Category: DVDs

AI : ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

- Jill Leave a comment

As artificial intelligence continues to evolve, reshape industries, and affect our daily lives, it is critical for humans to understand the fundamental principles and implications of this technology. The most basic idea of AI refers to the ability of machines (computers) to perform tasks that require human intelligence, such as language understanding, learning, problem-solving, and reasoning. Because AI applications have begun to permeate our lives, it is important to familiarize ourselves with the basics, including machine learning and neural networks. This can help demystify how these systems operate and give us a better grasp of their potential applications, enabling individuals to engage in informed discussions about AI’s role in society and its impact on jobs, privacy, and ethics.

In particular, understanding the ethical implications of AI is vital. AI systems are becoming more integrated into a wide variety of decision-making processes, including hiring practices and law enforcement. Being aware of potential issues such as bias, transparency, and accountability will become increasingly important to recognize and mitigate. Unfair outcomes are possible if AI algorithms inadvertently perpetuate existing biases found in their training data. Therefore, it is crucial for both developers and users to demand and establish ethical practices that will promote fairness. This is where regulation and oversight of the industry is necessary in order to ensure, or at least influence, a future in which AI technologies are used responsibly to benefit all.

Lastly, as AI continues to advance, it becomes more important than ever to embrace lifelong learning. The light-speed pace of technological advancement means that knowledge and skills can quickly become outdated. Whether in the workplace or our personal lives, we can adapt to new AI tools and systems by having a mindset of continuous education. Learning about AI, its capabilities and limitations, can help us better navigate the challenges and opportunities ahead in an increasingly AI-driven world.

If you don’t know much about AI, here are a few NON-FICTION books (plus a DVD) to get you started:

            

Robots, ethics and the future of jobs by Sean McDonagh

The A.I. generation : shaping our global future with thinking machines by Olaf Groth

A.I. Revolution by NOVA

AI snake oil : what artificial intelligence can do, what it can’t, and how to tell the difference by Arvind Narayanan

Rebooting AI : building artificial intelligence we can trust by Gary Marcus

Exploring the power of ChatGPT : applications, techniques, and implications by Eric Sarrion

Guardrails : guiding human decisions in the age of AI by Urs Gasser

The Algorithm : how AI decides who gets hired, monitored, promoted, and fired and why we need to fight back now by Hilke Schellmann

The AI-Savvy Leader by David De Cremer

You look like a thing and I love you : how artificial intelligence works and why it’s making the world a weirder place by Janelle Shane

Teaching with AI by José Antonio Bowen

OR

Try these FICTION books to read a story with an AI theme or character:

The Chaos Agent by Mark Greaney

Hum by Helen Phillips

Mal Goes to War by Edward Ashton

William by Mason Coile

Red Sky Mourning by Jack Carr
The Kraken Project by Douglas J. Preston
Loneliness & Company by Charlee Dyroff
.

New Documentary DVDs

- Elena Leave a comment

It’s time for Nonfiction November! Did you know that Davenport Public Library has a robust nonfiction DVD selection? Here are a few critically acclaimed documentaries that are new to the Davenport Public Library shelves. (Descriptions below provided by the publisher.)

Four Daughters
The riveting exploration of rebellion, memory, and sisterhood reconstructs the story of Olfa Hamrouni and her four daughters, unpacking a complex family history through intimate interviews and artful reenactments to examine how the Tunisian woman’s two eldest were radicalized by Islamic extremists. Casting professional actresses as the missing daughters, along with acclaimed Egyptian-Tunisian actress Hend Sabri as Olfa, award-winning director Kaouther Ben Hania (The Man Who Sold His Skin) restages pivotal moments in the family’s life. These scenes are interwoven with confessions and reflections from Olfa and her younger daughters, offering the women agency to tell their own stories and capturing moments of joy, loss, violence, and heartache. Winner of four prizes including L’Oeil d’Or (Best Documentary) when it screened in competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Four Daughters is a compelling portrait of five women and a unique and ambitious work of nonfiction cinema that explores the nature of memory, the weight of inherited trauma, and the ties that bind mothers and daughters.

Mambar Pierrette
Over the past decade, Cameroonian filmmaker Rosine Mbakam has distinguished herself for her quietly observational documentary portraits of African women. With Mambar Pierrette, her feature narrative debut, Mbakam turns her documentarian’s eye to the eponymous Pierrette, a gifted & beloved neighborhood seamstress who works to support her young children and mother. As a rainstorm threatens to flood her workshop, one of many misfortunes, Pierrette will have to stay afloat.

