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Tiananmen Square / by Wen, Lai,author.;
As a child in Beijing in the 1970s, Lai lives with her family in a lively, working-class neighborhood near the heart of the city. Thoughtful yet unassuming, she spends her days with her friends beyond the attention of her parents: Her father is a reclusive figure who lingers in the background, while her mother, an aging beauty and fervent patriot, is quick-tempered and preoccupied with neighborhood gossip. Only Lai's grandmother, a formidable and colorful maverick, seems to really see Lai and believe that she can blossom beyond their circumstances. But Lai is quickly awakened to the harsh realities of the Chinese state. A childish prank results in a terrifying altercation with police that haunts her for years; she also learns that her father, like many others, was broken during the Cultural Revolution. As she enters adolescence, Lai meets a mysterious and wise bookseller who introduces her to great works-Hemingway, Camus, and Orwell, among others-that open her heart to the emotional power of literature and her mind to thrillingly different perspectives. Along the way, she experiences the ebbs and flows of friendship, the agony of grief, and the first steps and missteps in love. A gifted student, Lai wins a scholarship to study at the prestigious Peking University where she soon falls in with a theatrical band of individualists and misfits dedicated to becoming their authentic selves, despite the Communist Party's insistence on conformity-and a new world opens before her. When student resistance hardens under the increasingly restrictive policies of the state, the group gets swept up in the fervor, determined to be heard, joining the masses of demonstrators and dreamers who display remarkable courage and loyalty in the face of danger. As 1989 unfolds, the spirit of change is in the air.
Subjects: Historical fiction.; Bildungsromans.; Novels.; Books and reading; College students; Politicians; Protest movements; Young women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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My life, my love, my legacy / by King, Coretta Scott,1927-2006,author.; Reynolds, Barbara A.,author.;
"The life story of Coretta Scott King--wife of Martin Luther King Jr., founder of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, and singular twentieth-century American civil rights activist--as told fully for the first time, toward the end of her life, to one of her closest friends. Born in 1927 to daringly enterprising black parents in the Deep South, Coretta Scott had always felt called to a special purpose. One of the first black scholarship students recruited to Antioch College, a committed pacifist, and a civil rights activist, she was an avowed feminist--a graduate student determined to pursue her own career--when she met Martin Luther King Jr., a Baptist minister insistent that his wife stay home with the children. But in love and devoted to shared Christian beliefs and racial justice goals, she married King, and events promptly thrust her into a maelstrom of history throughout which she was a strategic partner, a standard bearer, a marcher, a negotiator, and a crucial fundraiser in support of world-changing achievements. As a widow and single mother of four, while butting heads with the all-male African American leadership of the times, she championed gay rights and AIDS awareness, founded the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change, lobbied for fifteen years to help pass a bill establishing the US national holiday in honor of her slain husband, and was a powerful international presence, serving as a UN ambassador and playing a key role in Nelson Mandela's election. Coretta's is a love story, a family saga, and the memoir of an independent-minded black woman in twentieth-century America, a brave leader who stood committed, proud, forgiving, nonviolent, and hopeful in the face of terrorism and violent hatred every single day of her life."--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Biographies.; King, Coretta Scott, 1927-2006.; King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968.; African American women; Baptist women; Christian women; Civil rights workers; Social reformers; Spouses of clergy; Widows;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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A living remedy : a memoir / by Chung, Nicole,author.;
"From the bestselling author of ALL YOU CAN EVER KNOW comes a searing memoir of class, inequality, and grief--a daughter's search to understand the lives her adoptive parents led, the life she forged as an adult, and the lives she's lost. In this country, unless you attain extraordinary wealth, you will likely be unable to help your loved ones in all the ways you'd hoped. You will learn to live with the specific, hollow guilt of those who leave hardship behind, yet are unable to bring anyone else with them. When Nicole Chung graduated from high school, she couldn't hightail it out of her overwhelmingly white Oregon hometown fast enough. As a scholarship student at a private university on the East Coast, no longer the only Korean she knew, she found a sense of community she had always craved as an Asian American adoptee--and a path to the life she'd long wanted. But the middle class world she begins to raise a family in--where there are big homes, college funds, nice vacations--looks very different from the middle class world she thought she grew up in, where paychecks have to stretch to the end of the week, health insurance is often lacking, and there are no safety nets. When her father dies at only sixty-seven, killed by diabetes and kidney disease, Nicole feels deep grief as well as rage, knowing that years of financial instability and lack of access to healthcare contributed to his premature death. And then the unthinkable happens--less than a year later, her beloved mother is diagnosed with cancer, and the physical distance between them becomes insurmountable as COVID descends upon the world. Exploring the enduring strength of family bonds in the face of hardship and tragedy, A Living Remedy examines what it takes to reconcile the distance between one life, one home, and another--and sheds needed light on some of the most persistent and tragic inequalities in American society"--
