NEW BOOKS
DECEMBER 2020
The Stone Thrower Jael Ealey Richardson (Picture Book) Biography
Chuck Ealey grew up poor in a racially segregated community. Education was the way out, and a football scholarship was the way to pay for that education. So, despite the racist taunts he faced at all the games he played in high school, Chuck maintained a remarkable level of dedication and determination. And when discrimination followed
him to university and beyond, Chuck Ealey remained undefeated.
Ana and the Sea Star R. Lynne Roelfs (Picture Book)
A young girl finds a starfish on the beach and wants to show it to her mother at home, but doesn’t want to take it from its home. With encouragement from her dad and a little imagination, Ana is able to let the sea star go and yet keep it with her at the same time. This beautiful picture book celebrates the power of imagination and an appreciation of the natural world.
Viola Desmond Won’t be Budged
Jody Nyasha Warner and Richard Rudnicki (Picture Book) Biography
In 1946, Viola Desmond bought a movie ticket at the Roseland Theatre in Nova Scotia. After settling into a main floor seat, an usher came by and told her to move, because her ticket was only good for the balcony. She offered to pay the difference in price but was refused: “You people have to sit in the upstairs section.” Viola refused to move. She was hauled off to jail, but her actions gave strength and inspiration to Canada’s black community. Vibrant illustrations and oral-style prose tell Viola’s story with sympathy and historical accuracy.
The Sentinel Lee Child and Andrew Child Mystery
Jack Reacher is back! As always, Reacher has no particular place to go, and all the time in the world to get there. One morning he ends up in a town near Pleasantville, Tennessee. But there’s nothing pleasant about the place. In broad daylight Reacher spots a hapless soul walking into an ambush. “It was four against one” . . . so Reacher intervenes, with his own trademark brand of conflict resolution. Reacher is intrigued. There’s more to the story. The bad guys who jumped Rutherford are part of something serious and deadly, involving a conspiracy, a cover-up, and murder—all centered on a mousy little guy in a coffee-stained shirt who has no idea what he’s up against. Rule one: if you don’t know the trouble you’re in, keep Reacher by your side.
Sun Storm Asa Larsson Fiction
Rebecka Martinsson is heading home to Kiruna, the town she’d left in disgrace years before. A Stockholm attorney, Rebecka has a good reason to return to help her friend Sanna, and to find the real killer of a man she once adored and is now not sure she ever knew, Rebecka must relive the darkness she left behind in Kiruna, delve into a sordid conspiracy of deceit, and confront a killer whose motives are dark, wrenching, and impossible to guess.
An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz Young Adult non-fiction
The first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples. Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz offers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the US empire.
Ruth Bader Ginsburg Jane Sherron DeHart Biography
In this comprehensive, revelatory biography—fifteen years of interviews and research in the making—historian Jane Sherron De Hart explores the central experiences that crucially shaped Ginsburg’s passion for justice, her advocacy for gender equality, and her meticulous jurisprudence. At the heart of her story and abiding beliefs is her Jewish background, specifically the concept of tikkun olam, the Hebrew injunction to “repair the world,” with its profound meaning for a young girl who grew up during the Holocaust and World War II. Intimately, personably told, this biography offers unprecedented insight into a pioneering life and legal career whose profound mark on American jurisprudence, American society, and
our American character and spirit will reverberate deep into the twenty-first century and beyond.
The Last of the Moon Girls Barbara Davis Fiction
A novel of secrets, memory, family, and forgiveness. Lizzy Moon never wanted Moon Girl Farm. Eight years ago, she left the land that nine generations of gifted healers had tended, determined to distance herself from the whispers about her family’s strange legacy. But when her beloved grandmother Althea dies, Lizzy must return and face the tragedy still hanging over the farm’s withered lavender fields: the unsolved murders of two young girls, and the cruel accusations that followed Althea to her grave.
OCTOBER 2020
The Searcher Tana French
A new mystery by Tana French. Cal Hooper thought a fixer- upper in a bucolic Irish village would be the perfect escape. After twenty-five years in the Chicago police force and a bruising divorce, he just wants to build a new life in a pretty spot with a good pub where nothing much happens. But when a local kid whose brother has gone missing arm-twists him into investigating, Cal uncovers layers of darkness beneath his picturesque retreat, and starts to realize that even small towns shelter dangerous secrets.
The Bluest Eyes Fiction by Toni Morrison
First published in 1970, this is the story of eleven-year-old Pecola Breedlove—a black girl in an America whose love for its blond, blue-eyed children can devastate all others—who prays for her eyes to turn blue so that she will be beautiful, people will look at her and her world would be different. This is the story of the nightmare at the heart of her yearning, and tragedy of its fulfillment.