 

In San Pedro Amuzgos, Mexico, ‘the town of the spinners’ where the director grew up, children are raised beneath the loom. While Zoila weaves, she listens to her son’s first existential questions. Through the warp of their conversation, we weave three threads: that of Zoila herself, that of Donato, the most famous violinist in the town, and that of Lorenzo, his heir. These are stories of songs and dances, of children and parents, and of the threads that might snap–or bind an indigenous community closer together.

 

Shortlisted for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project is a beguiling documentary portrait that follows poet and activist Nikki Giovanni as she approaches 80. The film explores Giovanni’s Afrofuturist-feminist philosophical outlook as well as her poignant relationship with her family, her political audacity, and her poetic eloquence, all knit together with a constant eye and ear for its subject’s own aesthetic verve. Looking back at a personal life and history cast in the long shadow of American racism, and forward to hopeful, possible futures, Giovanni acts as our guide and narrator, with refreshingly unorthodox filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michl̈e Stephenson refraining from traditional chronologies or talking-head conventions. Going to Mars is fueled by constant intellectual engagement and radical imagination in the search for emotional and political fulfillment in a world of disenfranchisement.

Adrian Russell Wills, a Wonnarua man, and Gillian Moody, a Wodi Wodi woman, share an undeniable bond. Both were Aboriginal children adopted by white families and, later in life, they each shared similar desires to reconnect with their bloodlines. In this moving documentary, Wills and Moody recount their emotional searches for belonging, providing an intimate journey into isolation and identity.

Kindred explores the importance of discovering your place in the world and realizing that home and love truly can be found in the people and places your heart connects to. This intimate film is a continuation of the ongoing conversations between Wills and Moody, documenting their emotional searches for belonging and how their abiding friendship has offered solace in turbulent times.

During the month of November, look for the “Nonfiction November” display at the Fairmount and Eastern branches for more nonfiction DVD recommendations.

Back to (Magic) School

- Elena Leave a comment

August is back to school season! Check out these TV series where school is a magical experience. (Descriptions below provided by publishers.)

Wednesday: Wednesday is a sleuthing, supernaturally infused mystery charting Wednesday Addams’s years as a student at Nevermore Academy. Wednesday attempts to master her emerging psychic ability, thwart a monstrous killing spree that has terrorized the local town, and solve the supernatural mystery that embroiled her parents 25 years ago, all while navigating her new and very tangled relationships at Nevermore.

 

Legacies: The next generation of supernatural beings at The Salvatore School for the Young and Gifted is where Klaus Mikaelson’s daughter, seventeen-year-old Hope Mikaelson, a tribrid daughter of a Vampire/Werewolf hybrid; Alaric Saltzman’s twins, Lizzie and Josie Saltzman; and other young adults, come of age in the most unconventional way possible, nurtured to be their best selves, in spite of their worst impulses. Will these young witches, vampires, and werewolves become the heroes they want to be, or the villains they were born to be?

American Horror Story: Coven: The exceptional young witches at Miss Robichaux’s Academy are under assault by forces of ignorance and hate. Caught in the turmoil is new arrival, Zoe, who harbors a terrifying secret of her own. Fiona, a Supreme Witch with unimaginable powers, is determined to protect the Coven, but her obsessive quest for immortality will lead her to cross paths with a formidable voodoo queen and a murderous slave owner cursed with eternal life.

Monster High: Teenager Clawdeen Wolf never felt like she fit in, until her instincts led her to Monster High, where she discovered she’s a werewolf and a human, and now feels at home in both worlds. She is befriended by Draculaura, Frankie Stein and Deuce Gorgon. These young monsters are learning who they are, defying expectations, disrupting the norm, and embracing their differences to make a difference. Together, they’ll learn to be fierce and fearless at the one place they all belong: Monster High.

 

Welcome to Demon School Iruma-Kun: Iruma Suzuki’s parents were horrible, nasty people who sold his soul to a demon! Ironically, it seems that the Demon has always wanted a grandson and is determined to make Iruma fit into that role even if that means that Iruma has to go to school with all the other demon kids. Since Iruma’s never had a decent education, he’s fine with that, but there’s a catch: if anyone learns that he’s human, his classmates will eat him!

