Samurai Rising: The Epic LIfe of Minamoto Yoshitsune

by Pamela Turner
Illustrated by Gareth Hinds
Hennepin County Library hardcover 163 pages plus LOTS of  author's notes, time lines, glossary, chapter notes, etc.
genre: YA non-fiction

The author certainly did extensive research and has a passion for her topic and Japan's history. That said, I can't think of many middle school readers who would read this book start to finish. She made it as interesting and story-like as possible. It made me think of Jean Fritz' history stories, in a way.

But there were so many names that were so similar, and it was hard to appreciate and admire samurai who were pretty ruthless murderers. And the poor commoners! Imagine having your home set on fire to provide light for warriors to go on their rampage. Ugh. I basically forced myself to read this.

Rex Libris: I, Librarian

by James Turner
Dakota County Library, paperback, unpaged graphic novel

Funny, smart, and a little bit wicked. Librarians as secret superheroes. I know of at least one person I want to buy this for as a gift. Very clever stuff!