Nonfiction
Gender : your guide : a gender-friendly primer on what to know, what to say, and what to do in the new gender culture
Lee Airton
305.3 /Airton
Nonfiction, LGBTQ+
"The days of two genders--male, female; boy, girl; blue, pink--are over, if they ever existed at all. Gender is now a global conversation, and one that is constantly evolving. From the differences among gender identity, gender expression, and sex, to the use of gender-neutral pronouns like singular they/them, to thinking about your own participation in gender, Gender: Your Guide serves as a complete primer to all things gender. You will learn how gender works in everyday life, how to use accurate terminology to refer to transgender, non-binary, and/or gender non-conforming individuals, and how to ask when you aren't sure what to do or say. It provides you with the information you need to talk confidently and compassionately about gender diversity, whether simply having a conversation or going to bat as an advocate"--
LGBTQ : the survival guide for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning teens
Kelly Huegel
Nonfiction, LGBTQ+, Young Adult
Huegel Madrone provides realistic advice for teens who are LGBTQ, questioning whether they might be, or are just interested in knowing more about LGBTQ history and rights. Also included are practical suggestions on dealing with homophobia; dating; creating a more accepting school environment; and reconciling your sexual/gender identity with cultural and religious beliefs.
A well-rounded and up-to-date guide on all things LGBTQ for young adults. Useful for teens that identify as queer, as well as any reader who wants to explore and learn more about the topic. -Candice
Heroines
Kate Zambreno
809.89287 /Zambreno
Literary Nonfiction, Nonfiction
I am beginning to realize that taking the self out of our essays is a form of repression. Taking the self out feels like obeying a gag order—pretending an objectivity where there is nothing objective about the experience of confronting and engaging with and swooning over literature.”—from Heroines On the last day of December, 2009 Kate Zambreno began a blog called Frances Farmer Is My Sister, arising from her obsession with the female modernists and her recent transplantation to Akron, Ohio, where her husband held a university job. Widely reposted, Zambreno's blog became an outlet for her highly informed and passionate rants about the fates of the modernist “wives and mistresses.” In her blog entries, Zambreno reclaimed the traditionally pathologized biographies of Vivienne Eliot, Jane Bowles, Jean Rhys, and Zelda Fitzgerald: writers and artists themselves who served as male writers' muses only to end their lives silenced, erased, and institutionalized. Over the course of two years, Frances Farmer Is My Sister helped create a community where today's “toxic girls” could devise a new feminist discourse, writing in the margins and developing an alternative canon. In Heroines, Zambreno extends the polemic begun on her blog into a dazzling, original work of literary scholarship. Combing theories that have dictated what literature should be and who is allowed to write it—from T. S. Eliot's New Criticism to the writings of such mid-century intellectuals as Elizabeth Hardwick and Mary McCarthy to the occasional “girl-on-girl crime” of the Second Wave of feminism—she traces the genesis of a cultural template that consistently exiles female experience to the realm of the “minor,” and diagnoses women for transgressing social bounds. “ANXIETY: When she experiences it, it's pathological,” writes Zambreno. “When he does, it's existential.” By advancing the Girl-As-Philosopher, Zambreno reinvents feminism for her generation while providing a model for a newly subjectivized criticism.
If you have any interest in the lives and work of Modernist female authors (Virginia Woolf, Zelda Fitzgerald, Jean Rhys, Anais Nin...) do yourself a favor and pick up this book! Kate Zambreno, author of the novel Green Girl, creates a fascinating work of nonfiction by braiding personal narrative and historical research. She offers fascinating analysis on how feminine creativity has been conflated with mental illness both historically and today. -Heidi K
Who are you? : the kid's guide to gender identity
Brook Pessin-Whedbee
j305.3 Pessin-Whedbee
Nonfiction
Added by Casey
Cribsheet : a data-driven guide to better, more relaxed parenting, from birth to preschool
Emily Oster
649.122 /Oster
Nonfiction
"From the author of EXPECTING BETTER, an economist's guide to the early years of parenting With Expecting Better, award-winning economist Emily Oster spotted a need in the pregnancy market for advice that gave women the information they needed to make the best decision for their own pregnancies. By digging into the data, Oster found that much of the conventional pregnancy wisdom was wrong. In Cribsheet, she now tackles an even great challenge: decision making in the early years of parenting. As any new parent knows, there is an abundance of often-conflicting advice hurled at you from doctors, family, friends, and the internet. From the earliest days, parents get the message that they must make certain choices around feeding, sleep, and schedule or all will be lost. There's a rule--or three--for everything. But the benefits of these choices can be overstated, and the tradeoffs can be profound. How do you make your own best decision? Armed with the data, Oster finds that the conventional wisdom doesn't always hold up. She debunks myths around breastfeeding (not a panacea), sleep training (not so bad!), potty training (wait until they're ready or possibly bribe with M&Ms), language acquisition (early talkers aren't necessarily geniuses), and many other topics. She also shows parents how to think through freighted questions like if and how to go back to work, how to think about toddler discipline, and how to have a relationship and parent at the same time. Economics is the science of decision-making, and CRIBSHEET is a thinking parent's guide to the chaos and frequent misinformation of the early years. Emily Oster is a trained expert--and mom of two--who can empower us to make better, less fraught decisions--and stay sane in the years before preschool"--
