Book Collections: Non-fiction

"Rupi Kaur is the Writer of the Decade." -- The New Republic From rupi kaur, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of milk and honey, comes her long-awaited second collection of poetry.  A vibrant and transcendent journey about growth and healing. Ancestry and honoring one's roots. Expatriation and rising up to find a home within yourself. Divided into five chapters and illustrated by kaur, the sun and her flowers is a journey of wilting, falling, rooting, rising, and blooming. A celebration of love in all its forms.   this is the recipe of life said my mother as she held me in her arms as i wept  think of those flowers you plant in the garden each year  they will teach you that people too must wilt fall root rise in order to bloom  

George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father's -- and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In 1942, at the order of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, every person of Japanese descent on the west coast was rounded up and shipped to one of ten "relocation centers," hundreds or thousands of miles from home, where they would be held for years under armed guard. They Called Us Enemy is Takei's firsthand account of those years behind barbed wire, the joys and terrors of growing up under legalized racism, his mother's hard choices, his father's faith in democracy, and the way those experiences planted the seeds for his astonishing future. What is American? Who gets to decide? When the world is against you, what can one person do? To answer these questions, George Takei joins co-writers Justin Eisinger & Steven Scott and artist Harmony Becker for the journey of a lifetime.

The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness everywhere if you are just willing to look.

*SOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING REESE WITHERSPOON AND COLIN FIRTH * The West Memphis Three. Accused, convicted...and set free. Do you know their story? In 2011, one of the greatest miscarriages of justice in American legal history was set right when Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin, and Jessie Misskelley were released after eighteen years in prison. Award-winning journalist Mara Leveritt's The Devil's Knot remains the most comprehensive, insightful reporting ever done on the investigation, trials, and convictions of three teenage boys who became known as the West Memphis Three.  For weeks in 1993, after the murders of three eight-year-old boys, police in West Memphis, Arkansas seemed stymied. Then suddenly, detectives charged three teenagers--alleged members of a satanic cult--with the killings. Despite the witch-hunt atmosphere of the trials, and a case which included stunning investigative blunders, a confession riddled with errors, and an absence of physical evidence linking any of the accused to the crime, the teenagers were convicted. Jurors sentenced Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley to life in prison and Damien Echols, the accused ringleader, to death. The guilty verdicts were popular in their home state--even upheld on appeal--and all three remained in prison until their unprecedented release in August 2011. With close-up views of its key participants, this award-winning account unravels the many tangled knots of this endlessly shocking case, one which will shape the American legal landscape for years to come.

Daring, flashy, innovative, volatile--no matter what they call him, Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of soccer's brightest stars. A top-scoring striker and captain of the Swedish national team, he has dominated the world's most storied teams, including Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, AC Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain. But his life wasn't always so charmed.   Born to Balkan immigrants who divorced when he was a toddler, Zlatan learned self-reliance from his rough-and-tumble neighborhood. While his father, a Bosnian Muslim, drank to forget the war back home, his mother's household was engulfed in chaos. Soccer was Zlatan's release. Mixing in street moves and trick plays, Zlatan was a wild talent who rode to practice on stolen bikes and relished showing up the rich kids--opponents and teammates alike. Goal by astonishing goal, the brash young outsider grew into an unlikely prodigy and, by his early twenties, an international phenomenon.   Told as only the man himself could tell it, featuring stories of friendships and feuds with the biggest names in the sport, I Am Zlatan is a wrenching, uproarious, and ultimately redemptive tale for underdogs everywhere. Praise for I Am Zlatan "Terrific . . . Far more insightful than your typical jock memoir, Ibra's book tells his story of growing up as the son of immigrants in Sweden and pulls no punches when it comes to his opinions of some of the biggest names in the game."--Sports Illustrated "The most compelling autobiography ever to appear under a footballer's name."--The Guardian   "The story of Zlatan--from his days as an immigrant kid juggling a soccer ball so he won't get bullied to his emergence as the genius player who scored the greatest goal ever--is as compelling and fancy-footed as his game."--Aleksandar Hemon, National Book Award finalist and author of The Lazarus Project "I love this book. I love it because it's so much bigger than soccer. I Am Zlatan is a story of hope and grit and what an immigrant kid who comes from nothing can accomplish with hard work and belief in himself. It's also a beautiful window into our new, more open, more diverse world."--Marcus Samuelsson, bestselling author of Yes, Chef   "Probably the bestselling European immigrant's tale since Zadie Smith's White Teeth . . . Once you get past the obligatory snigger prompted by the phrase 'footballer's autobiography,' you can see that Zlatan's book strangely resembles an earlier immigrant's tale: Portnoy's Complaint."--Financial Times "He is skillful. He is outspoken. He is Zlatan."--The New York Times   "The best sports autobiography in years."--PolicyMic

