Book Review: The Spirit of Nebraska by Debra Kleve White

The Spirit of Nebraska: A History of Husker Game Day Traditions: The Tunnel Walk, Mascots, Cheer and More
by Debra Kleve White (796.332 NebYw)

A unique and unusual look back at the history of pep squads, spirit squads, cheerleading squads and the like, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. This is a fascinating glimpse at various different eras in UNL sports history, and the traditions that have grown up around them over the decades (with a particular emphasis on the traditions and student support groups associated with the UNL football program.

Filled with both B&W and color photos, this book wanders back and forth in its specific subject matter, although it is broken into major thematic sections, such as “The Greatest Fans in College Football”, “The Beginning of Nebraska Football, School Spirit and the Ushering in of Cheerleading”, “The Secrets of the Innocents Society”, “How the Sea of Red was almost a Sea of Gold”, “No Place Like Nebraska – University Yells and Songs”, “Pride of the Cornhusker State – The Band”, “The Razzle-Dazzle of the Pompon Squads and the Scarlets Dance Team”, and “From Bugeaters to Cornhuskers and Corn Cob Man to Herbie Husker – The Lore Behind the Team Names and Mascots”.

I enjoyed this one, though the writing is a bit dry and lecturing in tone. But White, a former Yell Squad member, has an obvious passion for the history that she’s a part of. The photos are some of the most interesting parts of this hefty volume, and I definitely felt as thought I’d learned a lot of about University of Nebraska history after reading this book. As a member of the “Pride of All Nebraska” marching band in the early 80s, I would have enjoyed a little more than just seven pages dedicated to the band’s history, but the book as a lot of ground to cover.

[ official The Spirit of Nebraska web site ] | [ NET: All About Books – library director Pat Leach interviews Debra Kleve White about her book ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Thrawn: Treason by Timothy Zahn

Thrawn: Treason
by Timothy Zahn

Thrawn: Treason is the 3rd book in Timothy Zahn’s new “Thrawn” trilogy. The latest story takes place around the same time as season 4 of “Star Wars: Rebels” and finds Thrawn caught up in the political maneuverings of Grand Moff Tarkin and Director Krennic. What starts out as a seemingly routine assignment uncovers a pirate operation tied to an alien race that threatens both the Galactic Empire and the Chiss Ascendency. It’s another very-well written and nicely paced novel that expertly balances plot and character development. It’s undercut by Zahn being unable to wrap the trilogy due to Thrawn’s fate being linked to the finale of “Star Wars: Rebels”. It is still a worthwhile read and ample evidence that Timothy Zahn continues to keep getting better as an author.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Thrawn, and Thrawn: Alliances, also by Zahn, or Heir to the Empire, also by Timothy Zahn (to compare the “first draft” of Thrawn to the new version).]

[ publisher’s official Thrawn: Treason web page ] | [ Wikipedia page for Timothy Zahn ]

Recommended by Corey G.
Gere Branch Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

New Booklist: Nebraska Author - Jonis Agee

A new booklist has been added to the content of the libraries' BookGuide readers advisory pages -- "Nebraska Author - Jonis Agee". If you're a fan of this home-grown author, who's been publishing books and poetry collections since 1976, check out this list of her credits. Her two latest novels have been the critical favorites The River Wife (2007) and The Bones of Paradise (2016).

Check out the list of Jonis Agee titles, and some biographical information, at the following link: 

Nebraska Author - Jonis Agee

DVD Review: NOVA: Particle Fever

NOVA: Particle Fever
by Thomas Campbell-Jackson and Gerry Ohrstrom [DVD 539.721 Par]

In 2008, thousands of scientists join forces to engineer and build the Large Hadron Collider (or LHC) at CERN in Switzerland. We meet six of the scientists each tasked with various roles. There are theorists, who crunch the numbers and philosophize through complex math. And then there are experimentalists, who build, design, and engineer experiments to verify these theories.

In 2010, scientists successfully send one ray of particles around the 17 mile loop. While scientists drink champagne and celebrate prematurely — a chemical leak and a host of other realities sink in, delaying the project two painful years.

On July 3, 2012, universal physics as we understand it was changed forever. Complete with stellar graphics and personal narratives, enjoy this fascinating inside scoop to one of the most expensive and rewarding scientific endeavors in human history — to find the elusive Higgs Boson particle, and to complete the standard model of particle physics.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman, Uranium: Twisting the Dragon’s Tail, Cosmos by Carl Sagan or NOVA: The Planets]

[ Internet Movie Database entry for this film ] | [ official Particle Fever web site ]

Recommended by Jeremiah J.
Anderson and Bethany Branch Libraries

Have you watched this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Reviews: Locke & Key Volumes 5 and 6 by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez

Locke & Key: Volume 5 – Clockworks and Volume 6 – Alpha and Omega
by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez (741.5 Hil)

Clockworks and Alpha and Omega are the 5th and 6th (final) entries in the Locke & Key graphic novel series by author Joe Hill (the son of Stephen King) and artist Gabriel Rodriguez. They comprise the final “third act” of a complex story with horror underpinnings. Each graphic novel is, itself, composed of six comic book issues.

