CIVIL LIBERTIES

GAY AMERICA: STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY
by Linas Alsenas
Profusely illustrated with archival images, the groundbreaking Gay America reveals how gay men and women have lived, worked, and loved for the past 125 years.

LEAVING GLORYTOWN: ONE BOY'S STRUGGLE UNDER CASTRO
by Eduardo F. Calcines
In this absorbing memoir, Calcines recounts his boyhood in Communist Cuba and chronicles the conditions that led him to wish above all else to leave behind his beloved extended family and his home for a chance at a better future.

WE ARE NOT BEASTS OF BURDEN: CESAR CHAVEZ AND THE DELANO GRAPE STRIKE
by Stuart A. Kallen
As the sun rose on September 8, 1965, in Delano, California, thousands of acres of ripe grapes hung heavy on the vine. But instead of harvesting the crop, Filipino farmworkers on mine large ranches laid down their tools and walked out of the vineyards in protest of their low wages and dangerous working conditions.

WHEELS OF CHANGE: HOW WOMEN RODE THE BICYCLE TO FREEDOM (WITH A FEW FLAT TIRES ALONG THE WAY)
by Sue Macy
Through vintage photographs, advertisements, cartoons, and songs, Wheels of Change transports young readers to bygone eras to see how women used the bicycle to improve their lives. Witty in tone and scrapbook-like in presentation, the book deftly covers early (and comical) objections, influence on fashion, and impact on social change inspired by the bicycle, which, according to Susan B. Anthony, "has done more to emancipate women than anything else in the world."

AFTER GANDHI: ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF NONVIOLENT RESISTANCE
by Anne Sibley O'Brien and Perry Edmond O'Brien
Explores the work and legacy of Mohandas Gandhi through 15 profiles of activists who chose nonviolent resistance as the path to change. The book focuses not so much on peacemakers as on heroic individuals who were in direct physical danger and who chose to respond with nonviolence.

TRAVELING THE FREEDOM ROAD: FROM SLAVERY AND THE CIVIL WAR THROUGH RECONSTRUCTION
by Linda Barrett Osborne
Told through unforgettable first-person accounts from slave narratives, journals, diaries, and other sources – much of it never before published for young people – this book is an overview of the antebellum South, the Civil War, and Reconstruction, 1800 to 1877.

MARCHING FOR FREEDOM: WALK TOGETHER, CHILDREN, AND DON'T YOU GROW WEARY
by Elizabeth Partridge
Only 44 years ago in the U.S., Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was leading a fight to win blacks the right to vote. Ground zero for the movement became Selma, Alabama. Elizabeth Partridge leads you straight into the chaotic, passionate, and deadly three months of protests that culminated in the landmark march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. Focusing on the courageous children who faced terrifying violence in order to march alongside King, this is an inspiring look at their fight for the vote.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE BARBIE: A DOLL'S HISTORY AND HER IMPACT ON US
by Tanya Lee Stone
During her unparalleled fifty-year history, Barbie has been the doll that some people love and some people love to hate. There s no question she's influenced generations, but to what end? Acclaimed nonfiction author Tanya Lee Stone takes an unbiased look at how Barbie became the icon that she is, and at the impact that she's had on our culture (and vice versa).

HISTORY

FREDERICK DOUGLASS: A NOBLE LIFE
by David A. Adler
When, in 1879, a bust in his likeness was placed at the University of Rochester, Frederick Douglass wrote: "Incidents of this character do much amaze me. It is not, however, the height to which I have risen, but the depth from which I have come that amazes me." This biography tells the story of his ascent from slavery.

MR. LINCOLN'S HIGH-TECH WAR: HOW THE NORTH USED THE TELEGRAPH, RAILROADS, SURVEILLANCE BALLOONS, IRONCLADS, HIGH-POWERED WEAPONS, AND MORE TO WIN THE CIVIL WAR
by Thomas B. Allen
This history lesson for general readership walks the reader through the American Civil War by way of the technologies that allowed Abraham Lincoln and the Union forces to triumph over the Confederacy.

SUGAR CHANGED THE WORLD: A STORY OF MAGIC, SPICE, SLAVERY, FREEDOM AND SCIENCE
by Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos
Chronicles the human pursuit of sugar to satisfy our collective sweet tooth. The book describes this history in terms of ages, beginning with the Age of Honey, built on local growth and consumption of comestibles; through the Age of Sugar and its slave-supported "factory" plantation method of production; and into a period of science and freedom, when enslaved workers claimed their human rights and production of sweeteners shifted from the field to the lab.

THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THE K.K.K.: THE BIRTH OF AN AMERICAN TERRORIST GROUP
by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Documents the history and origin of the Ku Klux Klan from its beginning in Pulaski, Tennessee, and provides personal accounts, congressional documents, diaries and more.

BOOTLEG: MURDER, MOONSHINE AND THE LAWLESS YEARS OF PROHIBITION by Karen Blumenthal
It began with the best of intentions. Worried about the effects of alcohol on American families, mothers and civic leaders started a movement to outlaw drinking in public places. Over time, their protests, petitions, and activism paid off – when a Constitutional Amendment banning the sale and consumption of alcohol was ratified, it was hailed as the end of public drunkenness, alcoholism, and a host of other social ills related to booze. Instead, it began a decade of lawlessness, when children smuggled (and drank) illegal alcohol, the most upright citizens casually broke the law, and a host of notorious gangsters entered the public eye.

FDR'S ALPHABET SOUP: NEW DEAL AMERICA, 1932-1939
by Tonya Bolden
Discusses present-day economic dilemmas against a backdrop of the Great Depression and the thirty-second president's famous "First 100 Days," evaluating key reforms in a variety of areas.

SPIES OF MISSISSIPPI: THE TRUE STORY OF THE SPY NETWORK THAT TRIED TO DESTROY THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT
by Rick Bowers
In the 1950s and 1960s, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission compiled secret files on more than 87,000 private citizens in the most extensive state spying program in U.S. history. Its mission: to save segregation.

GETTYSBURG: THE GRAPHIC NOVEL
by C. M. Butzer
A detailed, comic-book style depicting the Battle of Gettysburg; the national movement to create a memorial there; and the quiet day in 1863 when Lincoln delivered his galvanizing speech. Butzer uses only primary sources for the text, drawing from first-person letters and diaries, speeches, and Lincoln's own writing to unpack this series of historical events. The address itself is played out over eighteen pages, with every phrase given a visual interpretation that will resonate with young readers.

THE WAR TO END ALL WARS: WORLD WAR I
by Russell Freedman
Examines World War I, the first global war in which modern weapons inflicted mass slaughter and an estimated 20 million people were killed.

THE DARK GAME: TRUE SPY STORIES
by Paul B. Janeczko
From clothesline codes to surveillance satellites and cyber espionage, Janeczko uncovers two centuries' worth of true spy stories in U.S. history.

BEFORE COLUMBUS: THE AMERICAS OF 1491
by Charles C. Mann
A fascinating, full-color journey that presents the Americas as young readers have never seen them before.

YEARS OF DUST: THE STORY OF THE DUST BOWL
by Albert Marrin
Before global warming, there was dust. In the 1930s, dangerous black storms swept through the Great Plains. Created by drought and reckless farming, these lethal storms were part of an environmental, economic, and human catastrophe that changed the course of American history. In riveting, accessible prose, an acclaimed historian explains the causes behind the disaster and explores the Dust Bowl's impact, from a rich cultural legacy to the visionary conservation that would finally offer hope to the Plains.

THE RISE AND FALL OF SENATOR JOE MCCARTHY
by James Cross Giblin
Biography of the United States senator who made it his personal crusade to rid all American institutions, including the government, of all Communists, or Communist sympathizers.

1968
by Michael T. Kaufman
From racial and gender equality fights to the struggle against the draft and the Vietnam war, in 1968 Americans asked questions and fought for their rights. Now, 30 years later, we look back on that seminal year – from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assasination to the Columbia University riots to our changing role among other nations – in this gripping introduction to the events home and abroad.

ANNE FRANK: HER LIFE IN WORDS AND PICTURES FROM THE ARCHIVES OF THE ANNE FRANK HOUSE
by Menno Metselaar and Ruud van der Rol
On a summer day in 1942, Anne Frank and her family went into hiding from the Nazis. Until the day they arrested her, more than two years later, she kept a diary. This is the indispensible visual guide to her tragic, but inspiring story.

TRUCE: THE DAY THE SOLDIERS STOPPED FIGHTING
by Jim Murphy
On July 29th 1914, the world's peace was shattered as the artillery of the Austria-Hungary Empire began shelling the troops of the country to its south. What followed was like a row of falling dominoes as one European country after another rushed into war. Soon most of Europe was fighting in this calamitous war that could have been avoided. This was, of course, the First World War. But who could have guessed that on December 25 the troops would openly defy their commanding officers by stopping the fighting and having a spontaneous celebration of Christmas with their "enemies"?