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The compelling, inspiring, and comically sublime story of one man's coming-of-age, set during the twilight of apartheid and the tumultuous days of freedom that followed NAMED ONE OF PASTE'S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE * NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Michiko Kakutani, New York Times * USA Today * San Francisco Chronicle * NPR * Esquire * Newsday * Booklist Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Trevor was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison. Living proof of his parents' indiscretion, Trevor was kept mostly indoors for the earliest years of his life, bound by the extreme and often absurd measures his mother took to hide him from a government that could, at any moment, steal him away. Finally liberated by the end of South Africa's tyrannical white rule, Trevor and his mother set forth on a grand adventure, living openly and freely and embracing the opportunities won by a centuries-long struggle. Born a Crime is the story of a mischievous young boy who grows into a restless young man as he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. It is also the story of that young man's relationship with his fearless, rebellious, and fervently religious mother--his teammate, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence, and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life. The stories collected here are by turns hilarious, dramatic, and deeply affecting. Whether subsisting on caterpillars for dinner during hard times, being thrown from a moving car during an attempted kidnapping, or just trying to survive the life-and-death pitfalls of dating in high school, Trevor illuminates his curious world with an incisive wit and unflinching honesty. His stories weave together to form a moving and searingly funny portrait of a boy making his way through a damaged world in a dangerous time, armed only with a keen sense of humor and a mother's unconventional, unconditional love. Praise for Born a Crime "Compelling . . . By turns alarming, sad and funny, [Trevor Noah's] book provides a harrowing look, through the prism of Mr. Noah's family, at life in South Africa under apartheid. . . . Born a Crime is not just an unnerving account of growing up in South Africa under apartheid, but a love letter to the author's remarkable mother."--Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

#1 New York Times Bestseller Congressman John Lewis (GA-5) is an American icon and key figure of the civil rights movement. His commitment to justice and nonviolence has taken him from an Alabama sharecropper's farm to the halls of Congress, from a segregated schoolroom to the 1963 March on Washington, and from receiving beatings from state troopers to receiving the Medal of Freedom from the first African-American president. Now, to share his remarkable story with new generations, Lewis presents March, a graphic novel trilogy, in collaboration with co-writer Andrew Aydin and New York Times best-selling artist Nate Powell (winner of the Eisner Award and LA Times Book Prize finalist for Swallow Me Whole). March is a vivid first-hand account of John Lewis' lifelong struggle for civil and human rights, meditating in the modern age on the distance traveled since the days of Jim Crow and segregation. Rooted in Lewis' personal story, it also reflects on the highs and lows of the broader civil rights movement. Book One spans John Lewis' youth in rural Alabama, his life-changing meeting with Martin Luther King, Jr., the birth of the Nashville Student Movement, and their battle to tear down segregation through nonviolent lunch counter sit-ins, building to a stunning climax on the steps of City Hall. Many years ago, John Lewis and other student activists drew inspiration from the 1958 comic book "Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story." Now, his own comics bring those days to life for a new audience, testifying to a movement whose echoes will be heard for generations. Winner of the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award -- Special Recognition #1 Washington Post Bestseller A Coretta Scott King Honor Book An ALA Notable Book One of YALSA's Top 10 Great Graphic Novels for Teens One of YALSA's Top 10 Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults One of YALSA's Outstanding Books for the College Bound One of Reader's Digest's Graphic Novels Every Grown-Up Should Read Endorsed by NYC Public Schools' "NYC Reads 365" program Selected for first-year reading programs by Michigan State University, Marquette University, and Georgia State University Nominated for three Will Eisner Awards Nominated for the Glyph Award Named one of the best books of 2013 by USA Today, The Washington Post, Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, School Library Journal, Booklist, Kirkus Reviews, The Horn Book, Paste, Slate, ComicsAlliance, Amazon, and Apple iBooks.