The overall storyline is not told in purely chronological order. Though there is a “throughline” set in the current era, there are many flashbacks that help explain the originals of the supernatural threats faced by the contemporary characters…with some scenes set as far back as the U.S. Revolutionary War. At its core, this is the story of the three Locke children — Tyler, Kinsey and Bode — who move to Keyhouse on the Eastern seaboard, with their mother, after their father is brutally murdered. Over the course of the entire series, they discover that Keyhouse sits on a nexus of supernatural power, dating back to the 1700s, and that a series of “magical” keys have been designed that give their users a variety of unusual powers. By the time of Clockworks and Alpha & Omega, the main supernatural threat to our heroes has grown in power and influence and these final two graphic novel volumes build to a deadly conflict between Good and Evil.

Joe Hill, Stephen King’s son, has definitely inherited Dad’s penchant for telling compelling stories. This is a multi-layered and complex tale, with characters that multi-faceted and flawed. Gabriel Rodriguez’ art continues to impress me. There are occasional hiccups, where something doesn’t seem up to his regular quality, but for the most part, the characters all remain consistent, with incredible facial expressions, and the level of details he puts into larger illustrations is tremendous. Because of the nature of the story, there are sometimes rather gruesome imagery.

These two volumes cannot be read on their own. You HAVE to start at the beginning of the series, and carry through to the end of volume 6. This series is appropriate for fans of both comic books and horror. The language used in some scenes would normally have me place it in the realm of “R”-rated films, so that caution is offered to potential readers. [I would give Clockworks an 8 and Alpha & Omega a 10 — it really wraps things up very powerfully. I would probably give the entire Locke & Key series overall either an 8 or 9 rating.]

[ Wikipedia page for Locke & Key ] | [ official Joe Hill web site ] [ official Gabriel Rodriguez web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Chaos by Tom O'Neill

Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
by Tom O’Neill (364.152 One)

I found this to be extremely fascinating! I’ve been obsessed with Charles Manson and the Family for as long as I can remember. One thing I particularly appreciated about O’Neill’s book is that he frequently referenced other books about the Tate/LaBianca murders (not only “Helter Skelter”, but others I haven’t read yet), so I can feed my fascination even more!

I appreciated the time and dedication O’Neill put into writing this book. I learned so many interesting things, not just about the Manson story, but about other questionable things happening in the sixties and 70s…even into present day. I’m the kind of person who is rather naive, so learning that there have been questionable practices going on around me is disturbing yet intriguing.

This is a great read! It’s a bit on the long side, but when you know how much time Tom O’Neill put into researching it, you can totally see why it HAD to be this long.

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try Helter Skelter, by Vincent Bugliosi.]

[ publisher’s official Chaos web page ] | [ official Tom O’Neill web site ]

Recommended by Tracy T.
Anderson and Bethany Branch Libraries

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New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!

Book Review: Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell and Faith Erin Hicks

Pumpkinheads
written by Rainbow Rowell with art by Faith Erin Hicks (YA PB (Graphic Novel) Rowell)

This is an absolutely charming little "graphic" novel by Omaha author Rainbow Rowell (Eleanor & Park, Attachments, Fangirl), with art by fan favorite Faith Erin Hicks (Friends With Boys, The Nameless City, Comics Will Break Your Heart). Though set in a nameless city, it is based on Rowell’s experiences in pumpkin patches in the Omaha area where she lives.

Josiah and Deja are two high school seniors who are seasonal workers at DeKnock’s World Famous Pumpkin Patch & Autumn Jamboree, a temporary theme park open only in September and October. He (Josie) and she (Deja) dress in plaid shirts and overalls — the uniform of “Patch” workers, and look forward all year to working with each other (they don’t attend the same school). But today is the last day of this year’s “patch”, and being seniors, they both anticipate moving on to college and perhaps losing touch with the other. Deja has a plan, though — she’s going to help her rather shy and introverted friend finally strike up a conversation with the “Fudge Girl” (from the Patch’s fudge shoppe), whom he’s had a crush on for all the years they’ve worked together.

Thus begins an adventure as the two friends explore all the nooks and crannies of the Autumnal theme park, eating caramel apples, Frito pies, kettle corn, apple cider slushies and “pumpkin bombs” as they race from one park attraction to another in search of Josie’s dream girl. Along the way, they share their thoughts and feelings, and discover things about themselves they hadn’t been aware of.

Josie and Deja sound (and look) like real people — with all their imperfections and flaws, but with all their emotional highs and lows as well. By the end of the story, I felt like I really knew and cared about these two individuals. And the local flavor of the pumpkin patch theme park really felt like the world we live in here in Eastern Nebraska. And with it being October right now, this is appropriately seasonal this month! Highly recommended!

[If you enjoy this, you may also wish to try the other works by both authors, especially the novels of Rainbow Rowell and Friends With Boys by Faith Erin Hicks.]

[ official Rainbow Rowell web site ] | [ official Faith Erin Hicks web site ]

Recommended by Scott C.
Bennett Martin Public Library

Have you read this one? What did you think? Did you find this review helpful?

New reviews appear every month on the Staff Recommendations page of the BookGuide website. You can visit that page to see them all, or watch them appear here in the BookGuide blog individually over the course of the entire month. Click the tag for the reviewer's name to see more of this reviewer’s recommendations!