Subjects: Autobiographies.; Biographies.; Chung, Nicole.; Adoptees; Adoptive parents; Equality; Grief; Income distribution; Interracial adoption;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Blackness is a gift I can give her : on race, community, and Black women in hockey / by Hess, R. Renee,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."From the founder of Black Girl Hockey Club, a collection of deeply insightful and piercing essays that aims to shed light on the history of Black excellence--in all forms--in hockey, and how we can all do better when it comes to recognizing--and upheaving--systemic and institutionalized racism. Growing up, R. Renee Hess didn't care about hockey. In fact, she was barely aware of it. She was born and raised in Southern California, hardly a hotbed for the game, despite the state having three NHL teams. But, as Hess puts it, she is "a fan of being a fan," and when she found herself stuck in traffic after a hockey game, the streets filled with screams and cheers, something sparked within her. Ever since Hess made that discovery, she has been actively trying to bust the myth that "Black folks don't like hockey." In this collection, Hess shares her hockey origin story--how she came to understand the lack of authentic engagement in hockey culture with the Black community, and her journey to becoming a true game changer. But, as an academic, Hess knows that her singular viewpoint can't tell the full story, so she reached out to former hockey players, league executives, activists, fans, media, and to the parents and youth shaping the future of the game. We hear directly from players such as Sarah Nurse, Saroya Tinker, and Angela James; from trailblazers like Bernice Carnegie; and from the less-heralded, but equally urgent collective of Black Girl Hockey Club scholarship awardees and their families, emphasizing the importance of community and support. The result is a hockey book truly unlike any other. With essays that touch on representation and harmful stereotypes, the many nuanced aspects of biracial identity, on being the "lonely only," and the virtues of a lively group chat, Blackness Is a Gift I Can Give Her reads as a love letter to Black women everywhere, as well as a scathing ode to a game that Hess loves, even if it doesn't always love her back."--
Subjects: Essays.; Hockey players, Black.; Race.; Hockey;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Acceptance : a memoir / by Nietfeld, Emi,author.;
"A brilliant, funny, generation-defining memoir about the double bind of crafting perfect adversity narratives for highly selective institutions, while fumbling through the far murkier reality of actual life in foster care and inpatient mental health treatment As a child, Emi Nietfeld was caught between a hoarder mother who got her put on antipsychotic medication, but was also the only person to believe she was exceptional, and a state system exemplified by a foster mom who tried to ban her art history flash cards because they had naked pictures (of Michelangelo's David). Even after wresting free of grim inpatient mental health institutions and getting into a prestigious boarding school, Emi scrambled for places to sleep during breaks. Realizing that her path to true independence lay in reinventing herself as a talented overcomer deserving of a full ride, she became obsessed with college admissions. While taking on the sad challenge of presenting herself as resilient to gain authorities' approval, Emi lived the untidy version of actual adversity at the same time- literally drafting her Common App statement while living out of her '92 Corolla. She found herself "trading my past for my future" in college admissions essays and scholarship applications, in an extreme example of the immense pressure on teenagers from all backgrounds to build the foundations of their entire lives. Emi's story is a harsh illumination of the near-impossible challenge set by societal expectations of coming from nothing, the brokenness of our child welfare system, and the reality that congratulatory letters from top schools couldn't keep her safe - as she found when she was raped while on a trip following her Harvard admission. Though Emi learns that entering the Ivy League, working in Big Tech, and living in a fancy apartment doesn't mean her life turns into gold, her reflections on her unlikely history, and her journey in confronting trauma and injustice, hold powerful lessons. Candid and frequently harrowing, with a ribbon of dark humor, Acceptance is a stunning human story and an invaluable view of the actual cost of upward mobility"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Nietfeld, Emi.; Child welfare; Foster children; Social mobility;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Sing your name out loud : 15 rules for living your dream / by Derulo, Jason,1989-author.;
"In his page-turning and inspiring first book, legendary songwriter and recording artist Jason Derulo shares his 15 rules for finding success in any pursuit, and invites everyone--especially artists and creators--to start on their path to greatness. In 2009, an 18-year-old son of Haitian immigrants burst onto Billboard music charts with the instant #1 song, "Whatcha Say," which sampled a surprising hook and opened with what would prove to be one of the catchiest lines in pop music history--the artist's own name, sung out loud. Defying every possible odd, Jason Derulo cemented himself again and again, hit after hit, as one of the hardest working singers, dancers, and performers in the world and a risk-taking force of nature. This is the remarkable story of Derulo's come up, told through the valuable principles that guided and propelled him toward artistic excellence. Waking at 4am to catch buses across Miami so he could attend performing arts schools on scholarship, entering himself into local singing competitions at the mall on the weekends, and penning hundreds of songs before he ever saw the inside of a recording studio, Derulo's commitment to his dream--and dedication to seeing it come true--is the stuff of legend. But it was during his reinvention in 2020, after becoming one of the most followed creators on TikTok, that he realized his personal rules for self-mastery and success are applicable anywhere, for anyone, under any circumstance. "Now," he writes, "It's your turn." Sing Your Name Out Loud: 15 Rules for Living Your Dream takes readers into the mind of one of the most consistent, dominating, and versatile artists alive. Derulo reflects, in his own words, on the defining moments of his career thus far, most notably the wins and losses that strengthened his signature style of creative pursuit and offers his fifteen rules for turning goals into reality - where numbers mean everything, obstacles are opportunities, closed doors are meant to be opened, failure is inevitable, and good lighting is non-negotiable."