The Center of Everything / by Laura Moriarty

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Eileen frowns, taking a drag off her cigarette. "She'll go to hell, honey, if she keeps making fun. I know it's sad, but those are the rules." (p. 8)

Evelyn Bucknow wasn't planned. Her mom Tina had her as a teenager after cutting ties with the father. Resenting her own father's disapproval, Tina relocated to the middle-of-nowhere Kansas town of Kerrville where now only Eileen--Tina's mom, Evelyn's grandmother--makes visits to their ratty apartment by the highway. At 10, Evelyn's bright and observant, already percieving how her mother's immaturity preserves their near-destitute lifestyle. A disadvantaged homelife isn't easy, but peer-rejection (perfect grades don't help) only inflates Evelyn's animosity at home. Ultimately it's school which becomes Evelyn's refuge during the adolescent years, academic prowess viewed as her ticket out of the shame and deprivation. But even Evelyn isn't immune to hormones, revealed through an unrequited infatuation with Travis, a neighbor boy in love with her best friend.


It's not through absence of initiative that things remain more or less the same for the pair. Tina wants better for her and Evelyn but lacks the discipline to roll with the punches. A man magnet, Tina's never without 'opportunities', albeit ones with consequences like her second "accident", Samuel, whose mental handicap does little to alleviate economic burdens. Yet it's his presence which quietly sparks (or rather settles) something in Tina, a humble compassion little evidenced beforehand creating a responsible mother out of a once-haughty renegade. Between Evelyn's subdued persistence and Tina's evolving maturity, things slowly begin to perk up after so many years of dismal prospects.

Notable Narrators

Barbara Rosenblat
Rosenblat is one of today’s foremost female narrators compiling an impressive body of work over the past decade. Among the numerous titles she’s lent her talents are books by Elizabeth Peters, Diane Mott Davidson, Lisa Scottoline and Nevada Barr. A prominent reader of feminine sleuth mysteries like Peters’ Tomb of the Golden Bird and Davidson’s Dark Tort, she’s recently performed two award-winning titles: Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky and Amy Bloom’s Away.

Scott Brick
With nearly 100 titles to his credit, Scott Brick is no stranger to most fans of talking books. He narrated over 15 books by 15 different authors in 2006 alone. Authors he’s given 'voice' to have been heavily concentrated in the action/suspense genre--among them Harlan Coben and Dean Koontz--where his own unique energy effectively heightens reader interest. A versatile talent, his range of ability has helped him branch out into other works, both fiction and non-fiction alike. Some of his latest performances include Gregg Hurwitz's The Crime Writer, Steve Barry's The Venetian Betrayal and The Chase by Clive Cussler.

Simon Prebble
Prebble's accent epitomizes British aristocracy, a trait evidenced with each recording's docile manner and well-pitched inflection. His tone never fails to place proper emphasis on critical words and phrases, which is perhaps why so many audio mysteries and historical epics feature him. Authors he’s read include--but aren't excluded to--Susanna Clarke, Pat Barker, and A.S. Byatt. His non-fiction works, such as The First World War by John Keegan, are impressive also.

For more narrators and audiobook titles, look on the library's website:
http://www.texascity-library.org/ADBibs/ADNotableNarrators09-07.pdf

A Clockwork Orange / by Anthony Burgess

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"What's it going to be then, eh"? (p.2)

Alex "the Large" DeLarge is bad...in the 'not good' kind of way. His is the anti-hero "bad"; an evil, revolting, wretched thug-bad. As head hoodlum in a gang of equally vicious "droogs", he's responsible for thefts, beatings, rapes, murders and other "ultraviolence" in an urban dystopia overrun with lawlessness. A woeful absence of authority essentially voids the 17-year-old's actions until a betrayal by his own cronies lands Alex in prison among "smelly perverts" and "hardened prestoopniks". Upon learning of an experimental 'reconditioning' program which releases prisoners after treatment, Alex instigates the fatal beating of another inmate, effectively 'nominating' himself as a candidate (the first, actually) for "The Ludovico Technique". A few pokes and prods and he'll be out and about again, home free so he thinks...but what kind of freedom awaits him?

In part, Burgess penned A Clockwork Orange to characterize the then (1962) public outrage over a marked rise in juvenile delinquency. Indeed many thought it was the brink of anarchy as urban areas--steeped in unemployment and decline--saw an increase in violent crime perpetrated by adolescent offenders. At face value the book may seem like another crime and punishment fable, recompensing "Your Humble Narrator" (Alex) for abuse of his free will. But further themes are revealed in the context; not the least of which are highlighted through Burgess' inventive slang and double-speak. A subterranean language all its own, "Nadsat" gives a twisted appeal to the action, slanting and distorting events to varying degrees.

