The History of Jane Doe by Michael Belanger

Ray lives in a weird little Connecticut town, Williamsburg (aka Burgerville). Being the history buff that he is, he knows all about the strange happenings his town's past including the green cows. Were the cows real? Does it even matter when everyone still talks about them?

One day, a young woman comes to town who Ray (the narrator) only calls Jane Doe for this story. She chooses to hang out with Ray and his friend Simon when she could obviously be part of the popular crowd. Jane is unlike anyone.

Jane loves folk music thanks to her Grandma Irene (a somewhat famous singer in her day) who has a connection to Burgerville. The story of the one time folk festival that Irene organized is one of the stories shared between Ray and Jane. Ray takes Jane to all the sites of famous Burgerville historical moments.

I'm finding its difficult to describe this book. Really, it is two young people discovering themselves (ya, I know what teen book isn't). Ray gets to do a rare thing: share his interests with someone who is interested (or at least interested in him enough to listen). Jane...there is more going on with her than Ray knows and for a short time he gets to see her for who she is.

The story is quirky, funny and serious, too. I look forward to another book by this author.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog.

Wolf By Wolf by Ryan Graudin

It's 1956 and Hitler is still alive. The Axis Powers (Germany, Japan and Italy) won World War II. The current resistance could start a true uprising and bring the Third Reich to an end if Hitler could be killed. Unfortunately, he rarely appears in public.

There is one hope: Yael could be the one to kill Hitler. She is the only one who can get close enough to do it. Every year, an intercontinental motorcycle race is run pitting the best riders from each country. The winner is celebrated at the Victor's Ball attended by Hitler himself. Last year's winner (and only female racer) Adele Wolfe danced with him.

Due to vicious experiments in a concentration camp, Yael can change her appearance at will. She will become Adele and take her place in this year's race. She must win against the best, so she can get close enough to Hitler to shoot him.

The race is grueling: fighting with other riders, battling the elements, facing mechanical breakdowns, thwarting sabotage. And then there is Luka, another rider who was a love interest of Adele's. Can Yael trust him? Is he flirting or just waiting for a chance to take her out of the race.

Add to all of this Adele's brother, Felix, who joins the race to keep an eye on his sister. Can Yael fool  him and the other's who know Adele so well? Yael has endured much already in her life, so she is ready for this challenge.

It is a drama filled, action packed alternate history. I am ready to jump into the sequel for the rest of the story.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.

Inherit Midnight by Kate Kae Myers

Eight people flying around the world to historic locations, solving riddles, tackling physical challenges - the latest reality show? No, it is Avery's life, at least until she or one of her family members wins this contest.

After a nearly successful escape from her boarding school, Avery is returned to the mansion where she grew up under the watchful eye of her Grandmother VanDemere. For Avery, the mansion was like a prison - no sleepovers, no dating, no leaving the house except for school.

Grandmother is obsessed with family history and preserving the name VanDemere. Avery's existence is a black mark on that heritage. Her father had an affair with the nanny and Avery was the result. After that her alcoholic father disappeared, so Avery grew up with only her grandmother and occasional visits from her snobby cousins who look down on her.

Grandmother Vandemere is not happy with her sons or grandchildren and decides the only way to find a worthy heir to the family fortune is to pit them against each other. If it means Avery doesn't have to return to school, she will try her best at the competition. She faces backstabbing, cheating and uncles more knowledgeable in family history.

With the family lawyer's attractive son at her side, Avery sets out to the seemingly impossible task of taking on the family she loathes. Avery is not prepared for the things she discovers about herself and her family along the way.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog.

Past Perfect by Leila Sales

Here we go...another teen book set in a Revolutionary War reenactment tourist destination. I mean, really, how many of these can you read? OK, just kidding. I actually chose this one because it was different. I like the idea of modern teens dealing with their usual issues but having to exist in another historical period.

Chelsea has spent every summer in Essex, where it is always 1774 and the colonies are on the cusp of the Revolutionary War. Her parents are reenactors, too. Her dad is a big time history buff (it's pretty much all he talks about) and works as the silversmith in the village. Chelsea (colonial name Elizabeth Connelly) has always worked in the silversmith's shop playing the (surprise!) daughter of her parents, but this year she requested a change and will be in the graveyard.

So you might think that working in a historic village answering questions, telling stories of George Washington and posing for pictures would make for a nice summer job. Not for Chelsea. Her best friend, Fiona, is working at Essex for the first time (although not in the same area), but so is her ex-boyfriend Ezra. Yes, she is over him...mostly...ok, not really. Even bigger is the war being waged with the Civil War reenactment place right across the street. The adults must never found out about the war even when the 'pranks' lead to injury and vandalism.

Maybe Chelsea should have worked at the mall like she planned.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.

The Extra by Kathryn Lasky

Stories about Holocaust victims never have happy endings. I'm not referring literally to the ending of this book - it may or may not have a happy outcome (read it to find out). Even if the characters survive and outlive their persecutors, their lives are filled with the death and disappearances of their family and friends. So many times, they never know what happened to these people. They were taken away on trains or just disappeared one night, never to return. It was a horrific time.

Lilo is a Gypsy, a largely misunderstood population. She does not belong to a roaming caravan. She lives in a house and goes to school. Her father repairs watches and her mother sews the finest lace. And she lives in Austria at the time of the Third Reich.

