Nonfiction
Loud : accept nothing less than the life you deserve
Drew Afualo
158.1 /Afualo
Nonfiction, Self Help
Drew Afualo is best known as the internet's 'Crusader for Women' and is at the head of a new generation of entertainment's rising stars, with more than nine million followers across her social platforms. She soon realized that men on social media were creating sexist content aimed at disparaging women, and also containing rampant fatphobia, racism, and other forms of bigotry with very real-life consequences. It didn't take long for her to step into the role of unofficial watchdog for misogyny, and her signature laugh is now recognized as a feminist call to arms.Loud is part manual, part manifesto, and part memoir. It is a summoning cry to rid the internet (and our hearts, minds, and lives) of 'terrible men' and create a space to fight outdated patriarchal ideals. Above all, it makes it clear that behind Drew's fearsome laugh is a mission and a life philosophy, a strategy for self-confidence from the inside out, and a pathway to once and for all remove men from the centre of how women and fems think about themselves.
Work : interviews with people doing jobs they love
Shaina Feinberg
j331.702 Feinberg
Nonfiction, Business
"New York Times columnists Shaina Feinberg and Julia Rothman take readers all over the world to explore the furthest reaches of passion and dedication in this collection of interviews. Meet a wildland firefighter, a surfer, a ferry captain, a designer of headscarves, an accessibility specialist, and many other real people doing the creative, fascinating, and often difficult jobs that make the world work. This ode to the wild and limitless range of job possibilities also includes thought-provoking questions designed to open conversations with young readers, as well as tips on how they might conduct an interview themselves"--Publisher.
I love hearing about people's cool or unexpected jobs, and this book is packed with 28 short, punchy interviews with diverse people doing an array of fascinating jobs. The illustrations are what really make this book; instead of real photographs, the interviews and quotes (just one spread per job, and a few short paragraphs of text) are accompanied by sweet and beautiful paintings of the subject at work. Ferry captain! Toy shop owner! Prosthetics maker! Street food vendor! -Anne W
Crows : an egg-to-sky story
Margaret Peot
j598.864 Peot
Kids, Picture Books, Nonfiction, Animals, Nature
"This book is an introduction to the natural history of crows for children and includes a brief discussion of the difference between crows and ravens, as well as other members of the crow family such as magpies and jays"--
Here is yet another gorgeous addition to the picture book nonfiction genre! Informative and digestible, Margaret Peot's "Crows: an Egg-to-Sky Story" is just right for sharing with young birders. -Casey
The empath's survival guide : life strategies for sensitive people
Judith Orloff
155.232 /Orloff
Nonfiction, Self Help
"What is the difference between having empathy and being an empath? "Having empathy means our heart goes out to another person in joy or pain," says Dr. Judith Orloff. "But for empaths it goes much further. We actually feel others' emotions, energy, and physical symptoms in our own bodies, without the usual defenses that most people have." The Empath's Survival Guide is an invaluable resource for empaths and anyone who wants to nurture their empathy and develop coping skills in our high-stimulus world--while fully embracing their gifts of intuition, compassion, creativity, and spiritual connection. This practical, empowering, and loving book was created to support empaths through their unique challenges and help loved ones better understand the empath's needs and gifts, "--Amazon.com.
In The Empath's Survival Guide, Judith Orloff discusses what it means to be an empath, and how we can protect our energy while existing in an often overwhelming and draining world. This book was life changing for me, and I hope that it helps others discover that it's okay to feel things deeply! Judith Orloff shows us that our empathic abilities can be used as a powerful tool to build a more compassionate and loving world. -Violette
Welcome to Samantha's world, 1904 : growing up in America's new century
Catherine Gourley
j973.91 Gourley
Fiction, Historical Fiction, Kids, Nonfiction, History
An in-depth look at life for girls and women in America in 1904, discussing city and town life, social reform, new inventions, amusements, and more.
If you're like me and grew up with American Girl, you know that this book was a highly sought after item! I, myself, am a Samantha, and was absolutely thrilled to find that ICPL had a copy of Welcome to Samantha's World in the collection! I'd never had the privilege of looking through this book before, but always dreamed about it when I was younger. Catherine Gourley provides a wider historical context for the Samantha books that illustrate what life what like for young girls at the turn of the century. I would definitely recommend for any fans of American Girl! -Violette
Dolls of our lives : why we can't quit American Girl
Mary Mahoney
745.59221 /Mahoney
Historical Fiction, Nonfiction
"Are you a Molly (a patriotic overachiever with a flair for drama)? Felicity (the original horse girl)? Kirsten (a cottagecore fan who seems immune to cholera), Samantha (a savior complex in a sailor suit), or Josefina (who dealt with grief by befriending a baby goat)? Have you ever wondered how Britney Spears or Michelle Kwan would answer that question? And why do we care so much which girl we are? Combining history, travelogue, and memoir, Dolls of Our Lives follows Allison Horrocks and Mary Mahoney on an unforgettable journey to the past as they delve into the origins of this iconic brand. Continuing the conversations that began on their podcast, they set out to answer the lingering questions that keep them up at night. What did American Girl inventor Pleasant Rowland hope to say to children with these dolls? Was girl power something that could be ordered from a catalogue, described by a magazine, or modeled in the plot lines of books? And how - and why - did this brand shape an entire generation? Through interviews with a legion of devoted doll lovers, a field trip to Colonial Williamsburg, a place that inspired Pleasant to create American Girl, and an exploration of their own (complicated) fandom, this is a deep dive into one of the 90s most coveted products - the American Girl doll" --
Dolls of Our Lives: Why We Can't Quit American Girl is EXACTLY what my AG-obsessed self needed! Mary Mahoney & Allison Horrocks are hosts of the American Girl themed podcast, Dolls of Our Lives, and their book details what it was growing up with American Girl and how the brand has shaped us into the American Girl Adults we are today. A must read for all of the nostalgic American Girl references, including an essential quiz to find out which character you are (if you don't already know). -Violette
Always Matt : a tribute to Matthew Shepard
Lesléa Newman
BIOGRAPHY Shepard, Matthew
LGBTQ+, Nonfiction, Memoir
On the night of October 6, 1998, in Laramie, Wyoming, Matthew Wayne Shepard (1976-1998) was brutally killed solely because he was gay. It was a shocking murder that was nationally covered in the media, and it became a rallying cry for the LGBTQ+ rights movement. In 2009, the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act was signed by President Barack Obama, expanding the federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability. With a foreword by Jason Collins--the first openly gay active player in the NBA--and written by Lesléa Newman--author of the Stonewall Honor-winning novel-in-verse October Mourning: A Song for Matthew Shepard and a friend of the Shepard family--Always Matt is an emotional yet ultimately hopeful look at the progress that's been made, as well as the work that still continues, in advocating for the dignity and equality of all people.