Miscreant that he is, there's a sensitivity to Alex that's umistakable, marked by his love of Beethoven and an innovative--if warped--ethical philosophy. Nowhere is this more evident than with the aversion therapy employed to 'cure' him. Aimed to deprive Alex of evil tendencies, the "Ludovico Technique" works too well eradicating his affinity for 'good' and rendering his natural sensibilities unstable. Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film adaptation starring Malcolm McDowell earned (and maintains) cult status, firmly cementing the anti-hero as a cinematic draw.

Good Faith / by Jane Smiley

Smiley recieved critical acclaim and won a Pulitzer for her 1991 novel A Thousand Acres, a reworking of Shakespeare's "King Lear" in which an aging Iowa farmer's estate is divided among his 3 daughters. Published in 2003 but set in 1982, Good Faith chronicles a recently divorced realtor chancing his fate on some high-end ventures.

Joe Stratford 's doing OK. Even with his divorced wife and two kids a thousand miles off, he's fairly content with his small New Jersey real estate business, facilitating people in and out of homes during the boom years of the 1980's. He's an amiable enough guy, the type you'd want handling private affairs, a respecter of personal space who's willing to be honest. It's not until Joe meets Marcus Burns, a former IRS agent who's mastered the shortcuts to personal wealth, that timid ambitions become accessible reality. With Marcus' backing, Joe 'buys in' to his dream of becoming a developer, 'hedging' his bets with the purchase of an old farm on which visions of a planned community lie in the balance.

His risque enterprises aren't just financial. Felicity Olnquist is the local daughter of an associate who's always had a thing for Joe, the opportunity's just never come around. Now that he's available, an affair is consummated despite Joe's reservations and the fact that she's still "happily" married with three teenage sons. Amidst feelings of apprehension and guilt, Joe determines to see everything through even as paranoia threatens to overtake his burning conscience.

Local Author Susan Baker to Visit Library!!!

***WHEN: Tuesday, April 29 @ 6:30

***WHERE: Library Meeting Room

A prominent authority on legal proceedings in Galveston County, Baker has written several mystery novels along with a pair of non-fiction books. She is a charter member of the Southwest Chapter of Mystery Writers of America, Sisters in Crime, and the Authors Guild. Her recent work Death of a Prince was a finalist for the Writers League of Texas Violet Crown Award.

Death of a Prince
When Galveston attorney Sandra Salinsky takes the case of accused murderess Kitty Fulton, she's prepared for the personal drama that her representing the daughter (and accused) of her mother's murdered best friend will incur. After all, Phillip Parker wasn't just percieved by many as an all-around good guy, he was one of the city's finest plaintiffs' attorneys, a community figurehead. Why would anyone, much less his own daughter, want to kill him? It's not until evidence is brought forth upgrading the crime to capital murder one that things really get murky; and it won't be the last time during the trial that the stakes are raised even higher.

The Sweet Scent of Murder: A Mavis Davis Mystery
Former probation officer Mavis Davis was anticipating a job with a little more intrigue and a lot less protocol when she decided on a career as a private investigator. But looking into the disappearance of a local teenager was not what this Galveston P.I. had in mind. Deciding it wouldn't hurt things to spend a few days snooping around, Mavis accepts the case only to breach a powderkeg of fraud, kidnapping, child abuse and murder. And when the girl's younger brother goes missing, Mavis' initial reluctance becomes a desperate search for both kids, even at the risk of her own safety and reputation.

My First Murder: A Mavis Davis Mystery
Mavis knew she was in for it when the distraught father of recently murdered young woman, Doris Jones, came in pleading for help. Not only had police chalked the death up as a serial killing, authorities had virtually sealed the vault on available evidence, discouraging any speculation into further leads. Now Mavis and secretary/sidekick Candy must navigate the uncharted waters of an investigation--at least on the surface--gone cold. To be sure, not everyone's as enthusiastic about their poking around; evident when some 'good ole' boy' types try scaring them off the trail.

