Howard County teens are still busy reading and writing reviews this summer. Here are some more top picks:

Schooled by Gordon Korman
Schooled is the tale of a hippie kid who is sent to a REAL school and has to learn how to survive middle school on his own. Not long after, he is stuck with the position of class president and the title of total dork. The story follows his journey from hippie outcast to almost fitting in. Schooled is a very inspiring and amazing novel! Although it may be an easy read, this book has so much to offer, from life lessons to tips and advice, teaching you how people feel in middle school, and just having another great, happy, comforting, and inspiring story. I could have read 300 more pages of Cap’s adventures and discoveries. The ending feels as if a sequel is coming, so if there is, I will be SURE to read it! As Cap would say, "All you need is love" and that is all I have for this book.

- Eiryn G.

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a great book by Jules Verne. There is a creature underwater terrorizing sea travelers and Professor Aronnax, a famous Professor, thinks that it might be a narwhal. He goes on an expedition to find this “creature” when he is captured by the people on the submarine, which he finds out is the mystery creature. Captain Nemo, the sub’s captain, is holding them against their will on his sub. Then they try to escape. As they are getting away, a Maelstrom, which is a huge storm, hits their ship as they are leaving the sub on the dingy. Do they escape or not? You have to read the book to find out what happens.

- Kenny S.

The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm by Nancy Farmer
The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm is a great novel about three kids who are kidnapped. Kuda, Rita, and Tendai are all children of General Matsika living in the 22nd century. These three children live in a house with security, robots, and a Mellower. A Mellower is someone who gives praise to people and families. Rita, Kuda, and Tendai all take karate, and Rita and Tendai are in boy/girl scouts, with Kuda joining the following year. For Tendai to become an Eagle Scout he must go on an adventure. Unfortunately, their parents are strict and will not even let them leave the house. But because the Mellower is very kind to them, they arranged a plan to trick their parents into letting them go. Since the Mellower’s praises calm them so much, they don’t remember exactly what he says to them and so that’s how the Mellower got them to give permission for the kids all to go. As they leave the house, their parents remember what happened and the kids are kidnapped. I liked the book because of its action and excitement.

- Trevor A.

The Sun is dying.

The year is 2057 and Earth’s only hope is a successful re-ignition of the Sun with a mega-nuclear bomb.

The method of delivery is a space vessel rendered virtually impervious to the intensity of the Sun by means of a large mirror shield. Crewed by eight highly-specialized professionals, the Icarus II is our second attempt. As with the prior mission of Icarus I, things go wrong. The intended round-trip back to Earth is deemed unlikely.

No doubt the believability and enjoyment of Sunshine (this movie is nothing like Deep Impact or Armageddon) is due largely to the incredible visuals and attention to detail. Even without HDTV, each scene is crisp and clear. Or maybe it’s compelling because it plays on our own will to persist despite abject failure. The characters’ dialogue and emotional responses never come across as contrived — faithfully depicting the spontaneity of human interaction and life itself. As the credits roll, the paradoxical question lingers: is life worth dying for?

Dan Curry – Savage Branch

God is a mathematician.

This is one of Galileo’s favorite sayings, especially after he intuited a new geometric relationship. According to Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel Galileo’s Dream, Galileo felt rung like a bell at such times.

Robinson primarily offers a biography of Galileo Galilei, his genius in observing the natural world, and the political and religious troubles his observations caused. Robinson does Galileo the favor of including the man’s vices along with his virtues to offer a well-rounded point of view. Although it starts with Galileo’s scientific discoveries and inventions, the story quickly becomes complicated. Galileo carries the book from Venice to Florence to Rome. In the book’s science fiction twist, Galileo even makes it to Jupiter’s moons, which he was the first to see. The future Jovians reveal he is to be burned at the stake as a martyr to science. After this horrific vision, Galileo tries his hardest to prevent his gruesome death, but instead seems to work unwittingly toward furthering it.

Mixed with the historical fiction, there’s also a hard science fiction story dealing with time travel. Galileo makes several trips, voluntarily and not, into a strange future where humanity has colonized Jupiter’s moons. During these trips, Galileo receives an amazingly concise overview of mathematical and scientific progress. The idea of time being not quite entirely linear becomes central to the story. The prominent metaphor is that time is like channels in a river, and sometimes actions can change the river’s course. The author manages to meld the different threads of this story into a satisfying, if not always easy, read.

Galileo dreams of a world where science and religion are not in opposition. He refuses to denounce himself as a bad Catholic, but continues to insist "Eppur Si Muove" ("But still, it moves.") The book’s debates, both 400 years in the past and 400 years in the future, prove that humanity continually struggles to reconcile faith and science, the old with the new. Galileo repeatedly wonders how, if God is a mathematician, can that same God be opposed to scientific findings?

