Quicksand by Anonymous

If someone you know is diagnosed with HIV or AIDS, it can feel as if they and everyone who knows them is being pulled into quicksand. Today's title provides all the facts and information you need to learn about HIV and AIDS: what they are, how they are transmitted, how they can be prevented, how people react to the news, and what sorts of problems they can expect - healthwise and otherwise, given the bias against people with HIV/AIDS that continues to exist in our society.

Humans Were Born to Run

Christopher McDougall started the quest that became Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen with a seemingly simple question: Why does my foot hurt? Like the majority of runners (from the morning joggers you see in the park to the best trained Olympians), he was plauged with injuries that kept him from participating fully in the sport that he loved. His questions led him to scientists at top research facilities, sports medicine specialists, and ultimately to the Copper Canyons of Mexico and the Tarahumara Indians, a tribe of people who make running long distances a way of life. McDougall wanted to learn the secret to their seemingly effortless running, and along the way touches on the history of the human race as runners, a 100-mile race in the Colorado mountains, the science behind why your expensive running shoes might just be bad for you, and some of the interesting but relatively unknown characters in the ultrarunning world.

You don't have to be a super athlete to enjoy this book. McDougall alternates chapters between scientific research (which is presented in interesting ways--don't worry about a dry presentation of numbers here!), stories of some of ultrarunning's current powerhouses, and his own quests to find the Tarahumara and become a better runner himself. We meet Ann Trason, one of the few people who have given any Tarahumara runner a challenge in a race (and are left to ponder the question of why, as the distances get longer, the times of male and female runners get closer and closer). There's Barefoot Ted, a runner who, you guessed it, sings the praises of running barefoot. Jenn Shelton and Billy Barnett are known for partying as hard as they run. The man who ties the story together is Caballo Blanco, an outsider who has been living in the Copper Canyons for years, earning the trust of the Tarahumara and learning their techniques for both running and serenity. It is Caballo who has organized the race that brings the author, various other ultrarunners, and some of the top Tarahumara runners together and is the focus of the last third of the book.

Read Born to Run to meet some fascinating people, learn a bit of the scienctific design of the human body, and be engrossed in a story. It may inspire you to get out and run, it may make you look at competition and mindset in a new way, it may make you believe that humans really were born to run. Here's an interview with McDougall from the Daily Show if you want a bit more background on how he got inspired to research the Tarahumara.

Cross posted at Dwelling in Possibility.

Incarceron -- Catherine Fisher

I read Catherine Fisher's Incarceron back when it was released in the UK, raved about it, and was so very excited for it to be released in the US, so I could recommend it to everyone, everyone, everyone. Well, I waited. And waited. And waited. And now, years later, it has finally been released here.

The following is my original post about it:

From Incarceron:

It was decided from the beginning that the location of Incarceron should be known only to the Warden. All criminals, undesirables, political extremists, degenerates, lunatics would be transported there. The Gate would be sealed and the Experiment commence. It was vital that nothing should disturb the delicate balance of Incarceron's programming, which would provide everything needed - education, balanced diet, exercise, spiritual welfare and purposeful work - to create a paradise.

One hundred and fifty years have passed. The Warden reports that progress is excellent.

Court Archives 4302/6

Final Crisis by Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones and Doug Mahnke

I'm of two distinct minds where it comes to so-called "event" comics. On one hand, they are the sort of thing that rightfully deserves their place in discount back issue bins. But on the other hand, they are what initially brought me to comics as a teenager. Early adolescence disconnected me from what I felt were "childish" things - and comics were on that list. But somewhere around 1984 I was daring enough to venture into a local comic book shop (an extememly novel business at the time), where my eyes quickly found the first three or four issues of Marvel's Secret Wars.

Now, anyone who knows anything about comics of the past 25 years will tell you that Secret Wars (for lack of a better or more accurate phrase) sucks. And this is true. It does suck. Inconsistent and contradictory plotting collide with ham-fisted diaogue and ultra rushed art to create the paradigm of the "comics as pure product" movement. But to my teenaged eyes, it was a wonder. Here were all of the characters I had loved as a child fighting against all of their most familiar villains in an epic battle for the fate of existence. It was a way to instantly re-access all of these characters and catch up on the changes that had occurred to them over the years. It was my "gateway drug."

Creation Myth

Science gives us a lot of specificity. We know how the universe began (though we don’t yet know what came before it), and we know an quite a about what’s happened since then--the formation of the galaxy and of the solar system, the geological history of the earth, the evolutionary history of life. It’s all fascinating stuff.

