Wildhood by Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers

WILDHOOD by Barbara Natterson-Horowitz and Kathryn Bowers is subtitled “The Epic Journey from Adolescence to Adulthood in Humans and Other Animals.” And what an intriguing read it is!  Readers can explore peer-pressure in salmon (who knew?) and courtship behavior in humpback whales, plus many more examples from the animal kingdom. The authors (Natterson-Horowitz is a visiting professor in the Department of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard and Bowers is a science journalist) previously collaborated on the New York Times bestseller Zoobiquity. In WILDHOOD, they use chapters divided into four parts representing key life skills (Safety, Status, Sex, and Self-reliance) in order to discuss parallels with our own species. Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers write about impulsivity and the “teenage brain” as well as social hierarchies and “association with high status animals.” Truly fascinating, their writing is scientific, but accessible and of interest across disciplines like Psych, Science, and Kinetic Wellness classes. The authors also raise issues that some Junior Theme students are already exploring, too, like the impact for humans of having to learn these life skills both in a real world and a virtual one. Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers recently published an essay, called “Adolescents Go Wild – And Not Just Humans” in The Wall Street Journal (available online at school) which gives a brief overview of their research.

The text itself includes a glossary of terms, almost fifty pages of detailed notes and a helpful index. WILDHOOD received starred reviews from Booklist (“Teens might like reading about their counterparts in the animal kingdom”) and Publishers Weekly. Find it on our shelves soon!

A Pure Heart by Rajia Hassib

A PURE HEART by Rajia Hassib received well-deserved starred reviews from both Booklist and Kirkus. This is the contemporary story of two Egyptian sisters.  One, Fayrouz, chooses to be called Rose and is an archeologist who marries an American journalist, studies at Columbia University and eventually works at The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The other sister, Gameela, is more obviously religious (for example, she wears a hijab), harbors a number of secrets, and is killed in a suicide bombing. Hassib uses flashbacks to develop the characters and motivations of both sisters. She deftly weaves in questions of fate and identity: [Rose] “thinks that maybe there are multiple versions of her, too, just as there are multiple versions of him and multiple versions of Gameela, and that her different Roses will have to learn to co-exist, that Gameela’s sister and Mark’s wife cannot go on believing they are enemies …” and of faith: “so much of faith as she [Gameela] understood it lay in a constant struggle to improve oneself, in the true meaning of jihad as an ongoing striving to be better, to do better, to let go of egotistic, selfish notions….”   A PURE HEART is very informative about Egyptian culture and history; plus, this novel explores so much more, including family relationships, sibling jealousy, dissent, poverty, privilege, religion, the role of women, guilt, after-life and death. This would be an excellent title for our Global Voices students as well as adventurous book groups.  

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge is an especially suspenseful book with elements of fantasy and an extremely resilient heroine.  Aptly named Faith is the young daughter of a scientist who is moving his family to an island called Vane in order to work on an archeological dig.  The time period is Victorian England and Faith, therefore, is often ignored due to her gender.  She is certainly not encouraged to pursue her own interests in science, but she ultimately does so – listening at keyholes, wandering about the island, and trying to solve a death she is sure was murder.  The author says that the “weeks on Vane were so painfully vivid that it seemed like the only real place;” I think that readers will become immersed in the story and feel that way, also.

Faith’s father has a mysterious Mendacity Tree, or Lie Tree, which feeds off lies told to it.  Faith starts sharing lies: “as sleep cradled her, she imagined her lie spreading silently like dark green smoke, filling the air around the house like a haze, spilling from the mouths of those who whispered and wondered and feared.” Of course, there are unintended consequences and Faith must decide who she can trust, whether it be family members, villagers or servants.  

The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge received starred reviews from ALL of the major publications, including seven in the U.S. at my last count. It has already won awards and been nominated for several others; more details on the author’s website.  Enjoy The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge – it’s an exciting tale where Faith learns that "... you only had to provide part of a lie.  You could rely on other people's imaginations to fill the gaps." There is likely to be clamoring for a sequel.