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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
These precious days: Essays
By Ann Patchett. 2021
The beloved New York Times bestselling author reflects on home, family, friendships and writing in this deeply personal collection of…
essays. "Any story that starts will also end." As a writer, Ann Patchett knows what the outcome of her fiction will be. Life, however, often takes turns we do not see coming. Patchett ponders this truth in these wise essays that afford a fresh and intimate look into her mind and heart. At the center of These Precious Days is the title essay, a surprising and moving meditation on an unexpected friendship that explores "what it means to be seen, to find someone with whom you can be your best and most complete self." When Patchett chose an early galley of actor and producer Tom Hanks' short story collection to read one night before bed, she had no idea that this single choice would be life changing. It would introduce her to a remarkable woman—Tom's brilliant assistant Sooki—with whom she would form a profound bond that held monumental consequences for them both. A literary alchemist, Patchett plumbs the depths of her experiences to create gold: engaging and moving pieces that are both self-portrait and landscape, each vibrant with emotion and rich in insight. Turning her writer's eye on her own experiences, she transforms the private into the universal, providing us all a way to look at our own worlds anew, and reminds how fleeting and enigmatic life can be. From the enchantments of Kate DiCamillo's children's books (author of the upcoming The Beatryce Prophecy) to youthful memories of Paris; the cherished life gifts given by her three fathers to the unexpected influence of Charles Schultz's Snoopy; the expansive vision of Eudora Welty to the importance of knitting, Patchett connects life and art as she illuminates what matters most. Infused with the author's grace, wit, and warmth, the pieces in These Precious Days resonate deep in the soul, leaving an indelible mark—and demonstrate why Ann Patchett is one of the most celebrated writers of our time
Star child: A biographical constellation of octavia estelle butler
By Ibi Zoboi. 2022
From the New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist, a biography in verse and prose of science…
fiction visionary Octavia Butler. Acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi illuminates the young life of the visionary storyteller Octavia E. Butler in poems and prose. Born into the Space Race, the Red Scare, and the dawning Civil Rights Movement, Butler experienced an American childhood that shaped her into the groundbreaking science-fiction storyteller whose novels continue to challenge and delight readers fifteen years after her death. Cover art © 2022 by Zharia Shinn
This is a gift for you
By Emily Winfield Martin. 2021
A stunning companion to the best-selling and beloved The Wonderful Things You Will Be , this book celebrates how we…
say "I love you" with gifts as heartfelt as a daisy, as magical as a dream, and as comforting as a place to belong. It is a poetic tribute to the simple joys of life and nature, and a reminder that the greatest gift we have is time spent together. The gift of quiet and the gift of loud, your hand in my hand out in a crowd. New York Times bestselling author Emily Winfield Martin joyously and thoughtfully shares the different ways of giving and loving. Like a beautifully wrapped gift, life's every day moments are precious: in both the little things and the big things, we can all find wonder. From a feather, to a hug, to a sunset, this book captures these gifts within its pages to remind readers how much they are loved, and how incredible this world we share is. A meaningful gift for any occasion or holiday, and a stand-out for birthdays, graduations and other milestones, with its loving and inspiring message: "But this is a gift, here, just you and me." This Is a Gift for You is perfect for little ones (and those who read to them!) who love The Wonderful Things You Will Be and are looking for more magic, inspiration, and unconditional love from the pen and paintbrush of Emily Winfield Martin
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
Goodnight, goodnight, construction site (Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site)
By Tom Lichtenheld, Sherri Duskey Rinker. 2011
Tough trucks work all day long puffing smoke, lifting big metal beams, and moving dirt at a construction site, until…
they get tuckered out and go to sleep for the night. For preschool-grade 2. 2011
Chasing history: A kid in the newsroom
By Carl Bernstein. 2022
The digital version of this audiobook contains an introduction read by Carl Bernstein. The Pulitzer Prize-winning co-author of All the…
