Tall Man by Chloe Hooper

Tall Man takes place on Palm Island, a hot, stifling place that seems to exist in another time and world. Australian Aboriginal people have lived there since before 1910 when children were taken from their families to Palm Island and forced to change.

It is a place of danger, from crocodiles, drunk partners, and the people who are supposed to be protecting them. Children run around, looking for food and love, but always prepared with a homemade weapon.

The island is wet with humidity and alcohol. The only whites are few, hospital workers, and policemen mostly.

As you read this book you will start to wonder why the policemen are there, who needs protecting, and who is getting protected?

Many Aboriginal men are taken to prison, usually for very small reasons, but sometimes they die there. Now one has again. And it is the straw that broke the camel's back. Something must be done, it isn't the first time someone has died in jail, but the blacks are striving for it to be the last.

Can Cameron Doomadgee be fairly represented in a fair trial? Can the words of his people be heard clearly? But it turns into a war, a war between two tribes. The Aborigines, and the white cops - a tightly knit group of brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, daughters and sons.

Can the Aborigines finally find some justice for once? Or will the vicious cycle continue to spin?

Hooper will travel the small islands, towns, and cities of Australia trying to understand the truth, the people, the history and religion that not many take the time to listen to.

Recommended to ages 14 and Up (heartbreaking...)

Get Capone by Jonathan Eig

Get Capone is a vivid book about one of America's most infamous gangsters. But it is also a mind grabbing picture of life in the "Roaring '20s."

Eig makes you feel like you are in the smoky, crowded saloons, walking up downtown Chicago streets, riding in a bulbous old black automobile, not sitting on your couch reading a biography. This is no dry book of dates and names, but a fast moving story tommy guns, reporters, and corrupted politicians.

Al Capone is not a man anymore, but a symbol of crime, a symbol of how Chicago used to be. This book will bring him alive again, with his personality and troubles. He will be revealed as a family man, a man who was upset at his "scarred" reputation.

There are many important people in this book, but they are not merely mentioned briefly in passing. When you come across their names for the second time you won't have to stare off into space while you try to remember who they are. You will instead remember their occupation, their personality, and their background. Each character is fully fleshed out until you see a whole world coming together.

If you want to find out more about Capone, a man shrouded in rumors and time, this book is a must read.

Recommended to ages 14 and Up (can be a little graphic in violence and wounds)