Plymouth Staff Choices

The Twisted Window by Lois Duncan
Teen Zone Fiction - Main Level - DUNCAN

Adolescent Brad Johnson is very upset because his baby sister, Mindy, has been kidnapped by his estranged ex-stepfather Gavin Brummer. Brad has traced Gavin to Winfield, TX so he decides to travel from New Mexico to find Mindy. Once in Winfield, Brad seeks the help of teenage Tracy Lloyd, a young woman with a sad past. He begs Tracy to help him find his sister. Although Tracy is suspicious of this stranger, she decides to help Brad because of her own shaky relationship with her father. How can Tracy ignore the needs of a helpless little girl when she herself knows what it's like to have an uncaring parent?

Brad and Tracy develop a scheme to get Mindy back. Everything seems to be going according to plan when suddenly Tracy realizes that there is much more to the story than Brad has told her. What will Tracy do now? Can Mindy be found? Is Brad telling the truth? Is Brad crazy? These are just a few of the questions that will arise as this book is read.

The Twisted Window by Lois Duncan is an interesting psychological mystery. It's a short read with many surprising plot turns. If you are looking for something unusual and suspenseful then The Twisted Window is a great choice!

Timothy and the Strong Pajamas by Viviane Schwarz
Youth New Book Shelves – Lower Level - SCH

There is a stage in the preschool years when many children become obsessed with superheroes. What three or four-year-old doesn’t long for the power to fly and to beat bad guys ten times his or her size? Yet good books for this age on the topic are surprisingly difficult to find. Poorly written easy reader books based on big budget films inappropriate for the age abound, as do picture books of similar quality but much denser text-per-page levels. Even using my librarian-fu on the catalog has had very limited success. I have seen a few good books (and alas, not written them down!), but here is a good recent entry:

Timothy Smallbeast, a young boy of indeterminate species, is not a superhero. But he really wishes he was! When his mother fixes his favorite pajamas, he finds that they make him superstrong. He promptly goes out and saves scads of people with his new powers, before disaster strikes and he finds that his powers have deserted him in his hour of need. This is a book aimed squarely at kids rather than all ages. However, for parents who want a good story for their superhero-loving young fry, one that won’t instill in their offspring a desire to see R-rated movies, one that they can read several times in a row without getting sick of, Timothy and the Strong Pajamas fits the bill just perfectly.

Darkborn by Alison Sinclair
Adult New Book Display – Main Level – SCI FIC SINCLAIR

In the city of Minhorne, Lightborn and Darkborn have always lived side by side, despite the fact that light is fatal to Darkborn and vice versa. Dr. Balthasar Hearne, Darkborn, gets a knock on his door just as the sunrise bell is ringing, and obeying ancient laws of hospitality, opens it. It’s his estranged younger brother’s former lover, now betrothed to a high society lord. Before next day comes, she has given birth to twins whose father, she impossibly claims, came to her in the day. Yet the unwanted twins appear to be sighted, impossible for Darkborn. Bal’s sister, the attending midwife, takes them to safety. That night, Bal is attacked and beaten by ruffians demanding the twins. He is saved by his Lightborn neighbor, but as they flee, they find his wife, Telmaine, and two daughters returning home from a society visit, unexpectedly accompanied by Baron Ishmael di Studier. The ruffians snatch the older girl on their way out. Despite his title, Ishmael is disreputable, a known mage who uses his powers to hunt the Shadowdwellers on the borders – important, but hardly proper for a baron. And only the Lightborn consider magic use truly acceptable. Lady Telmaine herself has magic, which she has concealed even from her husband her whole life and never learned to use. But now, with the plot rapidly thickening and both her husband and daughters’ lives in danger, she may need to risk her position in society.

This novel was well put together. It has an interesting premise and a taut plot without overwhelming with too many characters or details of the world. The characters were sympathetic. The kidnapped child fell just under my low threshold for child or parental suffering (I won’t read books, thriller or thoughtful, that center on a child’s death), and the thriller-aspect just the right pace to tempt me to stay up a few minutes late without keeping me up all night. The only downside is that (common for fantasy) it’s the first of a trilogy, the next volume due out next year, and the mystery behind the mystery isn’t solved this book.

Jules and Jim by Francois Truffaut
Foreign Film DVD's - Main Level - JUL

Next to Jean Luc Godard’s “Breathless,” Francois Truffaut’s “Jules and Jim” could be considered one of the most influential films of the French New Wave movement. The story revolves around two writers Jules and Jim who after giving up on “professionals” in their search for love, find themselves both enamored with the free spirited Catherine. The film follows the two inseparable men through their whimsical youth, and into the First World War where they fight on opposing sides. The two are reunited after the war but neither can shake their love for the uncontrollable Catherine. While the romance the men share with Catherine runs hot and cold and ultimately ends in tragedy, the true love story is the relationship between Jules and Jim.

