Author: Laurino, Maria, author. Published: 2024 2023 Call Number: 362.734 Format: Books Summary: The Price of Children is the never-told story of how the Vatican and the American Catholic Church sent nearly 4000 children of unwed Italian mothers to the United States for adoption between 1950 to 1970, falsely labeling them "war orphans" then later "orphans." With the religious stigma of unwed motherhood turning families against daughters, and a Church and State wanting "illegitimate" children sent abroad, mothers were lied to, given forms to sign that they didn't understand, or even told their baby had died, all to further supply this international adoption pipeline. Maria Laurino's investigation began from a family discovery: a chance phone call from her cousin revealed that he had been one of these children, leading her to uncover an adoption scheme overseen by the highest levels of the Vatican."
Author: Almodóvar, Pedro, author. Wynne, Frank, translator. Published: 2024 Call Number: F ALMODOVA Format: Books Summary: "Making his English language debut, the iconoclastic, Academy award-winning writer and director reveals his singular mind as never before in this collection of twelve remarkable stories spanning memoir, comedy, autofiction, parody, pastiche, and gothic fiction. With this debut collection, Almodovar delivers a tantalizing glimpse into his world, formed by twelve stories carefully selected from his personal writings dating from the late '60s to the present. Almodovar writes: "I've been asked to write my autobiography more than once, and I've always refused.... I've never kept a diary, and whenever I've tried, I've never made it to page two; in a sense, then, this book represents something of a paradox. It might be best described as a fragmentary autobiography, incomplete and a little enigmatic." Each entry reflects Almodovar's most intimate obsessions, as well as his evolution as an artist. In the title story, "The Last Dream," Almodovar reflects on the death of his mother. Other entries in the collection include a love story between Jesus and Barabbas, a story of retribution that formed the basis for the film Bad Education, a manic adventure about a film director searching for painkillers on a bank holiday weekend, and a gothic tale centered around a repentant vampire. Translated from the Spanish by Frank Wynne."--Adapted from dust jacket.
Author: Sy, Cherry Lou, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: F SY Format: Books Summary: "A beautiful, tender yet searing debut novel about intergenerational fractures and coming of age, following a young woman who immigrates to the United States from the Philippines and finds herself adrift between familial expectations and her own burning desires. Love Can't Feed You is a stunning, heartbreaking, and compressed look at coming of age, shifting notions of home, and the disintegration of the American dream. It asks us: What does it mean to be of multiple cultures without a road map for how to belong? After a harrowing flight, Queenie, her younger brother, and their elderly Chinese father arrive in the United States from the Philippines. They're here to finally reunite with Queenie's Filipina mother, who has been working as a nurse in Brooklyn for the past few years--building a life that everyone hopes will set them up for better prospects. But her mother is not the same woman she was in the Philippines: Something in her face is different, almost hardened, and she seems so American already. Queenie, on the cusp of adulthood, has big dreams of attending college, of spending her days immersed in the pages of books. But there is not enough money for her and her brother to both be in school, so first she must work. Queenie rotates through jobs and settles, tentatively, into her new life, but her brother begins to withdraw and act out, and her father's anger swells. As the pressures of assimilation compound, and the fissures within her family deepen into fractures, Queenie is left suspended between two countries, two identities, and two parents"--
Author: Rose, Jeneva, author. Published: 2023 Call Number: F ROSE Format: Books Summary: "Peyton Sanders hopes it's not too late to say it back. Done with dead-end relationships and swiping right, she knows who her heart belongs to. But as she races to tell him how she feels, she's hit by a car and wakes up with amnesia. It gets worse. Peyton has no clue who the three men who show up at her hospital bed are except they each claim to be her boyfriend. They're certainly worth remembering. A rustic-looking contractor--heaven in flannel. A tailored consultant with a smile to die for. And a tattooed chef with a box of homemade chocolates, both delicious. Peyton's friends Maya and Robbie have an idea: date each man again. Recognizing her soulmate should be as easy as one, two, three. On a wildly romantic and dizzyingly funny journey, Peyton runs once again toward love. This time, hopefully, her heart can guide her where her mind cannot"--