During the month of August, look for the “School Time Stories” display at the Eastern branch for more back-to-school recommendations.

Explore Mars in both fiction and nonfiction

- Beth Leave a comment

NASA completes a year-long Mars mission called CHAPEA (Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog) on July 6, 2024. For 378 days, four ordinary people — with master’s degrees in a STEM field — have been living in Mars Dune Alpha, a 1,700-square-foot habitat built inside a warehouse at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. NASA has not shared many details about the experiment except to say participants will experience “resource limitations, equipment failure, communication delays and other environmental stressors.”

While those participants will be getting a taste of what it may be like to live on Mars, you can explore the Red Planet in your own mind with materials from the Davenport Public Library. Here’s a small sample of what’s available. (Summaries provided by the publishers.)

Non-fiction book: The new world on Mars : what we can create on the red planet by Robert Zurbrin

SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic are building fleets of space vehicles to make interplanetary travel as affordable as Old-World passage to America. We will settle on Mars, and with our knowledge of the planet, analyzed in depth by Dr. Zubrin, we will utilize the resources and tackle the challenges that await us. What will we build? Populous Martian city-states producing air, water, food, power, and more. Zubrin’s Martian economy will pay for necessary imports and generate income from varied enterprises, such as real estate sales–homes that are airtight and protect against cosmic space radiation, with fish-farm aquariums positioned overhead, letting in sunlight and blocking cosmic rays while providing fascinating views. Zubrin even predicts the Red Planet customs, social relations, and government — of the people, by the people, for the people, with inalienable individual rights — that will overcome traditional forms of oppression to draw Earth immigrants. After all, Mars needs talent.

Documentary on DVD: Space : the longest goodbye

In the next decade, NASA will send astronauts to Mars for the first time. Separated from Earth, and unable to communicate with the ground in real-time, crew members will experience extreme isolation that could gravely affect their three-year journey. This Sundance-premiering documentary follows a savvy NASA psychologist tasked with protecting daring space explorers. Ido Mizrahy’s documentary “Space : the longest goodbye,” explores issues facing plans for a manned mission to Mars. The challenge is to not only figure out how to physically prepare astronauts for 3+ years in space, but also psychologically.

Fiction book: Girlfriend on Mars by Deborah Willis

Amber Kivinen is moving to Mars. Or at least, she will be if she wins a chance to join MarsNow. She and 23 reality TV contestants from around the world — including attractive Israeli soldier Adam, endearing fellow Canadian Pichu, and an assortment of science nerds and wannabe influencers — are competing for two seats on the first human-led mission to Mars, sponsored by billionaire Geoff Task. Meanwhile Kevin, Amber’s boyfriend of 14 years, was content going nowhere until Amber left him — and their hydroponic weed business — behind. Since the technology to come home doesn’t exist yet, would Amber really leave everything behind to be a billionaire’s Martian guinea pig? Sure, the rainforest is burning, Geoff Task has bought New Zealand, and Kevin might be a little depressed, but isn’t there some hope left for life on Earth?

Science fiction book: The strange by Nathan Ballingrud

New Galveston, Mars: Fourteen-year-old Anabelle Crisp sets off through the wastelands of the Strange to find Silas Mundt’s gang who have stolen her mother’s voice, destroyed her father, and left her solely with a need for vengeance. Since Anabelle’s mother left for Earth to care for her own ailing mother, her days in New Galveston have been spent at school and her nights at her laconic father’s diner with Watson, the family Kitchen Engine and dishwasher as her only companion. When the Silence came, and communication and shipments from Earth to its colonies on Mars stopped, life seemed stuck in foreboding stasis until the night Silas Mundt and his gang attacked. Ballingrud’s novel is haunting in its evocation of Anabelle’s quest for revenge amidst a spent and angry world accompanied by a domestic Engine, a drunken space pilot, and the toughest woman on Mars.

National Movie Night 2024

- Elena Leave a comment

June 14th is National Movie Night. National Movie Night encourages you to spend time with your family and friends by creating a movie night tradition. Celebrate this year’s movie night with a Binge Box from the Davenport Public Library collection.


Sports: Based on a True Story:
Experience the stories of real-life sports icons. This binge box includes 42: The Jackie Robinson Story, Woodlawn, Greater, Moneyball, The Program, Bobby Jones: A Stroke of Genius, Pelé, and Seabiscuit.