Kristen Blount – Administration Offices

Meet Catherine Asaro, a local author with one of the most impressive biographies I’ve ever seen. A true renaissance woman, she holds a Ph.D in chemical physics from Harvard and was a visiting scientist at Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in the early 1990s. She has danced professionally and taught at the Caryl Maxwell Classical Ballet school in Maryland. She writes award-winning science fiction novels. And these days, she sings, with local band Point Valid, the music described in her newest Skolian Universe novel, Diamond Star.

Diamond Star is the most recent addition (also available as an audiobook) to the long ranging series of Skolian Universe novels, which tell the story of the Ruby Empire and its struggle to exist in a universe that values its technology, but not its culture. Del Arden, a prince of the Ruby Empire and an extremely gifted empath, doesn’t care much for his royal responsibilities. He just wants to sing, and maybe even be a star. This may seem trite, but it sets the background for a novel that quickly moves beyond the surface story of a young man living his rock and roll dream.

Del doesn’t truly forsake his heritage, mostly because he realizes his dream is precarious at best. His mother, brother, and aunt co-rule an interstellar empire — one that will make war on Earth if anything should happen to Del. The book also examines the importance of art to the individual psyche and the health of a culture. Del can explore issues in his songs that would cause war (and almost do) if expressed in any other way. After a slightly slow start, you root for Del to succeed in spite of the odds and to make peace with his personal demons.

Asaro will read from the novel and perform songs at the Library’s East Columbia Branch on Tuesday, May 18 at 7:00 pm. She will be accompanied by the Wolcott Quartet: Donald Wolcott on keys (and backup vocals), El Torro Gamble on drums, Mike Montgomery on bass, and Dominick Turchi on sax. Asaro plans to read passages from the book interspersed with songs from the book along with covers of jazz and other pop music, followed by a time for questions from the audience.

Books and companion CDs will be available for purchase and signing. Sponsored by Friends of Howard County Library.

Kristen Blount – Administration Office

This recent "reimagining" of Battlestar Galactica takes place in the aftermath of a devastating Cylon attack on the 12 colonies of Kobol. As a fleet of ships that escaped the colonies coalesces around the warship Battlestar Galactica, Commander William Adama (Edward James Olmos) inspires the fleet, introducing a spiritual dimension to their journey by announcing that they will begin a search for the mythical 13th colony of Earth. Adama’s military works alongside the civilian government of President Laura Roslin (Mary McDonnell). Meanwhile, we’re told that in addition to the metallic Cylon soldiers with which we’re familiar, there are 12 humanoid models of Cylon, and we gradually begin to encounter them.

There are many significant characters in this expanded universe, both human and Cylon, and this is not a show that resets to “normal” at the end of every episode. Instead tensions, conflicts, and transformations are followed through from week to week and from season to season, with some spanning the entire arc of the show. Dramatic and unexpected shifts, some affecting single characters and some encompassing them all, unbalance both the characters and the viewing audience, and change the game. Season Two, for instance, is punctuated by the unanticipated arrival of the Battlestar Pegasus under the command of Admiral Helena Cain (Michelle Forbes), and closes with most of the fleet’s population choosing to abandon the search for Earth and settle instead on New Caprica. Interpersonal tensions are explored alongside macro-scale legal and ethical issues as this new society struggles to flourish.

Battlestar Galactica’s producers are not afraid to rock the boat, to show us the less likeable sides of our heroes, or to show us a more compassionate side of the Cylons. The identities and motives of these humanoid Cylons are the mystery at the heart of the show. They live alongside humans in the fleet and are only gradually revealed. Producers make us work for our entertainment with discussions of theology, morality, and the nature of existence. Humanity’s quest for the mythical 13th colony of Earth is a mirror that reflects the best and worst of who we are. If you’re in the mood for some great benchmark-setting television, take a look at Battlestar Galactica, and check out Caprica to learn the origin of the Cylons.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

Terry Gilliam’s movie 12 Monkeys is the ultimate in time travel science-fiction, and tells the story of James Cole (Bruce Willis), a prisoner in an alternate near-future. Humanity has been decimated by a man-made plague, and Cole is sent through time to the 1990s in an effort to avert the disease’s release.

Gilliam puts a number of factors into play to keep us off balance. The future, of course, is a dystopian confusion of strange technology and abandoned cities. The past that Cole encounters during his time travels is not much easier to live with. He is institutionalized, socially isolated, and wanted by the police. The currents of time bring Cole into repeated contact with Jeffrey Goines (Brad Pitt) and psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly (Madeline Stowe) as he gathers information about the plague and relays it to the scientists in the future by means of voicemail. All is not what it seems, however, and the pitfalls associated with time travel become critical to the narrative.

In following James Cole’s time-bending quest, Gilliam creates a comprehensive fictional world within which he explores issues of science and technology, philosophy, and morality from a unique perspective. Keep one eye open for the Army of the 12 Monkeys. 

John Jewitt – Savage Branch

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