Being a parent is incredibly rewarding. But with most rewarding things, it also means it is hard. There are also a lot (A LOT) of opinions on how to be a good parent; it is hard to know what to do and easy to second-guess yourself. Emily Oster's Cribsheet addresses this by going through what has been studied and what the data means. From potty training to child care, this book is a tool to help you make decisions. More or less, you have to find what works for you, your child, and your family--which isn't bad advice. -Anne M
Chasing American monsters : 251 creatures, cryptids, and hairy beasts
Jason Offutt
001.944 /Offutt
Nonfiction, Paranormal
"The Black Dog of Hanging Hills, the Tommyknockers of Pennsylvania, the Banshee of the Badlands--these beasts and hundreds more will hold you spellbound, unable to look away from their frightful features and their extraordinary stories. Come face to face with modern-day dinosaurs, extraterrestrials, dragons, lizard men, giants, and flying humanoids. This illustrated collection includes more than 250 monsters and cryptids that will make your hair stand on end when you hear something go bump in the night."
An amazingly thorough guide to all the various monsters and half-human beasties you've heard about in spooky campfire tales or stories about weird, small towns. Thoughtfully organized by state, so it would make an interesting sort of travel guide as well! -Candice
Shrill : notes from a loud woman
Lindy West
BIOGRAPHY West, Lindy
Nonfiction, Memoir
"Presents a series of essays by the American writer and comedian, dealing with issues of body image, popular culture, feminism, and social justice,"--NoveList.
A six-episode series is coming to Hulu based on Lindy West's feminist memoir of the same name. -Jason
The boy who harnessed the wind : creating currents of electricity and hope
William Kamkwamba
BIOGRAPHY Kamkwamba, William
Nonfiction
An enterprising teenager in Malawi builds a windmill from scraps he finds around his village and brings electricity, and a future, to his family.
A new Netflix movie directed, adapted by, and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave) based on the true story and book by William Kamkwamba. The story of a boy in Malawi helping his village by building a wind turbine after reading about them in a library book. -Jason
War of two : Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the duel that stunned the nation
John Sedgwick
973.4 /Sedgwick
Nonfiction, History
Examines the rivalry between Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, whose infamous duel left the Founding Father dead and turned a sitting vice-president into a fugitive.
In exploring his family's history, author John Sedgwick was shown the last letter Alexander Hamilton ever wrote--to Theodore Sedgwick--his great, great, great (plus more) grandfather, former Speaker of the House and Massachusetts senator. It was written on the eve of the famous duel. The author wanted to explore his ancestor's relationships with both Burr and with Hamilton and why Hamilton would write Sedgwick at that particular time. What the book ended up being is an exploration of two people--Burr and Hamilton--their ambitions, the way those ambitions manifested themselves, and how the feud between the two started. It is a good, accessible read. If you want to know more about these two figures without picking up the Chernow tome, this is your book. -Anne M
Roadmap to hell : sex, drugs and guns on the Mafia coast
Barbie Latza Nadeau
364.106 /Nadeau
Nonfiction, True Crime
From sex slaves to drug mules, The Daily Beast's Rome Bureau Chief uncovers a terrifying and intricate web of criminal activity right on Europe's doorstep. Caught between Camorra gunrunners selling to ISIS and Nigerian drug gangs along Italy's picturesque coast, each year thousands of refugees and migrants are lured into their criminal underworld, forced to become sex slaves, drug mules or weapon smugglers. In this powerful exposé, investigative journalist Barbie Latza Nadeau follows the weapons trail, meets the Nigerian hair braiders trafficked and trapped by black magic, the brave nuns who try to save them and the Italian police who turn a blind eye as the most urgent issues facing Europe play out in broad daylight.
Holy moly! Imagine trying to migrate out of your gang lord-run country just to be picked up by a mafia and sex-trafficked in your new land. Harrowing and tragic, this is an under-the-radar humanitarian crisis that more people need to know is happening! -Melody
Author Lee Airton is creator of the They Is My Pronoun website, which is a useful and friendly tool for learning about the use of gender-neutral pronouns (in particular, 'they'). Similarly, his book is a welcoming resource for those in the trans community, as well as those who want to educate themselves about it. Full of good, current information. -Candice