Shusterman, Neal. SCYTHE

Shusterman, Neal.  
SCYTHE
New York : Simon and Shuster, 2016
IL YA
ISBN 978-1-44247-242-6


Way back in the year is 2042, humans conquered death and now everyone is immortal.  That's right. No one can die. Well they can be deadish but then revived. And they can even decide to become younger. Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? But of course if no one can die, the world gets more and more crowded. So Scythes came into being. The Scythes are specially hand picked and trained in the art of gleaning. Gleaning is killing. But when a Scythe gleans someone, they stay dead. This helps keep the population from becoming overwhelming. When Citra and Rowan are picked to be scythe         apprentices, they are both confused. Neither one wants to be a scythe and find the thought of gleaning abhorrent.  They do agree to be apprentices because their families are granted immunity during their training.  The apprenticeship is hard and neither particularly want to be successful. They are both apprenticed to the same Scythe which is unheard of. The Conclave of Scythes allows it to continue on the condition that whoever becomes a scythe must glean the other. There are many unexpected events along the way which will keep the reader going and trying to figure out what is going to happen. 

Iturbe, Antonio. THE LIBRARIAN OF AUSCHWITZ

Iturbe, Antonio.
THE LIBRARIAN OF AUSCHWITZ
New York : Godwin Books, 2017
IL YA
ISBN 978-1-62779-618-7
This is a Holocaust story but one you may not have heard before. We meet Dita as a prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau. But she is part of Block 31, a group of prisoners who allowed to keep their own clothing and have a bit more freedom than the others but it is still a hard existence. A young man named Freddy Hirsch is able to provide schooling to the children and some adults in secret. Dita is 14 and loves reading. The Nazis have burned books and very few remain. But there are 8 books in Block 31. Eight precious books that must be hidden from the guards for fear they will be taken away. Dita finds a way to hide the books and actually loan them out to other prisoners. If she is caught, it could mean her death. This is based on a true story from the camps. Many of the people in the story survived the camps and were able to tell their story. Do you cherish books as much as those in the camps did?

Nelson, S.D. RED CLOUD : A LAKOTA STORY OF WAR AND SURRENDER

Nelson, S.D.
RED CLOUD  : A LAKOTA STORY OF WAR AND SURRENDER
New York : Abrams Books, 2017
IL 3-6, RL 6.2
ISBN  978-1-41972-313-1


Long before Europeans came to America, Indians lived all through the land.  As more and more people immigrated, there was more need for land and the Indians were pushed further west. This is the story of Red Cloud, a Lakota Indian who would not be pushed anymore. As the soldiers moved further west into the land where the Lakota lived, Red Cloud made a stand. 

Engle, Margarita. JAZZ OWLS : A NOVEL OF THE ZOOT SUIT RIOTS

Engle, Margarita. 
JAZZ OWLS : A NOVEL OF THE ZOOT SUIT RIOTS
New York : Atheneum Books, 2018
IL YA
ISBN 978-1-53440-943-9

It's the 1940s in LA and the United States is at war. But that doesn't stop some teens from wanting to have fun. There is a dance club that they love to go to. Two Mexican American sisters work at a peach cannery during the day and go to the dance club at night. They are escorted by their brother who loves the club also. He loves getting dressed up in his zoot suit and dancing the night away. Jazz music plays and salsa rhythms entice the teens to dance. They welcome the sailors from the local port and the Jazz Owl girls are always happy to dance with the sailors. But as the summer goes on, things get tense. The young white sailors start beating the Mexican Americans. They begin targeting anyone wearing a zoot suit as do the police. It has become know as the zoot suit riots and Engle tells the story of racial riots in 1943.

Charbonneau, Joelle. TIME BOMB

Charbonneau, Joelle.
TIME BOMB
New York : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2018
IL YA
ISBN 978-0-544-41670-3

Another school year starts tomorrow. This may be a time when many students are looking forward to the new year. But not all of them. Diana is tired of being the perfect daughter of a politician. Cas knows that this school is no different from the other and she knows this year will not any better. Rashid who is so sick of people looking at him and judging him for being Muslim. Frankie, the star football player who made a mistake this past summer with Tad, who is biracial and gay. Then there is Z, the angry young man who has just lost his mother and everything he had. They each have a plan to change things up in the school today. But only one of them is planning to bomb the school. And now they are trapped together trying to survive. All but one of them.