Weekend Reads

Welcome back readers! Get ready for the long weekend with a few good books! I have reviewed two books for you to consider; my third review comes from Student Library Assistant Megan Williams. Over the course of this new school year, I hope to include guest posts from students throughout our two buildings. Keep an eye out for them!

The Bullies of Wall Street by Sheila Bair 

Sheila Bair, author of The Bullies or Wall Street and former chairperson of the FDIC, offers her expertise and first-hand knowledge in this book detailing the financial crisis of 2008. This is the second book she's written on the subject. The first, Taking the Bull by the Horns, is an overview of her experiences as the FDIC chairperson during one of the most financially volitile periods since the Great Depression. The Bullies of Wall Street aims to make this information available and understandable to a middle school audience. The book begins with six case studies, featuring families experiencing different difficulties due to the crisis and for different reasons. The humanization of the crisis in this way really drives home some abstract concepts, such as how defaulting on a mortgage can affect not only a family but a beloved pet or how declining property values impact the money available to schools and their students. This is a great book to consider if you want to know more about the financial crisis of 2008 and how it affects our economy today.

Find it in Nonfiction under 330.973 BAI

Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld

Scott Westerfeld transports readers to WWI-era Europe to tell the ficionalized stories of Alek Habsburg and Deryn Sharp. Alek is the (fictional) son of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand, whose assassination was the igniting event of WWI and Deryn is a young girl who dreams of flying with the British Army despite the fact that women are not allowed to serve. Westerfeld pushes the story even further into fiction by introducing new animals and machines that have never existed into this realistic world. The British rely on new and fantastical breeds of animals for both war efforts and peaceful persuits, while Germany led the world in developing complex machines to fulfill their citizens' needs. Westerfeld does a great job of blending the real and the imaginary, so the world that he creates is somewhat familiar while also having many surprising unknowns. Add to this interesting and complex characters who have something to hide and Leviathan (and its sequels Behemoth and Goliath) are engrossing and exciting!

Find it in Fiction under F WES

Guest Post from Megan Williams, Class of 2017

Elena Vanishing by Elena Dunkle and Clare B. Dunkle

The harrowing world of teen eating disorders is explored in Elena Vanishing, co-written by the titular Elena Dunkle and her mother, author Clare B. Dunkle. The biography of Elena's life spans five years, encompassing Elena's downward spiral during her high school and college years; her perfectionist tendencies and past traumas make Elena the perfect candidate for anorexia nervosa, one of the most common eating disorders that kills one in five victims. Elena's five year journey is filled with inspirational highs of recovery and depressing lows filled with relapses. Elena's story is an emotional read that poses questions about self-image, family, and the effect of competitive high schools and today's educational world. Overall, the biography emphasizes the importance of healthy support systems and self-esteem; Elena Vanishing tells a story of sickness but ultimately is a tale of healing. 

Find it in Biographies under B DUNKLE