Author: Wang, M. L. (Maya Lin), author. Published: 2023 Call Number: F WANG Format: Books Summary: "The first woman ever admitted to a prestigious order of mages unravels a secret conspiracy that could change the practice of magic forever, in this standalone dark fantasy from the author of The Sword of Kaigen"--
Author: Eason, Cassandra, author. Published: 2023 Call Number: 154.63 Format: Books Summary: "Dreams are a window into the subconscious, and for those who understand their meanings, they are also a crucial step in self-understanding. In this comprehensive volume, author Cassandra Eason shares her decades of study on the subject. From visions of angels to trips to the zoo, from buying a dream home to escaping from demons, Eason catalogs 1,001 scenarios, exploring different types of dreams, practical symbolic meanings, dreams' psychological underpinnings and spiritual significance, and all the ways in which dreams can be interpreted as warnings or indicators of events to come. Along with a fascinating introduction to dreams and the history of dreaming, this is an essential reference"--
Author: Eason, Cassandra, author. Casey, Carolyn M., illustrator. Published: 2023 Call Number: 133.2548 Format: Books Summary: You may be familiar with rose quartz, amethyst, tourmaline, or selenite--but what about agrellite, Blade of Light, star garnet, or king cobra jasper? A wealth of knowledge and amazing healing powers can be gained by studying the wide world of crystals, from the most popular varieties to the lesser known. Cassandra Eason, practicing witch and author of more than 130 books on every aspect of the magical and mystical, supplies this compendium of wisdom full of never-before-seen research, tips and tricks, and easy practices anyone can incorporate into their daily routine to increase good fortune, ward off the evil eye, heal the body and the spirit, and more.
Author: Souljah, Sister. Published: 2009 2008 Call Number: F SOULJAH Format: Books Summary: Sent to America with his mother when his father's powerful empire is attacked, underworld lieutenant Midnight draws on his African intelligence and Muslim mindset to protect those he loves and reclaim his wealth and way of life.
Author: Baumgartner, Brian, author. Silverman, Benjamin, 1970- author. Adaptation of (expression): Moore, Clement Clarke, 1779-1863. Night before Christmas. Published: 2024 Call Number: 811.6 Format: Books Summary: It's Christmas Eve at Dunder Mifflin and Michael Scott is missing, leaving the office to be surprised by a Santa and his beet-loving elf who sneak in with absurd gifts, tacky decorations, and a holiday spirit that promises an unforgettable holiday. "It's Christmas Eve at Scranton's finest paper company, and Michael Scott is nowhere to be found. As the office dozes off after their raucous holiday party, two mysterious visitors sneak in: a Santa peddling holiday cheer and that's what she said jokes, and his beet-loving, dutiful, right-hand elf. Armed with absurd gifts for the staff, tacky decorations for the office, and absolutely nothing good for Toby, the two prepare to give Dunder Mifflin a holiday they'll never forget. A hilarious twist on a Christmas classic, The Night Before Christmas at Dunder Mifflin is a rollicking, festive, and heartwarming jaunt through everyone's favorite office, the perfect holiday treat for any fan of the show." --Amazon.com
Author: Johansen, Iris, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: F JOHANSEN Format: Books Summary: "Kira Drake has come to Paris with her highly trained golden retriever Mack to investigate the horrific bombing of a museum in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower. What she doesn't know is that one powerful man has a special reason to find the person responsible. Jack Harlan has all the money in the world, but it can't bring his brother back. His sibling was murdered during the theft of a scientific discovery that could have made the world a better place. Now, after a four-year search, Harlan learns that this bombing was the work of the same twisted man"--
Author: Gladwell, Malcolm, 1963- author. Published: 2024 Call Number: 302.13 Format: Books Summary: Revisits the world of social epidemics first explored in Gladwell's 2000 book "The tipping point," this time taking a closer look at the dark side of social engineering. Twenty-five years after the publication of his groundbreaking first book, Malcolm Gladwell returns with a brand-new volume that reframes the lessons of The Tipping Point in a startling and revealing light. Why is Miami...Miami? What does the heartbreaking fate of the cheetah tell us about the way we raise our children? Why do Ivy League schools care so much about sports? What is the Magic Third, and what does it mean for racial harmony? In this provocative new work, Malcolm Gladwell returns for the first time in twenty-five years to the subject of social epidemics and tipping points, this time with the aim of explaining the dark side of contagious phenomena. Through a series of riveting stories, Gladwell traces the rise of a new and troubling form of social engineering. He takes us to the streets of Los Angeles to meet the world's most successful bank robbers, rediscovers a forgotten television show from the 1970s that changed the world, visits the site of a historic experiment on a tiny cul-de-sac in northern California, and offers an alternate history of two of the biggest epidemics of our day: COVID and the opioid crisis. Revenge of the Tipping Point is Gladwell's most personal book yet. With his characteristic mix of storytelling and social science, he offers a guide to making sense of the contagions of modern world. It's time we took tipping points seriously.--