 


Got a Token?:
Do you enjoy playing video games? This binge box has you covered with video game favorites: Doom, Ready Player One, Resident Evil, Mortal Kombat, and Pixels. 

 


Rom-Com Collection:
Enjoy a night of rom-coms! This collection contains classics from the 90s and early 2000s including: Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Laws of Attraction, Failure to Launch, and What Happens in Vegas.

 


Don’t Go in the Water:
Discover the horrors lurking underneath the surface with Jaws, 47 Meters Down, Sharknado, The Meg, The Shallows, and Deep Blue Sea.

 

 


Out of This World:
Travel to another world with this collection of modern sci-fi hits, including: The Martian, Interstellar, Gravity, Passengers, and Arrival.

 

 


Family Movie Night:
Movie fun for all ages! This movie night collection includes: The Adventures of Sharkboy & Lavagirl, Dora and the Lost City of Gold, The Addams Family, Playing with Fire, and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Prepare for the spelling bee!

- Beth Leave a comment

The Scripps National Spelling Bee takes place from May 28-30, 2024, near Washington, D.C. Our region’s representative at the competition this year is Partha Katreddy, of Bettendorf, a seventh-grader at Pleasant Valley Junior High School. Details about watching the spelling bee broadcast can be found at https://spellingbee.com/watch.

Brush up on your own spelling skills and the history of spelling bees with these items from Davenport Public Library’s collection.

Beeline : what spelling bees reveal about generation Z’s new path to success by Shalini Shankar (2019) – Generation Z — youth born after 1997 — seems to be made up of anxious overachievers, hounded by Tiger Moms and constantly tracked on social media. One would think that competitors in the National Spelling Bee would be the worst off. Shankar argues that, far from being simply overstressed and overscheduled, Gen Z spelling bee competitors are learning crucial twenty-first-century skills from their high-powered lives, displaying a sophisticated understanding of self-promotion, self-direction, and social mobility. She examines the outsize impact of immigrant parents and explains why Gen Z kids are on a path to success. — adapted from jacket

A Champion’s Guide to Success in Spelling Bees : fundamentals of spelling bee competition and preparation by Ned G. Andrews (2011) – Comprehensive yet concise, A Champion’s Guide to Success in Spelling Bees is essential for any spelling bee contestant, whether serious or casual, as well as for study assistants such as parents, teachers, and tutors. By following this guidebook’s tactics and strategies, you will use every available resource – including but not limited to your time on stage, your existing knowledge, other study materials, and the effort that you will invest throughout your preparation – as effectively and efficiently as possible. — provided by the publisher

Painless Spelling by Mary Elizabeth Podhaizer (2011) – Analyzes sound and letter patterns, diphthongs, silent letters, homophones and homographs, compound and abbreviated words, contractions, prefixes, suffixes, and base words to teach spelling skills. — provided by the publisher

Spellbound (2002) – The documentary Spellbound chronicles the 1999 spelling bee season. Eight teens and pre-teens, along with their teachers and parents, are followed through daily practice, regionals and finally the televised spelling bee. This is the documentary that made me fall in love with documentaries. While it’s an oldie, it’s a goody! It is available for streaming through Kanopy or on DVD in RiverShare.

Moms in Movies

- Elena Leave a comment

Celebrate this Mother’s Day with a movie from Davenport Public Library. In these movies, moms are the stars of the show, as they navigate their lives and relationships with their children. (Descriptions below provided by publishers.)

Days of the Bagnold Summer: Adapted from the graphic novel by Joff Winterhart, it is a tender, funny coming-of-age story about single parenting and heavy metal. Sue works in a library. Daniel eats chips and listens to Metallica. This was the summer Daniel was due to spend with his dad and his dad’s new wife in Florida. But when they cancel his trip at the last minute, Sue and Daniel suddenly face the prospect of six long weeks together. An epic war of wills ensues in the unassuming battleground of their suburban home as they each reckon with private tragedies and pursue their passions. Featuring original songs by Belle and Sebastian.

The Perfect Man: Every time Jean goes through a bad breakup, she moves her two daughters elsewhere. Determined to make a home in New York, their latest destination, eldest daughter Holly creates a fake online secret admirer for her mother, based on her friend’s uncle. But as the “romance” develops, Holly encounters obstacles as her mom falls for the lie. Meanwhile, Holly has found her own love interest this time around in her cute classmate Adam.

