Asylum Denied by David Ngarurir Kenney 323.631 KEN

"Astonishing in its power to move and inform, this fluent first-person narrative, a collaboration between a young Kenyan political refugee, Kenney, and his stalwart American attorney, Schrag, depicts the flaws and corruption at the heart of the U.S. asylum process. Kenney fled Kenya in 1995 after being arrested and nearly executed for leading a peaceful protest against the government's treatment of his fellow tea farmers; he survived torture and escaped to America where he was plunged into an incomprehensible and hostile immigration system. Kenney and Schrag's dealings with the Department of Homeland Security and federal immigration courts reveal a system that is 'disquietingly random.' Applicants are victims of 'refugee roulette,' their fates largely dependent on the sympathies of the government officials who hear their cases. Schrag's recommendations to make the system more consistent and compassionate give the book — and Kenney's heartbreaking story — an added sense of purpose and real practical potential. Kenya's recent political implosion lends this book added topical relevance, but its core concerns for justice and reform remain directed at American society, especially (though not only) its byzantine asylum system." Publishers Weekly

Far from Home: Latino Baseball Players in America by Tim Wendall 796.357092 WEN

From Argentina and Venezuela to the Dominican Republic and the rest of the Caribbean , thousands of boys grow up playing sandlot ball and planning a big-league career. Inspired by Latino greats who paved the way, young men head north in hopes of baseball success but often find themselves in far different situations. Photographer Jose Luis Villegas and sportswriter Tim Wendel dramatically reveal the energy, talent, and hard-driving ambition of these determined players, both the few who make it and the many who don't. The book captures all the flash and glory of being a major-league star at the top of his game...as well as the struggles faced by other hopefuls who have to take a longer, tougher road. For many of these men, the realities of the system and the tension of illegal immigration intrude on the dream. Discover what becomes of them, and explore the rich background of baseball and the Latin American world, in Far From Home. With sports interest for the baseball fan...timely issues for the history buff...and great images for the photography enthusiast...it is perfectly positioned for Father's Day and a must-read for all who love the national game. the publishers

From Eve to Dawn by Marilyn French 305.4209 FRE

"In her foreword to this first volume of a four-volume work, Atwood writes that women 'are not a footnote' to history, but rather 'the necessary center around which the wheel of power revolves.' That is the view that novelist and memoirist French ( The Women's Room ) satisfyingly supports. As in any survey, much of this volume reads schematically ('For 99 percent of hominid and human existence, people lived in egalitarian matricentry'), and like many historians, French has an agenda — but she backs up even her more controversial theories with an impressive accumulation of academically accepted historical, anthropological and sociological sources. French covers her material vividly as she discusses the formation of the gendered state in Peru , Egypt , Sumer and China and then surveys the differences between the formation of secular and religious states. The volume ends with a detailed analysis of the position of women in early Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and it's here that French's precise methodology really comes to life, though some will debate her interpretations. Written in concise, understated language, this is a significant addition to literature on women's studies and history." Publishers Weekly

Is There a Right to Remain Silent? by Alan Dershowitz 345.73056 DER

"The prolific and opinionated Dershowitz ( Rights from Wrongs ), public personality and Harvard law professor, is provocative and erudite in this treatise on the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent, which in his view may become a victim of the war on terror as America slides toward preventing violent acts rather than deterring them with threat of punishment. Replete with trademark Dershowitz flourishes, quotes from a wide range of sources including Jewish law, Emily Dickinson and his own college term paper, this is a serious examination of the constitutional ramifications of an unheralded 2003 Supreme Court decision, Chavez v. Martinez , that could allow the coercion of testimony from interrogation subjects as long as the information isn't used against them in criminal prosecutions. Dershowitz is best at exploring the implications of this decision. His analysis is sometimes technical on the origin of the right to remain silent as well as its application to suspects, defendants and witnesses. Dershowitz believes current law is dangerously unsettled and, as such, an 'anathema to democracy'; his conclusion is a measured but urgent call to fill the legal 'black hole' that the narrow Chavez decision creates regarding a right we all take for granted." Publishers Weekly

My Mother Your Mother by Dennis McCullough 363.6 MCC

Geriatrician Dennis McCullough has spent his life helping families to cope with their parents' aging and eventual final passage, experiences he faced with his own mother. In this comforting and much-needed book, he recommends a new approach, which he terms "Slow Medicine." Shaped by common sense and kindness, grounded in traditional medicine yet receptive to alternative therapies, Slow Medicine advocates for careful anticipatory "attending" to an elder's changing needs rather than waiting for crises that force acute medical interventions—an approach that improves the quality of elders' extended late lives without bankrupting their families financially or emotionally. As Dr. McCullough argues, we need to learn that time and kindness are sometimes more important and humane at these late stages than state-of-the-art medical interventions. the publishers

