Adult Fiction
Reviewed by Michelle from the Altona Branch
Starting right at the beginning of the Pandemic, this story touches on the feelings that most of us shared during that time, a time of stress, uneasiness and fear. The main characters, who live in New York, both experience the pandemic from different perspectives, she an art dealer, he a doctor.
Then, in true Jodi Picoult fashion, there is a twist that you never saw coming!
Adult Fiction-Classics
Reviewed by Gail-Morden Branch Administrator and KB-Library Patron
Gail's Review
Set in a world where firemen carry tanks of kerosene to burn books instead of hoses that spray water to put fires out, Fahrenheit 451 features main character Guy Montag. The book follows Guy thought his life, both work and personal, and the different people he interacts with, including his wife, his boss, a neighbour and an old man. It quickly shows how shallow and unfulfilling their lives have all become. The reader watches Guy's struggle between what he has always known life to be and what it could be. In the story, society has traded knowledge and thought for entertainment and ease, allowing the government to feed them facts and statistics...safe knowledge...to keep them from independent thoughts and opinions.
This is one of my favourite books that I go back to every few years. It's a story warning what our future could look like if we become more interested in being entertained than informed. It's also a warning against allowing censorship and letting others do the thinking for us rather than having our own, informed opinions.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dystopian stories, wants a relatively short read with a meaningful plot, or is just looking for a new author. So pretty much anyone over the age of 15 who can put actions and consequences together.
Available on Libby or at the Morden or Winkler branches. Also available in Russian in Morden.
KB's review
Fahrenheit 451 was a book I never intended on reading, but it was mentioned in a previous read of mine and I just had to see what all the fuss was about! Turns out there is a reason for the fuss! It's quite good, with forewarning, reminiscent of 1984 by George Orwell.
Fahrenheit 451 centers around a fireman named Montag. In this dystopian world, there is one major difference, fireman start fires to specifically burn books and the houses of people who own them. I was rooting for Montag from the start. He certainly didn't seem like he belonged in the world he was born into (which I find incredibly relatable).
Ray Bradbury has a very unique writing style; fast paced, fun, and keeps you on the edge of your seat.
Favourite quote:
"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die and when people look at that tree or flower you planted, you're there...."
To place Winkler's copy on hold, click here.
Book banning is not a new concept. In fact, it is said that in 259-210 B.C., Chinese emperor Shih Huang Ti buried 460 Confucian scholars alive in order to control the writing of history. In 212 B.C., all the books in the kingdom were burned, with only a single copy of each retained for the Royal Library, however, these were also destroyed before his death. With the destruction of all previous historical records, it was Ti's hope that history would be said to begin with him. (For more on the history of book banning and burning click here.)
In August of 2022, The American Library Association reported that they were on track to exceed the 2021 record for book challenges. As of August 2022, 681 attempts had been made to ban or restrict library resources, whereas in 2021, 729 attempts had been made, representing to highest number of attempted book bans in the over 20 years that the ALA has been keeping track of this. “The unprecedented number of challenges we’re seeing already this year reflects coordinated, national efforts to silence marginalized or historically underrepresented voices and deprive all of us – young people, in particular – of the chance to explore a world beyond the confines of personal experience,” said ALA President Lessa KananiĘ»opua Pelayo-Lozada. (ALA) The American Library Association also states that “Librarians develop collections and resources that make knowledge and ideas widely available, so people and families are free to choose what to read. Though it’s natural that we want to protect young people from some of life’s more difficult realities, the truth is that banning books does nothing to protect them from dealing with tough issues. Instead, it denies young people resources that can help them deal with the challenges that confront them." (ALA)
Below is a list of books that have been challenged, including the reasons why. All information has been taken from the Freedom to Read Website (FTR) and the American Library Association website. (ALA) This is by no means a complete list of challenged or banned books so for more information, check out the websites provided or head to your local library and talk to one of our staff members. And, as always, click on the book titles to place them on hold in our catalogue.
Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil's name. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. What everyone wants to know is: what really went down that night? And the only person alive who can answer that is Starr. But what Starr does or does not say could upend her community. It could also endanger her life.