Although the tale is a great one rife with thematic messages about friendship, love, and lost innocence, one can not overlook Truffaut’s influence with regard to style. Take a look at the Wes Anderson film “The Royal Tennenbaums” and the beginning of “Jules and Jim” and you’ll see striking similarities in the presentation. Anderson himself even quotes Truffaut in “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou,” when the title character says “not this one Klaus,” just as Jules says “not this one Jim,” with regard to not sharing Catherine. Of course Wes Anderson isn’t the only filmmaker to be influenced by Truffaut. His reach extends to the likes of Spielberg, Scorsese, Paul Mazursky, and Blake Edwards. Take a look at any of his films from “The 400 Blows” to “The Last Metro” and you’ll see why.

Also by Truffaut:

The Last Metro
Foreign Film DVD's - Main Level - LAS

Shoot the Piano Player
Foreign Film DVD's - Main Level - SHO

The Story of Adele H.
Foreign Film DVD's - Main Level - STO

The 400 Blows
Foreign Film DVD's - Main Level - FOU

Day for Night
Foreign Film DVD's - Main Level - DAY

Related Material:

Breathless by Jean Luc Godard
Foreign Film DVD's - Main Level - BRE

Francois Truffaut
Adult Video Biography - Upper Level - BIO TRUFFAUT

Truffaut by Truffaut by Dominique Rabourdin
Adult Biography - Upper Level - O'SIZE/BIO TRUFFAUT

Moving Day by Meg Cabot
Youth Cd Books - Lower Level - CABOT

Nine year old Allie Finkle is happy with her life in a nice predictable suburb and steady, yet slightly boring, friends. Thus, when her parents inform her that they plan to move to another part of town into an old fixer-upper, Allie is not pleased. First, she’ll have to change schools. Second, she won’t get to hang out with her best friend, Mary Kay Shiner, very much anymore. Finally, and most importantly, the Finkle’s new home is haunted! All of these reasons plus more make Allie certain that “moving day” should never happen.

Moving Day, the first book in Allie Finkle’s Rules for Girls series by Meg Cabot, is truly an interesting and funny book. Allie will stop at nothing to prevent her family from moving into the run-down home that her parents so desperately love. After seeing a scary movie with her “fun” Uncle Jay, Allie is convinced that a “zombie hand” lives in the Finkle’s new attic. In her eyes, she has to protect her family from a terrible fate. In the meantime, Allie gets into a bad fight with her best friend Mary Kay and soon faces the wrath of Mary Kay and Mary Kay’s new best friend Brittany Hauser.

Hmmm . . . maybe moving won’t be so bad after all?

Read by Tara Sands, the audio book version of this novel is truly delightful! Tara has a wonderful way of making Allie and all of her pluckiness come to life. This is a winning series because it is relatable and very humorous. The other books in the series are: The New Girl and Best Friends and Drama Queens.

Beverly Hills Chihuahua
Youth New Dvds-Lower Level – B

This is a great new youth movie that the library has available. Chloe (voiced by Drew Barrymore) is an over-pampered spoiled Chihuahua. She indulges in weekly manicures and pedicures, has a personal shopper and wears a custom made Harry Winston diamond collar. Chloe hangs out with her other pampered dog friends by the pool. Papi (voiced by George Lopez) the landscaper’s Chihuahua is in love with Chloe and would do anything for her but Chloe will not give him the time of day.

Chloe is left in the care of Rachel (played by Piper Perabo), her owner's irresponsible niece. Rachel heads to Mexico with her girlfriends and is forced to take along Chloe. Not wanting to be left out of the fun Chloe escapes the room and while trying to find Rachel is captured and is taken to a dog fighting ring. The hunt is then on when Rachel finds Chloe missing. She even gets more help when the Landscaper and his dog Papi find out Chloe is missing. Papi will do anything to save Chloe. Chloe has some fun and scary adventures as she tries to find her way back to Beverly Hills.

Peter and the Starcatchers by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Youth Fiction – Lower Level – Barry

For anyone looking for a story of magic and adventure, may I suggest Peter and the Starcatchers? This fast-moving adventure with a sense of humor takes us back to a time when Peter Pan was just Peter, an orphan with a dismal and probably short future. Peter, still the leader of a small gang of orphans, is being sent to a barbarian king on a faraway island, onboard a small and dingy ship. Also onboard is young Molly, apprentice Starcatcher. Apparently, when stars fall on earth, the starstuff causes magical mutations, often harmful, so that it must be removed from earth by the Starcatchers before it can cause too much damage. Sure enough, a large and leaky chest of starstuff features prominently in the plot, as does the evil Captain Stache and his pirate crew. The plot will keep you on the edge of your seat and the characters are charming and believable. The book, for me, restored the magic of Peter Pan that was missing when I reread the original, with its old-fashioned mores. It's an origin story well worth reading.

