Bel Canto by Anne Patchett The Revolution Will When terrorists seize hostages at an embassy par- ty, an unlikely assortment of people is thrown Not Be Televised together, including American opera star Roxanne Movies more your style? Check out these films Coss, and Mr. Hosokawa--a Japanese CEO and her about turbulent times! biggest fan. Les Miserables: In 19th-century France, Jean Valjean, Hard Revolution by George Pelecanos who for decades has been hunted by the ruthless po- liceman Javert after he breaks parole, agrees to care Two brothers--rookie police officer Derek Strange, for factory worker Fantine's daughter, Cosette. The and his older brother, Dennis, a troubled Vietnam fateful decision changes their lives forever. Veteran--become caught up in the riots engulfing V for Vendetta: A shadowy freedom fighter known Washington, D.C., in the wake of the assassination only as "V" uses guerrilla tactics to fight against his terrorist, totalitarian society. Upon rescuing a girl from of Martin Luther King, Jr. the secret police, he also finds his best chance at hav- Animal Farm by George Orwell ing an ally. Tired of their servitude to man, a group of farm The Patriot: Peaceful farmer Benjamin Martin is driv- en to lead the Colonial Militia during the American animals revolt and establish their own society, Revolution when a sadistic British officer murders his only to be betrayed into worse servitude by their son. leaders, the pigs, whose slogan becomes: "All ani- The Motorcycle Diaries: The dramatization of a mo- mals are equal, but some animals are more equal torcycle road trip Che Guevara went on in his youth than others." This 1945 satire addresses the so- that showed him his life's calling cialist/ communist philosophy of Stalin in the Sovi- The Matrix: A computer hacker learns from mysteri- ous rebels about the true nature of his reality and his et Union. role in the war against its controllers. Black Leopard by Steven Voien Z: A Greek pacifist leader is murdered at a rally. De- While studying the elusive leopard in the hostile spite the official police report of accidental death, a rain forest of a former Belgian colony in West Afri- journalist's persistent questioning leads to a full-scale investigation, revealing corruption in high places. Power to the People: ca, American field biologist David Trowbridge finds himself caught up in violence, murder, politi- Fiction about those Book annotations courtesy of NoveList, cal corruption, and civil war. an online tool to help you find fighting for change your next good novel! in settings both real Find it on our website: Click “Research”, and imagined. then “Online Research”, then “NoveList” Tewksbury Public Library 300 Chandler Street, Tewksbury, MA 01876 978-640-4490 www.tewksburypl.org In The Time of Butterflies by Julia Alvarez A Star Called Henry by Roddy Doyle An affecting novel based on a true story drawn Henry Smart was born in the Dublin slums in from the history of the Dominican Republic, 1901. He has survived by grabbing what he needs- about the Mirabel sisters, who, along with their -bread, love and weapons--wherever he can get Revolution No. 9 by Neil McMahon husbands, were instrumental in the formation of them. At the age of 14, he has become a soldier in Abducted by the followers of a paramilitary an underground resistance movement against the Irish Republican Army. Henry's path crosses sociopath responsible for a series of bizarre, the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo. Collins, Connolly and other people whose names high-profile murders, Dr. Carroll Monks is en- form a history of modern Ireland. sconced within a backwoods community and The Darling by Russell Banks forced to care for his captor's dangerously ill Hannah Taylor, a political radical wanted American Subversive by David Goodwillie son. by the FBI, flees to Liberia where she be- Four days after a small bombing attack in Man- friends the notorious warlord Charles Taylor. hattan, failed journalist Aidan Cole receives an Runaway Horses by Yukio Mishima When Taylor himself flees to the U.S. to escape anonymous e-mail that identifies an attractive Isao is a young, engaging patriot, and a fanati- embezzlement charges and is thrown into pris- young woman as the bomber, a clue that leads cal believer in the ancient samurai ethos. He on, it is Hannah who orchestrates his escape. Aidan to a Vermont bomb factory. turns terrorist, organising a violent plot Years later, Taylor returns to Liberia to foment a against the new industrialists, who he be- WOOL by Hugh Howey bloody rebellion and now Hannah's sons be- lieves are threatening the integrity of Japan The world outside has grown unkind, the view of come embroiled in the conflict and she must and usurping the Emperor’s rightful power. As it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are al- make heart-rending decisions about the fate of the conspiracy unfolds and unravels, Mishima ways those who hope, who dream. These are the her family. brilliantly chronicles the conflicts of a decade dangerous people, the residents who infect oth- that saw the fabric of Japanese life torn apart. American Woman: A Novel by Susan Choi ers with their optimism. Their punishment is sim- (Synopsis from www.goodreads.com) A fictionalization of the Patty Hearst kidnapping, ple. They are given the very thing they profess to American Woman focuses on Jenny Shimada, a want: They are allowed outside. (Synopsis from V for Vendetta by Alan Moore Japanese-American woman who helps a victim www.goodreads.com) In a near-future Britain ruled by a totalitarian and her kidnappers. It is the story of Jenny and regime, Evey is rescued from certain death by No One To Trust by Iris Johansen her charges -- Pauline, Juan, and Yvonne, the a masked vigilante calling himself "V," a be- Trained by the military as an assassin, Elena Kyler remains of the busted revolutionary cadre-- as guiling and charismatic figure who launches a is forced into a deadly alliance with Sean Galen, they pursue their destinies from an old farm- one-man crusade against government tyranny the most dangerous man she knows, when she is house in upstate New York back to California. and oppression. targeted for death by Rico Chavez, a ruthless killer with unlimited resources. Magic Seeds by V. S. Naipaul In his early forties, Willie Chandran joins an

underground movement in India, but seven years of revolutionary campaigns--and several years in jail--convince him to return to Eng-

land.