An Ocean of Air by Gabriella Walker 551.509 WAL

"Most of the time we hardly notice that we're moving through air. But when a storm system whips it into a whirling mass that grows into a tornado or a hurricane, then the air around us makes headlines. Science consultant Walker ( Snowball Earth ) presents a lively history of scientists' and adventurers' exploration of this important and complex contributor to life on Earth, from Galileo's early attempts to show that it has weight to the explorations by 20th-century scientists Oliver Heaviside and Edward Appleton of the ionosphere, which acts as a giant mirror bouncing radio waves from one side of the globe to another. Walker provides readers with easy-to-follow discussions of the science behind the discovery that carbon dioxide levels are rising exponentially; the theoretician who left her computer for Antarctica and discovered a huge ozone hole created by chlorofluorocarbons; why hurricanes form only in the tropics and why global warming may lead to more violent storms. She goes far afield at times, spending too much time on the Van Allen belts, for instance, but readers will find this informative book to be a breath of fresh air." Publishers Weekly

On the Road to Freedom by Charles E. Cobb Jr. 323.1196 COB

This in-depth look at the civil rights movement goes to the places where pioneers of the movement marched, sat-in at lunch counters, gathered in churches; where they spoke, taught, and organized; where they were arrested, where they lost their lives, and where they triumphed. Award-winning journalist Charles E. Cobb Jr., a former organizer and field secretary for SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee), knows the journey intimately. He guides us through Washington , D.C. , Maryland , Virginia , North Carolina , South Carolina , Georgia , Alabama , Mississippi , and Tennessee , back to the real grassroots of the movement. He pays tribute not only to the men and women etched into our national memory but to local people whose seemingly small contributions made an impact. We go inside the organizations that framed the movement, travel on the andquot;Freedom Ridesandquot; of 1961, and hear first-person accounts about the events that inspired Brown vs. Board of Education . An essential piece of American history, this is also a useful travel guide with maps, photographs, and sidebars of background history, newspaper coverage, and firsthand interviews. the publishers

A Boy Named Shel by Lisa Rogak

Rogak has written more than 40 books, including the recent The Man Behind the Da Vinci Code: An Unauthorized Biography of Dan Brown . Her latest book is the first ever biography of Shel Silverstein, the remarkable, unorthodox, and very private man who authored such childhood favorites as Where the Sidewalk Ends, A Light in the Attic , and The Giving Tree . But few people know he also penned the song A Boy Named Sue , made famous by Johnny Cash, as well as other country and folk song hits, and collaborated in screenwriting and playwriting. In fact, Silverstein excelled in every artistic outlet to which he put his hand. Consulting many sources, among them Silverstein's friends; radio interviews; and newspaper, journal, and magazine articles, Rogak thoughtfully reconstructs the artist's life. She includes exhaustive notes and lists of Silverstein's books, albums, movie scores, plays, and screenplays. An authoritative and accessible biography, absorbing from cover to cover. Mark Alan Williams - Library Journal      

Ida: A Sword Among Lions by Paula J. Giddings

The Lost Supreme by Peter Benjaminson

"Journalist and author Benjaminson ( The Story of Motown ) attempts valiantly, painstakingly to resurrect the reputation of founding Supreme member Florence Ballard, who left the group early on and descended into litigiousness and alcoholism. Then a reporter with the Detroit Free Press , Benjaminson interviewed Ballard a year before her death in 1976 and elicited a sad story of a starry-eyed, single-minded high school dropout whose dream, and fortune, was co-opted by Berry Gordy's Motown empire. Growing up together in Detroit's black working-class Brewster Projects, gospel-singing Ballard and Mary Wilson first formed the Primettes, joined by Diane (as she was then known) Ross and Betty McGlown, who eventually dropped out. In 1961, the teenagers auditioned for Berry Gordy, who kept them doing backup as they matured, touring with the Motortown Review across country by bus until the newly configured Supremes (Ballard chose the name) had their first hit in 1964 with 'Where Did Our Love Go?' The boom-boom beat coupled with the nasaly sound of Ross's voice prompted Gordy to promote Ross rather than Ballard as lead. Over the Supremes' several heady years in the spotlight, Benjaminson explains in this engaging biography, gobs of money vanished through flimsy contracts and the fingers of unscrupulous managers, costly clothes and glamorous acquaintances, and Ballard's resentment of Ross's ambition and Gordy's manipulation got her fired." Publishers Weekly