But those old pre-science creation myths have a lot going for them, too, whether stories of Gaia and Uranus, or of turtles and coyotes, or of a God making the heavens and earth in six days. While they may be inaccurate from a factual basis, they capture much of the mystery and awe we feel when we consider the origins of everything. And, because they often center around human desire, love, revenge, or failings, they tell us quite a bit about humans too.

Operation TBD Is Back!

Guys Lit Wire has once again teamed up with the readergirlz and YALSA for Operation Teen Book Drop 2010, and we're once again aiming to get thousands of YA books into the hands of teens on April 15, 2010. The countdown has already started (see nifty sidebar widget).

This year, we're also teaming up with If I Can Read I Can Do Anything in order to drop publisher-donated YA books into the hands of teens on Native American reservations.

Nationwide, librarians, authors, and teens are invited to drop YA books in their own communities on April 15th, 2010, to raise awareness for Operation TBD 2010 and Support Teen Literature Day--and to join the readergirlz for a party that night, at the readergirlz blog.

Neal Cassady, aka Dean Moriarty, aka The Holy Goof

The Holy Goof by the late William Plummer is a biography of one of the greatest literary figures to never write anything substantial--his best-known work is a fragment of a letter. But Sherlock Holmes' words to Watson might also describe Neal Cassady's relationship to Jack Kerouac (On the Road), Allen Ginsberg (Howl), Ken Kesey (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) and Jerry Garcia (leader of the Grateful Dead): "Some people without possessing genius have a remarkable power of stimulating it."

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

It is 1914. The Archduke Ferdinand and his wife are assassinated. Europe is splitting apart. The world is on the brink of war. Soaring in the sky above is a flying whale. Huh?

That’s right, a flying whale. Is there a problem with that? Don’t tell me you missed the flying whale part in eighth grade social studies? (Actually, given the dreadful state of social studies in our schools, chances are you missed everything.) Welcome to Scott Westerfeld’s wonderful “alternative history” of World War I, Leviathan. Rather than simply Great Britain vs. Germany, it is the Clankers vs. the Darwinists. The British are the Darwinists whose technology and weapons are based on creating hybrid animals, hence the flying whale. Or how about a flying jellyfish or squadrons of bats to bring down enemy planes? The Germans and the Austro-Hungarians are the Clankers, whose technology and weapons of war are machines. This is not just a war of politics; it is a war of technological ideology. Welcome to steampunk, the genre that is a hybrid itself, with an enthralling mix of past and future and fantasy, where machines – made of iron or made of flesh -- are as important as the people.

For much of this book (the first in a trilogy), there are two stories, slowly moving (literally) toward each other. The more interesting story is about Deryn Sharp, a girl who dreams of being an airman for Great Britain. The problem, of course, is that England did not take too kindly to the notion of airwomen. So Deryn pretends to be a boy, takes to the sky, and her adventure begins. Meanwhile, Alek , the son of the just-assassinated Archduke, is on the run. The heir to the throne, some in his own country have turned against him because his father did the dishonor of marrying a commoner. (As Westerfeld points out in an important Afterward, this is true to history.) Alek, along with some of his father’s trusted aids – and being a Clanker -- is stomping through the countryside in a giant armed Stormwalker. Give an army tank legs and you get the idea.

This is all tremendous fun. In many ways, Leviathan is an amazing work of imagination. I loved the science of the fabricated animals and the steampunk combination of history and fantasy. The idea of making Darwinian science a vital element of the story makes for an exciting and current read. The illustrations throughout the book by Keith Thompson (and the fabulous image on the endpapers) are an extra bonus.

As much as I enjoyed this book and look forward to the next one, there is something missing. It took me most of the book to realize what it is. Clearly, Westerfeld wrote this as a young adult novel. Yet, there is really nothing “young adult“ about it. Sure, World War I is a topic usually more suited for older readers, but while some of that history is wonderfully interwoven throughout Leviathan, it is done so in a way that will stop no one from turning the pages. Given this, there is absolutely nothing that should keep this book off the shelves (or out of the hands) of many younger readers. While that is certainly a good thing for them, the older readers pay the price. For a young adult novel, the book reads easy – too easy – and the characters lack depth. For a story about war, it is amazingly bloodless, to the point of being downright harmless.

Still, Leviathan is a great success of the imagination and an absolutely wonderful way to weave a bit of history into the lives of kids (and adults). It’s a fascinating combination of history and science and a great introduction (or addition) to steampunk. While it may be a weakness for older readers, the book makes all of this accessible to younger readers, hungry to stomp and fly their way through Europe, immersed in wars of politics and economic class and technology.

Review copy received from the publisher.

