Syria's Secret Library by Mike Thomson (025.8 Tho)

A reporter for the BBC, the author is familiar with the war in Syria.  In the course of his reporting, he learns of a secret library in the besieged rebel town of Daraya.  Unable to believe what he has heard and also unable to travel to Syria to investigate in person, he manages to establish contact with residents of the city.  Using phones, texts, WhatsApp and almost any means of (often unreliable) communication you can think of, the author slowly tells the story of the secret library of Daraya.

Over the course of months, a group of young men "rescued" books from houses that had been bombed and were now deserted.  At considerable risk to themselves, they moved the books to a basement under a bombed building.  Carefully concealing the entrance, they moved in or built bookshelves and furniture in order to create a space for residents to come.  Because discovery was never very far away, its location (and even the fact that it existed) was kept secret.  In order to use it, you had to know someone.

Why did these young men go to such lengths to create this library?  Because they believed that food for the soul was just as important as food for the body.  Although as the siege went on and food became even more scarce, people became less certain of that.  But even then, this secret library became a source of hope for the future - that the books it contained would help keep citizens informed and educated in a town where schools were almost non-existent.

I was awed at the courage it took, not just to create the library but to live in the conditions they all lived in.  And with Syria still in the news, the book gave me some insight into what life is like in that country and under that dictator.

Moloka'i and Daughter of Moloka'i by Alan Brennert Overdrive

   These two books aren't available in our library (at least at the time I am writing this) but you can download them from Overdrive.   I will just give a general summary of the books.  I had holds on both of the books but the Daughter one came first.  After reading the first book I think it doesn't really matter the order in which you read them!
      They are historical fiction but the author explains at the end how he did his research.  He used real people in his books interspersed with his fictional characters.
     In the first book (which begins over 100 years ago) we meet Rachael  She is a happy seven-year-old who loves her family and life in general in Hawaii.  She is especially close to her father who is often gone since he is a merchant seaman.  But he always comes back with a doll for her.  And then one day a red mark appears on her thigh.  Her mother tries different local remedies but they don't help.  She has leprosy (later known as Hansen's disease).  Taken from her family, she is sent to the quarantined settlement on the Island Moloka'i to live with others who are also afflicted.

The second book is the story of Ruth.  As was the protocol,  Ruth was taken from her mother Rachel shortly after the birth.  Adopted by a loving family, Ruth has a good life but always wonders about her mother - while Rachel grieves for the baby girl she gave up decades before.

You will be drawn in quickly to this fascinating story.

Wunderland by Jennifer Cody Epstein FIC EPS

          WWII is one of my time periods when it comes to books.  So the minute I saw the cover I knew I would love it.  And I did.
    In 1989 Ava Fisher is living  with her teen daughter in NYC.  She was born in Germany.  She never knew her father who was killed.  Her mother, Ilse, had sent Ava to an orphanage during the war for her protection.  Ava waited years for her mother to come back for her.  Their relationship has always been shaky. In fact, Ava told her daughter that Iles died a long time ago.
       And then one day she receives a package from an attorney in Germany.  It contains her mother's ashes and letters addressed to someone Ava had never know.
      That is part of the story.  The other part is the life of Iles.  She was a teen when Hitler was beginning his reign of terror.  But for Iles and her best friend Renate it seems more exciting than scary at the beginning.  But things change for Iles as she sees the awful things that happen to her friends, neighbors and town.
     These two stories were interwoven in a way that kept me engaged from page one to the last past.