Boys Will Be Boys By Jeff Pearlman
Adult Nonfiction - Upper Level - 796.322 P

The Dallas Cowboys of the 1990’s, a dynasty by any definition, put together one of the greatest championship runs in the history of professional sports by capturing 3 Super Bowl titles in 4 seasons. What led to their meteoric rise and similarly rapid decline are detailed in this excellent account by Jeff Pearlman. But this story has much more to do about what happened off the field than what actually occurred on it.

Rising from the ashes of a disastrous 1-15 campaign in 1989 was a young, fierce squad ready to conquer the league. Team owner Jerry Jones and head coach Jimmy Johnson assembled a young and talented roster that flourished on the field, but was fueled by the off the field lifestyle that came with being a Cowboy. Their all night partying, drug use, and womanizing are notorious, but these activities accurately portrayed the attitudes and beliefs of their owner, Jerry Jones. The team went so far as to purchase a large home in suburban Dallas, known as the White House, where teammates could openly engage in the debauchery that made them famous.

Despite all of this, the team thrived on the field. After back-to-back Super Bowl victories, Jimmy Johnson realized the tension between him and the owner was too much to handle, so he resigned. While the team was able to capture another Super Bowl with Barry Switzer at the helm, the Cowboys were never the same. The lifestyle that made them a dynasty also led to their downfall, ending literally in a pool of blood during the team’s training camp in 1998. The inside information gathered by Pearlman allows him to present a fully detailed account of the Dallas Cowboys dynasty. Highly recommended for any football fan.

The Flirt by Kathleen Tessaro
Adult Paperbacks – Upper Level – TESSARO

Imagine yourself finding that the spark has gone out of your marriage. You’d like to get things going again, but since part of the problem is that you’re not feeling amorous, either, you’re not sure where to start. If you are a man in London, enter the hired flirt, a “professional massager of the female ego”, who will conduct a chaste yet thrilling flirtation with your wife. She’ll start being excited about herself, and you’ll start being excited about her. On the other hand, if you are a woman in a similar position, you could visit Bordello, and have the proprietress make seductive yet subtle custom lingerie, such that you won’t look like you’re trying at all, but your husband will nevertheless find you irresistible.

These are the two businesses that we are introduced to at the beginning of this book, along with a mélange of characters. There’s Hughie, an out-of-work actor, applying for the job of professional flirt, and his love of the moment, Leticia Vane, proprietress of Bordello. Hughie’s running up a tab at the local café, where Rose, a young single mother, is the waitress. Sam, a regular there and a plumber is called to fix a problem at Bordello. Rose interviews for a household job at the home of Olivia, a rich and sad American, but Olivia takes her for an up-and-coming artist instead. Jonathan works for Olivia’s wife Arnaud, a tennis ball billionaire. Not only is Arnaud an impossible boss, but Jonathan’s wife Amy is pregnant for the fourth time and both of them are wondering what happened to their dream of domestic bliss. The interlocking characters and plot lines rise like beaten egg whites to make a delightful meringue of a book, filled with comic situations and bittersweet chocolate reflections on the messiness of love and the fleeting nature of romance.

The Devil’s Paintbox by Victoria McKernan.
Teen Zone New Fiction – Main Level - MCKERNAN

Adolescent Aiden Lynch and his younger sister Maddy are in dire straits on their Kansas farm in post Civil War America when they meet a charismatic stranger named Jefferson J. Jackson. Jackson is leading a wagon train to the west and offers them a place with the group in exchange for Aiden’s promise to work as a logger in Washington Territory. With their whole family deceased and almost certain death facing them due to starvation, Aiden and Maddy agree to join this adventure.

An adventure it is with interesting new friends, beautiful landscapes, sickness, accidents, harsh weather conditions, Indians, and smallpox also known as “the devil’s paint.” Along the way, Aiden makes friendships with Indians from the Nez Perce tribe and tries to help save them from smallpox. Meanwhile, Maddy finds herself wanting to become a doctor at a time when women were expected to keep their place and get married. Will these two very young Americans be able to achieve their dreams in spite of harsh realities?

The Devil’s Paintbox by Victoria McKernan is a very rich and deep novel. McKernan expertly ties a sad part of White/Native American history, the fact that Native Americans were not allowed to be vaccinated against smallpox during the post Civil War era, into the deep belly of her plot. This novel does not sugar coat how harsh life was for such pioneers as Aiden and Maddy who were basically facing the threat of death every single day of their lives. Still there is a hopefulness to the book in the fact that both teens find inner strength to cope with the demons that surround them. Their humanity is universal and will touch all readers because no matter what the time period is, we all face the same weaknesses of the human spirit. If you are a fan of thought-provoking historical fiction, then this is the novel for you.