The Funeral Director's Son by Coleen Murtagh Paratore

Kip Campbell doesn't see dead people -- he just hears them. They share their final wishes with him, and he then helps them (sometimes reluctantly) complete unfinished business. Kip's story begins in The Funeral Director's Son and continues in Kip Campbell's Gift, both of which are suitable for upper elementary and middle school readers.

Being the son of a funeral director has given Kip plenty of grief - no pun intended. When the series begins, he has yet to share his gift with his family members or his friends, preferring to help the dead in his own quiet way. While listening to the requests of the dead and the concerns of their loved ones, Kip learns that there's more to people than meets the eye. More than once, his opinion of a person changes for the better after he reaches out to them. In the first book, he befriends an eccentric elderly woman while helping an angry old fisherman move on; in the second, he attempts to appease a recently deceased mother by passing along messages to her son - who just so happens to be the classmate that bullies Kip on a regular basis.

The living characters in the series are quite lively. Kip's house is filled with activity, thanks to the many relatives who live there. Campbell and Sons Funeral Home is truly a family business. Kip's father is the sixth in a line of Campbells to run the business, but Kip isn't sure if he wants to be the seventh. Kip's older sister, Elizabeth, annoys him; he prefers to call her Lizbreath. Kip's younger sister, Chick, spreads infectious giggles and smiley face stickers. Kip's mother is the office manager. Uncle Marty is the embalmer, and when he's done, Aunt Sally does makeup and hair. Living up at the top of the house are Great Aunt Aggie, the resident musician, even though she herself has taken ill lately, and Nanbull, Kip's grandmother and close confidante, who writes the obituaries and creates the funeral programs. Kip makes sure the outside of the house is suitable for viewings, raking the leaves (which Chick loves jumping in) and handling other exterior tasks. Lizbreath arranges the flowers, and Kip's mom provides those left behind a beautiful plant. Kip's circle of support extends well beyond his front door: He has three best buds, all male, who share meatball subs and meet after school in their clubhouse, aka Guts, an abandoned groundskeeper's cottage in a cemetery. Meanwhile, Kip develops a crush on the new girl in town, Drew, the daughter of the new harbormaster.

Stories about assisting the dead can go any number of routes, any number of ways, to varying degrees of success. Some are in the horror vein, while others are lighter and comedic. Coleen Murtagh Paratore has made The Funeral Director's Son line more thoughtful, without any horror movie elements, without any disrespect for the dead. The second book was a little more spiritual than expected, but, then again, perhaps that is to be expected when one contemplates death or existence.

Fans of Paratore's series From The Life of Willa Havisham, aka The Wedding Planner's Daughter, will appreciate the little tie-ins between the two series. Perhaps there will be a future crossover...? (Though that would bring something slightly supernatural into Willa's otherwise wholly realistic world, and I don't think I want that.) Though the plots and themes of the two series differ, Paratore begins each chapter of the Kip novels and the Willa novels with a quote, typically a wise proverb or a poetic line or stanza, providing even more food for thought.

If you prefer Ghost Whisperer to The Sixth Sense and you're looking for a series with a male protagonist in middle school, then give The Funeral Director's Son a try.

Artemis Fowl, graphically depicted

I am not the biggest fan of Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl. It's not that I don't think the world he created is awesome - actually I love the idea of Haven and Recon and Holly in particular. She's such a kick butt fairy that she really appealed to me. I also liked that even though Artemis is supposed to be Mr. Evil Genius she wasn't impressed and still found a way around him. Of course Artemis found another way around her but of course he had to for the sequel! ha!

I do get though that it was a fine story and I could see the appeal and although I really thought Artemis was too insufferable to live, as a summer time read, yeah, I could see it. I didn't read the sequels though and didn't think much about Fowl's continuing adventures. Then I received Artemis Fowl: The Graphic Novel in the mail and gave it a quick look, then a long look, and realized what was missing from the novel. Artemis needs illustrations and now he has them and this version of the story really really rocks.

Colfer has assistance adapting to the new form from Andrew Donkin and the art is by Giovanni Rigano. The story is still basically the same but don't you want to see what Artemis looks like? And Holly and Captain Short and Butler? Don't you want to see Haven and even better, don't you want to see Fowl Manor? All in glorious and glossy color, the whole story is here. The drawing is crisp, the facial expressions are fantastic, (Mrs. Fowl in particular is rendered well) and while I certainly enjoy getting inside a character's mind, Artemis is the kind of guy that is just flat fun to watch.

The troll is pretty cool too.

Artemis fans who are waiting the sequels should go for the graphic novels to supplement their reading. (The second one is out as well.) You get the high quality action plot you expect and you get to see it all unfold. First class all the way and in my mind a stroke of pure genius from Colfer and co.