A few years ago I took a class on youth literature, and futuristic novel The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld was assigned reading. I don’t normally read teen fiction, but I found this one so compelling that I was driven to seek out and read the rest of the books in the series (usually until the wee hours of the morning.) The constant cliffhangers drew me in despite the fact that I disliked the main character, but I also enjoyed the social commentary.
Monthly Archives: August 2011
It’s a jungle out there! : 52 nature adventures for city kids / Jennifer Ward
Call number: GV191.63 .W36 2011
Just because you live in the city doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy nature. This compact guide offers 52 nature-focused explorations, adventures, observations, and games that can help you and your child connect to nature while living in the city. While it may be hard to see nature through the traffic, buildings, and busyness of the city, there is still much of the natural world to explore when you turn your gaze to the cracks in the sidewalk, the trees on the street, or the green spaces that your city offers. Become an urban birder, make your own man vs. wild observations, and discover the not-so-hidden pockets of nature in your neighborhood. For children ages 4 to 8.(From Amazon)
The myth of the model minority : Asian Americans facing racism / Rosalind S. Chou
Call number: E184.A75 C515 2008
In this pathbreaking book sociologists Rosalind Chou and Joe Feagin examine, for the first time in depth, racial stereotyping and discrimination daily faced by Asian Americans long viewed by whites as the ‘model minority.’ Drawing on more than 40 field interviews across the country, they examine the everyday lives of Asian Americans in numerous different national origin groups. Their data contrast sharply with white-honed, especially media, depictions of racially untroubled Asian American success. Many hypocritical whites make sure that Asian Americans know their racially inferior ‘place’ in U.S. society so that Asian people live lives constantly oppressed and stressed by white racism. The authors explore numerous instances of white-imposed discrimination faced by Asian Americans in a variety of settings, from elementary schools to college settings, to employment, to restaurants and other public accommodations.
The responses of Asian Americans to the U.S. racial hierarchy and its rationalizing racist framing are traced’with some Asian Americans choosing to conform aggressively to whiteness and others choosing to resist actively the imposition of the U.S. brand of anti-Asian oppression. This book destroys any naďve notion that Asian Americans are universally ‘favored’ by whites and have an easy time adapting to life in this still racist society. See an interview with Rosalind S. Chou at Rosalind S. Chou Interview (From Google Books)
Salem Press and Videatives
The Library currently holds a variety of online health/medical books from Salem Press. We’ve recently added history and forensic science online books to these existing library resources, as well as, a new video service from Videatives which features short videos for early education and child development. They are linked on our BOOKS, AUDIO-VISUAL , and A-Z List pages.
More Online Books
The library now has Springer ebooks. Springer is a major academic publisher of both books and journals. Our Springer collection includes books in biomedical & life sciences, computer science, engineering, mathematics and statistics, medicine, and much more, published in 2011. You can find the link to Springer ebooks on both the BOOKS and the A-Z List web pages.
JSTOR Additions
Six weeks ago we announced that the Library had purchased parts of the JSTOR collection, including Arts & Sciences I, Business I, and Mathematics & Statistics. We have now added Arts & Sciences II-VIII and the Life Sciences collections.
JSTOR has full-text articles from scholarly journals; the articles go back to the volume1, issue 1, including previous and merged titles. To learn more about JSTOR, click here. You will find JSTOR linked on our Search & Find: Articles page and our
Original Minds DVD
Tracking number: 579CC
Wounded by the stigma of being in “special ed” the five teenage protagonists of ORIGINAL MINDS struggle to articulate how their brains work. Kerrigan is a deep thinker, often seeing connections between disparate ideas and concepts, but when it comes to telling you what you’ve just said he hasn’t a clue. When Nee Nee writes her fingers have a hard time keeping up with her thoughts.
People often get annoyed with Nattie because she doesn’t know when to stop teasing and kidding around.Marshall spends a lot of time in the bathroom, where his parents can’t bug him about homework. He says he wants to “turn over a new leaf” but he’s lost nine of his last fifteen math assignments.
Members of Deandré’s family tell him he is not college material. He’s determined to prove them wrong.
Parents, teachers, friends, therapists, and coaches all weigh in, sometimes with conflicting views, but it’s the kids who become the experts in this film, as they work intensively with the filmmaker to tell their stories and discover that they are smarter than they thought. Their narratives reveal the unique approach to learning that each must discern and claim as his or her own if they are to succeed in the world. ORIGINAL MINDS eschews the confusing thicket of labels for learning disorders and reveals universal truths about how we all acquire and process information. (From Bullfrog Films)
Motherhood Manifesto DVD
Tracking number: 1162GE
Did you know that…
Only four countries in the world – Lesotho, Swaziland, Papua New Guinea and the United States – fail to provide paid maternity leave to all workers? Canada now guarantees a full year of paid parental leave and California recently became the first state in the U.S. to provide such paid leave? Businesses that create flexible work environments find that productivity goes up, they attract more talent, turnover is reduced and their bottom line is improved?(From Bullfrog Films)
The Air We Breathe DVD
Tracking number: 60EP
This video traces the damaging connection between suburban sprawl, our addiction to the automobile, air pollution, and disturbing increases in asthma and other respiratory diseases.
The EPA and Congress have said we must lower the allowable ozone pollution in our cities. In the past ten years hospital admissions for asthma have doubled, and air quality specialists are pointing to alarming statistics correlating smog levels with high rates of respiratory diseases as well as higher mortality rates.
With insight and wit, THE AIR WE BREATHE examines our addiction to the automobile, the environmental consequences of suburban sprawl, and the damaging effects of commuter culture on both the air we breathe and our overall quality of life. We also hear from scientists, activists and urban planners who map out possible solutions that include alternative fuels, zero-emission vehicles, and integrated public transit plans.(From Bullfrog Films)
Addicted to Plastic DVD
Tracking number: 59EP
Addicted To Plastic is a point-of-view style documentary that encompasses three years of filming in 12 countries on 5 continents, including two trips to the middle of the Pacific Ocean where plastic debris accumulates. The film details plastic’s path over the last 100 years and provides a wealth of expert interviews on practical and cutting edge solutions to recycling, toxicity and biodegradability. These solutions – which include plastic made from plants – will provide viewers with a new perspective about our future with plastic. (From Bullfrog Films)