Maya Angelou by Marcia Ann Gillespie

"From the publication of her celebrated memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings , to her reading of her poem 'On the Pulse of Morning' at Bill Clinton's first presidential inauguration, Maya Angelou (ne Marguerite Johnson) has been an inspirational figure. In celebration of her 80th birthday ( April 4, 2008 ), her friends Gillespie and Long, and her niece Butler , honor her life and accomplishments with a biographical tribute chock-full of photographs and snippets of Angelou's own writings. The authors trace her life from the self-imposed silence after her rape at eight through her voracious reading and the stream of words that began when she was 14 at the coaxing of an adult friend. After marrying Tosh Angelos, and bearing her son, Clyde , she ventured successfully into acting (when she changed her name to Maya Angelou) and activism alongside Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, but always harbored the desire to write. As this book makes abundantly clear, Angelou's friends view her as a woman whose arms and home are always open and a loyal friend who respects others and loves good food and roaring laughter." Publishers Weekly

The Sum of Our Days by Isabelle Allende

"In this deeply revealing second memoir, after Paula , novelist Allende ( The House of Spirits ) utilizes her family and the complex network of their relationships as the linchpin of the narrative. While weaving in her candid opinions on love and marriage, friendship, drug addiction, the writing life and religious fanaticism, Allende continues to work through the grief over her daughter's death. 'In these years without you I have learned to manage sadness, making it my ally. Little by little your absence and other losses in my life are turning into a sweet nostalgia.' And though Allende's insight is keen, her prose polished and her language hypnotic, it's the stories of her close-knit family that move the memoir forward. 'We lived as a tribe, Chilean style; we were almost always together.' While much of the story is infused with melancholy, her world is by no means without humor, mirth and wisdom. She celebrates friends' triumphs and exploits their foibles, including the 'odyssey of the boobs,' without taking herself too seriously. This is a book to savor." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Zora Neale Hurston by Deborah G. Plant

“A biography of writer Zora Neale Hurston, this volume focuses on her spirituality as a driving force and how it was reflected in her academic career, fiction and nonfiction, sociopolitical activity, and professional career. Plant (Africana studies, U. of South Florida ) also discusses her spiritual legacy in institutions, works, curricula, performances, and festivals created in Hurston's honor. She considers her spiritual views and beliefs and her life and career in this context, drawing on Akasha Gloria Hull's concept of spirituality as containing the following aspects as a means for taking part in struggle: political and social awareness, eclectic spiritual consciousness, and enhanced creativity. The volume is for both general readers and scholars.” Book News

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Bishop by Elizabeth Bishop

"No further proof is necessary to show that Bishop — still not widely known beyond literary circles at the time of her death in 1979 — has, posthumously in the last three decades, become one of America's most popular 20th-century poets, but this hefty and handsome volume from the Library of America certainly clinches the deal. Between its covers one can find most of the perfectionist author's oeuvre , more than enough to confirm Bishop as a master at revealing the complexity of simple, often painful things ('I said to myself: three days/ and you'll be seven years old./ I was saying it to stop/ the sensation of falling off the round, turning world/ into cold, blue-black space./ But I felt: you are an I , you are an Elizabeth '). All the poems gathered in the now-classic Collected Poems are here, as are the unpublished drafts released in 2006's controversial Edgar Allen Poe and the Jukebox . The memoir and fiction pieces of Collected Prose are also reprinted, along with a few other pieces of scattered nonfiction, as well as a generous selection of Bishop's enthralling letters. Bishop's work is deeply compassionate and necessary reading, and now almost all of it can be found in one place." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

Boy by Patrick Phillips

"This second collection from Kate Tufts Award — winner Phillips ( Chattahoochee ) is haunted by memories, could-have-beens and what-ifs, as when an infant son dies instead of recovering from a fever, or never even makes it through birth. Phillips is consumed with his vulnerability as a parent and finds himself lost in the cyclical recurrences of time: 'What happened never happened on its own/ the future and the past collide.' Fatherhood, of course, also recalls mixed memories of being a son. Phillips enacts the anxiety and grief of the knowledge that there is no escape from death, no matter how much we may love and protect someone. 'It will be the past/ and we'll live there together' the final poem begins; it ends: 'It will be the past/ and it will last forever.'" Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

The Door: Poems by Margaret Atwood

"The first book of poems in 12 years from the now world-famous Canadian author (The Handmaid's Tale) combines an older writer's reflections on aging with the dire warnings-political, environmental and moral-familiar from Atwood's recent fiction. Short lines and deliberate, balanced phrases consider how 'my mother dwindles and dwindles/ and lives and lives,' how senior citizens hike and trek across tundra, and how privileged citizens of rich nations might understand refugees from far-off wars. 'Owl and Pussycat, Some Years Later'-the longest poem in the book, the wittiest and likely the best-retells the familiar rhyme as a parable of late-career poets, rueful and 'no longer semi-immortal,' yet still conversing, still writing, as they go on rowing 'out past the last protecting/ sandbar.' Other verse shows Atwood-who began as a poet, despite her fame as a novelist-looking at the climate for new poetry amid the sometimes funny parochialism of its audiences (in Canada or anywhere). Yet the predominant notes are fiercely grim: ice melts and cracks, mammals head towards extinction, 'the hurt child will bite you... And its blood will seep into the water/ and you will drink it every day.' One page compares all poets everywhere to violinists on the Titanic. Another declares, truthfully, 'That's what I do:/ I tell dark stories/ before and after they come true.'" Publishers Weekly

