Summer Library Newsletter

The #1 New York Times bestseller and National Book Award Finalist from the bestselling author of Everything, Everything will have you falling in love with Natasha and Daniel as they fall in love with each other! Natasha: I'm a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I'm definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won't be my story. Daniel: I've always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents' high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store-for both of us. The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

Ben Barres was known for his groundbreaking scientific work and for his groundbreaking advocacy for gender equality in science. In this audiobook, completed shortly before his death from pancreatic cancer in December 2017, Barres (born Barbara Barres in 1954) describes a life full of remarkable accomplishments—from his childhood as a precocious math and science whiz to his experiences as a female student at MIT in the 1970s to his female-to-male transition in his forties, to his scientific work and role as teacher and mentor at Stanford.Barres recounts his early life—his interest in science, first manifested as a fascination with the mad scientist in Superman; his academic successes; and his gender confusion. Barres felt even as a very young child that he was assigned the wrong gender. After years of being acutely uncomfortable in his own skin, Barres transitioned from female to male.As an undergraduate at MIT, Barres experienced discrimination, but it was after transitioning that he realized how differently male and female scientists are treated. This led him to become an advocate for gender equality in science.Foreword by Nancy Hopkins.

Baseball, first dubbed the “national pastime” in print in 1856, is the country's most tradition-bound sport. Despite remaining popular and profitable into the 21st century, the game is losing young fans. Furthermore, baseball's greatest charm — a clockless suspension of time — is also its greatest liability in a culture of digital distraction. These paradoxes are explored by the historian and passionate baseball fan Susan Jacoby in a book that is both a love letter to the game and a tough-minded analysis of the current challenges to its special position — in reality and myth — in American culture. The concise but wide-ranging analysis moves from the Civil War — when many soldiers played ball in northern and southern prisoner-of-war camps — to interviews with top baseball officials and young men who prefer playing online “fantasy baseball” to attending real games. Jacoby argues forcefully that the major challenge to baseball today is a shortened attention span at odds with a long game in which great hitters fail two out of three times. Without sanitizing this basic problem, Why Baseball Matters reminds us that the game has retained its grip on our hearts precisely because it has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to reinvent itself in times of immense social change.

America's leading nutritionist exposes how the food industry corrupts scientific research for profit. Is chocolate heart-healthy? Does yogurt prevent type 2 diabetes? Do pomegranates help cheat death? News accounts bombard us with such amazing claims, report them as science, and influence what we eat. Yet, as Marion Nestle explains, these studies are more about marketing than science; they are often paid for by companies that sell those foods. Whether it's a Coca-Cola-backed study hailing light exercise as a calorie neutralizer, or blueberry-sponsored investigators proclaiming that this fruit prevents erectile dysfunction, every corner of the food industry knows how to turn conflicted research into big profit. As Nestle argues, it's time to put public health first. Written with unmatched rigor and insight, Unsavory Truth reveals how the food industry manipulates nutrition science—and suggests what we can do about it.

Emma O'Donovan is eighteen, beautiful, and fearless. It's the beginning of summer in a quiet Irish town and tonight she and her friends have dressed to impress. Everyone is at the party, and all eyes are on Emma. The next morning Emma's parents discover her collapsed on the doorstop of their home, unconscious. She is disheveled, bleeding, and disoriented, looking as if she had been dumped there. To her distress, Emma can't remember what happened the night before. All she knows is that none of her friends will respond to her texts. At school, people turn away from her and whisper under their breath. Her mind may be a blank as far as the events of the previous evening, but someone has posted photos of it on Facebook under a fake account, 'Easy Emma'--photos she will never be able to forget. As the photos go viral and a criminal investigation is launched, the community is thrown into tumult. The media descends, neighbors chose sides, and people from all over the world want to talk about her story. Everyone has something to say about Emma. Asking For It is a powerful story about the devastating effects of rape and public shaming, told through the awful experience of a young woman whose life is changed forever by an act of violence.

Today, it is nearly impossible to talk about the best basketball players in America without acknowledging the accomplishments of incredibly talented black athletes like Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, and Kobe Bryant. A little more than a century ago, however, the game was completely dominated by white players playing on segregated courts and teams. In Breaking Barriers: A History of Integration in Professional Basketball, Douglas Stark details the major moments that led to the sport opening its doors to black players. He charts the progress of integration from Bucky Lew—the first black professional basketball player in 1902—to the modern game played by athletes like Stephen Curry and LeBron James. Although Stark focuses on the official integration of basketball in the late 1940s, the story does not end there. Over the past 60-plus years, black athletes have continued to change the game of basketball in terms of style, social progress, and marketability. Spanning the early 1900s to the present day, no other book features such a comprehensive examination of the key events and figures that led to the integration of professional basketball. In Breaking Barriers, these crucial steps in the history of the sport are placed within the larger context of American history, making this book an essential addition to the literature on sports and race in America.

Age is an important number, but it can also be deceiving. After 40, most people say they feel younger than their years, some lie about their age, and many attempt to hide the signs of growing old. Better with Age addresses the many myths and paradoxes about the aging process. Although most people think of their later years in terms of decline, they can be one of the best times in life. This book presents the latest scientific research about the psychology of aging, coupled with insights from those who have succeeded in doing it well, such as Maya Angelou, Bob Newhart, Jared Diamond, John Glenn, and John Wooden. We are all aging, and many people are concerned about what to expect with advancing years. Retirement, happiness, and brain health are some of the many topics covered in this book. Better with Age shows what we can do now, at any stage in life, to make sure we enjoy old age.

A unique mash-up of medical education and comic book-style illustration, Graphic Guide to Infectious Diseases uses memorable art and humorous text to provide a seriously effective way to enhance your knowledge of complex medical conditions and diseases. Emergency medicine physician Dr. Brian Kloss and illustrator Travis Bruce use pop culture references, nostalgia, and unconventional humor to bridge the gap between challenging microbiology content and clinical knowledge of infectious diseases. Offers an innovative, concise, and fun way to learn about diseases, their signs and symptoms, and how to treat them – perfect for the busy medical student. Improves understanding and retention of complex information by using high-quality graphic illustrations mixed with solid educational content – ensuring a high-interest, high-yield resource with a large dose of humor and an innovative writing style. Uses visual learning to boost memorization, long-term retention, and exam performance.

Feeling bullied is a common concern among young people. Readers will discover constructive ways to deal with feeling left out and bullied as they explore what happens when both Giraffe and Leopard exclude each other. This relatable fictional story told through entertaining animal characters is meant to help readers discover healthy ways to handle their feelings. Bright illustrations provide a fun twist on a common character-building narrative. Questions for further discussion allow readers to process what they've learned and how it relates to their own lives.