Nonfiction
The orphans of Davenport : eugenics, the Great Depression, and the war over children's intelligence
Marilyn Brookwood
305.231 /Brookwood
Nonfiction, History, Science
"The fascinating-and eerily timely-tale of the forgotten Depression-era psychologists who overthrew long-accepted racist and classist views of childhood development. "Doomed from birth" was how psychologist Harold Skeels described two toddler girls at the Orphans' Home in Davenport, Iowa, in 1934. Following prevailing eugenic beliefs, Skeels and his colleague Marie Skodak assumed that the girls had inherited their parents' low intelligence and sent them to an institution for the "feebleminded" to be cared for by "moron" women. To their astonishment, under the women's care, the children's IQ scores became normal. This revolutionary finding, replicated in eleven more "retarded" children, infuriated leading psychologists, all eugenicists unwilling to accept that nature and nurture work together to decide our fates. Recasting Skeels and his team as intrepid heroes, Marilyn Brookwood weaves years of prodigious archival research to show how after decades of backlash, the Iowans finally prevailed. In a dangerous time of revived white supremacy, The Orphans of Davenport is an essential account, confirmed today by neuroscience, of the power of the Iowans' scientific vision"--
The ultimate meal prep cookbook : one grocery list. a week of meals. no waste
641.555 /America's
Cookbooks, Nonfiction
Meal prep no longer means filling your freezer with boring casseroles, dipping into the same pot of beans every day for a week, or spending all day Sunday cooking. Instead, use these smart meal plans to customize fast, fresh dinners that fit your ever-changing schedule. We've done the work of building 25 weekly plans that minimize shopping and kitchen time and guide you through prep-ahead options, make-ahead options, and ingredient substitutions. So now you can reap the benefits to make your life easier, your grocery bill lower, and your dinners better.
Meal-prepping is a grand idea in theory, but when do you have the time to meal-prep? My weekends are always filled with chores and entertaining the kiddo and puppy (the cats are self-sufficient, lol). I tried checking this book out anyway, and I'm happy I did. I found a 5-ingredient black bean soup with zero chopping required. 10-minute meal prep? Sign me up! The soup was very good to boot, so now I've got my lunches ready all week. Gotta love soup season! -Melody
The dinosaur awards
Barbara Taylor
j567.9 Taylor
Kids, Nonfiction, Humor
Welcome to the Dinosaur Awards. Fifty fabulous dinosaurs are practicing their acceptance speeches. They're in the running for prizes that celebrate their most award-worth qualities and skills (some will surprise you). Who will win the fuzzy and furious award? Who will win the terrifying toes award? And who will take home the loudest trumpeter award? Who will be crowned the Lizard King? Readers can learn all about the dinosaurs' features, diet and habits as well as discover what makes each one so prize-worthy - and there are 10 comic strips to enjoy, too. With easy-to-understand, humorous text by Barbara Taylor and joyful illustrations from cartoonist Stephen Collins, this is the perfect book for dinosaur-loving kids everywhere. There are pronunciation guides, time periods, and vital statistics for each dinosaur, as well as an index to peruse.
A mixture of clever/hilarious text, adorable and colorful illustrations and as always amazing dinosaur trivia, this book is great one to enjoy during Dinovember! I enjoyed many of the award categories such as "Mom-of-the-Era," "Absolutely Crushing It," the "Scissorhands" award and "King of Rock and Roll." The book is delightfully sprinkled with comic strips, infographics, and tons of little quotes and details to keep you engaged all the way through. -Mari
The real Valkyrie : the hidden history of Viking warrior women
Nancy Marie Brown
948.022 /Brown
Nonfiction
"In the tradition of Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra, Brown lays to rest the hoary myth that Viking society was ruled by men and celebrates the dramatic lives of female Viking warriors. In 2017, DNA tests revealed to the collective shock of many scholars that a Viking warrior in a high-status grave in Birka, Sweden was actually a woman. The Real Valkyrie weaves together archaeology, history, and literature to imagine her life and times, showing that Viking women had more power and agency than historians have imagined. Brown uses science to link the Birka warrior, whom she names Hervor, to Viking trading towns and to their great trade route east to Byzantium and beyond. She imagines her life intersecting with larger-than-life but real women, including Queen Gunnhild Mother-of-Kings, the Viking leader known as The Red Girl, and Queen Olga of Kyiv. Hervor's short, dramatic life shows that much of what we have taken as truth about women in the Viking Age is based not on data, but on nineteenth-century Victorian biases. Rather than holding the household keys, Viking women in history, law, saga, poetry, and myth carry weapons. These women brag, "As heroes we were widely known-with keen spears we cut blood from bone." In this compelling narrative Brown brings the world of those valkyries and shield-maids to vivid life"--
A great story that incorporates history and science, celebrating the revelation that Viking women were every bit the warriors as men. -Mykle
Classified : the secret career of Mary Golda Ross, Cherokee aerospace engineer
Traci Sorell
j629.1092 Ross
Kids, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Science
"Mary Golda Ross designed classified projects for Lockheed Air Corporation as the company's first female engineer. Find out how her passion for math and the Cherokee values she was raised with shaped her life and work"--
Cherokee author Traci Sorell and Métis illustrator Natasha Donovan trace Ross’s journey from being the only girl in a high school math class to becoming a teacher to pursuing an engineering degree, joining the top-secret Skunk Works division of Lockheed, and being a mentor for Native Americans and young women interested in engineering. In addition, the narrative highlights Cherokee values including education, working cooperatively, remaining humble, and helping ensure equal opportunity and education for all. Mary Golda Ross designed classified airplanes and spacecraft as Lockheed Aircraft Corporation’s first female engineer. Find out how her passion for math and the Cherokee values she was raised with shaped her life and work. -Angie
The big, fun kids baking book
j641.815 Food
Nonfiction, Cookbooks, Kids
An ultimate baking primer for beginners, written by the editors of the top-selling food magazine, shares more than 100 photographed recipes for everyday and special-occasion cakes, brownies and other baked favorites while providing fun ideas for customizations and alternatives to cakes.
