Us Against You by Fredrik Backman

Earlier this month, Simon & Schuster’s Atria imprint released US AGAINST YOU by Fredrik Backman; it is the sequel to Beartown, a book which has generated some lengthy discussions at our high school. The stories in both novels take place at a small town where hockey championships are truly a focus and “kids get raised with the philosophy ‘the stats never lie.’ Either you’re the best, or you’re everyone else.” As the new novel opens, reverberations from a sexual assault by one of the key players are still being felt and there is talk of disbanding the team. “The idiots won’t say it was Kevin who killed Beartown Ice Hockey, they’ll say ‘the scandal’ killed the club. … their real problem isn’t that Kevin raped someone, but that Maya got raped. … Women are always the problem in the men’s world.”

The story is classic Backman (he also wrote A Man Called Ove and others), with much empathy for those with less power and with anger against the bureaucracy: “it is divided in the way that all worlds are divided between people: between those who are listened to, and those you aren’t” OR “sports are only sports until someone who doesn’t give a damn about sports has something to gain from them, then sports suddenly become economics.” Once again, Backman gives readers much to discuss in US AGAINST YOU which received a starred review from Library Journal. 

The Innovators by Walter Isaacson

The Innovators is the latest from Walter Isaacson, well-known for his recent biography of Steve Jobs.  As such, this new book has met with acclaim – starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus Reviews, plus articles in The Wall Street Journal and many more.  I was fascinated by Isaacson’s first chapter about Ada Lovelace and how she anticipated many aspects of computers a century before they came into use… who is dreaming of connections today that our grandchildren will see in their lifetime?

However, I did feel that the chapters were a little long and I wished that he had been able to jump more quickly to present day icons in the field, particularly as I contemplated handing this book (560 pages!) to my high school students.  Many of them have requested books about Jobs and other entrepreneurs. I am honestly not sure if The Innovators will hold their attention, particularly since they do not have the cultural and life experiences which would make it more relevant for any reader. I think it will have greater appeal amongst our faculty, particularly those who teach Business or Economics, and who may select a chapter or two to share with students as they explore the importance of teamwork and collaboration in relation to innovation.

In compiling and sharing numerous facts and jargon, Isaacson includes images of inventors, plus discussion of parallel developments and “what ifs.” Other titles about innovators which my students have found useful: They Made America by Evans, Branding of America, and Inventors who Left their Brands on America (shelved at 658.8).  I like the latter’s emphasis on resilience, on taking risks and failing before finding success. These three titles all feature a relatively few pages about each of a myriad of entrepreneurs from many fields. As such, they provide a great starting point for exploring factors which can lead to entrepreneurial success.