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Dragonfly

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Title: Dragonfly by Leila Meacham
Format: Book, Book on CD, Large Print
Who’s It For: Adults

During the Nazi occupation of Paris, five Americans went undercover to ferret out German top secrets. In short, they were spies. Samuel Barton was a civil engineer who would gather intel on German blueprints. Christoph Brandt was a track-and-field coach.  He would teach sports in a private school to children of top German officials.  Brad Hudson would use his fly-fishing skills to befriend Nazis. Victoria Grayson’s fencing skills would open avenues with German elite.  And Bridgette Loring, fashion designer, would secrete knowledge through fashionable wives and girlfriends.  

Together, their team was known as “Dragonfly.”  Although they were all trained stateside by the Office of Secret Services, their true identities were  concealed from each other.  They each had a code name and an assumed name while in France: Samuel/Lodestar/Stephane, Christoph/Lapwing/Claus, Brad/Limpet/Barnard, Victoria/Limpet/Veronique, and Bridgette/Labrador/Bernadette.  Bridgette resided at a convent.  On the wall of the convent, she painted a mural through which she could relay secret messages to the others through changes to the art.  And team members weekly submitted intel to Bridgette through a mail drop.  Bridgette in turn transmitted messages back to their OSS case officer, Alistair Renault, via a hidden radio at the convent.

What could go wrong?  What could happen if team members bumped into each other in their assumed life?  If an American turned Nazi ran into his best friend in Paris, would he turn in his countryman?  What if a Nazi fell in love with one of the women?  Would any of the five survive this dangerous mission?

My son first read this story and recommended it to me.  And I loved it!  The narration switches from one team member to another and then to Alistair, their case officer, who is very concerned for these young people.  The timeline alternates from the past to 20 years later.  All of these elements contribute to the tension and drama of the story.  It was a page-turner!

If you enjoy being immersed in another place and time in history, I recommend this book to you.

Find Dragonfly in the catalog.

A Season on the Wind

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Title: A Season on the Wind by Suzanne Woods Fisher
Format: Book
Who’s It For: Teens and Adults

Penny Weaver remembered Ben Zook from her childhood. She met him in the meadow near his family’s farm. She taught him about birding while visiting her grandmother. Together, they traversed the countryside and spotted an eagle’s nest.  They became friends.  However, decades later, Ben did not remember Penny.

Ben Zook left Stoney Ridge and his Amish faith long ago. He had become a world-renown photographer. One day, Ben returned with his cousin Natalie to rent Penny’s guest house. And they hired Penny’s brother Micah for his keen birding skills. Micah had spotted the elusive White-winged Tern.  Ben wanted Micah to help him to spot it to photograph it. It was actually Micah’s pesky neighbor Trudy Yoder who’d seen the bird.  Could Micah find it?

Penny provided a meal daily for Ben’s father, Zeke Zook.  The poor man suffered from Alzheimer’s and, she suspected, loneliness.  He was gruff to most people, yet he trusted Penny.  Why hadn’t Ben returned home when his mother passed?  Were there unresolved issues between Ben and his father?

An Amish widower named Roy King brought flowers for Penny.  Roy liked Penny, and yet Penny couldn’t get Ben out of her heart and mind.  Micah liked Shelley, Trudy Yoder’s beautiful older sister.  And Trudy liked Micah.  What a pickle!

Penny loved birds and privately kept a collection of drawings of them in her home.  In her last church, she had been told that drawing was prideful. Penny didn’t want to draw attention to herself.  She simply loved birds.  So, when she moved to Stoney Ridge and a new church, she didn’t show her drawings to anyone.  Yet Natalie snooped and found some.  She loved them!  As an interior decorator, she knew she could sell them for Penny.  What if she just took one to look into it for Penny?

A Season on the Wind is a touching tale of wounded hearts, flawed individuals, and restoration.  I enjoyed the context of birding and Micah’s humorous birding notes.  Penny was clearly the heroine, yet the surrounding cast was personable and realistic, with their own issues to overcome too.  If you enjoy an inspirational story of love and faith and character, I recommend this book to you.  

And you can find A Season on the Wind in our catalog.

 

 

 

 

 

Murder at the Breakers

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Murder at the Breakers by Alyssa Maxwell
Who’s it For: Adults
Format: Book

One might assume that all was well among the elite of Newport, Rhode Island in 1895. Emma Cross discovered differently. When stepping out into the damp gardens, Emma padded to the front of the Vanderbilt mansion.  Where was her half-brother, Brady? Hearing a voice and a scuffle on the balcony, Emma looked up.  A man tumbled over the stone balustrade and plummeted to his death.  Was it Brady?  Or Uncle Cornelius?  Emma ran to the prone body.  She peered into the unseeing eyes of…Mr. Goddard?? Alvin Goddard was the financial secretary to Emma’s Uncle Cornelius.  Earlier that evening, he had pawed her hand and gushed over her Vanderbilt connection.  As a poor relation, she was at the ball as a fashion reporter for the Newport Observer.  She needed or, at least, preferred to earn her living rather than rely on the largesse of her relatives.  At any rate, with a dead body at her feet, she needed help.  Dazed, Emma wandered back indoors to the ball.  “Emma!” Her father’s friend Jack Parsons and her cousin Neily Vanderbilt, seeing her bedraggled state, rushed to her side.  “What happened?”  After a hasty explanation, the trio left to cover Mr. Goddard with a sheet.  While Neily and Jack discussed contacting the police, Emma returned to the mansion and quietly ascended the stairs.  “Brady?” Where was her scamp of a brother?

