The Notorious Benedict Arnold: A True Story of Adventure, Heroism & Treachery, by Steve Sheinkin (2010)

It was a beautiful place to die.  The sky above the woods glowed blue, and the leaves on the trees were a riot of fall colors: sunshine yellow, campfire orange, blood red.

Benedict Arnold grew up in one of the richest families in Norwich, Connecticut.  But after a family tragedy, Arnold's father turned to alcohol and soon the family was deeply in debt.

The old man finally died in 1762, leaving his son with nothing but debts and a fouled family name. 

Arnold dedicated his life trying to recover his family name.

That was how Benedict Arnold lived his life.  There were long periods of hard work, occasionally interrupted by explosions of temper.  The work part was paying off - his business was thriving.

As one of the first volunteers, Arnold was elected to be the leader of the New Haven militia.  It was the first of many steps he thought he needed to take to restore the Arnold name.

Everyone still remembered the long decline of Arnold's family, still talked about his father's public drunkenness, his own wild youth.  This is what made the coming war with Britain so important to Arnold.  Yes, he believed in the cause of American independence, but there was much more to it.  War would be a heaven-sent chance to wipe out the marks against him, to soar up and over everyone who'd ever dared to judge him.

Benedict Arnold was a brilliant strategist and courageous on the battlefield.  He solved the problem of finding cannons and led (with the help of the Green Mountain Boys) the ten-minute attack on the British fort, Ticonderoga.  He captured the British warship George without firing a shot.  He led the attack to Quebec, marching his troops hundreds of miles in winter temperatures.  He built America's first naval fleet and he led the Battle for Valcour Island.

Benedict Arnold's little navy was gone.  But it had kept the American Revolution alive.

As talented as he was on the battlefield, Benedict Arnold was tormented by free time and politics.  And he wasn't the only man who had military ambitions.  Along the way, Arnold made enemies.

What led Benedict Arnold, once the greatest hero of the American Revolutionary War, to become the greatest villain in American history?  The Notorious Benedict Arnold is a good read for anyone who has an interest in American history, historical fiction, nonfiction, or fascinating reads about real heroes and villains.

Rating:  9 out of 10 stars

To check out this book at NOLS, chick HERE!

The Watch that Ends the Night, by Allan Wolf (2011)

THE SHIP RAT -
          follow the food
     follow the rats
               scuttle, scuttle
          follow the rats
                    scuttle, scuttle
               follow the food

Following 22 different voices - each from a different class and station - this novel shares the experience of the Titanic, the largest and most luxurious ship in the world.  Various people, such an immigrant, a millionaire, a gambler, a socialite, a dragon hunter, a tailor, a refugee, and an undertaker, share their story of the Titanic.  Others that worked for the White Star Line, such as a shipbuilder, a navigator, a spark, a wireless man on Carpathia, the bagpiper, a lookout, a stoker, a businessman, a junior officer, an entree cook, Captain E. J. Smith, and a postman describe their experiences.

Everyone was so confident that the Titanic was unsinkable.

I will say this with the certainty my thirty years at sea allow:
any absolute disaster involving the passengers is inconceivable.
Whatever happens, there will be time enough
before the vessel sinks to save the life of every person on board.
I will go a bit further: I will say that I cannot imagine
any condition that would cause the vessel to flounder.
Modern shipbuilding has gone beyond that.

So he captained the maiden voyage with 606 people in first and second class, 710 people in third class, and 890 crew members across the North Atlantic Ocean.

Despite receiving several wireless transmissions about an immense ice field, the Titanic continued her fateful straight line to New York.

"Another ice message.  Enough with the bloody ice. 
I've got messages to send!"

No binoculars, on a moonless night.

As I speak up, I keep my eyes fixed
on the monster emerging from the night.
A monster that has already doubled in size.
No mistaking it now.

"Iceberg," I say.

"Iceberg, straight ahead!"

The world was stunned on the night of April 14, 1912.  The unsinkable Titanic. 

"My God."

The words escaped my mouth before I could stop them.
The clinometer showed a five-degree list to starboard.
The toothpick fell from my mouth to the wheelhouse floor.

Titanic was taking on water.

The Watch that Ends the Night is a good read if you enjoy reading historical fiction, if you like learning about early 20th century, if you're interested in learning more about the Titanic.  It's written in free verse, so it's a quick read, but there are parts that I thought were a bit awkward.  Even the iceberg and rats have a voice in this book.  It might be difficult for young teens to figure out the metaphor and I think these two things might distract several readers.

Rating:  7 out of 10 stars

*Not available at NOLS...yet!

Adios, Nirvana, by Conrad Wesselhoeft (2010)

"Hey, man, get down!"
     "Dude, don't be an idiot!"
     "It's my thicks calling to me.  They're standing just off the bridge, in the little park with the totem pole.  The one that looks out over Elliott Bay and downtown Seattle.

Sixteen-year-old Jonathan lives in Seattle with his "thicks," friends since preschool.  Their leader was Telly, Jonathan's twin brother.

Jonathan finds himself standing on the railing of a bridge during a snowy night in Seattle.  He's drunk.  He slips and falls, landing twenty feet below. 

