Adult Recommendations

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing follows the families of two half-sisters, Effia and Esi, both born in Africa in the late 1700s. Although born around the same time, the two sisters lead very different lives. The older sister, Effia, marries a white man, and her family resides in Africa selling people into slavery during the height of the British slave trade. Esi, the younger sister, is one of those people sold into slavery, and her descendants end up residing across the ocean in the United States. Alternating between the two families, each chapter tells the story of a character from the next generation during a different part of Ghanaian (Effia) and American (Esi) history. While Effia’s family line is affected by the slave trade, the fall of the Asante tribe, and the takeover of their country by the British, Esi’s family is impacted by the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, the harsh prison sentences of the late 1800s, and the Great Migration.

The great scope of this novel is a wonderful journey through a different, important side of history. As Yaw, Effia’s third great-grandson, advises, “So when you study history, you must always ask yourself, Whose story am I missing? Whose voice was suppressed so that this voice could come forth? Once you have figured that out, you must find that story too. From there, you begin to get a clearer, yet still imperfect picture.” 

Ice Ghosts by Paul Watson

As the weather turns chilly, now is the perfect time to bundle up and read an interesting book about an arctic exploration. Until the mid-1800s, conventional wisdom held that a northwest passage through the Arctic and the North Pole existed—a quick route to the other side of the world. Many brave men attempted expeditions to discover and map the Arctic region. Unfortunately, they all failed and many lives were lost. Sir John Franklin, of the HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, led one of the last attempts to find this non-existent passage. In his new book, Paul Watson recounts the hardships of the crew, the tough decisions Franklin had to make, and the challenges Franklin’s wife faced as she pleaded with various governments to find her lost husband.

This book's many interesting and informative aspects including the story of Franklin’s exploration, life back home for the worrying families, the life and culture of the Inuit people, and the story of finding the two lost ships, HMS Terror and HMS Erebus, make it an illuminating read.    

The Saboteur by Andrew Gross

In his latest novel, Andrew Gross constructs an edge-of-your-seat story based on a real mission undertaken by the Allies’ Grouse and Gunnerside teams in Norway during World War II. As the Nazis raced ahead with making the heavy water necessary to create an atomic bomb, the Allies plotted and trained elite teams, one comprised of Norwegians and an American, to destroy the factory. To get into Norway where the factory operated, these men parachuted into some of the most treacherous terrain in Europe and endured fierce mountain storms and overwhelming odds to accomplish the impossible.

This riveting tale of resourcefulness and courage brings history to life and makes it hard to put the book down. The author’s notes at the end provide some historical information about the mission and team members.

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