 

Snatched: Dumped by her boyfriend on the eve of their vacation, impetuous dreamer Emily Middleton persuades her cautious mother, Linda, to accompany her on an exotic getaway to South America. Polar opposites, Emily and Linda must soon work through their differences to escape from a wildly outrageous and dangerous jungle adventure.

 

Tully: When mother Marlo gives birth to her third baby, she wasn’t expecting to hire a nanny to help with the newborn. Her brother contracts the services of young Tully as a nanny on Marlo’s behalf, however. At first Marlo thinks of having a nanny as an unnecessary indulgence, but as the two women get to know each other better, they begin to form an unexpected bond, although their relationship is not always such smooth sailing.

 

Kidnap: A typical afternoon in the park turns into a nightmare for single mom Karla Dyson when her son suddenly disappears. Without a cell phone and knowing she has no time to wait for police help, Karla jumps in her own car and sets off in pursuit of the kidnappers. Karla will stop at nothing to recover her kidnapped son.

 

 

During the month of May, look for the “Movie Moms” display at the Eastern branch for more recommendations.

Anime Movies

- Elena Leave a comment

April 15th is National Anime Day. National Anime Day celebrates anime, a style of animation that originated in Japan and became popular with viewers worldwide. With its wide variety of animation styles and stories, anime has something to offer for everyone! Check out these award-winning anime films owned by Davenport Public Library. (Descriptions below provided by publishers.)

Ponyo: During a forbidden excursion to see the surface world, a goldfish princess encounters a human boy named Sosuke, who gives her the name Ponyo. Ponyo longs to become human, and as her friendship with Sosuke grows, she becomes more humanlike. Ponyo’s father brings her back to their ocean kingdom, but so strong is Ponyo’s wish to live on the surface that she breaks free, and in the process, spills a collection of magical elixirs that endanger Sosuke’s village.

 

Weathering With You: The summer of his high school freshman year, Hodaka runs away from his remote island home to Tokyo, and quickly finds himself pushed to his financial and personal limits. The weather is unusually gloomy and rainy every day, as if to suggest his future. He lives his days in isolation, but finally finds work as a writer for a mysterious occult magazine. Then one day, Hodaka meets Hina on a busy street corner. This bright and strong-willed girl possesses a strange and wonderful ability: the power to stop the rain and clear the sky…

 

The Boy and the Beast: When Kyuta, a young orphan living on the streets of Shibuya, stumbles into a fantastic world of beasts, he’s taken in by Kumatetsu, a gruff, rough-around-the-edges warrior beast who’s been searching for the perfect apprentice. Despite their constant bickering, Kyuta and Kumatetsu begin training together and slowly form a bond as surrogate father and son. But the unlikely pair will be put to the ultimate test; a final showdown.

 

Belle: Suzu is a shy, everyday high school student living in a rural village. For years, she has only been a shadow of herself. But when she enters “U”, a massive virtual world, she escapes into her online persona as Belle, a gorgeous and globally-beloved singer. One day, her concert is interrupted by a monstrous creature chased by vigilantes. As their hunt escalates, Suzu embarks on an emotional and epic quest to uncover the identity of this mysterious “beast” and to discover her true self in a world where you can be anyone.

 

The Night is Short, Walk On Girl: As a group of teens go out for a night on the town, a sophomore known only as ‘The Girl with Black Hair’ experiences a series of surreal encounters with the local nightlife, all the while unaware of the romantic longings of Senpai, a fellow student who has been creating increasingly fantastic and contrived reasons to run into her, in an effort to win her heart.

 

Miss Hokusai: As all of Edo flocks to see the work of the revered painter Hokusai, his daughter O-Ei toils diligently, creating the paintings sold under her father’s name. Shy in public, in the studio O-Ei is brash and uninhibited. Seeking to come into her own as an artist, O-Ei sets out into the bustling city of Edo (present-day Tokyo), where she encounters spirits, dragons, con-men and traders.

 

During the month of April, look for the “National Anime Month” display at the Fairmount branch for more anime film recommendations.

