Exit wounds

Exit wounds / Rutu Modan.— Montréal : Drawn & Quarterly, 2007.

172 p. : col. ill. ; 24 cm.

ISBN: 1897299060

Text in English

1. Adult children of dysfunctional families – Comic books, strips, etc. 2. Fathers and sons – Comic books, strips, etc. 3. Graphic novels. 4. Israel – Comic books, strips, etc. 5. Separation (Psychology) – Comic books, strips, etc. 6. Suicide bombings – Israel – Comic books, strips, etc. 7. Taxicab drivers – Comic books, strips, etc.

741.595694

Tel Aviv cab driver Koby Franco receives a call from an Israeli soldier. She’s not looking for a ride. She wants him to take a blood test to determine if an unidentified victim of a suicide bombing is his father. Since he is estranged from his father, who he hasn’t spoken with in two years, Koby is at first repelled, but becomes intrigued when the tall young soldier reveals that she was his father’s girlfriend.

This subtly crafted graphic novel explores themes of deception and abandonment as it reveals the identity of the bomb victim. It’s a mystery for those who enjoyed Graham Greene's The third man or Dashiell Hammett's The thin man.

Laika

Laika / by Nick Abadzis ; color by Hilary Sycamore.— New York : First Second,2007.

205p. : col. Ill, ; 22 cm.

ISBN: 978-1-569643-101-0

1. Animal experimentation – Comic books, strips, etc. 2. Dogs – Comic books, strips, etc. 3. Edícia Sputnik – Comic books, strips, etc. 4. Graphic novels. 5. Historical fiction. 6. Laika (dog) – Comic books, strips, etc. 7. Russia – History – 20th century – Comic books, strips, etc. 8.Space race – Comic books, strips, etc.

741.5942

A dog story set in the early days of the cold war space race, ending sadly, as many dog stories do with the demise of the main character and the grief of his human companions. Pressured for another spectacular launch to add to the propaganda success of Sputnik I, soviet scientists launch a dog into orbit with no plan for her return.

In this well researched piece of historical fiction author and illustrator Abadzis adds an imagined early life for the dog Laika. This deepens the emotional impact of his graphic novel and forces the reader to consider the ethics of such animal experimentation.

The fabric of the cosmos

The fabric of the cosmos : space, time, and the texture of reality / Brian Greene.— New York : A.A. Knopf, 2004.

xii, 569 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.

ISBN: 0375412883

Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [543]-544) and index.

1. Cosmology. 2. Space. 3. Time.

523.1

Greene, professor of physics and mathematics at Columbia University, and a superstring theorist explains the stuff of reality. By skillful use of diagrams and analogies he succeeds even for non-mathematicians like me. He also goes on to explain of what the world might be made. In other words, what science knows by experimental proof and what has yet to be proved by experiment. And most puzzling is the experimental fact that the rules of movement for the big things in the universe, people, planets, stars and galaxies are quite different from the laws of the very small things in the universe, atoms and sub-atomic particles, which follow the rules of quantum mechanics.

Humans experience three dimensions of space and one of time, and while we can go up or down, forward or backwards, left or right in space we can only travel forward in time. But are these dimensions the real stuff of the universe as Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein insisted or just a linguistic expressions of relationships as Gottfried von Leibniz argued? Following time’s single direction Greene leads the reader back to the beginning of the universe, the Big Bang and then forward to a cosmos that may have as many as eleven dimensions. It’s quite a trip.

Frankenstein

Frankenstein / Mary Shelley ; read by Tom Casaletto.— Library ed.— [Grand Haven] : Brilliance Audio, c2004.

Downloadable audio file (8 hrs., 23 min.)

(Classic collection)

Title from: Title details screen.

Unabridged.

Requires OverDrive Media Console (file size: 120584 KB).

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

1. Frankenstein (Fictitious character) – Fiction. 2. Gothic fiction (Literary genre). 3. Monsters – Fiction. 4. Romanticism. 5. Scientists – Fiction.