Upstairs, Emma made her way into her uncle’s bedroom where the doors still stood open to the balcony.  Her cousin Neily soon followed.  Emma spotted a pair of feet on the floor beyond Uncle Cornelius’ bed.  “Brady!” There was her wayward sibling, passed out, a large bump on his head, and, from the smell of things, drunk.  “What in thunder is going on in here!?” demanded Emma’s uncle as he stormed into the room with a police officer.  Scattered near her brother were railroad plans that had been stolen.  Emma could imagine her brother as a thief, but also as a murderer? No.  Now Emma just had to prove it.

I enjoyed this tale of mystery and romance.  Author Alyssa Maxwell wove a light yet intriguing story around Newport historical figures of the Golden Age.  This is the first book in a series.  Find Murder at the Breakers in our catalog. 

 

Freaky, Funky Fish: Odd Facts about Fascinating Fish

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Title: Freaky, Funky Fish: Odd Facts about Fascinating Fish by Debra Kempf Shumaker
Who’s it For: Children of all Ages
Format: Book

There once were two young boys who were like moths to a flame for anything marine animals. One I dubbed the “Little Professor” because he would unwittingly alter his voice as he spouted this or that fact. I took a photo of the other as a child. Instead of saying “cheese” I said “dolphin.” His face lit up with a broad smile. These two youngsters were my sons. They are now young adults. However, “Freaky, Funky Fish” is exactly the kind of book that they would have glommed onto as kids.

The illustrations are bright, amusing, and varied.  There are dozens of marine animals depicted with their name next to their humorous drawing.  What a great way to thumb through a book and learn animal names!  The author also “classifies” these creatures on a scale of 1 to 5 on a “funky” or “freaky” rating.  Funny!  Did you know that the parrotfish covers itself with a veneer of snot to repel parasites?  And the archerfish can spit to tag its insect meal?  This book is weird.  And it is gross.  Yet it is very entertaining.  What a great way to learn!

I am sure that many a child and adult will pour over this book with a smile on their face and some new facts to talk about at the dinner table.  Enjoy!

What are you waiting for?! 😉 Find Freak, Funky Fish in the catalog.

 

Prairie Days

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Title: Prairie Days by Patricia MacLachlan
Who’s It For: Children
Format: Book

From Newbery-award winning author of the Sarah, Plain and Tall series, Patricia MacLachlan brings another gem.  Ms. MacLachlan reminisces of life on the mid-west farm of yesteryear.  She paints a kaleidoscope of sensory images for the mind, from orange sunrises, to her mother’s wild roses, cold drinks from lift-top tanks at the store, to riding a grain-filled wagons to the railroad. Moreover, Micha Archer has created gorgeous illustrations with use of many-patterned collages.  Her pictures are like beautiful quilts, stitching together Patricia MacLachlan’s tale of playing kick-the-can, herding fluffy sheep, and dozing work dogs on front porches. 

Having lived only in coastal states, I soaked up this account of a quieter, simpler time on the prairie.  If you enjoyed Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House on the Prairie series, you will probably delight in this picture book snapshot of rural life.

And you can find Prairie Days in the catalog here!

The Last Night in London

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The Last Night in London by Karen White
Format: Book
Who it’s for: Adults

Journalist Maddie Warner didn’t know. She didn’t know how a woman’s account of life in wartime London could speak to her today.

Maddie flew to England to interview and photograph “Precious” Dubose and her beautiful collection of vintage fashionwear. Maddie didn’t anticipate running into Colin, the man she dated, liked, then avoided in college.

Ninety-nine year old Precious Dubose still had the grace of a model, yet she battled with her health. Between bouts of rest, Precious described her friendship and modeling career with roommate Eva in 1939, in the midst of glittering party life and escalating political turmoil.  Through her story, Precious introduced Maddie to tall and brave Graham St. John, yet dangerous, and alluring Alex and their roles in the war and in Precious and Eva’s lives.  Like Maddie, who grieved her mother, Precious seemed to be exude a private sorrow.  Was this why Precious clung to life to finish her interview with Maddie?  Along the way, Colin and Maddie began to search for lost people from the past and found some personal answers along the way.

I was immersed in this tale of life 50 years apart yet with common themes.  Karen White’s description of life in 1939 felt so authentic.  I was driven to find out what happened to Precious and Eva and and their circle of loved ones.  Yet when the author described Maddie and Colin in the present, that seemed real too.  The struggles of the characters was relatable.  While the romance between Maddie and Colin seemed inevitable, there was a twist conclusion to the story too.

Find The Last Night in London in the catalog.