How did Central Park become a vibrant gem in the heart of New York City? Follow the visionaries behind the plan as it springs to green life. In 1858, New York City was growing so fast that new roads and tall buildings threatened to swallow up the remaining open space. The people needed a green … Continue reading A GREEN PLACE TO BE: THE CREATION OF CENTRAL PARK, by Ashley Benham Yazdani, Candlewick Press
non-fiction
AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MOTHER JONES, by Mary Harris Jones
The Autobiography of Mother Jones by Mother Jones, 1925. Labor organizer Mother Jones worked tirelessly for economic justice. Mary Harris "Mother" Jones (1837–1930) was an Irish-American schoolteacher and dressmaker who became a prominent labor and community organizer. She then helped coordinate major strikes and cofounded the Industrial Workers of the World. While her opponents called … Continue reading AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MOTHER JONES, by Mary Harris Jones
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THE LONDON UNDERWORLD, IN THE VICTORIAN PERIOD, AUTHENTIC FIRS-PERSON ACCOUNTS BY BEGGARS, THIEVES AND PROSTITUTES, by Henry Mayhew (and others), Dover Publications
The first and possibly the greatest sociological study of poverty in 19th-century London, this survey by a journalist invented the genre of oral history a century before the term was coined. Henry Mayhew vowed "to publish the history of a people, from the lips of the people themselves — giving a literal description of their … Continue reading THE LONDON UNDERWORLD, IN THE VICTORIAN PERIOD, AUTHENTIC FIRS-PERSON ACCOUNTS BY BEGGARS, THIEVES AND PROSTITUTES, by Henry Mayhew (and others), Dover Publications
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THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF WEAPONS: ARMS AND ARMOUR FROM PREHISTORY TO THE AGE OF CHIVALRY, by R. Ewart Oakeshott, Dover Publications
Premodern weapons of war receive a tremendously detailed and thorough accounting in this volume — the work of a noted authority on medieval arms in Europe. Covering a period of 30 centuries, the study, like a richly woven tapestry, vividly describes the development of arms and armor — beginning with the weapons of the prehistoric … Continue reading THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF WEAPONS: ARMS AND ARMOUR FROM PREHISTORY TO THE AGE OF CHIVALRY, by R. Ewart Oakeshott, Dover Publications
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FATTY LEGS: A TRUE STORY, by Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, Illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes, Annick Press
The moving memoir of an Inuit girl who emerges from a residential school with her spirit intact. Eight-year-old Margaret Pokiak has set her sights on learning to read, even though it means leaving her village in the high Arctic. Faced with unceasing pressure, her father finally agrees to let her make the five-day journey to … Continue reading FATTY LEGS: A TRUE STORY, by Christy Jordan-Fenton & Margaret Pokiak-Fenton, Illustrated by Liz Amini-Holmes, Annick Press
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STALKED, A GRIPPING TRUE STORY, by Alison Hewitt, Panmacmillan, PGC
Alison Hewitt was in the midst of training to be a family doctor when she met Al Amin Dhalla through an exclusive dating agency. He was a seemingly respectable businessman from Canada, so attentive and caring it was easy to ignore the warning signs - until he started, step by step, to take over her … Continue reading STALKED, A GRIPPING TRUE STORY, by Alison Hewitt, Panmacmillan, PGC
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LOST ISLANDS, THE STORY OF ISLANDS THAT HAVE VANISHED FROM NAUTICAL CHARTS, by Henry Stommel, Dover Publications
Hundreds of islands that once appeared on nautical charts and general atlases are now known to have vanished — or never even existed. How were they detected in the first place? Henry Stommel, an oceanographer and senior scientist at Massachusetts' Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, chronicles his fascinating research in documenting the false discoveries of these … Continue reading LOST ISLANDS, THE STORY OF ISLANDS THAT HAVE VANISHED FROM NAUTICAL CHARTS, by Henry Stommel, Dover Publications
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A GIRL NAMED LOVELY, by Catherine Porter, Simon & Schuster
An insightful and uplifting memoir about a young Haitian girl in post-earthquake Haiti, and the profound, life-changing effect she had on one journalist’s life. In January 2010, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti, killing hundreds of thousands of people and paralyzing the country. Catherine Porter, a newly minted international reporter, was on the ground in the … Continue reading A GIRL NAMED LOVELY, by Catherine Porter, Simon & Schuster
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THE SUPERPOWER FIELD GUIDE: BEAVERS, by Rachel Poliquin & Nicholas John Frith (illus), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company/HMH Books for Young Readers
Beavers, the first book in the new middle-grade nonfiction Superhero Field Guide series by Rachel Poliquin and award-winning illustrator Nicholas John Frith, is a delightfully informative, laugh-out-loud full-color look at the most unsuspecting of animal heroes, perfect for readers who like their facts served with a large dose of humor. Meet Elmer, an ordinary beaver. … Continue reading THE SUPERPOWER FIELD GUIDE: BEAVERS, by Rachel Poliquin & Nicholas John Frith (illus), Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Company/HMH Books for Young Readers
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ONCE WE WERE STRANGERS: WHAT FRIENDSHIP WITH A SYRIAN REFUGEE TAUGHT ME ABOUT LOVING MY NEIGHBOR, by Shawn Smucker, Fleming H. Revell Company/Baker Publishing Group
In 2012, Mohammad fled his Syrian village along with his wife and four sons, escaping to Jordan through the wilderness. Four years later he sat across from Shawn Smucker in a small conference room in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Though neither of them knew it, Mohammad had arrived in Shawn's life just in time. This is the … Continue reading ONCE WE WERE STRANGERS: WHAT FRIENDSHIP WITH A SYRIAN REFUGEE TAUGHT ME ABOUT LOVING MY NEIGHBOR, by Shawn Smucker, Fleming H. Revell Company/Baker Publishing Group
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