ANTARCTIC ADVENTURES

- Jill Leave a comment

Antarctica or “Antarktikos” was imagined to exist by Ancient Greek and Roman philosophers who supposed there must be a “counter balance” to the top heavy Northern Hemisphere and the Great Bear constellation of “Arktos” above the North Pole (now known as the Big Dipper). But, Polynesian oral narratives of voyaging suggest that it may have been the Māori people who first set eyes on Antarctic waters, and possibly even the continent, in the 7th century CE. Once Western European explorers began to compete to be “first discoverers” just 200 years ago, official records were kept of the successes and failures of each voyage. While Captain James Cook crossed the Antarctic Circle and circumnavigated the continent twice in the latter half of the 18th century, he was prevented from actually sighting land due to pack ice. It wasn’t until the 1820’s that Antarctica was actually spotted and recognized as a continent by Lt. Charles Wilkes.

Eventually, in 1912, Roald Amundsen and four companions became the first explorers to reach the geographic South Pole by skis and sled dogs. It was a 1,600 mile round trip that took 99 days. Once the Antarctic Treaty was initially signed in 1961, the continent was reserved for peaceful and cooperative scientific research. This has resulted in such discoveries as land mammal fossils (first found in March 1982) and plant life (such as ferns) that prove the continent was in a much more temperate climate zone in eons past.

If you are interested in reading more about true adventures to the Antarctic region, check out these NON-FICTION titles (or view the Frozen Planet DVDs):

Or, if you prefer to be enthralled by a FICTIONAL adventure to Antarctica, take a look at these books:

NON-FICTION LINKS:

The ship beneath the ice : the discovery of Shackleton’s Endurance by Mensun Bound

The Endurance : Shackleton’s legendary Antarctic expedition by Caroline Alexander

Madhouse at the end of the Earth : the Belgica’s journey into the dark Antarctic night by Julian Sancton

The impossible first : from fire to ice–crossing Antarctica alone by Colin O’Brady

Iced in : ten days trapped on the edge of Antarctica by Chris Turney

The stowaway : a young man’s extraordinary adventure to Antarctica by Laurie Gwen Shapiro

Dinosaurs rediscovered : the scientific revolution in paleontology by M. J. (Michael J.) Benton

Frozen Planet I DVD

Frozen Planet II DVD

FICTION LINKS:

Cold people : a novel by Tom Rob Smith

Fast ice : a novel from the Numa files by Clive Cussler

All the white spaces : a novel by Ally Wilkes

Whiteout by Adriana Anders

South Pole Station : a novel by Ashley Shelby

Midnight by Amy McCulloch

Beyond the ice limit : a Gideon Crew novel by Douglas J. Preston

The Split by S. J. Bolton

Leap Day / Leap Year items

- Beth Leave a comment

You would think with Leap Day coming only every four years, there would be more stories revolving around the rare event. I could only come up with four titles in our catalog. (Descriptions provided by publisher.)

Lucky Leap Day by Ann Marie Walker — During a whirlwind trip to Ireland, after one too many whiskeys, fledgling screenwriter Cara Kennedy gets caught up in the Irish tradition of women proposing on Leap Day. She wakes up the next morning with a hot guy in her bed and a tin foil ring. With a flight back to LA in four hours, the best thing they can do is figure things out along the way. In LA Finn Maguire spends the nights charming his new bride– and his days going on auditions. Is their marriage the real deal– or was he just after her Hollywood connections?

 

__________________________

 

Leap Year (DVD) – This movie from 2010 introduced me to the Irish tradition that allows women to propose to men on Leap Day. Anna (played by Amy Adams) follows Jeremy to Dublin to propose to him. But after landing on the wrong side of Ireland, she must enlist the help of Declan, a handsome and carefree local man, to get her across the country. Along the way, they discover that the road to love can take you to very unexpected places.

 

__________________________

 

Leap Day by Wendy Mass – This Young Adult novel features a heroine Josie on her fourth Leap birthday, when she turns sixteen. Josie has a number of momentous experiences, including taking her driver’s test, auditioning for a school play, and celebrating with her family and friends.

 

__________________________

 

A Different Dawn by Isabella Maldonado — When the FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program database detects two murder incidents “staged to look like double murder suicides,” FBI special agent Nina Guerrera investigates, in Maldonado’s captivating sequel to 2020’s The Cipher. The most recent occurred in Phoenix, Ariz., and the previous one happened four years before in Manhattan, both on February 29. FBI agents soon discover the existence of eight similar crimes at four-year intervals, all involving young couples with an infant or newborn child. As the agents get closer to finding commonalities among the murders and in particular the significance of leap day, things get personal for Nina as she uncovers clues to the crimes related to her entry into the foster system as a child. (Publishers Weekly review, 06/28/2021)