Serena, by Ron Rash is a tale of greed and the thoughtless pursuit of power.  This historical novel is set in the early 1930's in the North Carolina mountains.  The main characters are George and Serena Pemberton, just married, who have traveled from Boston to North Carolina in order to create a timber empire. Their goal is to cut every tree in North Carolina and then move on to Brazil and do the same.

When Ron Rash started writing Serena, he pictured a woman on a horse on a ridge.  His image showed her as strong, a woman who created her own law, self-centered, and tougher than Lady Macbeth.  She would have no remorse. George Pemberton is also a strong character with one weakness, his illegitimate child.  The two set out to destroy all who get in the way of creating their empire.  Serena's only true competition is Rachel Harmon, a young woman from the North Carolina mountains and the mother of George Pemberton's child.  When Serena realizes she cannot have a child of her own and that George is protecting his illegitimate family, she sets out to destroy Rachel, her child, and George.

Serena is Ron Rash's fourth novel.  His works are focused on the Appalachian Mountains and environmental causes.  He is a faculty member at Western Carolina University and holds the John Parris Chair in Appalachian Studies. His family has lived in the Appalachian Mountains since the mid-1700's.

Do you like to read but also enjoy beautiful black and white illustrations? Have you made your acquaintance with the graphic novel? The Invention of Hugo Cabret is a Caldecott Award winning hybrid of text and graphic illustration and a wonderful introduction to this rapidly growing and increasingly important literary influence.

This lovely book combines text, silent movie stills and black and white graphic representations to tell the story of Hugo, an orphaned boy living in Paris in the 1930's, who serrupticiously inherits the clock keeping responsibilities for the Paris Metro. Although the story is fiction, it incorporates Georges Melies, the first silent movie director to have included science fiction in his work. His famous movie A Trip to the Moon plays a crucial role as do other important silents. Mechanical automata also play a part. Through an unpleasant but ultimately fortunate encounter with a toy shop owner and an odd but book loving young girl, our illicit young hero comes to terms with his sad past, his precarious present and a portentious future.

Although a children's book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret may also appeal to teens and adults. Like The Wizard of Oz and the Harry Potter books it will stimulate the imagination in its own unique and luminous fashion. In addition, reading skills both textual and graphic are sure to get a delightful workout!  

Author Ivan Doig takes readers on a fascinating voyage through two years of World War II, as seen through the eyes of Ben Reinking, quarterback of Treasure State University's undefeated "Supreme Team".  As Ben follows in the footsteps of his 10 teammates reporting on their adventures, triumphs and loss, he searches for purpose in his life, always wondering what might happen to that life if the odds don't go his way.　

Although the action occurs during WWII, this book is not about the war.  This story is one of strong men and women struggling against events that do not bend to individual will.  You will root for each character as you follow their life from that glorious time on the gridiron to what awaits on the battlefields of WWII.  This intriguing read will bind readers to their chair until the last page is turned and the book is closed.

I read the book called The Friendship by Mildred Taylor.  This book was about a girl named Cassie who was sent to the store with her brothers to get some medicine.  While in the store, Cassie and her brothers were teased by two of the workers.  They got scared and ran out and bumped into Mr. Tom Bee who told them to wait until he got his tobacco and he would walk with them on their way home.  While in the store, Mr. Tom Bee called the store owner by his first name, John.  The store owner's son was shocked that his father let a black man call him by his first name. 

Mr. Tom Bee called him John because he saved his life and John told him that he could call him by his first name as long as he lives.  The sons criticized the father until the father got his gun and shot Mr. Tom Bee in the leg.  John told him that it was disrespectful to call him John and that he had to teach him a lesson.  

As I read this book, it was hard for me to understand why this could happen to a man for calling another man by his first name.  I would recommend this book to my classmates because this is how it was in the south during the early 1900's. 

Chains is about a slave girl named Isabel who was promised freedom upon her slave owner's death.  The promise wasn't kept.   She was sold to the Locktons of New York.  On the journey to her new home, she met a rebel slave named Curzon.  Curzon promises to help Isabel gain her freedom.  In exchange, Isabel must spy on the Locktons.  She reluctantly agrees, and the adventure begins.  The story takes place during the Revolutionary War and the information Isabel gets helps the Patriots in their war effort.

I recommend this book to people who like stories of war, about spies or acts of heroism.