Soldier dogs : the untold story of America's canine heroes

 by Maria Goodavage.  When news leaked in 2011 that Cairo, a Belgian Malinois, was a member of SEAL Team Six-the group credited with killing Osama bin Laden-interest in "soldier dogs" soared. Though they've been used on and off by the American military since WWI, the role of dogs in warfare has typically been something that only servicemen and women were familiar with. In this detailed account, former USA Today reporter Goodavage (The Dog Lover's Companion to California) takes readers behind the scenes to learn how these courageous canines are identified, trained, and cared for in the field. Tales of dogs searching for and identifying IEDs and other explosives that litter Afghanistan make up the bulk of her story, but Goodavage also spends a considerable amount of the book describing the relationships soldiers form with their canine companions . Stories of spooked pups aboard battle-bound Hueys and dogs in the line of fire reveal surprisingly human-like response to war, and posit these military mutts as admirable-and capable-soldiers.  --Publishers Weekly (Check catalog)

Another piece of my heart

 by Jane Green. An angry teen pushes her family to the breaking point in ever-popular Green's (Promises to Keep, 2010) new novel. Emily is enraged when her father, Ethan, decides to marry beautiful, sophisticated Andi. Even though Ethan has been divorced from her alcoholic mother, Janice, for years, Emily can't get over her anger, or her loathing of Andi. Andi makes every effort to befriend Emily, but the teen continues to find ways to blame Andi for her problems and come between Ethan and Andi. After five years with Ethan, Andi's patience is running thin, and she's beginning to wonder if sustaining the marriage is really best for her. When Emily's reckless actions come back to haunt her, Andi sees a chance to help her stepdaughter and give her marriage with Ethan a fresh start. When Ethan rejects her plan, however, Andi must make a choice: stay and feel resentful, or throw in the towel for good. Told with her trademark sensitivity and insight, Green's latest offers everything readers expect from her: a moving story peopled with nuanced, sympathetic characters. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A 250,000 first print run, national tour, and major broadcast and online publicity will make this best-selling Green's most visible book yet. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

The bully society : school shootings and the crisis of bullying in America's schools

 by Jessie Klein.  In this thorough examination of the connection between bullying and three decades of school shootings in America, Adelphi University professor Klein pre-sents a compelling case that the strict gender rules by which American children and teenagers are unfairly forced to live are the driving factors in school violence. As Klein writes: "Although the forms of school violence may differ, the same patterns emerge. Boys (and, increasingly, girls) lash out to prove that they can fulfill their narrow gender prescriptions." Boys (and even girls) are increasingly required to show constant proof of their "masculinity" without the slightest hint of weakness, and those who don't succeed in impressing their peers are taunted and bullied, sometimes with extreme and disastrous results. Klein highlights the unfortunate intersections of masculinity, competitiveness, and American culture, demonstrating that these deeply ingrained social rules don't end when students move into adulthood; this isn't a problem just for kids, she argues, but for society at large. Klein's accessible research ranges from statistical analysis to interviews, all applied within a framework of sociological theory. However, Klein makes such a convincing argument that this overmasculinization is an American problem that it's hard (though tempting) to buy her final suggestion that perhaps kids just need to feel more connected at school to avoid the bullying and tragedies that can result. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. --Publishers Weekly (Check Catalog)

Gods without men

 by Haro Kunzu. In his assured and very entertaining fourth novel, Kunzru roams back and forth in time, homing in on disparate groups of seekers, all of whom converge on the formidable Three Pinnacles rocks in the Mojave Desert. The characters include a dissolute British rock musician seeking to escape a bad recording session in L.A. by ingesting hallucinogens, a small-town girl seduced by the bizarre beliefs of a UFO cult, a miner who mistakes the ill effects of mercury poisoning for a mystical experience, and a goth-girl refugee from Iraq. But at the center of the novel is a wealthy New York couple who become the focus of a media firestorm when their autistic four-year-old son vanishes in the desert. The hostile and accusatory e-mails and Internet posts directed at the couple in the wake of their son's disappearance are just one of a number of brilliant flourishes Kunzru employs here as he explores humans' desperate search for meaning whether it be through drugs, religion, computer programming, or UFOs within the chaos of life, both modern and ancient. Working a subject that might easily have invited a heavy hand, Kunzru instead delivers a lively and frequently thrilling version of the quest novel. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Dying to be me : my journey from cancer, to near death, to true healing

 by Anita Moorjani. Growing up in Hong Kong, Moorjani struggled to reconcile her traditional Hindu heritage with a Chinese culture largely under British influence. These divergent cultural expectations amplified a lifelong fear of disapproval and not being "good enough." In 2002 she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, and in 2006 she slipped into a coma as her vital organs began shutting down, although she remained aware of everything going on around her. Describing her ensuing near-death experience as a realm of clarity and expansiveness, "a state of being," Moorjani made the choice to return, and her rapid and remarkable recovery defies all medical understanding. "Realizing that I am love was the most important lesson I learned, allowing me to release all fear, and that's the key that saved my life," Moorjani recalls. Her psychospiritual healing, which continues to this day, was self-realization: of her own magnificence, of oneness with universal energy and with a universe comprising. This candid memoir is a cathartic testimony to the magnificence and healing capacity of every human being. (Mar. 1)e probability of success under various scenarios). With a research-driven approach and scholarly tone, this hefty text escapes the tediousness that characterizes some academic works through the use of anecdotes about real-life founders, each very different, whose stories are woven through the chapters. Also peppered throughout are observations of such well-known entrepreneurs as Apple's Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, and Microsoft's Paul Allen. Sure to be required reading in business school curricula, this illuminating and captivating read will also appeal to aspiring entrepreneurs or founders who want to make better decisions in existing ventures. --Publishers Weekly (Check Catalog)

Red plenty

 by Francis Spufford.  After making a splash in England, Spufford's newest novel is likely to do the same in the U.S. If you think that a novel about the planned economy of the USSR from the 1950s through the 1970s would be boring, think again. Loosely based on real events, each of the book's interconnected vignettes gives insight into the bureaucrats, economists, and scientists who created the Soviet economy and all that it represented. From the voice of Khrushchev in the upper echelon of the Communist Party, to the story of Zoya, a young female biologist sent to study at a lab in Siberia, Spufford's narrative offers penetrating looks at an era rarely examined in this kind of human detail. Although the historical element can be daunting, Spufford's explanatory notes and references help readers navigate the more difficult sections. By teetering delicately between history and fiction, the novel leaves readers with a sense of the period that could not have been achieved with a straight, factual approach. --Booklist (Check Catalog) 

How we do harm : a doctor breaks ranks about being sick in America

American medicine is infected. Greed, apathy, and ignorance are the pathogens. Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society, has seen enough. In this no-holds-barred peek at the contemporary health scene, he relishes his role as a rabble-rouser. Drawing on true stories to make his points, Brawley, aided by coauthor Goldberg, illustrates how more care is not better care and that doctors are not necessarily right. Many of these clinical cases conjure frustration, heartache, and outrage. A middle-aged woman comes to the hospital because her breast has fallen off (an automastectomy). She has disregarded the presence of breast cancer for nine years. A 23-year-old man with congenital heart disease and cardiac arrhythmia shows up at the ER about every other month in need of electrical cardioversion. Without health insurance, he cannot obtain an implantable defibrillator. At his wife's urging, a healthy retired man goes for a free screening PSA blood test. He receives much more than he bargained for: a radical prostatectomy, incontinence, and a colostomy. The benefits of any medical treatment must always be balanced with the potential for harm. Brawley finds the right formula for mixing autobiography, the politics of modern medicine, controversies in cancer care, and wisdom. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Carry the one

 by Carol Anshaw.  Words used to praise Anshaw's earlier novels (Seven Moves, 1996; Lucky in the Corner, 2002) witty, warm, intimate, poignant apply equally well to her most compelling book yet, a wholly seductive tale of siblings, addiction, conviction, and genius. This tough and tender comedy of misplaced love and beguiling characters begins with a wedding. Pregnant Carmen, a tireless professional do-gooder, is marrying Matt, a volunteer at the suicide hotline she runs. Nick, her crazy astronomer brother, is wearing a wedding dress; his date, Olivia, is wearing a tux; and they've brought enough drugs to get all of Wisconsin stoned. Carmen's sister, Alice, an artist, falls for Matt's sister, Maude. Utterly wasted, Nick, Olivia, Alice, Maude, and a folksinger start driving back to Chicago and strike and kill a young girl. Forever after, they are subjected to the relentless mathematics of guilt: When you add us up, you always have to carry the one. As the years unspool, Alice, frustrated in love, attains fame, even though she hides her best work. Heroically generous Carmen's first marriage quickly fizzles, but her son and, eventually, stepdaughter, are hilarious and wonderful. Sweet, tortured, cosmically gifted Nick remains epically self-destructive. Masterful in her authenticity, quicksilver dialogue, wise humor, and receptivity to mystery, Anshaw has created a deft and transfixing novel of fallibility and quiet glory. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

The last great Senate : courage and statesmanship in times of crisis

 by Ira S. Shapiro. The U.S. Congress wasn't always gridlocked. Members of the Senate weren't always hyperpartisan. Controversial issues like SALT II and the Panama Canal Treaty would probably be DOA in Congress today, but Shapiro, who was on the staff of several senators during that time, reminds readers that during the Carter administration, the Senate passed controversial landmark legislation with bipartisan support, facing issues on their merits. Shapiro identifies important legislation and treaties debated in the Senate from 1978 to 1980, explaining positions and senators who played important roles on each side. He describes the debate and amendment process used to create a bill that could pass. He also discusses domestic issues the Senate battled over, such as government-backed loans to save New York City from default and a bailout for the Chrysler Corporation. Senators Ted Kennedy, Henry "Scoop" Jackson, Robert Byrd, Howard Baker, and Ted Stevens, for example, found ways to compromise, allowing national interest to prevail over partisan and ideological rhetoric. VERDICT Shapiro's thorough analysis and background stories of these senators remind readers that the Senate once worked despite partisanship. Readers interested in political science and government history will enjoy the author's engaging style and historical perspective. --Library Journal (Check Catalog)