Gypsies were rounded up like so many others who did not meet Hitler's standards for human existence. They were imprisoned, starved,  tortured and killed. Lilo hopes her dad's work for prominent people will save her family, but one night they are taken from their home to a camp. Before long, Lilo and her mother are chosen to be extras in a movie made by Leni Riefenstahl, Hitler's favorite director. They do not experience the glamour of movie making; they are nothing more that film slaves who could be killed for doing something wrong as easily as anyone in a concentration camp.

Sometimes Lilo's life is so crushingly hopeless that she is afraid to feel anything for a clever boy named Django. He teaches her how to gather information that is helpful to their survival. How can she allow her heart to be open to anyone when she may never see her own family again?

Lilo's story is loosely based on a real girl who was a stand in for the real Leni Riefenstahl. It is a story of contrasts and juxtaposition as the actors dress in fine clothes and eat wonderful food while the extras dress in rags and are given little to eat. For Lilo, it is all fake and she can only hope that one day she can return to her real life.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.

Invasion by Walter Dean Myers

War is hell. It's a cliche, but it is so true. Walter Dean Myers holds nothing back in his depiction of the horrors of combat: the terror, the exhaustion, the hunger, the death, the blood, the dirt, the explosions. Imagine living a life where you could be killed any minute of every day; a life where you are talking to a buddy one minute and seeing him laying on the ground bleeding from a hole in his chest the next; a life where your fate is in the hands of leaders who sometimes seem as confused as you.

During World War II, Josiah Wedgewood (aka Woody) of Richmand, Virginia, lands on the beach with his platoon at Normandy and moves across France fighting the Germans. We are with Woody as he thinks about a girl at home; as he talks with fellow soldiers; as he sees friends die. Like Myers' other war stories, this on has no real plot; it is just the daily existence of soldiers in the middle of a war. There are only brief appearances of African American soldiers underlining the segregation that existed at the time in the armed forces.

This story is loosely connected to Myer's other books Fallen Angels and Sunrise Over Fallujah. Family members from three generations end up fighting in three different wars: in Europe, in Vietnam and in Iraq. How many generations must go to war? The futility of it all is part of Myer's point.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.

Are You Experienced? by Jordan Sonnenblick

How can you understand a time that you didn't live in? You can't. You can listen to the music from that time. You can read books about it. You can hear stories from people who lived it. But I don't think you can ever know what it was really like. Too bad you can't time travel...like Rich does in this book.

Rich doesn't ask to go back in time; it just happens. He strums a chord on an old guitar and ends up at the Woodstock Music Festival in 1969. I make it sound like it just happened, but it is more mystical and sad than that. The guitar has been hidden away in a room where Rich's dad keeps all the items related to his brother Michael who died two months after Woodstock. Every year on the anniversary of Michael's death, Rich's dad locks himself in the room and listens to old music.

A simple strum of the strings and Rich finds himself in 1969 running into his Uncle Michael, Michael's girlfriend Willow and Rich's dad (age 15) on their way to the festival. Being the time that it was, no one is too surprised to see a 15 year old appear out of nowhere wearing nothing but the silver-white hair on his head (the color changed during the time travel). Rich realizes that this is a golden opportunity to not just see some of the most famous rock performances ever (he has studied Woodstock extensively) but also get to know his uncle (who died long before he was born) and to hang out with his dad (who is a strict, melancholy adult).

It is with eyes wide open that Rich learns much about why his dad behaves the way he does (he is very strict) and what really happened to his uncle. Rich's dad has never talked about his brother or anything surrounding his death. In fact, he blames Woodstock for causing Michael's death. It all starts to make sense. Rich has purpose for being there. He is a messenger of sorts.

I really felt like I was being taken to Woodstock to experience it with Rich. We hear the music right along with him and get to see performances through his descriptions. And Jimi Hendrix plays an important part in the story, too.

I really identified with parts of this story. Rich had an uncle he never knew because he died before Rich was born. That is true for me, too. His uncle died two months after Woodstock. My uncle died the week of Woodstock (he was killed in Vietnam). It is a small thing, but I felt more connected to the story.

As with any Jordan Sonnenblick book, I recommend this one. It is a trip back to the late 1960s and gives examples of some of the best parts of the time and some of the worst.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog and the author's site.

The Gettysburg Address: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey & Aaron McConnell

It is amazing how a graphic novel can take a complex subject and not only make it understandable but truly enjoyable. My first thought was how could they make a graphic novel from a such a short speech (lasting less then 300 words). The author expands upon the speech's text by examining the meaning behind each line. It is a trip through a sad, violent and shameful part of our history where slavery was legal and by some people's arguments moral.

I have never read an account that covers the events leading up to the civil war, the war itself and the aftermath with such clarity. Looking from our current place in history,  it is hard to read some of the arguments made in favor of slavery. People used economics, religion, politics and any other number or reasons to keep the institution of slavery preserved. People passionately believed in the reasons, too. It's why the Civil War was so bloody and much longer than people predicted.

But the Civil War was not driven just by slavery. The long struggle (going back to the creation of the Constitution) is also about the role of the federal government and how much power it should wield over state governments. Like so many other times in history, this is a complicated series of events involving many people across many decades.

The words Lincoln spoke 150 years ago are still relevant. We live in a world full of people who are persecuted, held captive and killed for nothing more than their race or gender or sexual orientation. I highly recommend this to anyone - it may help us understand where we have been and how we can shape where we are going.

For more info, check out the Indianapolis Public Library catalog.