President ' s Men —the chronicle of the investigative report about the Watergate break-in and resultant political scandal which led to President Richard Nixon's resignation—recalls his formative years as a teenage newspaper reporter in JFK ' s Washington—a tale of adventures, scrapes, clever escapes, and the opportunity of a lifetime. "Carl Bernstein, Washington Star ." With these words, the sixteen-year-old senior at Montgomery Blair High School set himself apart from the high school crowd and set himself on a track that would define his life. Carl Bernstein was far from the best student in his class—in fact, he was in danger of not graduating at all—but he had a talent for writing, a burning desire to know things that other people didn't, and a flair for being in the right place at the right time. Those qualities got him inside the newsroom at the Washington Star , the afternoon paper in the nation's capital, in the summer of 1960, a pivotal time for America, for Washington, D.C., and for a young man in a hurry on the cusp of adulthood. Chasing History opens up the world of the early 1960s as Bernstein experienced it, chasing after grisly crimes with the paper's police reporter, gathering colorful details at a John F. Kennedy campaign rally, running afoul of union rules, and confronting racial tensions as the civil rights movement gained strength. We learn alongside him as he comes to understand the life of a newspaperman, and we share his pride as he hunts down information, gets his first byline, and discovers that he has a talent for the job after all. By turns exhilarating, funny, tense, and poignant, Chasing History shows us a country coming into its own maturity along with young Carl Bernstein, and when he strikes out on his own after five years at the Star , his hard-won knowledge and experience feels like ours as well. A Macmillan Audio production from Henry Holt and Company "Narrator Robert Petkoff, with an occasional assist from the author, takes listeners back to the beginning. Sounding like an indulgent grandfather telling his life story to his grandchildren, Petkoff recounts how a scrappy high schooler managed to worm his way into the WASHINGTON STAR newsroom at age 16.... This audiobook will provide hope to any would-be journalist." — AudioFile
Alma presses play
By Tina Cane. 2021
A lyrical novel-in-verse that takes us through the journey of coming of age in New York during the 80s. Alma's…
life is a series of halfways: She's half-Chinese, half-Jewish; her parents spend half the time fighting, and the other half silent; and she's halfway through becoming a woman. But as long as she can listen to her Walkman, hang out with her friends on the stoops of the Village, and ride her bike around the streets of New York, it feels like everything will be all right. Then comes the year when everything changes, and her life is overtaken by constant endings: friends move away, romances bloom and wither, her parents divorce and—just like that—her life as she knew it is over. In this world of confusing beginnings, middles, and endings, is Alma ready to press play on the soundtrack of her life?  
Alone
By Megan E. Freeman. 2021
Perfect for fans of Hatchet and the I Survived series, this harrowing middle grade debut novel-in-verse from a Pushcart Prize–nominated…
poet tells the story of a young girl who wakes up one day to find herself utterly alone in her small Colorado town. When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She's alone—left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned. With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. After a rough start, Maddie learns to trust her own ingenuity and invents clever ways to survive in a place that has been deserted and forgotten. As months pass, she escapes natural disasters, looters, and wild animals. But Maddie's most formidable enemy is the crushing loneliness she faces every day. Can Maddie's stubborn will to survive carry her through the most frightening experience of her life?
African town
By Charles Waters. 2022
Chronicling the story of the last Africans brought illegally to America in 1860, African Town is a powerful and stunning…
novel-in-verse. In 1860, long after the United States outlawed the importation of enslaved laborers, 110 men, women and children from Benin and Nigeria were captured and brought to Mobile, Alabama aboard a ship called Clotilda . Their journey includes the savage Middle Passage and being hidden in the swamplands along the Alabama River before being secretly parceled out to various plantations, where they made desperate attempts to maintain both their culture and also fit into the place of captivity to which they'd been delivered. At the end of the Civil War, the survivors created a community for themselves they called African Town, which still exists to this day. Told in 14 distinct voices, including that of the ship that brought them to the American shores and the founder of African Town, this powerfully affecting historical novel-in-verse recreates a pivotal moment in US and world history, the impacts of which we still feel today.