THE SMART ALECK'S GUIDE TO AMERICAN HISTORY
by Adam Selzer
Do you know America? No, I mean, do you REALLY know America? Would you recognize John Adams in a lineup? Can you identify any presidents between Lincoln and Roosevelt? Hmmm. I thought so. Well, you really need this book. Not only will it improve your sorry historical knowledge, it will crack you up, and give you material to throw your teachers off-balance for entire class periods. Identify their lies! Point out their half-truths! And possibly, just possibly, gain some extra credit for yourself.

THE NOTORIOUS BENEDICT ARNOLD: A TRUE STORY OF ADVENTURE, HEROISM, AND BRAVERY
by Steve Sheinkin
Most people know that Benedict Arnold was America's first, most notorious traitor. Few know that he was also one of its greatest war heroes. This accessible biography introduces young readers to the real Arnold: reckless, heroic, and driven. Packed with first-person accounts, astonishing battle scenes, and surprising twists, this is a gripping and true adventure tale.

ALMOST ASTRONAUTS: 13 WOMEN WHO DARED TO DREAM
by Tanya Lee Stone
What does it take to be an astronaut? Excellence at flying, courage, intelligence, resistance to stress, top physical shape – any checklist would include these. But when America created NASA in 1958, there was another unspoken rule: you had to be a man. Here is the tale of thirteen women who proved that they were not only as tough as the toughest man but also brave enough to challenge the government.

CHASING LINCOLN'S KILLER
by James L. Swanson
A fast-paced thriller about the pursuit and capture of John Wilkes Booth: a wild twelve-day chase through the streets of Washington, D.C., across the swamps of Maryland, and into the forests of Virginia.

WRITTEN IN BONE: BURIED LIVES OF JAMESTOWN AND COLONIAL MARYLAND
by Sally M. Walker
How did the colonists of Jamestown and Maryland live and die? Forensic anthropology provides an incredible array of answers. Scientists can look into a grave and determine the skeleton's gender, age at time of death, nationality, and sometimes even economic standing within minutes. Laboratory studies can provide cause of death information. Once these details are known, some skeletons can even be matched with a name via the historical record.

MUSIC AND ENTERTAINMENT

JANIS JOPLIN: RISE UP SINGING
by Ann Angel
Forty years after her death, Janis Joplin remains among the most compelling and influential figures in rock history. Her story is one of a girl who struggled against rules and limitations, yet worked diligently to improve as a singer.

SIR CHARLIE: CHAPLIN, THE FUNNIEST MAN IN THE WORLD
by Sid Fleischman
One of the most compelling rags-to-riches stories of modern times, in this biography of the legendary Little Tramp, Charlie Chaplin.

THE GREAT AND ONLY BARNUM: THE TREMENDOUS, STUPENDOUS LIFE OF SHOWMAN P.T. BARNUM
by Candace Fleming
Known far and wide for his jumbo elephants, midgets, and three-ring circuses, here’s a complete and captivating look at the man behind the Greatest Show on Earth, P.T. Barnum.

THE GIRLS' GUIDE TO ROCKING: HOW TO START A BAND, BOOK GIGS, AND GET ROLLING TO ROCK STARDOM
by Jessica Hopper
From greats like Patti Smith and Joan Jett to legends-in-the-making like Taylor Swift and Demi Lovato, girls want to rock. They want to start bands, write songs, get up on stage, and kick out the jams. Here's the book to teach them how.

SWEETHEARTS OF RHYTHM: THE STORY OF THE GREATEST ALL-GIRL SWING BAND IN THE WORLD
by Marilyn Nelson
A look at a 1940s all-female jazz band, that originated from a boarding school in Mississippi and found its way to the most famous ballrooms in the country, offering solace during the hard years of the war.

MUSIC WAS IT: YOUNG LEONARD BERNSTEIN
by Susan Goldman Rubin
Beginning with Lenny's childhood in Boston and ending with his triumphant conducting debut at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic when he was just twenty-five, Music Was It draws readers into the energetic, passionate, challenging music-filled life of young Leonard Bernstein.

YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! THE BEATLES, BEATLEMANIA AND THE MUSIC THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
by Bob Spitz
It starts in the housing projects and school playgrounds of Liverpool, where four boys would discover themselves–and a new form of music called rock 'n roll. It takes us from the famous first meeting between John and Paul, to the clubs of Liverpool and Germany when George and Ringo join the band, down Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields, to America and the height of the Beatles' success–when they were still teenagers.