823.7

It could be called a Tale of Two Wretches for wretch is the term that Victor Frankenstein and his Creature most frequently use to describe themselves or each other. Applied to oneself, it’s a term of pathetic sorrow and isolation, but when aimed at the other, it’s a term of abuse and scorn. Full of romantic Sturm und Drang and wild inspiring landscapes as the characters trek across Europe into the Arctic, this Gothic revival tale and classic of horror fiction has very few scares in it, but it overflows with tortured reflections on the human condition in general and the isolation of the outcast in particular.

Repossessed

Repossessed / A.M. Jenkins.-- New York : HarperTeen, c2007.

218 p. ; 19 cm.

ISBN: 9780060835699

1. Conduct of life – Fiction. 2. Interpersonal relations – Fiction. 3. Spirit possession – Fiction.

813.54

A demon, well, actually he prefers the term, “Fallen Angel,” tired of listening to the tedious whining regrets of the dammed decides to abandon his job. He leaves Hell; takes possession of Shaun, a bored but doomed seventeen-year-old, just before he’s about to step in front of an oncoming cement truck. Jerking the possessed body back out of harm’s way, the demon goes about trying to fit into the boy’s life while reveling in the delicious sensations of earthly existence. He’s so delighted with these (contrary to what you might have heard, High School really is a lot better than Hell) and so happy with his new state, that Shaun’s family and friends are startled by “Shaun’s” new and improved behavior and manners. But how long can the ruse go on?

Dreamers of the day : a novel

Dreamers of the day : a novel / Mary Doria Russell.— New York : Random House, c2008.

253 p. : ill. ; 25 cm.

ISBN: 9781400064717

1. Bell, Gertrude Lowthian, 1868-1926 -- Fiction. 2. Churchill, Winston, Sir, 1874-1965 -- Fiction. 3. Historical fiction. 4. Lawrence, T. E. (Thomas Edward), 1888-1935 -- Fiction. 5. Middle East --History --1914-1923 -- Fiction. 6. Women teachers -- Fiction.

813.54

The only member of her family to survive the influenza pandemic of 1918, former fifth grade schoolteacher Agnes Shanklin and her dachshund Rosie set off from Cleveland, Ohio on a cruse to Egypt “…to escape from the sadness.” She arrives in 1921 to find the local population in a state of agitated turmoil over the impending meeting of their new British governors. They are torn between a desire to kill the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Mr. Churchill and admiration and awe for the war hero who did so much to liberate the Arabs them from the rule of the Turks, Colonel Lawrence. She also arrives to find that dogs are not welcome in first-class hotels in Cairo.

Fortunately, she is rescued from her predicament by members of the very same English that are causing such a stir, Gertrude Bell and T.E. Lawrence. She soon makes the acquaintance of Winston Churchill and a very charming German gentleman who proves to be a very attentive friend and sympathetic listener. Thus the author skillfully sets the stage to portray the men and women who literally shaped the modern Middle East. As the fictional Miss Shanklin puts it, “my little story has become your history.” She might have added, “and your current struggles.”

Dreamers of the day is a fascinating work of historical fiction and an extremely satisfying read.

Usagi yojimbo : samurai : 2

Usagi yojimbo : samurai : 2 / Stan Sakai; introd. by Mark Evanier.-- Seattle : Fantagraphics Books, 2005.

141 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.

ISBN: 0930193881 (pbk.)

"The stories in this volume first appeared in Usagi Yojimbo # 1-6"

1. Rabbits -- Comic books, strips, etc. 2. Samurai -- Comic books, strips, etc.

741.5973

Miyamoto Usagi recounts his apprenticeship, his service as a bodyguard to Lord Mifune, and the battle in which he tragically became a ronin, a masterless samurai. This is followed by a ghost story, a humorous encounter with a very large baby lizard, and the rescue of a village of silk weavers. This is the second in the series of graphic novels chronicling the adventures of the “rabbit bodyguard” in feudal Japan.