Manhunt by Janet Evanovich

This is a good summer romance set in the Alaskan winter. As the title suggests, it’s about a woman in her late 20s who has decided to leave the cold corporate world in NYC to find a warm man with whom to start a family in Alaska. She meets a hunky confirmed bachelor and the hunt is on. I don’t think I need to tell you how it ends.

Submitted by Cathy (7/15/10)

I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced by Nujood Ali with Delphine Minoui

This is a quick and horrifying read about child marriage in Yemen (although it happens elsewhere, too) and one girl’s decision to rebel against it. Nujood tells her story of rape and servitude, but, unfortunately, she is just one among thousands. While revealing her life’s struggles, Nujood also paints a bleak picture of how women are seen and treated in her culture.
However, lest we feel too self-righteous, we should look at how we treat children and women here. We may not openly discriminate against women, but our society sexualizes children and women in a different way – primarily through advertising and other types of media. Instead of tucking our women away, we bare too much. We, too, have teen mothers, although ours were generally not forced into marriage, but allowed too much freedom and given little protection from predatory older men. While Nujood and other girls shy away from being forced to grow up quickly, teens here are pressured into growing up quickly by the entertainment industry. She had to be a wife; our girls become sexually active agents before they have mentally matured. She was told what she couldn’t do; we let our youth do too much. This would be a good thesis topic, so I’ll stop here; I trust you get the gist.
This book gives us a glimpse of how the girls feel and the pressures they and their families have to face. I wondered a bit how much of the narrative was directly from Nujood and how much was filled in by the writer. It would seem that Nujood is a very mature young lady in her observations and thoughts. Still and all, it was a very interesting and thought-provoking read.

Cathy (7/15/10)

Stolen by Vivian Vande Velde

The book Stolen begins with a young girl later called Isabelle running through the woods with no memory of who she is or why she's running. When she realizes that she can't remember she stops and ends up treed by a pack of dogs and gets hurt. The man who owns the dogs calls them off and decides to take her home and care for her. Throughout the book Isabelle tries to find out who she is, all the while dealing with a woman who believes Isabelle to be her daughter, tales of a witch who might have stolen her when she was but a baby, and a could-be sister who wants nothing to do with her. Stolen is a book that any age can enjoy although it is primarily focused on young teens.

Shelby's Folly: Jack Dempsey, Doc Kearns, and the Shakedown of a Montana Boomtown 796.83 KEL

Shelby, Montana claimed to be the next "Tulsa of the West." It became a town that made its brags and then had the courage, if not the resources, to back them up.

The focus: one spectacular heavyweight fight on a torrid 4th of July in 1923. In one corner, one of the most feared sluggers to ever live, Jack Dempsey; in the other a challenger, Tommy Gibbons, who was much like the town of Shelby itself, long on courage even unto accepting the threat of death, but just a bit short on the physical resources needed to pull off one of the great upsets in boxing history.

Mix in the fantastic national con artist, Dempsey's manager Jack "Doc" Kearns, and one of the finest bluffers Montana has ever seen, Shelby's "Body" Johnson, and you have story enough for a feature film.

It's all here, Montana's philosophy of boom or bust, winner takes all, $10,000 on the toss of a single card, and, amazingly, it's all true and told with meticulous historical detail by author Jason Kelly.

Dempsey-Gibbons was the American Dream fought with thundering fists in a dusty Montana town immortalized by its will to be champion.

Submitted by Ed

The Cow of No Color: Riddle Stories and Wisdom Tales from World Traditions, YA JAF

This book is full of short fables from different countries around the world. The tales tell of people who use the simplest of methods to get justice. In one such tale a boy uses a fly to catch a cruel man in a lie that otherwise would not get caught.

The Cow of No Color is a book for teens mostly but it is also great for adults too, just for a change.

Submitted by Rachel

Silhouette on a Wide Land, by Alan Kesselheim

In order to pay his next month's rent, author Alan Kesselheim takes a temporary job driving a truck for a rancher on the High Plains of Colorado. This job turns into a year-long stay, where he learns much about a bachelor's lonely ranching life.

Amid the recounting of the beauties, big and small, of the land, we also learn of the disappointments of life in an unforgiving land. Kesselheim recounts one bad snowstorm on the Plains, which will resonate with most Montanans, especially those from the eastern part of the state.

We also understand the bitterness of unrewarded labor, which led many early homesteaders to leave the land, although they may have also loved it.

This is an evocative narration of the true ranching and cowboy life, as opposed to the image most of us hold.

A beautifully written description of the High Plains of Colorado.
submitted by Guna

Brighid's Quest, by P. C. Cast

The first quest here is Brighid's search for her friend's brother, Cuchulainn. Both characters are damaged - Cu can't get past the murder of his betrothed, and sees little reason to keep on living. Brighid has rejected (and been rejected by) her family, and her future role as High Shaman of her herd. Gradually, they find a return to love and life, then set off on another quest, this time for Brighid's healing.

Joseph Campbell, renowned student of myth and archetype, has said that the ultimate aim of a quest has to be to acquire the "wisdom and power to serve others."

It is up to Brighid to leave what she now considers her home and return to her herd, leading them all back to health and love.

Although this is billed as a Teen Fantasy, everyone who loves a good story will like this one.

Submitted by Guna