Always Matt is a beautiful tribute to the life and memory of Matthew Shepard. As someone who grew up in Wyoming and went to school in Laramie, Matt's story is always on my mind. I appreciate that author Lesléa Newman tells this incredibly important narrative in verse style, leaving "a great deal of empty space on the page, which mirrors the empty space Matt left behind when he was taken from this world." A must read! -Violette
Our work is everywhere : an illustrated oral history of queer & trans resistance
Syan Rose
306.76 /Rose
Diverse Characters, LGBTQ+, Graphic Novels, Nonfiction
"A visually stunning graphic non-fiction book on queer and trans resistance. Over the past ten years, we have witnessed the rise of queer and trans communities that have defied and challenged those who have historically opposed them. Through bold, symbolic imagery and surrealist, overlapping landscapes, queer illustrator and curator Syan Rose shines a light on the faces and voices of these diverse, amorphous, messy, real, and imagined queer and trans communities. In their own words, queer and trans organizers, artists, healers, comrades, and leaders speak honestly and authentically about their own experiences with power, love, pain, and magic to create a textured and nuanced portrait of queer and trans realities in America. The many themes include Black femme mental health, Pacific Islander authorship, fat queer performance art, disability and health care practice, sex worker activism, and much more. Accompanying the narratives are Rose's startling and sinuous images that brings these leaders' words to visual life. Our Work Is Everywhere is a graphic non-fiction book that underscores the brilliance and passion of queer and trans resistance. Includes a foreword by Lambda Literary Award-winning author and activist Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha, author of Care Work : Dreaming Disability Justice."--
Our Work Is Everywhere is a beautiful graphic novel depicting the history of queer and trans resistance. Syan Rose's illustrations are so stunning--I could read this book over and over again. You should too! -Violette
The soldier's friend : Walt Whitman's extraordinary service in the American Civil War
Gary Golio
j973.7 Golio
Kids, Picture Books, Nonfiction, History
When Walt Whitman saw his brother's name on a list of wounded Union soldiers, he went to see him in the war hospital, and did not stop visiting and ministering to Civil War soldiers for the next three years.
A moving and fascinating story of poet Walt Whitman's service to wounded Union soldiers during the Civil War. In a period that would profoundly influence Whitman's development as a writer and person, after his brother was injured in the war, Whitman worked at a DC military hospital ministering to the wounded - reading to them, listening to them, helping them write letters, feeding them (many had never tried ice cream before, just one of many treats Whitman brought to the hospital to share), and helping to bury the dead. -Anne W
Bottoms up and the devil laughs, A journey through the deep state
Kerry Howley
"Who are you? You are data about data. You are a map of connections--a culmination of everything you have ever posted, searched, emailed, liked, and followed. In this groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction, Kerry Howley investigates the curious implications of living in the age of the indelible. Howley's subjects face a challenge new to history: they are imprisoned by their past selves, trapped for as long as the Internet endures. A soap opera set in the deep state, Bottoms Up and the Devil Laughs is a free fall into a world where everything is recorded and nothing is sacred, from a singular writer unafraid to ask essential questions about the strangeness of modern life"--
Read this book to get a taste of Kerry Howley's unique voice and go see "Winner" at the fest! More about the film: In 2017 Reality Winner leaked classified documents to The Intercept exposing Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election leading to the longest prison term ever imposed for an unauthorized release of government information to the media. Refocus Film Festival alum Susanna Fogel (Cat Person) directs this adaptation of University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program MFA graduate Kerry Howley's 2017 profile of Winner for New York Magazine. Starring Emilia Jones as the titular translator, we get an inside look into her personal history from precocious high schooler questioning authority to conflicted but highly paid private government contractor. With a stunning turn from Zach Galifianakis as her opioid addicted father who taught her to damn the man, this humorous and heartfelt story humanizes a public figure known for one courageous act and a funny name. -Katie
Stemming from her incredibly hilarious and inspiring TikTok account, Drew Afualo's Loud teaches us how to fight back against misogyny & the many injustices faced by women and femmes while being unapologetically ourselves. This book made me feel so empowered and I hope that it brings the same love and light to your life! "You are worth all of the love and respect you put out into the world, and you are destined to receive it." -Violette