Howard County Library announces a new initiative, Pass the Book. During Teen Read Week 2009, the Library will distribute copies of  The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfeld to teen readers throughout the community.

The Secret Hour follows Jessica Day as she arrives in Bixby, Oklahoma, only to discover she’s at the center of a strange convergence of mystical energy. Sharing "the secret hour" between midnight and 12:01 with four of her classmates, Day finds herself on the front lines of a battle for the future of humanity; primeval "slithers" and "darklings" are using the secret hour to find their way back into our reality, intent on reclaiming the planet. The Midnighters must harness the unique properties of the secret hour to fight back using their own special abilities.

The Secret Hour is a great book to share, and with Pass the Book you’ll have the chance to introduce this title to readers in Howard County and beyond. Teens receiving a specially labeled copy of The Secret Hour are encouraged to read the book, track the book (by registering their copy at hclibrary.org/passthebook) and pass the book to another teen reader. Readers can return to the web site to see where their books have traveled. Throughout the year they will have the opportunity to participate in online discussions and challenges based on events in the novel. A display in each branch features read-a-like titles and the other books in the Midnighters series — Touching Darkness and Blue Noon. A number of Midnighter-themed events are also planned in connection with this initiative, including Midnighter Lore at Central Library, Slither Repellant at Elkridge Branch, and Triskaidekamania at Savage Branch.

Copies of The Secret Hour will be available on Monday, October 19. Join us online and in-person throughout the year for quizzes, reviews, and Midnighter-themed events as we pass this exceptional teen adventure around Howard County and beyond.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

Sauscony Valdoria is one of my favorite heroines, tough-minded and tender-hearted. Sauscony, nicknamed Soz, is great at math, science, assembling weapons, survival, and figuring tactics. She’s not as great at figuring out people, which can lead to some funny situations. She’s completely literal minded and embodies a series of contradictions.

Soz’s family rules great expanses of the universe, but lives in a rural castle on a protected world. She’s a military genius whose father expects her to get married and have babies. She’d rather run obstacle courses and fly fighter planes than talk about emotions or feelings. In another twist, Soz comes from a family gene-gineered to be the ultimate telepaths, which means she’s empathic to the nth degree. Soz is a super-soldier who feels the hatred of her enemies.

In Asaro’s universe, three interstellar empires share the universe … Earth, The Ruby Empire (Soz’s family), and the Aristo Traders. The Rhon telepaths (mostly Soz’s family) and the Aristo Traders are absolute anathema to one another. Where Soz and her family are extra empathetic, the Traders completely lack that quality. In fact, they achieve a sort of ecstasy from the pain of others, particularly from telepaths who can broadcast their suffering. This makes for some very intense scenes in many of books. Earth plays a sort of intermediary role, trying to keep the peace to varying degrees of success.

Schism is a great place to enter Catherine Asaro’s Skolian series because it introduces Soz as she leaves home for the military academy as war looms on the horizon. Her tale continues in The Final Key, Primary Inversion, and The Radiant Seas. Her story is as fascinating as her funny, strong, ironic character. Other books in the series advance the timeline while focusing on several of Soz’s relatives (parents, siblings, and cousins). Diamond Star, about one of Soz’s brothers and his rock-star career on Earth, was published recently.

Asaro is an award-winning Howard County writer with a Ph.D in chemical physics from Harvard University. Her books have believable hard science elements, along with strong romantic elements.

Kristen Blount  – Administrative Office

Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover series spans centuries and dozens of books. Exile’s Song is a good place to enter the world for several reasons. One, it is the beginning of a subset within the larger series. Two, the main character comes to Darkover almost as a stranger. Margaret Alton knew she had been born on the planet Darkover, but had no further memories of her birthplace. She seizes the chance to visit professionally as a scholar of music, and there the story really begins. Bradley excels at investigating the ordeals and implications of being a stranger in a strange land, and revisits the theme in many of the Darkover books. 

Darkover is ruled by a caste of telepaths, known as the Comyn. Margaret’s father was a powerful member of that class, only he’s never told his daughter that she probably also has telepathic talents. So, it comes as quite a shock when this adult woman finds herself gravely ill as her gifts begin to manifest — something which usually happens to teenagers.

Margaret realizes that leaving Darkover to return to her job holds little interest compared to claiming (or being claimed by) her lost heritage. Coming to terms with the new possibilities in her life, she ends up embroiled in local politics at the highest level. True to human behavior, Margaret doesn’t exactly take all the upheaval in stride — she’s, in turn, bewildered, frightened, intransigent, and antagonistic to her long-lost relatives who think they know what’s best for her.

Bradley is probably most well-known for her Arthurian classic The Mists of Avalon, but I have thoroughly enjoyed the Darkover books over the years. The series tells how a Terran colonial ship landed and was "lost" upon Darkover, and the society that developed on the cold, hostile world. Eventually, the Terran Federation finds Darkover again, to everyone’s mutual discomfort. An uneasy understanding is in place when this book begins. Exile’s Song takes place very late in the overall series, but provides interesting glimpses of past times.

Kristen Blount – Administration Office

Season 4 of the new Doctor Who just hit the shelves. This long-running BBC science fiction show was recently re-imagined by producer Russell T. Davies. In its latest incarnation, the Doctor is the last of the Time-Lords, and a survivor of the most recent great time war. His experience makes him both more decisive and introspective than previous incarnations of the character. Season 1 gets the show off to a great restart with Christopher Eccleston in the title role, and Billie Piper as companion Rose Tyler. In seasons 2 and 3, David Tennant hits exactly the right note as the Doctor, who is mysterious, dangerous, powerful, and yet funny at the same time. He’s joined by Piper as Rose, Catherine Tate as Donna Noble, and Freema Agyeman as Martha Jones.

The format of the show has been updated. The four episode mini-arcs of my childhood, which ended with a cliffhanger each Saturday night, are gone. Instead, each season develops a story-arc that sheds some light on the Doctor’s situation and circumstances. Clues and evidence from each episode contribute in some small way to our understanding of the character.

The format and budget of the show have also been stretched to allow for stories that have different perspectives, and are ambitious in scope. "Turn Left" (Season 4, Disc 5) is particularly impressive. The sets and alien costumes are no longer constructed from recognizable household objects — no more cries of “That guy’s got an egg box on his head!” Instead we’re into big-budget special effects. 

So is it still Doctor Who? The answer is yes! The reinvention of the show has successfully integrated the history of the character, but taken the Doctor off in new and dramatic directions, revitalizing a great series. Although different in tone, Doctor Who is up there with Battlestar Galactica on the list of recent well-written, exceptionally well-produced TV science fiction. If you haven’t had chance to see it yet, take a look.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch