Nonfiction

The women who caught the babies : a story of African American midwives book cover

The women who caught the babies : a story of African American midwives

Eloise Greenfield

j811 Greenfield
Black Lives Matter, Nonfiction, Kids

Through historical information, poems, illustrations, and photographs, the author shows the ways in which African American midwives have helped families over the course of hundreds of years.

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Young, gifted and black : meet 52 black heroes from past and present book cover

Young, gifted and black : meet 52 black heroes from past and present

Jamia Wilson

jBIOGRAPHY 920.996 Wilson
Black Lives Matter, Kids, Nonfiction, Biographies

This book brings together 52 iconic talents from the past and present and celebrates their inspirational achievements. Meet figureheads, leaders and pioneers such as Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Rosa Parks, as well as cultural trailblazers and sporting heroes, including Stevie Wonder, Oprah Winfrey and Serena Williams.

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Little leaders : bold women in black history book cover

Little leaders : bold women in black history

Vashti Harrison

jBIOGRAPHY 920.996 Harrison
Black Lives Matter, Nonfiction, Kids, Biographies

Based on her popular Instagram posts, debut author/illustrator Vashti Harrison shares the stories of 40 bold African American women who shaped history.

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The fierce 44 : black Americans who shook up the world book cover

The fierce 44 : black Americans who shook up the world

jBIOGRAPHY 920.996 Fierce
Black Lives Matter, Kids, Biographies, Nonfiction

"A dynamic and hip collective biography that presents 44 of America's greatest movers and shakers from Frederick Douglass to Aretha Franklin to Barack Obama, written by ESPN's TheUndefeated.com and illustrated with dazzling portraits by Rob Ball."

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#NotYourPrincess : voices of Native American women book cover

#NotYourPrincess : voices of Native American women

970.1 /Not
Young Adult, Nonfiction

"Whether looking back to a troubled past or welcoming a hopeful future, the powerful voices of Indigenous women across North America resound in this book. In the same style as the best-selling Dreaming in Indian, #Not Your Princess presents an eclectic collection of poems, essays, interviews, and art that combine to express the experience of being a Native woman. Stories of abuse, humiliation, and stereotyping are countered by the voices of passionate women making themselves heard and demanding change. Sometimes angry, often reflective, but always strong, the women in this book will give teen readers insight into the lives of women who, for so long, have been virtually invisible."--

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Spotted Tail book cover

Spotted Tail

David Heska Wanbli Weiden

jBIOGRAPHY Spotted Tail
Kids, Nonfiction

"Meet Chief Spotted Tail, the great leader of the Sicangu Lakota people. Spotted Tail was born almost 200 years ago, and he helped lead the Lakota Nation during times of war. Chief Spotted Tail was not only a great warrior, but he was one of the First American Indian leaders to argue for peace between the United States and Native Americans. He was also a great believer in education as the best way to improve the lives of American Indians. Today, there is a university named after him on the Rosebud Indian Reservation, and his life is an inspiration to all Americans."--From introduction.

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The grizzly mother book cover

The grizzly mother

Brett D. Huson

j599.784 Huson
Kids, Nonfiction

"An engaging look at how the animals, people, and seasons within an ecosystem are intertwined. To the Gitxsan people of Northwestern British Columbia, the grizzly is an integral part of the natural landscape. Together, they share the land and forests that the Skeena River runs through, as well as the sockeye salmon within it. Follow mother bear as she teaches her cubs what they need to survive on their own. The Mothers of Xsan series uses striking illustration and lyrical language to bring the poetry of the Xsan ecosystem to life."--

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An indigenous peoples' history of the United States for young people book cover

An indigenous peoples' history of the United States for young people

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz

970.1 /Dunbar-Ortiz
Young Adult, Nonfiction, History

"Going beyond the story of America as a country "discovered" by a few brave men in the "New World," Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity. The original academic text is fully adapted by renowned curriculum experts Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza, for middle-grade and young adult readers to include discussion topics, archival images, original maps, recommendations for further reading, and other materials to encourage students, teachers, and general readers to think critically about their own place in history"--

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Dirt : adventures in Lyon as a chef in training, father, and sleuth looking for the secret of French cooking book cover

Dirt : adventures in Lyon as a chef in training, father, and sleuth looking for the secret of French cooking

Bill Buford

641.5092 /Buford
Nonfiction, Memoir

"Bill Buford turns his inimitable attention from Italian cuisine to the food of France. Baffled by the language, but convinced that he can master the art of French cooking - or at least get to the bottom of why it is so revered - he begins what becomes a five-year odyssey by shadowing the esteemed French chef, Michel Richard, in Washington, D.C. But when Buford (quickly) realizes that a stage in France is necessary, he goes--this time with his wife and three-year-old twin sons in tow--to Lyon, the gastronomic capital of France. Studying at Institut Bocuse, cooking at the storied, Michelin-starred Mère Brazier, enduring the endless hours and exacting "rigeur" of the kitchen, Buford becomes a man obsessed with proving himself on the line, proving that he is worthy of the gastronomic secrets he's learning, proving that French cooking actually derives from (mon dieu!) the Italian. With his signature humor, sense of adventure, and masterful ability to immerse himself, and us, in his surroundings, Bill Buford has written what is sure to be the food-lover's book of the year"--

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Buford takes on French cooking in this follow up to Heat. It is funny and a celebration of cooking. A small way to travel to the restaurants of Lyon and the villages in the Alps just by turning the pages. -Anne M

The book of eels : our enduring fascination with the most mysterious creature in the natural world book cover

The book of eels : our enduring fascination with the most mysterious creature in the natural world

Patrik Svensson

597.43 /Svensson
Nature, Nonfiction

"Part H Is for Hawk, part The Soul of an Octopus, The Book of Eels is both a meditation on the world's most elusive fish-the eel-and a reflection on the human condition. Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the "eel question": Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? Even today, in an age of advanced science, no one has ever seen eels mating or giving birth, and we still don't understand what drives them, after living for decades in freshwater, to swim great distances back to the ocean at the end of their lives. They remain a mystery. Drawing on a breadth of research about eels in literature, history, and modern marine biology, as well as his own experience fishing for eels with his father, Patrik Svensson crafts a mesmerizing portrait of an unusual, utterly misunderstood, and completely captivating animal. In The Book of Eels, we meet renowned historical thinkers, from Aristotle to Sigmund Freud to Rachel Carson, for whom the eel was a singular obsession. And we meet the scientists who spearheaded the search for the eel's point of origin, including Danish marine biologist Johannes Schmidt, who led research efforts in the early twentieth century, catching thousands upon thousands of eels, in the hopes of proving their birthing grounds in the Sargasso Sea. Blending memoir and nature writing at its best, Svensson's journey to understand the eel becomes an exploration of the human condition that delves into overarching issues about our roots and destiny, both as humans and as animals, and, ultimately, how to handle the biggest question of all: death. The result is a gripping and slippery narrative that will surprise and enchant."--

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Part natural history, part philosophy, and part eulogy for his father, Svensson writes beautifully about the mysteries of the eel, an animal that has beguiled scientists from ancient times to the present. -Anne M