March 2019 Prime Picks
The Arts
Unearthed
Stephen Talasnik
Monacelli Press
9781580935111
$50.00
www.monacellipress.com
Unearthed: Drawings, Sculpture, Installations
gathers artist
Stephen Talasnik's works from the last decade, adding essays by art and
architecture critics which compliment his different works.
Talasnik's
art covers
a range of themes, from representations of nature to high technology,
and
pushes the boundaries of sculpture and art by creating installations as
multifaceted in their mediums as they are in their messages.
The
juxtaposition of
double-page spreads that capture the feel of his larger works with
single page
features and black and white as well as color photos create a powerful
gathering that illustrates the heights and breadth of Talasnik's
productions.
It's a
special
challenge to represent the art and nature of sweeping, expansive
creations in
book format; but Unearthed achieves
not just superior representation, but adds the philosophical and
artistic
discussions so necessary to understanding the artist's intentions,
challenges,
and purpose.
Novel New Novels
Eternal Life
Dara Horn
W.W. Norton
9780393356564
$15.95
www.wwnorton.com
Eternal Life reveals Rachel's
dilemma: she cannot die, and lives an eternal life. When her latest
family
inquires about her will, she can't discuss it, because her death will
never
happen. She's been married and given birth to many children over the
past 2,000
years, and has tried to die; to no avail.
Her
rejuvenation
abilities subject her to constantly-revised lives and many generations
of
relationships. As Dara Horn explores these in a similar manner to Kate
Atkinson's Life After Life, readers
receive a powerful story not just of the perils and challenges of
immortality,
but what happens when an immortal stalker who also can never die and
the advent
of new technology begins to change her condition and its potentials.
Love, family
relationships, and eternal dilemmas coalesce in a powerful story that
holds
many unexpected twists and an engaging, literary style that makes it
hard to
put down.
The Girl at
the End
of the World
Richard Levesque
Independently
Published
978-1491276938
$12.99 Paper/$3.99 Kindle
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1491276932/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_U_RGGsCbKK2JRYS
The Girl at the End of the World tells of
Scarlett Fisher, a
California teen who lives an ordinary life until one day a plague wipes
out
everyone around her, leaving her alone and lacking the skills to
survive.
There's
nothing
special about Scarlett...nothing except a newfound strength that
doesn't have
its roots in anything but circumstance.
A number of
novels
chronicle teen survival after disaster; but this story holds many
facets that
place it above and beyond its competitors. One notable feature is that
it
focuses not just on the mechanics of gaining new skills, but on the
process of
viewing other survivors in a different light.
Not everyone
is to be
considered an ally simply because they've also lived, as Scarlett
discovers.
Not every survivor deserves trust, support, or even assistance. And
Scarlett is
on her own to make these determinations without any support from an
adult or
trusted community.
The Girl at the End of the World excels in crafting a riveting story of a very ordinary girl's sudden injection into an impossible, much-changed world. It's a solid, highly recommended read that stands out from any similar-sounding survival or plague story: one that teen to adult audiences will find especially compelling, driven by the character and learning process of a typical California teen forced to become savvy and creative in order to remain alive.
Sizzling Social Issues
Why I'm No
Longer
Talking About Race
Reni Eddo-Lodge
Bloomsbury Publishing
9781635572957
$17.00
www.bloomsbury.com
Why I'm No Longer Talking About Race
began as a blog post about why
most white people refuse to think about the legitimacy of structural
racism.
Reni Eddo-Lodge was prepared for controversy over her contention; but
the
surprise lay in its popularity and the comments it gained from readers
on both
sides; from white folk to people of color.
The
translation of her
viral blog into book form holds even more impact and the promise of
reaching
wider audiences involved in social and racial issues in America and
other
nations. It offers a synthesis of the blog's focus and comments
received from
its readers, provoking discussions centered on such diverse topics as
the
blinding comfort afforded by white privilege, the face and message of
white
feminist movements, and structural racism's impact on other societies
around
the world.
