Star Wars: Scoundrels is veteran Star Wars author Timothy Zahn's play on the crime novel, set in the Star Wars universe. Starring everybody's favorite smuggler, Han Solo (who did shoot first), Scoundrels follows an Ocean's Eleven formula to build a ragtag band of criminals plotting a daring heist under the nose of the ruthless Black Sun syndicate. Some old favorites show their face (Lando, Chewie, even the Organa-Solo clan's nanny Winter), and there is a suitably dramatic conclusion and plenty of Star Wars action. Hardcore Star Wars readers will enjoy learning more about a couple of established characters.

Our lives can change in a moment. Seemingly mundane tasks can completely alter who we are, how we perceive the world, and how we live. In JoJo Moyes latest novel, Me Before You, meeting Will Traynor will alter Louisa ‘Lou’ Clark's life immeasurably, taking her out of her meek existence as an ‘invisible’ tea shop waitress in a small English town and thrusting her into Will’s life as a caregiver. It will make Lou question everything she’s always known about herself. Once a wealthy and vivacious young businessman, Will had a run-in with a motorcycle has brought his life of world-traveling adventure to a grinding halt. Now a quadriplegic, Will is angry, feels helpless, and is hell-bent on exercising what control he has left over his life.

Both Will and Lou experience a transformation through their time together. Will loses some of his anger and sees that happiness may be possible, and Lou discovers hidden strengths and depths that have been lurking under her timid shell. Me Before You is a bittersweet tale of two people, opposite in disposition, who come together briefly and change their seemingly stagnant lives through their relationship, their interactions, and their care for one another.

Bear Has a Story to Tell, written by Philip Stead and illustrated by Erin Stead, is a warm, wonderful story about patience and friendship that will delight young children and people of all ages who may want to read it aloud or over a young person's shoulder. The Steads are the Michigan duo that created A Sick Day for Amos McGee, winner of the 2011 Caldecott Medal. The books are companions in tone and style.

The lovely pencil and watercolor illustrations Bear Has a Story to Tell depict the changing natural landscape, as Bear tries to remember the tale he wants to tell his animal friends and they try to jog his memory. There are warm acts of kindness, giving the book, a Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book of 2012, the feel of a classic likely to be read and shared by many future generations.

Pioneer High School Theatre Guild will present Shrek: The Musical April 27 through May 5. The show is based on William Steig's 1990 book Shrek! and the 2001 DreamWorks film Shrek. Should be a fun show for both kids and adults. More information about the production and tickets is here.

A friend who saw Adam Grant speak recently in Ann Arbor highly recommends his book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success. If you missed Grant's visit here, you can read the New York Times magazine article about him or visit the book's website. This graduate of the University of Michigan apparently believes that the way we relate to other people has a lot to do with the success we achieve. From a book description in the AADL catalog: "Using his own cutting-edge research as a professor at Wharton Business School, Adam Grant shows how helping others can lead to greater personal success. He demonstrates how smart givers avoid becoming doormats, and why this kind of success has the power to transform not just individuals and groups, but entire organizations and communities."

Holly Goddard Jones's debut novel The Next Time You See Me * revisits the same terrain as in her Girl Trouble (2009), a collection of eight "beautifully written, achingly poignant, and occasionally heartbreaking stories" set in a small Kentucky town.

When middle-school teacher Susanna could not reach her hard-drinking, unpredictable older sister Ronnie, and the rotten take-out food cartons and other alarming signs in her apartment fail to convince the local police to treat it as a missing person's case, she has to turn to Tony, a failed athlete returning to his home town as a detective.

Socially awkward 13 year-old Emily, an easy target for 7th grade bullies, takes refuge in a stretch of deserted woods and stumbles onto a gruesome scene she decides to keep to herself.

Downtrodden Wyatt, a factory worker tormented by a past he can't change and by a love he doesn't think he deserves. Connected in ways they cannot begin to imagine, their stories converge in a violent climax that reveals not just the mystery of what happened to Ronnie but all of their secret selves.

"Jones' well-crafted tale captures small-town nuances while exploring the individual psychologies of her characters and their struggles".

"In the vein of Gone Girl,...Jones' tightly written Southern thriller will be one of spring's sizzling titles. Jones brilliantly weaves together story lines from unexpected angles. Her writing is fluid and she keeps a pace that will have readers lacing on their running shoes. And what a suspenseful, emotional, addictive run it is! "

Enough said. A must-read this spring.

