T4: a Novel in Verse

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Title: T4: a novel in verse
Author: Ann Clare LeZotte
Copyright: 2008

You have probably read stories about the killing of Jewish people during World War II, but have you read about the other groups of people who Hitler tried to eliminate.

Paula is deaf. Her mother had rubella while pregnant with Paula. That combined with a high fever at sixteen months old caused Paula to completely lose her hearing. She and her family have come to accept Paula's deafness, but Paula's country has not.

Paula lives in Germany, which, at the time of our story, is being led by Adolph Hitler. The Jewish people were not the only ones targeted by the Nazis. People with mental and physical disabilities were targeted by a Nazi program known as Action T4, which gave doctors permission to kill disabled people in order to eliminate the "pollution in the gene pool" (LeZotte, p.21).

Father Josef, a Catholic priest, learns of the Nazi plan and endeavors to help keep Paula alive. This is no easy task as there are many Germans who will happily inform the Nazis of happenings at their neighbors' homes.

T4 is told in 66 free verse poems, which come together to tell Paula's story of hiding from the Nazis in order to live.

Hit and Run

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Title: Hit and Run
Author: Lurlene McDaniel
Copyright: 2007

This story is told from four alternating viewpoints. Analise, Laurie, Quin, and Jeremy and all attend the same high school, but they do not all truly know each other.

Laurie is a freshman whose parents are divorced. She lives with her mom who wants Laurie to be popular and date lots of boys like she did in high school. Laurie does not want to be like her mother and is having trouble handling the pressure her mother is putting on her.

Quin's father is just as bad as Laurie's mother. Quin is a high school senior who is looking forward to going away to college to play baseball. The farther away he can get from his father the better as Quin's father is constantly pressuring him to be the best ball player, keep his head in the game, and stay out of trouble.

Analise and Jeremy are high school seniors. They have been dating for awhile now and are looking forward to the future. Analise works on the school newspaper and yearbook. Jeremy works part-time in a woodshop making items such as desks, chairs, tables, and cabinets. Neither of them have pushy parents like Laurie and Quin.

After Friday night all four of their lives will be changed forever.

The Case of the Gypsy Good-Bye

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Title: The Case of the Gypsy Good-Bye
Series: An Enola Holmes Mystery
Author: Nancy Springer
Copyright: 2010

Enola Holmes, the younger sister of the famous Sherlock Holmes, set out at the beginning of this series to find her mother who had run away from her daughter and her life. In this 6th and final book in the Enola Holmes series Enola will finally find the answers she has been seeking concerning her mother's whereabouts.

Lady Blanchefleur del Campo is missing. She helped a lame woman down the steps into the Underground and has not been seen since then. Did Lady Blanchefleur del Campo get on a train and flee from her life? Was she attacked in the Underground and left to die? Was she lured down the train tunnels into the underworld? Both Sherlock and Enola are diligently working albeit separately to solve the mystery of the missing Lady.

In the meantime Enola is also trying to solve the latest puzzling message from her mother, which has arrived in the form of a skytale. Enola must also be sure to keep her distance from her brothers Sherlock and Mycroft as allowing them to find and trap her will surely end with Enola being placed in a dreaded finishing school.

Will Mycroft find Enola and place her in a finishing school? Will Enola's mother return to Ferndell Hall, the Holmes family home? Will Lady Blanchefleur del Campo be found alive? The answers await you in "The Case of the Gypsy Good-bye."

Freddy and the French Fries Fries Alive!

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Title: Fries Alive!  
Series: Freddy and the French Fries
Author: David Baldacci
Copyright: 2005

Freddy T. Funkhouser like his father, Alfred, is a great scientist who makes quirky things. One of Alfred's inventions is the automatic seed shooter, which he uses to shoot tomato seeds at customers at the Burger Castle restaurant. Unfortunately, the Burger Castle has not had many customers recently. It seems people are not interested in eating "soybean and tofu burgers or carrot and eggplant hotdogs" not to mention the "fat-free fries that make your hair grow" (p. 4). The Funkhouser family's chief rivals are the Spanker family who own the Patty Cakes restaurant. The food at Patty Cakes is full of everything bad for the human body, which is exactly what makes customers want to eat it.

The upcoming Founder's Day parade will provide the Funkhouser family the opportunity to impress the local people and gain new customers. If only they can make a parade float more impressive than the Spanker family's float. Freddy puts his scientific skills to work in effort to make the Funkhouser float as unique as possible. In the process he creates walking, talking french fries of various colors, sizes, and types. Theodore is a blue crinkle-cut fry and highly intellectual. The tiny yellow fry is Ziggy, but don't let his size fool you he has an enormous voice. Wally is a purple waffle fry who needs/wants to eat constantly. The green curly fry is named Curly and runs all of the words in his sentences together. Si and Meese are conjoined red shoestring fries whose personalities are complete opposites of each other.

When the fries leave Freddy's laboratory they have some adventures of their own that land Alfred Funkhouser in jail. Will the fries help save the Funkhouser family and Burger Castle or will their existence land Freddy in jail and destroy the Burger castle forever.