The Kingdom of Ordinary Time by Marie Howe

Starred Review. Signature Reviewed by Brenda ShaughnessyMarie Howe's books of poetry materialize once a decade and are big news and cause for celebration. Both of her previous collections moved me to tears and have continued to move me. Reading her third is like finally having a very long thirst quenched. Howe's debut, The Good Thief , contains a poem, Part of Eve's Discussion, which remains one of the most breathtaking out-of-body experiences in contemporary poetry: ...when it occurs to you/ your car could spin/.../ it was like that, and after that, it was still like that, only/ all the time. When I teach poetry classes, this is what I start with: it makes young poets want to write. Then there are the rapt, anguished poems about all-too-corporeal experiences in What the Living Do , which struggles to reckon with a beloved brother's death from AIDS as well as a rough-and-tumble childhood. Howe finds the flash point of illumination in the chaos of grief and murky memory. This book has become a classic text in coping with life, love and loss. How do we save each other, or how do we watch helplessly? How can we live with our memories or with losing them, or each other? Howe is the rare poet who offers answers to these questions. This third book unites and develops all the strength and beauty of the previous two. Metaphysical aspects of Thief find advanced life forms in mind-benders like Limbo (Do I have an I?/ One says to another... ) and Easter. a brilliant short poem about reanimation (And the whole body was too small. Imagine/ the sky trying to fit into a tunnel carved into a hill). The earthbound qualities of Living also find new form here: political, indeed global concerns are posited with signature clarity, expressing, through simple observation and empathy, the hope for more humane systems. A cycle of heartbreaking poems about motherhood, called Life of Mary, looks back on the speaker's own dead mother, while other poems look straight into the moment, joyfully, reverently and always with a pause for reflection and amazement, with her daughter.Howe is a careful and soulful alchemist. She makes metaphor matter and material metaphysical. She becomes magic with her transforming perspective that is part mother, part muscle, part music, part mind. This book has the amazing thing that Howe always seems to pull off: the miracle. I saw it./ It was the thing and spirit both: the real/ world: evident, invisible. (Mar.) Brenda Shaughnessy is the author of Interior with Sudden Joy (FSG, 1999) and the forthcoming Human Dark with Sugar ( Copper Canyon , 2008), which won the 2007 James Laughlin Award. She is poetry editor of Tin House magazine. Publishers Weekly

Sister Outsider by Audre Lordes

Audre Lorde writes from the fabric of her life: black woman, lesbian, feminist, activist, daughter of immigrant parents, mother of a biracial child, cancer survivor. Sister Outsider: Essays and Speeches explores ways of increasing empowerment among minority women and the need for women to candidly deal with racism, sexism, and classism. It also promotes the unity of difference. Lorde explores the fear and hatred that exists between black men and women, lesbians and heterosexuals, and black women and white women and insists that we all must find common ground. Lorde had an abiding belief in the unity of all peoples and the crucial role of communication in bridging the divisions that separate us. Rather than turning a blind eye to our different identities, she insisted that through the process of naming those differences and honestly and justly dealing with them, divergent perspectives could be brought together. Lorde's own identity crosses so many racial, sexual, and physical lines that in a sense she belongs to no one group and was thus able to see us all with a unique, unprejudiced clarity.

Sixty Poems by Charles Simic

Not only has Simic recently been appointed the 15th poet laureate of the United States , but he has also received the Pulitzer Prize for poetry, a MacArthur Fellowship, and the Academy of American Poets ' Wallace Stevens Award. Spanning about 20 years, from Simic's first book, Unending Blues (1986), to his latest, My Noiseless Entourage (2005), this collection represents some of Simic's best-loved poems. A pastiche bringing together disparate elements from Simic's childhood in Belgrade , Yugoslavia , to his adulthood in New Hampshire , these haunting poems look at the indifference to spiritual values that characterizes contemporary life. With borrowings from novels, children's books, and other poems, this book is reminiscent of art by Maurice Sendak. Like Sendak, Simic is adept at probing the emotional texture of dark moments. Playful, ironic, eerie, and dreamlike, the poems are accessible, although they have a surrealistic bent. As the poet roots into the unconscious mind, toys talk and ghosts appear, yet, surprisingly, the poems feel grounded because of Simic's eye for the evocative and just-right image. Highly recommended for all libraries. Library Journal