A is for oboe: The orchestra's alphabet
By Lera Auerbach. 2022
This deeply imaginative and entertaining poetry collection details the pleasures of the orchestra, from strong-willed A to satisfied Z .…
Two widely acclaimed poets—one a composer and classical pianist as well—have come together to create this extraordinary portrait of the orchestra in all of its richness and fascination, using the structure of the alphabet in a way that's entirely new and delightful. A is for the first note you hear as you take your seat in the concert hall, played by the headstrong oboe. B is for the bassoon, "the orchestra's jester, complaining impatiently through his nose." And C is for the conductor, "like the captain on the bridge of a great ship, navigating the composer's musical charts." Onward the text goes, soaring in reverie and making thought-provoking observations while not taking itself too seriously—illuminating all the various details that flow together to create the nourishing experience of playing or listening to music. * This audiobook contains a downloadable PDF detailing information about the musical excerpts included in the audiobook
Anne Frank: the book, the life, the afterlife
By Francine Prose. 2009
Analyzes The Diary of a Young Girl (DB 57022) as a literary work, a Holocaust narrative, and a cultural artifact.…
Examines the evidence that Anne rewrote her memoir to increase its appeal. Discusses the published book's use in classroom instruction and its adaptation for stage and film. 2009
Jan's story: love lost to the long goodbye of Alzheimer's
By Barry Petersen. 2010
CBS news correspondent Barry Petersen describes his and his beloved wife Jan's experiences after she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's…
disease in 2005, when she was fifty-five years old. E-mails and friends' observations help detail the changes that led to Jan's move to a long-term-care facility. 2010
Dear bully: 70 authors tell their stories
By Carrie Jones, Megan Kelley Hall. 2011
Seventy authors recount their experiences of being victims, bystanders, or perpetrators of bullying and offer support and understanding for kids…
currently being tormented. Includes resources for teens, parents, and educators. Strong language and some violence. For junior and senior high and older readers. 2011
The Penguin anthology of twentieth-century American poetry
By Rita Dove. 2011
Anthology of American poems published between 1900 and 2000, selected and introduced by Pulitzer Prize-winning former U.S. poet laureate Rita…
Dove. Includes brief profiles of each author. Features the works of John Ashbery, Elizabeth Bishop, Gwendolyn Brooks, T.S. Elliot, Adrienne Rich, Anne Sexton, Derek Walcott, and many others. 2011
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
Life itself: a memoir
By Roger Ebert. 2011
Autobiography of Roger Ebert (born 1942), a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic who worked for the Chicago Sun-Times. Highlights his early…
newspaper days, years of alcoholism, and family life. Discusses his relationship with colleague Gene Siskel and the cancer that robbed Ebert of his ability to eat, drink, or speak. 2011
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
Mon été haïku (Petite marmite)
By Jeanne Painchaud. 2021
Contraints de passer leur été en ville, Thomas, 10 ans, et Billie, 7 ans, dérangent chaque soir leur nouvelle voisine,…
une poète qui n'a pas de temps à leur consacrer... mais qui ne veut surtout pas être étiquetée « TOP Grincheuse du quartier ». Bien malgré elle, la poète les initie à l'art du haïku, pendant qu'au fil des pages la raison empêchant la famille de s'éloigner de la ville se révèle. L'histoire est ponctuée de nombreux haïkus de poètes québécois, canadiens-français et japonais, de même que de quelques haïkus de jeunes apprentis poètes écrits lors d'ateliers animés par l'auteure. Les illustrations chaudes et colorées de Chloloula célèbrent l'été en ville à travers ses ruelles et ses chaudes soirées.
Film editor recounts her 2009 arrest at the North Korean border with her colleague Laura Ling while filming a documentary.…
Describes her five-month detention, which she spent missing her husband and daughter; her trial and twelve-year labor-camp sentence; and her elation over former President Clinton's negotiation of their release. 2010