No social
issues or
racial debate would be complete without this hard-hitting examination
which
invites its readers to think, debate, and focus on the issues
underlying
structural racism in white societies.
Reviewer's Choice
Give Back
the Light
James C. Moore with
Steve Charles, MD
Greenleaf Book Group
Press
9781626345621
$24.95
www.gbgpress.com
Give Back the Light: A Doctor's Relentless Struggle
to End Blindness
comes from an author who was faced with potential blindness from a
detached
retina. James Moore searched for a miracle that could save his vision
and found
one in Dr. Steve Charles, a physician who invented techniques that
changed
retinal surgery and offered new hope to those who may otherwise have
become
blind.
When Moore
realized
that his doctor had quietly and single-handedly revolutionized the
field of
opthalmological surgery, he decided to write this book to document both
his
struggle to save his eyesight and the work of Dr. Charles.
Any health
collection
interested in a combination of autobiography and medical transformation
will
find Give Back the Light an
accessible, involving story that deserves attention from readers
interested in
the progress and processes of ocular surgery and sight.
Hero Dogs
Wilma Melville with
Paul Lobo
St. Martins Press
9781250179913
$28.99
www.stmartins.com
Hero Dogs: How a Pack of Rescues, Rejects, and
Strays Became America's
Greatest Disaster-Search Partners covers the origin of the
Search Dog
Foundation and tells how a retired schoolteacher and grandmother's
rescue of a
puppy led to her training to become a canine search-and-rescue handler.
This isn't
just
Wilma's story alone: it's the saga of rescued animals that became key
to human
survival during the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, and tells how a
nonprofit
organization arose from the ashes with no funding to become a prominent
team of
former misfits turned field service dogs.
Fans of
inspirational
stories of dedication and determination will find Hero
Dogs a moving true-life tale.
Iceland: A
Visual
Tour
Tony Sweet
Amherst Media
9781682033906
$21.95
www.amherstmedia.com
Iceland: A Visual Tour combines nature
photography instruction with
a travel guide that captures Iceland in two ways: via specifics on how
to
capture images of the country's beautiful landscapes; and through
images that
capture top tourist attractions and geological features.
From
landscapes to
waterfalls and lagoons, these color images especially excel when
complimented
with author notes about how he shot each image, from angle challenges
and
technical details on camera specs and settings to taking advantage of
low-angle
sunlight and allowing 2-minute exposures to gain the most from
Iceland's
scenery.
Where other
books
might appeal to travelers or photographers alone, Tony Sweet's
crossover title
holds equal value for both audiences, and is very highly recommended.
Lost America
Don Rauf
Lyons Press
9781493033966
$27.95
www.lyonspress.com
Lost America: Vanished Civilizations, Abandoned
Towns, and Roadside
Attractions provides a highly illustrated, inviting
examination of places
that have been abandoned or which have existed only in American legends.
History
buffs will
have heard of the vanished people of Roanoke or the tragedy of Love
Canal, but
the inclusion of California's ghost town Bodie; hurricane-erased
Auddock,
Napton, and Frenier, Louisiana; or Oregon's second-largest city of
Vanport,
washed away entirely, in one day, by a flood; makes for enlightening
reading
about those vanished places that often miss popular American regional
history
accounts.
With its
sidebars of
timelines, black and white vintage photos and newspaper headlines,
color
illustrations, and lively surveys, Lost
America will captivate leisure readers and American history
buffs alike.
Young Adult/Children
Disney/Hyperion
www.disneybooks.com
Five new
releases
from Disney offer engrossing stories for picture book to middle grade
leisure
readers, and are highly recommended as standouts above others.
