STEELHEART
Sanderson, Brandon Delacorte (400 pp.) $18.99 | $9.99 e-book | $22.99 PLB Sep. 24, 2013 978-0-385-74356-3 978-0-449-81839-8 e-book 978-0-375-99121-9 PLB Series: Steelheart, 1 A straight-up Marvel Comics–style action drama featuring a small band of human assassins taking on costumed, superpowered supervillains with melodramatic monikers. It’s certainly a tried-and-true formula. Twelve years ago, a mysterious Calamity began turning random ordinary humans into evil Epics gifted with various combinations of superpowers (and also, always, some Achilles heel). Now, 18-year-old David Charleston manages at last to make contact with a cell of Epickilling Reckoners led by legendary mastermind Jon Phaedrus. Then it’s on to a nonstop thrill ride that begins with the killing of David’s father 10 years before and roars through car and motorcycle chases, secret missions, huge explosions and hails of gunfire with high-tech weaponry to a climactic battle with Epic Steelheart. He’s bulletproof, shoots energy balls, has transformed the entire Chicago area into solid steel with a wave of his hand and wears a stylish silver cape. Shockingly, the book closes with the stunning revelation than not all Epics are evil through and through. As further sign that Sanderson (Rithmatist, 2013, etc.) isn’t taking any of this too seriously, the cast of Epics includes not only the likes of Steelheart, Faultline and Deathpoint, but Pink Pinkness and El Brass Bullish Dude, and some of their powers are equally silly. Stay tuned for sequels. There’s violence and gore in profusion, cool gear, hot wheels, awesome feats, inner conflicts on both sides—all that’s missing are the pictures. (Fantasy. 11-14)
IMPRISONED The Betrayal of Japanese Americans during World War II
Sandler, Martin W. Walker (176 pp.) $22.99 | Aug. 27, 2013 978-0-8027-2277-5
Historian Sandler presents a cogent survey of Executive Order 9066 and its aftermath. The order authorized the U.S. military to relocate over 100,000 Japanese-Americans––many were U.S. citizens––from their homes in Washington, Oregon and California to detention camps. Everything was left behind. Neither the temporary holding centers nor the 10 internment camps were ready to house, feed and care for the evacuees. Whole families were housed in one small room, with meals in mess halls and humiliatingly public sanitary facilities. A few government officials |
did object to the order, questioning its constitutionality. Still, as the book’s subtitle conveys, the disgrace and shame of the U.S. government’s treatment of these innocent people remains a smear on the nation. Sandler opens with a history of the Japanese in the U.S. before moving on to a discussion of the people, camps, conditions, Japanese-Americans in U.S. military service and their lives after internment. (Irony of irony, it was the most decorated unit in U.S. Army history—the Japanese-American 442nd––that liberated Dachau.) Many, many photographs add to general knowledge, although captions lack dates—a nicety that would set a time frame. It is a good summary of a bad time, perhaps leading readers to question whether such events can reoccur in theirs. (places to visit, sources, further reading including websites, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
OTHER WORLDS
Scieszka, Jon--Ed. Illus. by Ruth, Greg Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $16.99 | $6.99 paper | $9.99 e-book Sep. 17, 2013 978-0-06-196380-3 978-0-06-196379-7 paper 978-0-06-22391209 e-book Series: Guys Read, 4 The fourth Guys Read collection presents an all-star lineup with nine new stories and one oldie-but-goody. It is anchored by Ray Bradbury’s 1946 “Frost and Fire,” about colonists stranded for generations on a planet so harsh that the average life span is less than two weeks. Otherwise, the new science-fiction and fantasy tales range from three far-from-similar stories about unsuccessful alien invasions of Earth to Tom Angleberger’s tale of smart clothes in rebellion, an eerie ghost story from Kenneth Oppel and, just to push the “guy” envelope, a “girl in armor” episode from Shannon Hale. Rick Riordan takes the prize for best opener: “I know what you’re going to ask. ‘Percy Jackson, why are you hanging from a Times Square billboard without your pants on, about to fall to your death?’ ” Happily, the other entries are well-enough supplied with effective hooks, provocative themes, and hilarious or disquieting twists to keep readers of diverse ages, sexes and species engaged. The perennially tantalizing “What if…” gets an aboveaverage workout here. (author bios; not seen) (Short stories. 10-13)
kirkus.com
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children ’s
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teen
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15 june 2013
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