"Jonathan, Jonathan,

when are you gonna fix your life?"

Telemachus (or Telly) got hit by a Metro bus on April 17 and died 27 days later.  Weeks later, one of Jonathan's teachers at Taft High School entered one of Jonathan's poems in the Quatch, Washington State's best young poet competition.  In October, Jonathan won, the youngest recipient in the history of the contest.

...I do have a friend: Dr. Robert Bramwell (a.k.a. "Birdwell").  He's my champion.  But he's also a hemorrhoid.  Because of him, I'm famous.  Because of him, people think I'm a prodigy.  They expect me to pull a rabbit out of a hat.  Part the Red Sea. 

Win the Nobel Prize.

But a letter from Dr. Jacobson (a.k.a. "Gupti the Witch") and a song request that changes everything.

"Here is one hard fact to consider:

on your present course,

you will not be promoted to

the twelfth grade in June."

Birdwell, the only one who isn't disappointed by him, finds Jonathan a job - writing .  A compensatory project equal to all the work he's missed.

An award-winning journalist and World War II veteran, David Cosgrove, wants Jonathan to write about his life.  David is dying in hospice care.  Reluctantly, Jonathan agrees to write the book.  David gives Jonathan a suitcase filled with pictures, letters, notebooks, and journals, his life during the war.

"For a long time, Jonathan,

I've needed to make peace with something. 

That's where you can help."

Adios, Nirvana beautifully illustrates how Jonathan heals from the loss of his twin brother.  It's poetic, raw, delicious.  It's a great book for guys, but I think most will love this book. 

Rating:  10 out of 10 stars

*Language, sexual references

To check out this book at NOLS, click HERE!

Epitaph Road, David Patneaude (2010)

Charlie frowned as muted sunlight leaked through the ragged umbrella of evergreen boughs overhead.  Someone had discarded a red plastic Coke pouch in the middle of the trail.  Under his breath, he gave that someone a name: 'Pig.'  He stomped the pouch flat and stuffed it in his backpack.  Two days into the hike and already one big compartment was crammed with trash.

Monday, August 8, 2067 - 1 billion dead

Tuesday, August 9, 2067 - 2 billion dead

Thursday, August 11, 2067 - 3 billion dead

Ten days later, more than 4 billion people are dead.  Ninety-seven percent of the male population.

A terrible virus runs its deadly course in less than 24-hours.

Charlie, his sister, Paige, and his mom were hiking deep in the wilderness on the Olympic Peninsula when the virus hit.  They were waiting for Charlie and Paige's dad to join them, but he never did.  Instead Elisha's Bear took him, and 4 billion males, away.

Thirty years later, fourteen-year old Kellen lives in Seattle with his mom and Aunt Paige.   Kellen's dad, Charlie, is a loner, a fisherman near Afterlight, formerly Port Angeles.  His mom, Dr. Heather Dent, works for PAC, Population Apportionment Council.  PAC controls society by restricting male births: no more than five percent of the population should be male.

Kellen and his classmates are about to take the trials which will determine what they were able to do as an adult - if they'd have an education, career, and citizenship opportunities. 

According to everyone I'd talked to, the main thing to do when I underwent my trials - the oral parts anyway - was to impress the examiners with my knowledge and sensitivity, to look sincere when I was doing it, and to exhibit my awareness of how EVERYTHING (almost) HAD IMPROVED SINCE WOMEN TOOK OVER THE WORLD. 

Males don't do as well as females on the trials.  On average 87% of females pass, whereas 72% of males pass.  Males have very limited choices, even if they do pass. 

After Elisha's Bear, women quickly realized the world and its inhabitants were much better off without men.  Wars, crimes, illegal-drug demand, gangs, prostitution, pornography disappeared.  The United Nations gained power and countries merged.  Laws were created to prohibit men from holding positions of power or influence in the public or private sector.

This is the world Kellen is forced to live in.

Epitaph Road is an entrance to a park in Seattle.  It was created after Elisha's Bear.  Millions are buried there.

epitaph

1. an inscription on a monument, as on a gravestone.

2. a short piece of prose or verse written in honor of a dead person.

Kellen and his two new housemates, Tia and Sunday, uncover a theory about Elisha's Bear.  In an effort to save Kellen's dad, the teens discover a dark and terrifying secret.

You're a skeptic.
If you've heard certain things - conjecture, conspiracy theories, wild-eyed accusations - over the years, you've mostly snickered at them and hurried back to the comforts of what passes for reality.  But maybe one rumor - that die-hard, far-fetched, alternate-universe one about the origin of Elisha's Bear, about someone purposefully unleashing it - haunts you.  Maybe you're skeptical instead about the so-called truth you've been spoon-fed from an early age - the idea that the Bear just showed up on its own and targeted only males.
You should be.

Epitaph Road is an exciting read if you like action, adventure, suspense, and stories that take place in Seattle and on the Olympic Peninsula.

To check this book out at NOLS, click HERE!

Rating:  8 out 10 stars
*Mild language (about 6 swear words)