Karen Kane's
Charlie & Frog: A Mystery
(9781368005821,
$16.99) follows Charlie Tickler's latest mystery, which evolves when
his
globe-trotting parents leave him with his grandparents. An old woman
who gives
him a message then vanishes, and Charlie is determined to find the
answers with
the help of Francine "Frog" Castle, a deaf girl with a passion for
solving crimes. The team embarks on a passionate search for answers in
this
involving read, which is recommended for advanced elementary to early
middle
grades, and which comes studded with black and white illustrations for
good
measure.
Kir Fox and
M.
Shelley Coats's Secrets of Topsea: A
Friendly Town That's Almost Always By the Ocean!
(97813580000055, $16.99)
is a Junior Literary Guild selection telling of new boy Davy, who
thinks his
new home, Topsea, is quite strange. It's a town where dogs are myths
but
mermaids exist, and where a zany set of rules governs its very strange
world.
Middle grade readers who like odd situations and settings will find
this tale
absorbing and hard to put down.
Deborah
Underwood's
Super Saurus and the Egg (9781423175698,
$16.99) is a picture book illustrated by Ned Young and tells of
Arnold's
parents, who bring home the egg of doom, containing a supervillain. But
is a
supervillain really about to hatch? A very colorful story of a Super
Saurus who
faces family changes invites young readers to analyze their own
reactions to
and perceptions of a changing family.
Greg
Pizzoli's This Story is For You
(978148475308,
$16.99) is from a Geisel Award-Winning author and illustrator, and
celebrates
kindness and friendship in a story of what makes individuals unique and
nice to
know. A very simple format creates a story line inviting the very young
picture
book reader to reflect on the real nature of interpersonal
relationships and
friendships.
Mike Wu's Henri's Hats (9781484709030, $16.95)
comes from the Pixar Animation Studios Artist Showcase and tells of
Henri, who
knows his grandfather as an elderly old man who lives far away and
leads a
quiet life. What he doesn't know is that this old man has had many
adventures
in his youth: a fact which emerges when he uncovers a trunk filled with
amazing
hats from different expeditions.
From a
ringmaster's
hat to a diving helmet and an aviator's cap, fun adventures are
chronicled in a
story that will appeal to young picture book readers and read-aloud
parents
alike.
Simon and
Schuster
www.simonandschuster.com/kids
Penguin Flies Home by Lita Judge
(9781534414419, $17.99) is a new Flight
School story about a little penguin who wants to soar with eagles even
though
he once could not fly. Lessons have helped him master the art, and now
he's
ready to fly home to teach his friends the skill he loves most in life.
There's only
one
problem: his friends don't share his passion. How can he reconcile his
life's
driving force with friends who don't share it? The gorgeous and fun
drawings
accent Penguin's dilemma and support Judge's underlying messages.
Jeff Newman
and Larry
Day's Found. (9781534410060,
$17.99) is
the fine wordless picture book story of a young girl who finds a lost
dog,
takes him in, and integrates him into her life. She's just come to love
him
when she spots a sign on a telephone pole with his real owner's
information.
What should
she do?
And if she does the right thing, how will she overcome her heartbreak?
A moving
story comes
to life and needs no words to help youngsters appreciate its warm
underlying
message.
This Little
Piggy
James Serafino
Philomel Books
9780525514664
$17.99
www.penguin.com/kids
This Little Piggy is about a child who
will eat only cereal. The
kid's voracious appetite results in a big cereal mess and requires
cleanup,
which the kid promises to perform.
Help is
required,
though, and hungry cereal-gobbling animals seem the quickest way of
addressing
the giant mess. But the dog fills up too quickly, the goat is too small
to
tackle the pileup of cereal, bowls, and boxes, and the cat just wants
to nap.
What kind of animal could succeed in cleaning up such a big mess?
Kids might
anticipate
This Little Piggy's help from the book's give-away title, but will
delight in the
unexpected series of animal encounters that results in the perfect
match for
the job–even if the results are just a little too perfect.
Fun drawings enhance a zany tale of a mess and its aftermath.