Reasons: Banned and challenged for profanity, violence, and because it was thought to promote an anti-police message and indoctrination of a social agenda.
When people look at George, they think they see a boy. But she knows she's not a boy. She knows she's a girl. George thinks she'll have to keep this a secret forever. Then her teacher announces that their class play is going to be Charlotte's Web. George really, really, REALLY wants to play Charlotte. But the teacher says she can't even try out for the part. . . because she's a boy. With the help of her best friend, Kelly, George comes up with a plan. Not just so she can be Charlotte – but so everyone can know who she is, once and for all.
Reasons: Challenged, banned, hidden to avoid controversy and restricted for LGBTQIA+ content, conflicting with a religious viewpoint and not reflecting "the values of our community."
Junior Fiction
Reviewed by Shirl from the Winkler Branch
Eddie Albert is a 10 year old boy that can talk to animals. He does not let on that he understands when animals talk to him and this makes everyone think he is odd. Especially when he starts to tell a mouse how to get to the furnace room at school. Eddie is sent to stay with his eccentric aunt in Amsterdam and discovers that she can also talk to animals.
While in Amsterdam, Eddie and his friend discover that animals are being kidnapped from the local zoo. He and his gang of animal friends decide to try and rescue an orangutan that they hear has been kidnapped.
I enjoyed this book because I would love to be able to communicate with animals. It reminded me of Dr. Dolittle, which is one of my favorite books/movies. This book had a slow start and I wasn't sure it would be interesting, but it turned out I couldn't put it down until I was finished.
Adult Fiction
Reviewed by Angela-Manitou Branch Administrator
Breaking the Maafa Chain tells the story of the daughters of an African chief, Fatmata and her little sister, Salimatu, who are captured during a raid on their village by the slave-trader, King Gezo. Gezo sells Fatmata, who is then shipped to a plantation in Louisiana, but he plans to sacrifice Salimatu. She is saved by a British naval officer, Captain Forbes, when King Gezo, hoping to make peace with the British who are trying to stop the slave trade, decides to make Salimatu a gift to Queen Victoria. Captain Forbes takes Salimatu, who he renames Sarah, to England to live with his family, where she becomes Queen Victoria's godchild.
The story follows the very different lives of the two sisters. Fatmata (renamed Faith) leads a hard life, is abused and mistreated, while Sarah lives a life of privilege. Sarah often visits the Queen's palaces and plays with the royal princes and princesses. She is educated with the Forbes children and treated like one of the family, while the newspapers write stories about the "Black Princess" that make her something of a celebrity.
When Faith's new Master and Mistress bring her to England to care for their infant son, Faith dreams of finding her sister. Although she knows nothing of Sarah's new name or life, she does know that she is in England. During the voyage, Faith meets a freed slave named Absalom and they fall in love. He agrees to try and help her find Sarah, but after searching, they have almost given up when Faith catches a glimpse of her sister at the Great Exhibition in London, however, she is unable to contact her.
Absalom finally persuades Faith to run away and marry him, after which they will take a ship to Freetown in Sierra Leone, the British colony established for liberated slaves. But things go horribly wrong for them, as they do for Sarah.
When news comes that Captain Forbes has died at sea, the Forbes family must move to live with a relative in Scotland, but Queen Victoria has other plans for Sarah, who she insists will be returned to Africa.
This book is loosely based on real events. Sarah Forbes Bonetta did exist. She was the daughter of an African chief and did become Queen Victoria's godchild and was known as the "Black Princess." The book's historical endnotes say that Maafa is the Swahili word for disaster, but it has come to mean "African Holocaust" and refers to the violence towards and displacement of the African people during the slave trade era.
This book has an engaging storyline, if you can ignore the apparent complete lack of editing and proofreading that, for me, made reading it somewhat irritating.
This book offers a glimpse into the rich, happy lives of the sisters growing up in their African village before being hurled into new lives that could not have been more different, but were both alien, painful and less free in many ways.
By Courtney Carver Adult Non-Fiction Reviewed by Jill from the Winkler Branch "Project 333 is an invitation to create space in your cl...
