Towers of Gold

January 11, 2010
Fox weaves a colorful tale of ancient Cherokee legends, magic, and the beings known as the Immortals, the creators of the world. Years after the events of 2009’s Zadayi Red
, Shonan is chief of his people and refuses to allow his family to use magic, which he blames for a great loss. But his son, Aku, inherited his mother’s shape-shifting ability and longs to use it. Just as he begins to learn his power, he encounters a violent tribe called the Brown Leaf People and is forced on a quest to the Darkening Land, the underworld, to save his sister and father with the help of his great-grandmother and unusual companions. Readers who like plenty of introspection to accompany their spell casting will enjoy this exploration of Cherokee lore combined with a classic coming-of-age narrative.

October 15, 2008
Hellman was Californias premier financier in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a man whose financial acumen catapulted the state into the modern era and laid the groundwork for one of the worlds most dynamic economies. Bankers such as Hellman were the men who smoothed the rough edges of the economy. They offered credit and invested in companies. Dinkelspiel, Hellmans great-great-granddaughter, positsthat during financial panicswhich happened about every10 years in the nineteenth centurybankers provided stability. Hellman was both a builder and financier, a major investor and promoter of eight industries that shaped Californiabanking, transportation, education, land development, water, electricity, oil, and wine. At the height of his power, at the end of the first decade of the twentieth century, he controlled more than $100 million in capital, equivalent to $38 billion in 2006.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)

October 15, 2008
Journalist Dinkelspiel has filled a notable gap in California's history by writing a much-needed biography of her remarkable great-great grandfather Isaias Wolf Hellman (18421920). As one of California's pioneer financiers and an advocate of modern banking methods, Hellman became founder, president, or director of 17 banks, including Wells Fargo Bank, Nevada Bank of San Francisco, and the Farmers and Merchants Bank. He is attributed with stabilizing the financial panic of 1893 in Los Angeles by stacking $500,000 worth of gold coins on the counter of the Farmers and Merchants Bank in plain public view, hence the title of this book. The author personalizes Hellman's life by recounting his emigration from Bavaria to California in 1859 and comparing the vastly different social acceptance of Jews in those places. Many details of his family history are provided, along with insights into his relations with a broad swath of other early legendary California business families. Recommended for public and academic libraries with interests in early California financial and Judaic history.Nathan E. Bender, Univ. of Idaho Lib., Moscow

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