SPIROU l’espoir malgré tout (Troisième partie)

After the devastating fire that destroyed Moscow and drove out Napoleon’s troops, what can the French general possibly do next? He had originally planned to continue all the way to Asia. For a man wrapped up in his dreams of greatness, it is quite simply out of the question to go back to France at this point. But winter’s on its way, and each attempt to move forward results in death by the thousands.

After discovering the stunning truth about Olive’s past during Christmas break, Olive and her roommate Charlie are back at boarding school. Olive’s link to missing astronaut Lenny Popincourt is growing stronger by the day, but he’s still as far away as ever. When Lenny falls into an endless sleep, the girls formulate a rescue plan almost too risky to consider—except they’re the only people on earth who can save him!

Belgium, 1940. The German army is spreading across Europe, and tiny Belgium is conquered in 18 days. During the four long years of the Nazi occupation, the women of La Louvière have to figure out some way to stay alive, to live their lives, and to keep up hope. Their world is drawn through teenage Marcelle’s journal: What does she do? How do her family members endure? Which women in town collaborate with the occupying forces, and which women choose to fight? As always in wartime, the women take over for the absent men and keep their world spinning.

Marzena Sowa continues her endearing memoir recounting childhood behind the Iron Curtain in Poland. Even at the height of summer vacation deep in the countryside, the noise of urban unrest carries, bringing news of rations, strikes, and Solidarność. Amid a young girl’s typical worries—the witch neighbor, the school nurse, her mother’s angry temper—come the echoes of the strange and confusing world of adults.

In a post-apocalyptic New York City where the toxic fog of the first Big Night turned most of the population into drooling zombies and drove pockets of survivors underground to hunt for food and live in hiding, a group of bickering teenagers and a raving old man set out to rescue a little boy from the clutches of the mysterious creatures that hold him and try to prevent the second Big Night from descending on the beleaguered city and destroying what’s left of the sane human population.

The best part of Christmas is getting to hear one of Uncle Paul’s stories. This year, Uncle Paul treats the kids—and us—to the story of the real-life boy who inspired the beloved Spirou.

It’s 1929. Ptirou is a circus acrobat who, while the world’s economy is crashing, sees his own world fall apart. Orphaned, and possessing only his skill, a bottle of perfume, and an inherited dream, Ptirou sets out for New York and new adventures. With saboteurs on one side, the lovely Juliette on the other, and his own knack for mischief, Ptirou finds adventure aboard an ocean liner before it’s even left port.

A group of students is on a field trip to an ancient castle when a storm erupts. As they are about to leave, four friends are cornered by the class bully, who tries to pull one of his usual pranks. Instead, they all get the scare of their lives when they fall down a tunnel that takes them into the future: a future where mankind has nearly disappeared from the face of the earth, and where nature has taken control. The friends will have to face up to this hostile new world—as well as their nemesis—if they’re to have any chance of making it back home…