Author: Williams, Beatriz, author. Willig, Lauren, author. White, Karen (Karen S.), author. Published: 2024 Call Number: F WILLIAMS Format: Books Summary: At Castle Kinloch in the Scottish Highlands, literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley is found dead under strange circumstances, leading Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh to investigate three American novelists-each with their own motives and secrets-as he uncovers connections between Presley's murder and the castle's dark history. "There's been a sensational murder at historic Castle Kinloch, a gothic fantasy of grey granite on a remote island in the highlands of Scotland. Literary superstar Brett Saffron Presley had been found dead--under bizarre circumstances-- in the castle tower's book-lined study. Years ago, Presley purchased the castle as a showpiece for his brand and to lure paying guests with a taste for writerly glamour. Now it seems, the castle has done him in...or, possibly, one of the castle's guests has. Detective Chief Inspector Euan McIntosh, a local with no love for literary Americans, finds himself with the unenviable task of extracting statements from three American novelists..."--
Author: Mellors, Coco, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: F MELLORS Format: Books Summary: "Three estranged siblings return to their family home in New York after their beloved sister's death in this unforgettable story of grief, identity, and the complexities of family, from the acclaimed author of Cleopatra and Frankenstein. The three Blue sisters are exceptional - and exceptionally different. Avery, the eldest and a recovering heroin addict turned strait-laced lawyer, lives with her wife in London; Bonnie, a former boxer, works as a bouncer in Los Angeles following a devastating defeat; and Lucky, the youngest, models in Paris while trying to outrun her hard-partying ways. They also had a fourth sister, Nicky, whose unexpected death left Avery, Bonnie, and Lucky reeling. A year later, as they each navigate grief, addiction, and ambition, they find they must return to New York to stop the sale of the apartment they were raised in. But coming home is never as easy as it seems. As the sisters reckon with the disappointments of their childhood and the loss of the only person who held them together, they realize that the greatest secrets they've been keeping might not have been from each other, but from themselves. Imbued with Coco Mellors's signature combination of humor and heart, Blue Sisters is a story of what it takes to keep living after loss - and, ultimately, to fall in love with life again"--
Author: Brown, Graham, 1969- author. Published: 2024 Call Number: F BROWN Format: Books Summary: "When Kurt Austin and Joe Zavala investigate a mass stranding of aquatic life in the Indian Ocean, they accidentally uncover a much deeper mystery. A strange figure soon steals NUMA's findings, forcing a high-speed chase--someone really didn't want them examining those dead whales. But who, and why? A cryptic text through the NUMA satellite network makes things still stranger: these odd phrases and numbers look like NUMA codes. But who could be tantalizing the crew with such specific knowledge of their tech? Are they being helped by an old friend, or lured into a trap by a traitor who knows a little too much about NUMA's inner workings? Kurt, Joe, and even Max, the agency's supercomputer, will have to investigate like never before as they decrypt data, infiltrate a cult of cloned men, and prepare for a battle on two very different planes: one physical; one digital. The aquatic stranding was just the beginning of a sinister plan concocted by a mind more brilliant than any they've ever faced--the mind of a machine. A new, terrifying world order is being plotted. First marine ecosystems will be devastated, then the entire globe's...Unless the NUMA crew can stop this code of desolation"--
