Part-Time Indians, Insane Asylums and The Beyound!

Hello all! I know it's been awhile but Summer Reading has been keeping me hopping (also fighting dog gone Jedi). I hope some of you guys and gals (I know you are there) out there are participating. It's really a cool program. Anyway here are some cool reads I have done recently that maybe you will want to check out if you have not already.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie  - This YA book is really one of the most excellent I have read in a long time. This is the story of a young Native American teen named Junior and his transition from his familiar surrounding of the reservation he lives on to the more frightening and certainly more confusing world outside his familiar home. This book holds no punches as Junior describes in detail the poverty, depression, alcoholism and other plain truths related to reservation life. When Junior decides to go to school outside the "Res" he finds that the mostly white upper class school he picks to attend and the new kids he meets are also far from perfect and face challenges and problems, although somewhat different, not so different than those he has seen his while life. Same crap, different place. This book deals with difficult topics such as death, poverty, alcoholism, racism; yet as seen through the eyes of Junior they are presented in such a way that does not send the reader into a deep depression, but just as "this is how life is." Hope and love are always injected in dealing with these topics. One of the best books I have read in a very long time. Recommended for readers 13 years and up.

Wolverine: Weapon X, Vol. 2: Insane in the Brain by Jason Aaron & Yanick Paquette - This Graphic Novel collects issues 6 - 10 in the comic series. Wolverine wakes up in a Insane Asylum with no idea who he is or any memories at all. The Asylum is run by the sinister and potentially the craziest person in the asylum Dr. Rot. Logan slowly begins to notice his surroundings are not quite right, but will he regain his memory in time before the good doctor decides to remove his brain (a little hobby of Dr. Rot). Nice storytelling and art with guest appearances from some of my favorite X-Men. Recommend for ages 13 and up.

Beyounders: A World Without Heroes by Brandon Mull - This is a great book about a a boy named Jason and a girl named Rachel who get drawn into an alternative world/dimension where the time period appears to be around the middle ages. The two do not know each other until they get transported to this strange land ruled by an evil magician named Maldor. They learn that they must work together and trust one another if they want to defeat the wizard and hopefully return home. How can they defeat this wizard. Their exist a word that if spoken in his presence will destroy him. Pieces of the word are scattered throughout the land and they must find them before Maldor finds the two of them. They find allies along the way, but also many enemies. This is an exciting book that will have you turning page after page. Recommended for readers 9 and up.



Until next time all.


Peace,


Bill