JAMES DEAN: "DREAM AS IF YOU'LL LIVE FOREVER"
by Karen Clemens Warrick
James Dean was a complicated young actor: talented, but withdrawn; brilliant, but uncooperative. With a gift for being able to completely become the character he was playing, Dean struggled to be recognized, and he did it by his own rules. Finally, this rebel arrived in Hollywood and made three classic films before a car accident ended his life.

ADVENTURE AND SURVIVAL

A WALK IN THE WOODS: REDISCOVERING AMERICA ON THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL
by Bill Bryson
Stretching from Georgia to Maine, the Appalachian Trail offers some of America's most breathtaking scenery. After living for many years in England, Bill Bryson moved back to the United States and decided to reacquaint himself with his country by taking to this uninterrupted "hiker's highway." Before long, Bryson and his infamous walking companion, Stephen Katz, are stocking up on insulated long johns, noodles and manuals for avoiding bear attacks as they prepare to set off on a walk that is both amusingly ill-conceived and surprisingly adventurous.

INTO THE WILD
by Jon Krakauer
In April 1992 a twenty-four-year-old from the Washington, D.C., suburbs named Chris McCandless walked into the Alaska wilderness below Mt. McKinley with a small-caliber rifle and a ten-pound bag of rice. Four months later, his emaciated corpse was found at his campsite by a moose hunter. How McCandless came to die is the unforgettable story of Into the Wild.

INTO THIN AIR
by Jon Krakauer
A history of Mount Everest expedition is intertwined with the disastrous expedition the author was a part of, during which five members were killed by a hurricane-strength blizzard.

BETWEEN A ROCK AND HARD PLACE
by Aron Ralston
One of the most extraordinary survival stories ever told -- Aron Ralston's searing account of his six days trapped in one of the most remote spots in America, and how one inspired act of bravery brought him home.

ALIVE: THE STORY OF THE ANDES SURVIVORS
by by Piers Paul Reed
True story about how a group of people who survived an airplane crash in the Andes had to resort to cannibalism in order to stay alive.

THE GREATEST SURVIVAL STORIES EVER TOLD
edited with an introduction by Lamar Underwood
This anthology includes Jack London's classic To Build A Fire and less widely known contributions from such authors as Maurice Herzog, Diana Preston, and Slavomir Rawicz. Underwood, the editorial director of Harris Publications' Outdoor Magazines Group, introduces these true and fictional tales.

SCIENCE

MISSION CONTROL, THIS IS APOLLO: THE STORY OF THE FIRST VOYAGES TO THE MOON
by Andrew Chaikin
July 20, 1969, marked one of the climactic moments in our history—the day Apollo 11 landed on the moon. But it is only one piece of a magnificent story. Mission Control, This Is Apollo, by the acclaimed Andrew Chaikin, recounts space history from the Mercury missions through Apollo 17 and beyond.

PHINEAS GAGE: A GRUESOME BUT TRUE STORY ABOUT BRAIN SCIENCE
by John Fleischman
A science writer specializing in medicine, Fleischman tells how Gage, foreman of a railroad construction gang, survived an iron rod being blasted through his brain in 1848, and how the subsequent study of him contributed to the modern understanding of the central nervous system.

CHARLES AND EMMA: THE DARWINS' LEAP OF FAITH
by Deborah Heiligman
Charles Darwin and his wife, Emma, were deeply in love and very supportive of each other, but their opinions often clashed. Emma was extremely religious, and Charles questioned God's very existence.

SECRET OF THE YELLOW DEATH: A TRUE STORY OF MEDICAL SLEUTHING
by Suzanne Jurmain
This riveting medical drama tells the true story of how four Americans and one Cuban tracked down a killer, one of the word's most vicious plagues: yellow fever. Set in fever-stricken Cuba, this gripping account is ultimately a story of the triumph of science.

PACKING FOR MARS: THE CURIOUS SCIENCE OF LIFE IN THE VOID
by Mary Roach
Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can't walk for a year? have sex? smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour? To answer these questions, space agencies set up all manner of quizzical and startlingly bizarre space simulations.

EVERY BONE TELLS A STORY: HOMININ DISCOVERIES, DEDUCTIONS, AND DEBATES
by Jill Rubalcaba and Peter Robertshaw
When did language begin? How did early humans populate the globe? By looking closely at four of the most significant hominins ever discovered, the authors explain how Turkana Boy, Lapedo Child, Kennewick Man, and Iceman have influenced debates about the nature of the earliest members of the family Hominidae.

THE FROG SCIENTIST
by Pamela S. Turner, photographs by Andy Comins
Tyrone Hayes works to discover the effects pesticides have on frogs and, in turn, us.

