OUT STEALING HORSES by PER PETTERSON
Trond’s friend John often appeared at his doorstep with an adventure in mind for the two of them. But this morning was different. What began as a joy ride on “borrowed” horses ends with Jon falling into a strange trance of grief. Trond soon learns what befell Jon earlier that day- an incident that marks the beginning of a series of vital losses for both boys.
Set in the easternmost region of Norway, Out Stealing Horses begins with an ending. 67 year old Trond has settled into a rustic cabin in an isolated area to live the rest of his life with a quiet deliberation. A meeting with his only neighbor, however, forces him to reflect on that fateful summer
HOTEL AT THE CORNER OF BETTER AND SWEET by JAMIE FORD
An incredible discovery has been found by a new owner of a hotel that has been boarded up for decades. It is the Panama Hotel once the gateway to Seattle’s Japantown. The belongings of Japanese families left when they were rounded up and sent to internment camps during World War II have been found in the hotel. The owner opens up a Japanese parasol that Henry Lee sees and believes it belongs to a young Japanese American student he meet back in 1940s , at the height of the war,. His father is obsessed with the war in China and wants his son to grow up American. While at the exclusive Rainier Elementary where white kids ignore him he meets Keiko Okabe. Amid the chaos of blackouts, curfews, and FBI raids, Henry and Keifo forge a bond of friendship-and innocent love that transcends the long-standing prejudices of their Old World ancestors. After Keiko and her family are swept up in the evacuations to the internment camps, she and Henry are left only with the hope that the war sill end, and that their promise to each other will be kept.
In the basement of the hotel he begins to look for signs of her family’s belongings and a long-lost-object whose value he cannot begin to measure. Now a widower, he is still trying to find his voice-words that might bridge the gap between him and his modern Chinese American son, words that might help him confound the choices he made many year ago.
LITTLE BEE by CHRIS CLEAVE
This novel is told from two distinct perspectives: Little Bee, an illegal refugee, and Sarah, a British journalist. While Sarah and her now deceased husband, Andrew, take a second honeymoon to Nigeria to save their marriage, they become involved in a tense situation with Little Bee, her sister, and a group of armed terrorists on a beach in Nigeria. One of these people makes a great sacrifice to save Little Bee, but not her sister, from being murdered; however, the guilt and consequences of these choices play out in the rest of the story.
After her sister’s murder, Little Bee is found and taken to prison where she meets many other refugees with heart-wrenching stories of torture and murder. When she is mistakenly released from prison, Little Bee travels to England to find Sarah and Andrew.
Sarah story is also complex. Trying to deal with her husband’s suicide, her lingering affair, her young son, and her high-powered executive position Sarah’s own feelings begin to overtake her life, slowly crumbling her “together” exterior. When Little Bee appears in her garden the day of her husband’s funeral, Sarah is able to find the answers to what happened after that fateful day on the beach and how and why Little Bee comes to England. Little Bee’s presence gives Sarah the strength to make hard choices in her life. Finally the friendship these two share is ultimately tested in the closing chapters of the novel.
STONES INTO SCHOOLS by GREG MORTENSON
This is story of how Greg Mortenson after being taken care of by the people of a small village in the mountains of Pakistan vowed to someday return and build a school for their children. The book details how he build not just one but fifty-five schools in that area. It details the challenges he faced and how he overcame them. His heart is really for schools for girls. He is approached to build a school in some unbelievably remote location and with the unlikely cast of characters, he makes it happen, time after time. Reviewers have liked this book better then Three Cups of Tea. Though Mortenson, in the absence of Christian convictions, may place too great a hope in education, it is easy to see how education may be a least one key to a transformation of areas marked by extreme poverty and the influence of a faith that sees little reason to educate its girls
ZEITOUN by Dave Eggers
When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Abdulrahman Zeitoun, a prosperous Syrian American and father of four, chose to stay through the storm to protect his house and contracting business while he sent his family north. In the day after the storm, he traveled the flooded streets in a secondhand canoe, passing on supplies and helping those he could. A week later, on September 6, 2005, Zeitoun abruptly disappeared.
Mr. Zietoun’s good deeds were not rewarded as he is arrested and falsely charged with looting. He is sent to a makeshift prison where he is denied his rights to a phone call time and time again. As he attempts to escape this nightmare his family loses touch with him and fears the worst. All signs points to him being unfairly targeted due to his Muslim faith.
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