Non-Fiction Titles:

Ender Rendered

Sci-fi author Orson Scott Card has garnered loads of acclaim for his Ender's Game/Ender's Shadow series', a sequence of novels about two boys involved in a war between Earth circa 2150 AD and an alien race known as the "Buggers". In Ender's Game, Ender Wiggin is a prodigy groomed at an elite battle school for ultimate leadership of earth's forces. First published in 1977, Card later wrote Ender's Shadow (1999) which parallel's the plot of Ender's Game from the viewpoint of Bean, a battle school friend and cohort.

Ender's Game
Destiny was intended for Ender Wiggin; it had to be or else all was lost. Part of an experimental batch of ultra-gifted children singled out to someday thwart the 'Bugger' onslaught, he's initiated into the International Fleet's Battle School at age six in a desperate attempt to locate Earth's next (and maybe last) strategic hope. Functionally, battle school is intended to train student/soldiers through simulated, anti-gravity encounters--one team against another. But from the outset, nothing's evenhanded for Ender as peers and administrators do their best to expose weaknesses in his vastly superior skills. Intentionally burdened, his only solace is found commanding his team's nightly practice sessions orchestrating maneuvers with his classmates. But little does Ender suspect the training ground as more than just a 'game' and that his leadership applies to more than just 'his team'.

The personal side of things is as much involved; Ender's older siblings Peter and Valentine share the same genetics albeit dissimilar characteristics. What begins as intellectual pandering by each during Ender's absence soon morphs into a far greater sphere of influence, and in the malevolent Peter's case--far more power. It ultimately falls on Valentine, one person not out to use or harm Ender, to shield him from Peter's malice and the unyielding demands of a broader world.

Ender's Shadow
At the tender age of 2, Bean escapes a genetic breeding factory only to end up an orphan in dire poverty on the streets of Rotterdam. Learning life's knocks the hard way, his fortunes place him at the feet of Sister Carlotta, a nun who soon discovers Bean's hyper-intelligence and facilitates his acceptance into Battle School. It's here where Bean meets Ender Wiggin, his war games team captain who's undefeated as a commander. But not all's fun and games. Little is with matches administratively fixed in an effort to fully realize Ender's tactical prowess.
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It may not be Return of the Jedi, but Ender's Game shares that same aura of epic challenge, of hero against the universe (literally) in which the immensity of everything is concentrated into one consciousness. But like good science fiction, Card eases the backstory along steadily giving time for the characters to establish an identity prior the inevitable confrontation. Any perplexing aspects of the futuristic world are well-counterbalanced by private issues more close to home. Ender's 'self' is complex, maintaining ethical boundaries even amidst a high-pressure/high-stakes atmosphere, a trait revealed as much through contrasting characters as with Ender himself. Gifted in an almost warped fashion, the 'child' in Ender isn't always visible; a problem Card may have levied with peripheral characters Peter and Valentine and ultimately complemented with Bean's emergence in Ender's Shadow.

Not merely a sidestory, Bean's evolution from street orphan to battle school and ultimately beyond illuminates his own pivotal role in the saga, entrenched in every dynamic of the story. Bean has his own conscience and crisis' befalling him even as much of his energy helps uphold those very issues in Ender. The two books, each spawning several further sequels, are as separate as they are interlinked within the same-time/same-place/similar-person correlation.

For the adventurous mystery reader...

The Dragon King's Palace / Laura Joh Rowland

Eighth in Laura Joh Rowland's Sano Ichiro series, The Dragon King's Palace is perfect for the mystery fan with a taste for the exotic. At its heart, the series is a police procedural, but Rowland sets her books in 17th century Japan. The detective of the series is Sano Ichiro, a samurai in the service of Edo's shogun.

Early in the series, Ichiro marries Lady Reiko, a whip-smart and resourceful woman with some keen detecting skills of her own. The first book in the series is Shinju, but I don't think it's necessary to read this series in order to be able to follow the plots.

The Dragon King's Palace focuses on Lady Reiko and the dynamics of the women associated with the shogun's palace. While travelling to Mount Fuji with the shogun's mother, her immensely pregnant friend, Midori, and the chamberlain's mentally unstable wife, Reiko is abducted by a small army of unknown assailants and spirited off to a decrepit palace on an island. Reiko employs all of her detecting knowledge, her quick wits and her physical strength trying to plan an escape.

Meanwhile, her husband Ichiro is forced to cooperate with his enemies in his attempt to rescue the women. He must deal with palace politics, deceit and disobedience within the ranks of his own men. The author throws in plenty of period detail and delves into the complicated politics of 17th century Japan. The book combines suspense, a plot that moves and a sense of the sweetness of the relationship between Ichiro and Reiko in a very satisfying way.