STEAMPUNK- ever heard of it? It seems that it's been around since the 80s- it is a newly popular, genre of fiction related to fantasy & science fiction. Steampunk stories are set in the Victorian era or times when steam power was widely used, and contain elements of fictional technology inventions- biological as well as mechanical- as is the case in Leviathan. Leviathan is Scott Westerfeld's newest, and a totally new direction from Uglies. It has historical elements as it takes place at the start of WWI. The central character, Alek, is the son of Franz Ferdinand whose murder in Sarajevo in 1914 set off the war. The story pits the 'Darwinists' against the 'Clankers' in the epic battle of good vs evil. It's REALLY GOOD and I highly recommend it. I have put together a Steampunk display at the library to give some other reading suggestions- Steampunk authors include Jules Verne, Ken Oppel, Eon Colfer, Jeanne DuPrau, Phillip Pullman and Philip Reeve.