* = starred review

I was walking down Liberty St. yesterday, and as I passed the alley next to Kilwin’s Chocolate Shoppe, I stopped dead in my tracks. There was a painting on the alley wall. I took a closer look and read that it was ‘Judith and Her Maidservant with the Head of Holofernes,’ by Artemisia Gentileschi. It was put there by the Detroit Institute of Arts.

The DIA placed this painting and six others in places around Ann Arbor as part of their Inside|Out program. Now in its fourth year, the Inside|Out program brings reproductions of masterpieces in DIA’s collection to more than a dozen cities in the metro Detroit area. You can find maps of all these impromptu outdoor galleries at the Inside|Out program’s web page.

If seeing these paintings inspires you to learn more about art and artists, take a look at AADL’s art print collection. You can take home a fully framed painting and make your own home a gallery. Also, check out AADL’s collection of huge, beautiful art books. You can take home the entire collected works of your favorite artist!

A World War II Lancaster bomber flies low across the English countryside as a girl watches from the road. One of the bomber’s twin tails is shot apart. One wing tip and flap are gone. Oil trails from its outer port engine. What is going on? And just like that you are sucked into the graphic novel Berlin: The Seven Dwarves.

The book follows the lives of the crew of the Arvo Lancaster bomber Snow White as they partake in dangerous night bombing raids against Nazi Germany. Author/illustrator Marvano aka Mark Van Oppen spins a nice yarn full of tense action, friendship and love in a historical setting. His graphics, especially of the flying equipment/action and the setting, are excellent.

Though Marvano’s (the author’s pen name) depictions of the night bombing action are excellent, some of his choices are interesting, especially his choice to show the dual engined push pull German Dornier Do 335 night fighter in one engagement. Admittedly it is a very cool plane, being menacing and high-tech looking, but it did not make its first maiden flight until after the action described in the book had occurred and per some records it may not have ever seen combat, period.

Beyond that though, this is an excellent read. Until now my reading of the British part of the strategic bombing campaign and their dangerous night missions had been limited to general histories and to the gripping young adult novel B is for Buster, about a young Canadian boy who works on a ground crew for a Handley Page Halifax bomber squadron, so this book, for sure from a mental imagery stand point, fills in some gaps.

If curious about the American part of the strategic bombing campaign, you can find quite a bit of specific literature out there about the 8th Air Force and its daylight bombing efforts against Germany flying the venerable Boeing B-17 and Consolidated B-24 (many of which were built right here in Ypsilanti). The library has both the informative and well written A Wing and A Prayer as well as the excellent teen novel, The Last Mission.

The Downtown library has a shelf in the Youth Department known as the Parent Shelf. On this shelf you’ll find a variety of parent-child related books on a multitude of topics- including everything from language to tantrums to potty training to homework. These books are available for checkout, and can be found in the catalog when searching “parent shelf,” if you’d like to have one sent to a branch of your choice.

One topic that might be interesting to read about is how to help raise shiny, happy kids. Check out such titles as The bear essentials: Everything today's hard-pressed parent needs to know about bringing up happy, healthy kids, How to parent so children will learn: Strategies for raising happy, achieving children, and The mindful child : how to help your kid manage stress and become happier, kinder, and more compassionate.

For additional titles, see here a longer list.

While taking a quiet moment in the youth collection the book The Three Questions caught my eye. Written and illustrated by Jon J. Muth, the book is based on the short story by Russian author Leo Tolstoy. (We have a version of Tolstoy’s short story to check out at the library, but a quick search on the internet will lead you to a many digital versions). In Muth’s version the main character is a little boy; in Tolstoy’s version the main character is a powerful king. In both stories the main characters go on a quest to find answers to what they consider to be the three most important questions in life:

When is the best time to do things?
Who is the most important one?
What is the the right thing to do?

Failing to get a satisfactory answer, the main characters venture out to find someone wise to ask. The young boy visits a turtle, while the king sets off to visit a hermit. It is only after a series of events that the answers are revealed by the wise ones. In Muth’s version the wise turtle responds, “Remember then that there is only one important time, and that time is now. The most important one is always the one you are with. And the most important thing is to do good for the one who is standing at your side. For these, my dear boy, are the answers to what is most important in this world. This is why we are here”.
Jon Muth’s The Three Questions is beautifully illustrated and sends a message of love and mindfulness of others. It is perfect for the child that always wants to know “why”, and it is perfect for the parent who wants to touch on the subject of compassion and helpfulness towards others.