’s site https://www.instagram.com/pp_pitkanen/] [Owen’s site https://www.suomitranslation.com/about/] [publisher site https://www.arctis-books.com/books/the-invitation] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

W is WHERE WOLVES DON’T DIE, where a Native young man seeks safety and himself, by Anton Treuer (YA fiction) #AtoZ

Apr26
Book cover of Where Wolves Don't Die, by Anton Treuer. Shows red and black bear drawn in Ojibwe iconic style, title and author written on its body, mouth open in a snarl, claws swiping at the pair of wolves attacking its belly and back.

Noise, dirty snow, crowds,
prejudice, bully at school –
he longs to escape the city!

After Ezra defends his friend Nora against white bully Matt at their Minneapolis school, and then Matt’s house is set ablaze, the Native teen and his dad head quickly to his grandparents for winter break, on the First Nations rez in the Canadian forest where Ezra truly feels at home.

When Nora visits her grandma there, the Ojibwe teens decide to solve the mystery so Matt will leave them alone forever. Nora heads back to school, Dad goes back to teach at college, and the fifteen year old goes far into the woods with Grandpa Liam to run the winter trapline for the first time.

Lots of snow, lots of very hard work setting traps for lynx, marten, fox, and beaver. Checking and resetting the traps each day, offering tobacco in honor of each animal’s life taken. Staying alert for scavengers and predators that would steal their harvest. Doing homework every night, listening to Grandpa read aloud.

Why did Grandpa raise Dad up here on the trapline for so many years?
Will Rose discover who set the fire and trapped Matt’s uncle and dad inside?
Can Ezra forgive his dad for not keeping his mom away from the workplace that caused her cancer?

And in these remote woods is Chi, the biggest black bear, so large that a wolf pack won’t attack him as they would a normal black bear… may he stay sleeping as they finish trapline season!

A strong story of heritage, self-knowledge, friendship, love, and family history.

The first fiction book by Dr. Anton Treuer, professor of Ojibwe, whose Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians, But Were Afraid to Ask (Young People’s Edition) I recently recommended: https://booksyalove.com/?p=14672.

Today is Independent Bookstore Day, so visit https://www.indiebound.org/indie-store-finder to locate the one nearest you! Or use https://bookshop.org/ to have books shipped directly to you, with your favorite independent bookstore as the seller.

How far away would you go to escape an enemy?
**kmm

Book info: Where Wolves Don’t Die / Anton Treuer. Levine Querido, 2024. [author site https://antontreuer.com/] [publisher site https://www.levinequerido.com/where-wolves-dont-die] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

S is for A SORCERESS COMES TO CALL, bringing her daughter, danger, and doom! by T. Kingfisher (YA fiction) #AtoZ

Apr22
Book cover of A Sorceress Comes to Call, by T. Kingfisher. Shows 2 curving, gnarled brown trees on either side of the title, on a dark background spangled with stars.

Isolated in a small house by Mother’s choice,
oft-ensorcelled, only a white horse as her friend,
daughter of a sorceress longs to escape!

Mother decides to find a new ‘benefactor’ in the city, and just-14 Cordelia suddenly finds herself in the magic-dazzled Squire Samuel’s mansion, tasked with posing as the 17-year-old debutante daughter of ‘Lady Evangeline’ to distract his sister.

However, Lady Hester immediately senses that Doom and her daughter have arrived – but which of them is planning to wed Samuel who’s avoided marriage so long?

Cordelia finds a friend in the middle-aged lady who teaches her embroidery and answers questions so kindly. If only she could keep Mother from controlling the minds of these nice people and using her horse-familiar to report all that happens outside the manor walls…

The Squire invites friends to visit so that Evangeline and Cordelia may stay longer at his estate, as polite society dictates. Now glamorous Mrs. Green is flirting with the Squire, and Mother is livid with rage.

What?! Mrs. Green is found with a murder weapon, Mother wants Cordelia to marry the mature Lord Evermore, and a huge ghostly beast is seen stalking the manor woods..

Can Hester save her besotted brother from evil Evangeline?
Can Cordelia’s new allies save her from her mother’s plans?
Can they save the very land and its people from the sorceress’s doom?

Another compelling and magical tale from the author of Nettle and Bone (recommended here https://booksyalove.com/?p=12858 ). Find it at your local library (worldcat.org/libraries) or independent bookstore (indiebound.org/indie-store-finder).

