The Six by Mark Alpert

I am looking forward to booktalking The Six by Mark Alpert, especially for fans of sci-fi and action-adventure.  This novel begins with the story of Adam Armstrong – a courageous teen who is battling muscular dystrophy, but expects to die soon.  His computer scientist Dad works for the government and is experimenting with artificial intelligence when his software “Sigma” breaks free and tries to take over the world.

Guess what?! Adam and other kids like him who are struggling with terminal diseases have a chance to store their brains in machines before their bodies die. These “Pioneers” need to master that ability and then defeat Sigma.  Maybe that sounds too unrealistic to you, but not with the writing of Mark Alpert, a journalist for Scientific American, who obviously understands many aspects of neuromorphic electronics technology and its implications. Still have doubts?  Look at recent news articles like this one about Google studying how machines can “dream” OR controlling machines with thinking like this from Voice of America. Setting this story in the near future, as Alpert does, adds to its excitement and suspense.

I think that The Six by Mark Alpert is likely to appear on future Abe Lincoln book lists and I hope that students and adults are as excited and curious about this novel as I am. Here is a link to a discussion guide for The Six which also received starred reviews from both Booklist and Voya.

If you are interested in a few other titles about Robotics and Artificial Intelligence, try these: the classic I, Robot by Asimov; Robopocalypse series by Wilson; soon-to-be published virtual world  Armada by Cline (Ready Player One) or Rise of the Robots by Ford and Not Impossible by Ebeling, two recent non-fiction works, both previewed on pbs this spring. An alternative – adding human intelligence to animals -- was deftly explored in Eva by Dickinson.  And NBCLearn recently posted Mysteries of the Brain - eight video segments about how we think, including one on brain-computer interface. 

Stir by Jessica Fechtor

For much of the weekend I have been reading Stir: My Broken Brain and the Meals That Brought Me Home by Jessica Fechtor.  I would highly recommend this fascinating memoir which tells the story of a 28 year-old woman who almost dies from a brain aneurism. 

As her story begins, Jessica is a healthy graduate student planning to finish and defend a PhD dissertation.  She is recently married and looking forward to starting a family. Instead, her husband and family are called to her bedside as doctors contemplate brain surgery. That is an ordeal which she undergoes more than once due to complications.

Jessica spends a significant time in recovery, but the tone of her book is generally positive and hopeful.  She introduces us to “her people:” husband Eli, parents, siblings, step-mother, in-laws, grandmother and friends through stories about them and their recipes. Stir includes 27 recipes with notes and suggestions by Jessica for recreating these many comfort foods. They often include a “twist” like sweet potato curry latkes or whole wheat chocolate chip cookies.

Jessica’s story is amazingly inspirational and courageous so halfway through I decided to see what else I could learn about her.  I found the video that appears below (posted recently by her husband) and encourage you to watch it, but only after having read a good portion of Stir.  Her writing underscores how much we should all be grateful for food, family, friends, and faith.

 

You can also visit Jesica Fechtor’s blog at Sweet Amandine.com

For other Non-fiction writing with recipes try titles like Delancey by Molly Wizenberg.