Author: Robertson, Aaron, 1994- author. Published: 2024 Call Number: 305.896 Format: Books Summary: "A memoiristic history of Black utopian movements in the United States"-- "These questions animate Aaron Robertson?s exploration of Black Americans' efforts to remake the conditions of their lives. Writing in the tradition of Saidiya Hartman and Ta-Nehisi Coates, Robertson makes his way from his ancestral hometown of Promise Land, Tennessee, to Detroit--the city where he was born, and where one of the country's most remarkable Black utopian experiments got its start. Founded by the brilliant preacher Albert Cleage Jr., the Shrine of the Black Madonna combined Afrocentric Christian practice with radical social projects to transform the self-conception of its members. Central to this endeavor was the Shrine's chancel mural of a Black Virgin and child, the icon of a nationwide liberation movement that would come to be known as Black Christian Nationalism. The Shrine's members opened bookstores and co-ops, created a self-defense force, and raised their children communally, eventually working to establish the country's largest Black-owned farm, where attempts to create an earthly paradise for Black people continues today." --Amazon.com
Author: Brock, David, 1962- author. Published: 2024 Call Number: 347.73 Format: Books Summary: "A blistering expose of Clarence Thomas and the conservative regime of corruption that has usurped the Supreme Court -- by a Democratic activist and former Republican political operative. Public confidence in the Supreme Court has plummeted to new lows in the last few years -- and for good reason. In the past three decades, six conservative justices have gained a supermajority through questionable means: a dubious intervention in a presidential election, perjury during Senate testimony, and a GOP Senate Leader's unethical blockade of a Supreme Court nomination. Behind this strategic dismantling of our Supreme Court is a vast, well-funded political machine--backed by the extreme right-wing Federalist Society, the notoriously secretive Catholic organization Opus Dei, and GOP megadonors operating from behind closed doors. Armed with an insider's perspective from his time within the conservative movement, David Brock reveals how the efforts to stack the court in service of extreme right-wing interests stem from a decades-long strategy to weaponize our judicial system into an extension of the Republican party itself. Stench investigates the ethics scandals that surround Clarence Thomas and his wife, the rightwing activist Ginni Thomas, culling new material from Thomas' accusers, along with original reporting and Brock's first-hand knowledge of the inner workings of the GOP. Stench is a staggering expose, one that only Brock could write--exhaustive in its research and revelatory in its access to the world of what has effectively become the Thomas Court"--
Author: Rasmussen, Sune Engel, 1984- author. Published: 2024 Call Number: 958.1047 Format: Books Summary: "A group portrait of young Afghans who came of age during the two decades following 9/11"-- "No country was more deeply affected by 9/11 than Afghanistan: an entire generation grew up amid the upheaval that began that day. Young Afghans knew the promise of freedom, democracy, and safety, fought with each other over its meaning--and then witnessed its collapse. In Twenty Years, the Wall Street Journal correspondent Sune Engel Rasmussen draws on more than a decade of reporting from the country to tell Afghanistan?s story from a new angle. Through the eyes of newly empowered women, skilled entrepreneurs, driven insurgents, and abandoned Western allies, we see the United States and its partners bring new freedoms and wealth, only to preside over the corruption, war-lordism, and social division that led to the Taliban's return to power." --Amazon.com
Author: Smythe, Rachel (Comics artist), author, artist. Vazquez, Edwin, artist. Published: 2024 Call Number: Y GN SMYTHE Format: Books Summary: The rifts between realms grow ever wider as the temporary shelter Persephone had found in the Underworld is destroyed. Apollo has captured Demeter, turning the fugitive goddess over to Zeus in an attempt to win the king's favor. Persephone and her mother must now stand trial for concealing Persephone's unsanctioned act of wrath--though the goddess of spring feels secure with Hades on her side. But safety is not guaranteed in the world of the gods.
Author: Sands, Lynsay, author. Published: 2024 Call Number: PB SANDS Format: Books Summary: Graeme Gunn is a warrior through and through. A second son, he left home years ago to battle his way through Scotland as a mercenary. But with his brother William's death, Graeme is forced to return to his clan--which now includes William's grieving widow, Annella Mackay. And Graeme is stunned to find that the beautiful, determined woman at the keep is nothing like the meek lass he remembers from William's wedding years ago... Annella Mackay once had hopes for a loving marriage, a dream that shattered when her husband abandoned her. Hiding her pain, she embraced the roles of both laird and lady of the Gunn clan with spirit. But with William's death, she finally has a chance at a new dream, and she won't let anything deter her plans. Not even Graeme, no matter how strong her attraction to the strong-willed warrior, or how much she enjoys his kisses... It's an explosion of passion and clash of wills from the start, especially when Graeme decides to stay and claim his title. And when the threat of a hidden enemy rears its head, Graeme and Annella realize that in fighting for their home they might also be fighting for their love.