Have events ever made you wonder if magic was involved?
**kmm

Book info: A Sorceress Comes to Call / T. Kingfisher. Tor, 2024. [author site https://redwombatstudio.com/about-the-author/] [publisher site https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250244079/asorceresscomestocall/] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

Q is for questing with the SHEPHERDESS WARRIORS to protect her village! by Jonathan Garnier & Amelie Flechais (Graphic Novel) #AtoZ

Apr19
Book cover of graphic novel Shepherdess Warriors, volume 1, by Jonathan Garnier and Amelie Flechais. Amid a desolate gray wilderness, two very young warriors sit astride their mounts who rear up on their back legs - on the left, a boy rides a gigantic shaggy dog, on the right, a red-haired girl rides a large short-horned black ram. The youths hold aloft long lances with banners that cross at center.

Ten years with no news,
their men far away at war,
the women must keep their village safe!

Molly can’t wait! Now she’s finally old enough to start training with the Order of Shepherdess Warriors, to join her mother and grandmother in defending their village and their flocks. Only the oldest men and preteen boys didn’t go to war, so women began the Order to protect everyone.

Astride her ram, Black Beard, the ten year old and her friends learn archery, blade fighting, history, and how to stay awake on night watches.

Liam longs to be a defender, too. Even though the Order is closed to men, he and his gigantic dog tag along on training missions, aided by best friend Molly, of course.

Near the edges of the Deadlands, the apprentices encounter friendly-enough witches, bumbling bandits, and a dread unknown creature!

Can they prevent the evil creature from attacking the village?
Who is the girl wandering alone in this wilderness?
Will the being called ‘Great Botanist’ help the Order in their quest?

Volume one (issues 1 and 2) of the graphic novel series, which originated in France after artist Amelie created a squad of goat-riding warrior women for a cavalry-themed art challenge. Look for Volume 2, too!

What historic defensive skill would you like to learn?
**kmm

Book info: Shepherdess Warriors, vol. 1 / Jonathan Garnier; art by Amelie Flechais; translated by Ivanka Hahnenberger; lettering by Vibrant Studios. Ablaze Publishing, 2024. [artist site https://www.amelieflechais.com/] [publisher site https://ablaze.net/products?p=G9781684971695] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

H is spooky HARVEST HOUSE, a stalker nearby, and young Native women in danger! by Cynthia Leitich Smith (YA fiction) #AtoZ

Apr9
Book cover of Harvest House, by Cynthia Leitich Smith; shows a native teen boy walking away from a haunted house, surrounded by crows; upside down image of dark-haired young woman walking through dead trees with flying crows.

She was killed at the crossroads.
He still stalks young Native women,
so her spirit lingers there and attacks!

School budget cuts mean no fall play, and Hughie is bereft. Guess the indigenous teen will have time to volunteer at the haunted house fundraiser with new pal Sam after all.

Ick – the Harvest House organizer makes the legend of a Native girl killed at the Kansas crossroads into a racist trope and asks Hughie (Muscogee) and Sam (Hispanic) to dress up as murderous savages.

Sam’s sister works at the crossroads’ Grub Pub, is stalked by a guy one night, and then saved by the intervention of …a wolf!

Hughie helps student reporter Cricket connect with local elders and area history as the teens begin researching the mystery of the crossroads.

Progress on Harvest House maze (no Indian burial ground, please), seeking info on past encounters with the crossroads stalker, trying to ask Marie on a real date – Hughie’s life is suddenly complicated and not just a little dangerous.

Why do so many weird things happen at this particular crossroads?
Will Hughie’s spring play script with non-White characters be accepted?
Will the crossroads ever be safe for young dark-haired women?

Each chapter counts down the days until Halloween, interspersed with mysterious asides from Celeste who commands animals and birds to protect young women alone at night at the crossroads.

Find the story of Hughie’s big sister Louise during their family’s first year in Kansas in Hearts Unbroken, recommended at https://booksyalove.com/?p=10216.

Do you know a local legend that’s grounded in facts?
**kmm

Book info: Harvest House / Cynthia Leitich Smith. Candlewick Press, 2023 (paperback 2024). [author site https://cynthialeitichsmith.com/ya-books/ya_index/] [publisher site https://www.candlewick.com/9781536218602/harvest-house/] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

E is EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT INDIANS BUT WERE AFRAID TO ASK (Young Readers Edition), by Anton Treuer (YA nonfiction) #AtoZ

Apr5
book cover of Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask (Young Readers Edition), by Anton Treuer; shows intricate Native American beadwork design including cattails, vines and different flowers

“When did Natives really get to North America?”
“How many tribal languages are spoken in the Americas?”
“Why is there such a fuss about nonnative people wearing Indian costumes for Halloween?”

If you’ve wondered about questions like these, but didn’t know where to get reliable information, this book is for you!

Dr. Treuer (tribally enrolled Ojibwe https://www.mnhs.org/fortsnelling/learn/native-americans/ojibwe-people) clearly and unflinchingly answers 200 questions about terminology, history, religion, culture, and identity, powwow, tribal languages, politics, economics, education, and social activism related to Native peoples of North America.