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Self-help publications.; Personal narratives.; Derulo, Jason, 1989-; African American musicians; Celebrities; Rhythm and blues musicians; Self-control.; Success.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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America, América : a new history of the New World / by Grandin, Greg,1962-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The story of how the United States' identity was formed is almost invariably told by looking east to Europe. But as Greg Grandin vividly demonstrates, the nation's unique sense of itself was in fact forged facing south-no less than Latin America's was indelibly stamped by the looming colossus to the north. In this stunningly original reinterpretation of the New World Grandin reveals how North and South emerged from a constant, turbulent engagement with each other. America, América traverses half a millennium, from the Spanish Conquest-the greatest mortality event in human history-through the eighteenth-century wars for independence, the Monroe Doctrine, the coups and revolutions of the twentieth century, and beyond. Grandin shows, among other things, how royalist Spanish America, by sending troops and supplies, helped save the republican American Revolution; how in response to U.S. interventions, Latin Americans remade the rules, leading directly to the founding of the United Nations; and how the Good Neighbor Policy allowed FDR to assume the moral authority to lead the fight against world fascism. Grandin's book sheds new light on well-known historical figures like Bartolomé de las Casas, Simón Bolívar, and Woodrow Wilson, as well as lesser-known actors such as the Venezuelan Francisco de Miranda, who almost lost his head in the French Revolution and conspired with Alexander Hamilton to free America from Spain; the Colombian Jorge Gaitán, whose unsolved murder inaugurated the rise of Cold War political terror, death squads, and disappearances; and the radical journalist Ernest Gruening, who in championing non-interventionism in Latin America, helped broker the most spectacularly successful policy reversal in United State history. This is a monumental work of scholarship that will fundamentally change the way we think of slavery and racism, the rise of universal humanism, and the role of social democracy in staving off extremism. At once comprehensive and accessible, America, América shows that centuries of bloodshed and diplomacy not only helped shape the political identities of the United States and Latin America but also the laws, institutions, and ideals that govern the modern world. A culmination of a decades-long engagement with hemispheric history, drawing on a vast array of sources, and told with authority and flair, this is a genuinely new history of the New World"--
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Toufah : the woman who inspired an African #MeToo movement / by Jallow, Toufah,author.; Pittaway, Kim,author.;
"Toufah is the story of Toufah Jallow, a brilliant and inspiring young woman who, after she was forced to flee to Canada from her home in The Gambia, bravely bucked taboo and named herself as a survivor of a sexual assault by the country's dictator--launching an unprecedented protest movement. In 2015, Toufah Jallow was the eighteen-year-old daughter of the second wife in her Muslim father's polygamous household. Her mother, outwardly conforming, had made sure that her daughter was educated and had ambitions of her own. Dreaming of a scholarship and finances to produce and tour a one-woman play about how to eradicate poverty in The Gambia, Toufah entered a presidential competition--sometimes called a beauty pageant in the media, but, according to the president, Yahya Jammeh, designed to identify the smart young women of each generation and lend them financial support. Toufah won. At first, Jammeh, who had ruled The Gambia all of Toufah's life and styled himself as a pious yet progressive protector of women, behaved in a fatherly fashion toward her, but then he proposed marriage. When Toufah turned him down, he drugged and raped her, with the collusion of his cousin. Toufah could not tell anyone what had happened. Not only because there was no word for rape in her native language, but because if her parents protested on her behalf they would all be in danger. Jammeh sent his people to follow Toufah, hoping to intimidate and control her. When his cousin sent for her again, she knew she couldn't stay in The Gambia. Hidden under a niqab, a garment she never wore, she made her escape, confiding in no one so she could keep them safe. She fled across the river border to Senegal, where she learned that Jammeh had put in a request to authorities to return her as a "runaway teen." Despite mounting pressure from the Gambian government, two Senegalese police officers put her in contact with UNHCR and other human rights organizations and she was issued a visa for Canada. Two years later, President Jammeh was deposed. Eighteen months after that, in July 2019, Toufah Jallow became the first woman in The Gambia to make a public accusation of rape against him. Her testimony sparked marches of support and launched a social media outpouring of shared stories among West African women under #IAmToufah, setting Toufah Jallow on the path to reclaiming the future that Yahya Jammeh had tried to steal from her, a future of advocacy and leadership for survivors of sexual violence in The Gambia and beyond."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Jallow, Toufah.; MeToo movement; Rape victims; Refugees; Women; Women;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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