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Showing 1 - 20 of 4906 items
Take this man: a memoir
By Brando Skyhorse. 2014
Memoir by the author of The Madonnas of Echo Park (DB 71696). Describes being raised as an American Indian by…
his single mother in Echo Park, California, in the 1970s and 1980s and discovering at the age of twelve or thirteen that he was really Mexican. Strong language. 2014
Quirky British author of The Missing of the Somme (DB 76938) and Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi (DB 74532)…
details his residency aboard the American aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush. Describes the people he met and the experiences in which he engaged. 2014
Hemingway's boat: everything he loved in life, and lost, 1934-1961
By Paul Hendrickson. 2011
Explores the last twenty-seven years of the life of writer Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) and describes the solace that he found…
aboard his fishing boat Pilar, which he obtained in 1934. Discusses both Hemingway's literary career and his family, including his cross-dressing youngest son Gregory. Some strong language. 2011
Sky sailors: true stories of the balloon era
By David L. Bristow, David Bristow. 2010
Discusses human flight before the invention of the airplane. Recounts the balloon-based travels of daring men and women from 1783…
to the early 1900s, including two children who went up by accident. Describes the dangers posed by high winds, lightning, lack of oxygen, and extreme cold. For grades 4-7. 2010
Why Orwell matters
By Christopher Hitchens. 2002
Essayist explores the life and work of George Orwell (1903-1950), best known as the author of 1984 and Animal Farm.…
Discusses Orwell's political beliefs and the ways they were shaped by the times in which he lived. Challenges Orwell's critics and argues that his ideas remain relevant. 2002
The memory palace
By Mira Bartok, Mira Bartók. 2011
Children's book author/illustrator describes suffering from a brain injury received in a 1999 car accident when she was forty; reuniting…
with her mother, a homeless schizophrenic, in 2006 after a seventeen-year separation; and discovering a storage room filled with family memorabilia. Nat'l Book Critics Circle Award. 2011
Newspaperman examines his unique relationship with his hiking partner, miniature schnauzer Atticus M. Finch. Explains how a fund-raising effort after…
a friend's death started man and dog's years of climbing in New Hampshire's White Mountains--188 peaks over three winters. Some strong language. 2011
Author retraces the travels of English adventurer Sir John Mandeville, who left for the Holy Land in 1322 and returned…
in 1356 with tales of countries throughout Asia that he claimed to have visited. Discusses the influence Mandeville had on explorers and writers in his day. 1996
Big Chief Elizabeth: the adventures and fate of the First English Colonists in America
By Giles Milton, Picador. 2001
Chronicles the sixteenth- and seventeenth- century sea voyages of English adventurers to North America, beginning with Richard Hore's 1536 expedition…
that ended when starvation drove his men to cannibalism. Discusses the court of Elizabeth I, Sir Walter Ralegh's Roanoke enterprises, and the settlement of Jamestown. Some violence. 2000
You are the first kid on Mars
By Patrick O'Brien. 2009
Describes a future trip that a child might take to Mars: taking a space elevator to a space station, traveling…
in a rocket, wearing a space suit, and learning about the scientific search for Martian life. Discusses the Mars environment and a habitat created for humans. For grades 2-4. 2009
Out with it: gay and straight teens write about homosexuality
By Youth Communication, Al Desetta. 2009
Compilation of personal stories and essays written by teens--gay and straight--describes their conflicts with the homosexual identity, attempts to establish…
relationships, and struggles for acceptance. For senior high and older readers. 2009
The company we keep: a husband-and-wife true-life spy story
By Robert Baer, Dayna Baer. 2011
The author of See No Evil (DB 53770), the basis for the movie Syriana, and his wife Dayna share their…
anecdotes of working for the CIA. They describe their first meeting while on assignment in the Balkans and recount falling in love years later. Some strong language. 2011
33 men: inside the miraculous survival and dramatic rescue of the Chilean miners
By Jonathan Franklin. 2011
Franklin, an American reporter stationed in South America for fifteen years, investigates the August 5, 2010, copper-mine explosion in northern…
Chile that trapped thirty-three men underground for ten weeks. Describes the miners' ordeal and highlights the rescue attempt that brought them to the surface. 2011
Wild: from lost to found on the Pacific Crest Trail
By Cheryl Strayed. 2012
Author recounts the three-month, 1,100-mile solo hike she took on a whim in 1995, after years of devastating personal losses.…
Describes her encounters with rattlesnakes, locals, fellow hikers, and her own thoughts during her trek from Los Angeles to Washington State on the Pacific Crest Trail. Strong language. Bestseller. 2012
Arthur Miller: 1915-1962
By Christopher Bigsby, C. W. E Bigsby. 2009
Focuses on the early life of American playwright Arthur Miller (d. 2005), exploring the forces that shaped him and ideas…
he grappled with in his writing. Examines Miller's marriage to Marilyn Monroe and analyzes his principal works, including Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, and the film The Misfits. 2009
Twelve individuals share their real-life adventures. Teenager Bethany describes losing her arm in a shark attack in 2003 while surfing.…
Dad Phil relates being struck by lightening in 2005 as he was rock climbing with his family in Wyoming. For grades 5-8. 2011
A difficult woman: the challenging life and times of Lillian Hellman
By Alice Kessler-Harris. 2012
Columbia history professor places the life of playwright and memoirist Hellman (1905-1984) in the context of twentieth-century upheavals. Chronicles her…
Jewish family's southern background and Hellman's own New York upbringing, marriage, and affairs. Discusses her personality, friends, and political and social beliefs. 2012
American notes: Revised Edition (Penguin classics)
By Charles Dickens, Patricia Ingham. 2004
Acclaimed British novelist chronicles his 1842 trip to the United States and offers observations about North American society. Includes Dickens's…
celebrated visit with Laura Bridgman at the Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind. Introduction and notes by Patricia Ingham. 2004
Meet me at emotional baggage claim
By Lisa Scottoline, Francesca Serritella. 2012
Collection of essays by Lisa Scottoline, author of Come Home (DB 74517), and her daughter Francesca Serritella, previously published in…
The Philadelphia Inquirer. Topics include Serritella's moving to New York City to live on her own and Scottoline's subsequent empty-nest lifestyle in the Philadelphia suburbs. 2012
Portrait of a novel: Henry James and the making of an American masterpiece
By Michael Gorra, Michael Edward Gorra. 2012
English professor examines the life of Henry James, focusing on the period during which the author wrote The Portrait of…
a Lady (DB 51264). Examines James's previous literary successes, his travels through Europe, and the Victorian culture in which he lived. 2012