A LIFE IN THE WILD: GEORGE SCHALLER'S STRUGGLE TO SAVE THE LAST GREAT BEASTS
by Pamela S. Turner
For more than fifty years, explorer-naturalist George Schaller has been on a mission: to save the world's great wild beasts and their environments. In this compelling biography, illustrated with Schaller's own striking photographs, Pamela S. Turner examines the amazing life and groundbreaking work of the man International Wildlife calls "the world's foremost field biologist."

FROZEN SECRETS: ANTARCTICA REVEALED
by Sally M. Walker
Antarctica is much more than penguins. Award-winning author Sally Walker's latest book explores all the ways this most forbidding and secretive continent has captivated human imaginations throughout history. Walker uses history, geology, archaeology, climate science, and technology to paint a vivid portrait of Antarctica.

CURIOSITIES

101 QUESTIONS ABOUT SLEEP AND DREAMS THAT KEPT YOU AWAKE NIGHTS—UNTIL NOW
by Faith Hickman Brynie
In 101 Questions About Sleep And Dreams, Faith Hickman Brynie presents questions about sleeping and dreaming from hundreds of high school students. Using a question-and-answer format, Brynie helps shed light on the physical, emotional and social issues surrounding sleep and dreams and how these issues can affect young people's lives.

THE WORD SNOOP
by Ursula Dubosarsk
A tour of the English language from the beginning of the alphabet in 4000 BC to modern text messaging and emoticons.

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE END: MYSTERIOUS DEATH IN FACT, FANCY, FOLKLORE, AND MORE
by Deborah Noyes
How much do we truly know and understand about our own mortality? Enter Encyclopedia of the End, a compulsively readable and beautifully illustrated compendium that explores this most taboo of topics. Entries present a kaleidoscopic mix of topics from afterlife to assassination, forensic science to funeral foods, rigor mortis to reincarnation and more.

STIFF: THE CURIOUS LIVES OF HUMAN CADAVERS
by Mary Roach
Those curious or brave enough to find out what really happens to a body that is donated to the scientific community can do so with this book. Dissection in medical anatomy classes is about the least bizarre of the purposes that science has devised. Mostly dealing with such contemporary uses such as stand-ins for crash-test dummies, Roach also pulls together considerable historical and background information.

SPOOK: SCIENCE TACKLES THE AFTERLIFE
by Mary Roach
The author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers explores how science has attempted to study our post-mortem fate. Roach traces early psychical research to current US investigations of near-death experiences and case studies by the International Centre for Survival and Reincarnation Researches. The title belies her desire to get scientific validation for free-floating consciousness.

CURRENT ISSUES

DENIED, DETAINED, DEPORTED: STORIES FROM THE DARK SIDE OF AMERICAN IMMIGRATION
by Ann Bausum
This volume examines five instances of the darker side of the American immigration story that provide a counterweight to the larger and better-known narrative of positive immigration. The cases include accounts of Jews fleeing Nazi Germany that were denied refuge in the U.S., a Japanese family placed in an internment camp during World War II, and the politically-motivated deportation of anarchist activists Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman, as well as more general treatments of Chinese exclusion policies in the American West and exploitation of Mexican immigrant workers.

LOST BOY, LOST GIRL: ESCAPING CIVIL WAR IN SUDAN
by John Bul Dau and Martha Arual Akech
In alternating chapters John Bul Dau and his wife Martha Arual Akech tell of their African Childhoods and show African life and values at their best, at the same time providing searing accounts of the hardship, famine, and war they and their people faced during civil war in Sudan.

NICKEL AND DIMED: ON (NOT) GETTING BY IN AMERICA
by Barbara Ehrenreich
Author Barbara Ehrenreich decides to see if she can scratch out a comfortable living in blue-collar America. What she discovers is a culture of desperation, where workers often take multiple low-paying jobs just to keep a roof overhead.

THE OMNIVORE'S DILEMMA: THE SECRETS BEHIND WHAT YOU EAT
by Michael Pollan
The New York Times“What’s for dinner?” seemed like a simple question—until journalist and supermarket detective Michael Pollan delved behind the scenes. From fast food and big organic to small farms and old-fashioned hunting and gathering, this young readers’ adaptation of Pollan’s famous food-chain exploration encourages kids to consider the personal and global health implications of their food choices.

GHOSTS OF WAR: THE TRUE STORY OF A 19-YEAR OLD GI
by Ryan Smithson
In a harrowing memoir about combat, friendship, fear, and a soldier's commitment to his country, Smithson brings teen readers inside a world that few understand, as he describes his experience as a 19-year-old Army engineer in Iraq.

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