I recently took this kids cookbook home for my daughter and I to bake something together. We loved the pictures of each recipe, the tips and random facts. The spiral bound book made it easy for us to flip through to find all the delicious bake goods! -Angie
Rise of wolf 8 : witnessing the triumph of Yellowstone's underdog
Rick McIntyre
599.773 /McIntyre
Nonfiction, Animals
*Yellowstone National Park was once home to an abundance of wild wolves--but park rangers killed the last of their kind in the 1920s. Decades later, the rangers brought them back, with the first wolves arriving from Canada in 1995. This is the incredible true story of one of those wolves. Wolf 8 struggles at first--he is smaller than the other pups, and often bullied--but soon he bonds with an alpha female whose mate was shot. An unusually young alpha male, barely a teenager in human years, Wolf 8 rises to the occasion, hunting skillfully, and even defending his family from the wolf who killed his father. But soon he faces a new opponent: his adopted son, who mates with a violent alpha female. Can Wolf 8 protect his valley without harming his protégé? Authored by a renowned wolf researcher and gifted storyteller, The Rise of Wolf 8 marks the beginning of an original and bold new trilogy, which will transform our view of wolves forever.
I'm looking forward to more books in this series by Rick McIntyre. If you're interested in wolf restoration, I cannot recommend this title highly enough. -Casey
Julie and Julia : my year of cooking dangerously
Julie Powell
641.509 /Powell
Nonfiction, Cookbooks
Nearing thirty and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, Julie Powell resolved to reclaim her life by cooking, in a single year, every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child's 1961 classic, Mastering the art of French cooking. Her unexpected reward, a new life lived with gusto.
This book was the basis of the move "Julie & Julia" directed by Nora Ephron. -Beth
The color of law : a forgotten history of how our government segregated America
Richard Rothstein
973.00496 /Rothstein
Nonfiction
"Widely heralded as a “masterful” (Washington Post) and “essential” (Slate) history of the modern American metropolis, Richard Rothstein’s The Color of Law offers “the most forceful argument ever published on how federal, state, and local governments gave rise to and reinforced neighborhood segregation” (William Julius Wilson). Exploding the myth of de facto segregation arising from private prejudice or the unintended consequences of economic forces, Rothstein describes how the American government systematically imposed residential segregation: with undisguised racial zoning; public housing that purposefully segregated previously mixed communities; subsidies for builders to create whites-only suburbs; tax exemptions for institutions that enforced segregation; and support for violent resistance to African Americans in white neighborhoods. A groundbreaking, “virtually indispensable” study that has already transformed our understanding of twentieth-century urban history (Chicago Daily Observer), The Color of Law forces us to face the obligation to remedy our unconstitutional past."--Provided by publisher.
Added by Jason
The Rodrigo chronicles : conversations about America and race
Richard Delgado
323.1196 /Delgado
Nonfiction
"In The Rodrigo chronicles, Delgado adopts his trademark storytelling approach that casts aside the dense, dry language so commonly associated with legal writing to offer up a series of incisive and compelling conversations about race in America."--BOOK JACKET. "Rodrigo, a brash and brilliant African-American law graduate, has been living in Italy and has just arrived in the offices of a professor when we meet him. Through the course of the book, the professor and he discuss the American racial scene, touching on such issues as the role of minorities in an age of global markets and competition, the black left, the rise of the black right, black crime, feminism, law reform, and the economics of racial discrimination."--BOOK JACKET. "Expanding on one of the central themes of the critical race movement, namely that the law has an overwhelmingly white voice, Delgado here presents a radical and stunning thesis: it is not black but white crime that poses the most significant problem in modern American life."--Jacket.
Added by Jason
It is fascinating. It is emotionally wrenching. It is an important story of how our community contributed to how we understand the human condition. -Anne M