Harbor Me Young adult fiction by Jacqueline Woodson
When six students are chosen to participate in a weekly talk with no adults allowed, they discover that when they're together, it's safe to share the hopes and fears they have to hide from the rest of the world.
Ron’s Big Mission A picture book by Rose Blue and Corinne Naden
One summer day in 1959, nine-year-old Ron McNair, who dreams of becoming a pilot, walks into the Lake City, South Carolina, public library and insists on checking out some books, despite the rule that only white people can have library cards. Includes facts about McNair, who grew up to be an astronaut.
SEPTEMBER 2020
The Detective In the Dooryard Tim Cotton (Maine author)
Stories about people, places and things in Maine all told from the perspective of a seasoned police officer and in the wry voice of a lifelong Mainer. If you enjoy reading his stories on
Facebook, you might enjoy his book.
Murder in the Maple Woods Claire Ackroyd (Maine author)
A boy dies in the Maine woods. His death is judged an accident, but suspicions are raised. Set in the remote maple sugar camps of northwestern Maine, the story unfolds around the maple syrup industry and its producers.
All the Devils Are Here Louise Penny
A gruesome murder, secrets and a web of lies and deceit. In
order to find the truth Gamache will have to decide whether he can trust his friends, his colleagues, his instincts, his own
past, his own family.
White Fragility: Why it is so Hard for White People to Talk About Race.
Robin DiAngelo
Illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility and allows us to
understand racism as a practice not restricted to bad people.
Camino Winds John Grisham
A murder in the midst of a hurricane on Camino Island. A
thrilling beach read.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings Maya Angelou
Captures the longing of lonely children, the brute insult of bigotry and the wonder of words that can make the world right.
The Fire Next Time James Baldwin
Early days of the civil rights movement and the powerful evocation of a childhood in Harlem which examines the deep
consequences of racial injustice.
Child of the Civil Rights Movement Paula Young Shelton
Shannen, a thirteen year old and other Native students, make a You Tube video of the poor conditions in their classrooms which results in a school trip to speak to the government on
behalf of Native children and the opportunity to succeed.
Infinite Hope Ashley Bryan
Biography of an 18 year old drafted to fight in World War II and
the horrors of war as a black soldier in a segregated army
receiving worse treatment than Nazi POW's. A story of kind
people who supported him and bright moments that guided
him through the dark and his passion for art that would save
him time and time again.
Paying the Land Joe Sacco
A masterful work of comic journalism about indigenous North
America resource extraction and our debt to the natural world. A story of conflict over the costs and benefits of development.
Liar's Circus Carl Hoffmann
Carl Hoffmann journeys deep inside Donald Trump rallies to
understand the strange and powerful tribe that forms from
the President's base.
Echos From the Dead Johan Theorin
Six year old Jens Davidsson on an island off the coast of
Sweden ventured off into the fog and vanished. 20 years
later, Jens' parents return to the island and question the
islanders who were present on the day of the disappearance
after receiving a chilling package in the mail with the
lovingly packaged sandals that Jens was wearing when he
disappeared.
AUGUST 2020
Hid From Our Eyes Julia Spenser-Fleming (Mystery) 9th in a series
The Book of Longings Sue Monk Kidd (Fiction)
Suppose Jesus had a wife....This is her story.
The Engineer's Wife Tracey Emerson Wood (Historical Fiction)
A compelling novel about Emily Watson Roebling, a fascinating woman, who was instrumental in the building of the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Parisian Isabella Hammond (Historical Fiction)
Midhat, the son of a wealthy textile merchant, returns to Ottoman Palestine
after studying medicine in France. His country is now ruled by the British,
and he must find ways to cope with his conflicting loyalties and the
expectations of his community.
The Guest Book Sarah Blake (Fiction)
A sweeping tale of three generations showcasing secrets and
consequences revolving around old money, racism, glamour, status,
opulence, privilege, power, choices, inequality and the economic divide.
The Flat Share Beth O'Leary (British Romantic Comedy)
Tiffany and Leon agree to share a one-bedroom flat. He uses it during the
day, and she uses it at night. The agreement is that they are never to meet
face to face...
American Spy Lauren Wilkinson (Fiction by a New Author)
Inspired by true events, a gripping spy thriller, a heart-breaking family drama,
and a passionate romance during the Cold War.
One Last Lie Paul Doiran (His Latest Mystery)
Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas In America Ibram Kendri Kendri, an award-winning historian, explores the long and lingering history of racist ideas, and one in which every great American thinker is complicit.