Some are fact-based like “What is a sweat lodge?” and “When did the U.S. government stop making treaties with Indians and why?”

Other answers express a range of responses, such as “What general terms are most appropriate for talking about North America’s first people?” and “Why are Indians so often imagined rather than understood?”

Adapted by the author from his widely-acclaimed title for adults, this book concludes with questions and answers on Perspective: Coming to Terms and Future Directions, the author’s Conclusion: Finding Ways to Make a Difference, and recommended reading for each section.

Search online for Anton Treuer to find his many videos about Native culture, Objiwe language, and more. See the publisher’s site https://www.levinequerido.com/anton-treuer for this book’s teaching guides, too.

Whatever you ever wanted to know about Indians/Native Americans/First Peoples, this book is an excellent place to start – and you’ll find answers to questions that you didn’t realize that you needed to ask.
**kmm

Book info: Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask (Young Readers Edition) / Anton Treuer. Levine Querido, 2024. [author site https://antontreuer.com/] [publisher site https://www.levinequerido.com/everything-you-wanted-to-know-about-indians] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

They search to see WINGS IN THE WILD – wings of hope? by Margarita Engle (YA book review)

May8
Standing brown girl paints mural of tropical birds while seated brown boy serenades her with guitar - book cover of Wings In the Wild, by Margarita Engle

Creative people caged like birds,
our overheating planet –
where is justice?

Fleeing Cuba when their massive wood sculptures protesting the imprisonment of artists are revealed by a hurricane in 2018, Soleida is separated from her parents – the sixteen year old animal rescuer must continue out into the world, alone.

Yet another wildfire consumes his parents’ California mansion and the forest where Dariel serenades animals with Cuban love songs. Better to leave their elite expectations and go with Abuelo to help interview Cuban refugees stranded in Costa Rica, experience its natural wonders before climate change destroys them, too.

In spring 2019, Soleida and Dariel meet among the sea of refugee tents – her hopes of freedom shredded to the bone, his anger at these injustices burning hot.

What will she think of the tropical animals and birds that move in closer and closer to hear his songs and guitar?
What will he think of her journey-story, surviving fear and flood and hunger, leaving her parents behind?

Together, they find her artist cousin nearby in the cloud forest.
Together, can they let the world know about her parents, trapped in Cuba?
Together…can they have any future together?

Watching incredible birds, painting them, singing them near, pondering what could be – this novel-in-verse traverses difficult situations and wonder-filled landscapes.

Readers will recognize Soleida’s neighbors Liana and Amado from Your Heart, My Sky (recommended here), much like the interwoven stories of people who have left Cuba connect with those remaining there. Just released in paperback on April 23, 2024.

How far would you go to be free?
**kmm

Book info: Wings in the Wild / Margarita Engle. Atheneum, hardcover 2023, paperback 2024. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.

X for excitement – THE WOLVES OF GREYCOAT HALL have arrived! by Lucinda Gifford. (MG book review) #A2Z

Apr27
Tartan-clad wolf mom, wolf dad & wolf cub who holds large book on cover of The Wolves of Greycoat Hall, by Lucinda Gifford.

Where to go on vacation?

Aha! Once his father reads “Wolves to be reintroduced to Scotland” in the newspaper, Boris knows that’s where his wolf family will go!

The young cub reads about the Greycoats’ Scottish heritage on their interesting train and ferry journey to Portlessie, near the long-lost McLupus castle, Wolfemina Hall.

Folks stare at first, then welcome the Greycoats – except for dreadful Mr. Vorslad who wants to tear down Drommuir Castle to build a luxury resort (no one in town but the real estate agent wants that).

Such a lovely place and what wonderful food! If only they could outbid Mr. Vorslad and buy Drommuir as a vacation home in the Highlands, as a tribute to Wolfemina Hall…

Meeting historic battle re-enactors with swords – exciting!
Sketching birds at the beach and making sandcastles with new friends – very good.
Vorslad starting to destroy the beach and forest before the property sale is final – terrible!!

Can one young wolf save the castle and forest and beach, before it’s too late?

The author’s clever sketches add greatly to readers’ enjoyment – Mr. and Mrs. Greycoat in kilts, Boris sketching as they sightsee, paintings of their McLupus ancestors, and pages from A Guide to Morovia, their current wolfly homeland.

Followed by Boris in Switzerland at boarding school with snowboarding and a grand mystery. Find both books today, Independent Bookstore Day, and every day through the finder site for a store near you or online at bookshop.org.

What do you know of wolves that live in your region?
**kmm

Book info: The Wolves of Greycoat Hall (Wolves of Greycoat Hall, book 1) / Lucinda Gifford. Kane Miller/EDC, 2023. [author site] [publisher site] Review copy and cover image courtesy of the publisher.