The Ghost of Flight 401 by John G. Fuller

I ordered The Ghost of Flight 401 after students requested the title. They had read a very intriguing part of this story in reading class and wanted to have the full story of the event.

John G. Fuller is an author of nonfiction titles. He usually investigates heady subjects such as nuclear disasters. One of his nonfiction titles is entitled: Fever: The Hunt for a New Killer Virus.  So he was very skeptical about the story he had heard regarding apparitions of a pilot and flight engineer who had passed away very suddenly and unexpectedly when the Eastern Airlines Lockheed Tristar  L-1011 they were piloting crashed in the Florida Everglades near Miami airport. Of the 176 people aboard, 75 survived the horrific crash.

Although this book is written for an adult audience, interested young adult readers can certainly understand it and benefit from the detailed research that John Fuller conducted in order to understand the strange sightings stewardesses and other pilots were having of the pilot—Bob Loft--and the flight engineer—Don Repo--after the crash on other airlines.

I really liked this book! It made me think about the possibility to life after death in a new way. I found the thorough way in which the author told the story to be most compelling.

Students who are mature readers and are open to new ways of thinking about ghosts will enjoy this title.

The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce

Chingis and his younger brother Nergui appear one day in the classroom of Mrs. Spendlove in the town of Bootle, England. They aren’t from around Bootle or nearby Liverpool. Rather they are from Mongolia.

No one knows what to make of either of the brothers. Chingis insists on keeping his much younger brother with him in the 6^th grade class to “protect him from the demon.” This is so strange sounding to the other students and the teacher that no one can understand it.

Julie is just a normal English student wishing a boy named Shocky would take notice of her and longing to be invited to her friend Mimi’s house after school. She is inquisitive enough to do research about Mongolia so she can better understand these odd cultural differences apparent by the brothers.

Chingis, however, has other demands of Julie. He takes her photo and writes below it these words: Good Guide. Since Mongols are nomads, the brothers will need a guide to help them learn the ways of the school and sports, etc. They have chosen Julie!

Julie rises to the occasion, but her new position causes her to question everything about these strange brothers.

This is an absolutely delightful, quick read. The story is written in a very endearing manner.

Students who like this title will also enjoy reading Inside Out & Back Again by Thanhha Lai.

 

No Easy Day by Mark Owen

Mark Owen is not the real name of this author.  Rather it is a pseudonym for the real Navy SEAL who participated in the mission to take out Osama Bin Laden.  He was tired of politicians and the media hijacking this story as their own.  He wanted the story told as it really went down.

The story follows Navy SEAL Team Six as they train and prepare for their most important mission to date.  When called upon for this mission, it is amazing how quickly they moved from Newport News, VA to the US base in Jalalabad, Afghanistan and then on to Abbotabad, Pakistan.

Their mission concludes with the night raid on Osama Bin Laden’s compound, the troubles developed with a malfunctioning helicopter and the eventual success of this dangerous mission. 

This is a true, highly accessible account of the hunt for the world’s number one terrorist and mastermind behind the attacks on the United States of America. Although it is marketed as an adult book, I feel it is accessible to a YA audience.

 

 

The Warrior's Heart by Eric Greitens

Navy seal, Eric Greitens, poses moral dilemmas at the end of each chapter.  Each chapter ends with the question: "What would you do?"

After graduating from Duke University and attending Oxford University in England on a Rhodes Scholarship, Greitens travels to Zaire, China, Croatia, and Bolivia to help impoverished children. He found the most touching and most needy of the children in Bolivia.

After completing these travels and doing the valuable work in these countries, Eric Greitens enters training to become a navy seal--basic underwater demoltion/SEAL (BUD/S) in San Diego, California. The second half of his book deals with this aspect of his life.

This book was inspiring. Students who like to read about military life, humanitarian efforts to help impoverished children, or the courage it takes to be the best of the best will enjoy this title.

 

Below is the author discussing another of his books entitled The Heart and the Fist.

 



The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers

 

Warning- although this book, The Yellow Birds, was marketed as being suitable for a YA audience, I feel a warning about graphic language and graphic war-time injuries are necessary.

The book begins with Private Bartle’s transition to his life in Richmond, Virginia after his return from the Iraq war. The story is eventually told how Private Bartle promises Murphy’s mother that he will look out for 18-year-old Murph in Iraq. 

Toward the end of the book, Murph’s bizarre behavior under the stress and trials of war lead to his capture.  Private Bartle agonizes over the consequences of the capture and the whereabouts of his friend.

Mature readers who like to read about what it is really like in war time will enjoy this title.