A New York TimesBestseller! New York Timesbestselling crime writer John Glatt tells the true story behind the kidnappings and long-overdue rescue of three women found in a Cleveland basement. The Lost Girls tells the truly amazing story of Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight, who were kidnapped, imprisoned, and repeatedly raped and beaten in a Cleveland house for over a decade by Ariel Castro, and their amazing escape in May 2013, which made headlines all over the world. The book has an exclusive interview and photographs of Ariel Castro's secret fiancé, who spent many romantic nights in his house of horror, without realizing he had bound and chained captives just a few feet away. There are also revealing interviews with several Castro family members, musician friends and several neighbors who witnessed the dramatic rescue.

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ann Rule, "America's best true-crime writer" (Kirkus Reviews), her unforgettable classic account of the horrifying murders in the Pacific Northwest and her shock when she discovered her friend--Ted Bundy--was not only a suspect but also one of the most prolific serial killers in American history. Meeting in 1971 at a Seattle crisis clinic, Ann Rule and Ted Bundy developed a friendship and correspondence that would span the rest of his life. Rule had no idea that when they went their separate ways, their paths would cross again under shocking circumstances. The Stranger Beside Me is Rule's compelling firsthand account of not just her relationship with Bundy, but also his life--from his complicated childhood to the media circus of his trials. Astonishing in its intimacy and with Rule's clear-eyed prose, you can't help but share in her growing horror at discovering that her friend was one of the most notorious American serial killers. An unforgettable and haunting work of research, journalism, and personal memories, The Stranger Beside Me is "as dramatic and chilling as a bedroom window shattering at midnight" (The New York Times).

The award-winning celebrity chef andNew York Times best-selling author unwinds at home, sharing 150 relaxed, multicultural dishes   For two decades, Marcus Samuelsson has captivated food lovers with his brilliant culinary interpretations. Born in Ethiopia, raised in Sweden, and trained in European kitchens, he is a world citizen turned American success story. Not only was Samuelsson the youngest chef ever to receive three stars from theNew York Times,he is also a five-time James Beard Award recipient, a winner ofTop Chef Masters,and a judge onChopped. Chosen by President Obama to cook the first state dinner, he is now a charismatic TV host. In this book, the chef who former President Bill Clinton says "has reinvigorated and reimagined what it means to be American" serves up the dishes he makes at his Harlem home for his wife and friends. The recipes blend a rainbow of the flavors he experienced in his travels--Ethiopian, Swedish, Mexican, Caribbean, Italian, and Southern soul. His eclectic, casual food includes dill-spiced salmon; coconut-lime curried chicken; mac, cheese, and greens; chocolate pie spiced with Indian garam masala; and for kids, peanut noodles with slaw. This is an inside glimpse into how one of the world's top chefs cooks in his home kitchen for those nearest and dearest to him.

"Offers an extremely ambitious book that covers the artistic creativity of the peoples of Latin America from the earliest Paleo-Indians in 20,000 BCE to modern times, and from the southern tip of Argentina in the south to the Rio Grande in the north. . . . Very useful for undergraduate and graduate students of Latin American art.""--Choice "An important text for arts and humanities courses, as it relates the arts to the life and politics of each age. One of few recent books with this kind of broad coverage." --Library Journal "An ambitious treatment of Latin American art throughout time and space. . . . This kind of comprehensive treatment is sorely needed in the field of art history and cultural studies. . . . I would certainly purchase this book, both for my own personal reading and for use as a required text."--Eloise Quiñones Keber, City University of New York In this history of the art of Latin America, John F. Scott traces the development of art in the region from pre-Columbian times to the present. Illustrated with 192 color and black-and-white photographs, Latin American Art spans all geographical areas and time periods. Unique in its linking of pre-Columbian and Hispanic cultures, the book encompasses art forms ranging from sculpture, pottery, and painting to architecture, and cultures from the Ice Age to Classic civilizations, Native empires, and the colonial period of American viceroyalties, to independence and the 20th century. Relating the arts to the life and politics of each age, Scott addresses the major media, styles, and artists that defined each period, placing special emphasis on the areas that were the centers of high cultures and analyzing a few distinctive works from each, such as the Inca architecture at Cuzco and the great murals of Mexico. Written in a straightforward and accessible style, Latin American Art will be an important text in arts and humanities courses. It will also be of value to art historians and to those interested in cultural studies, ethnic studies, and Latin America in general. John F. Scott is professor of art history at the University of Florida. He has published several books on Latin American art, including Ancient Mesoamerica (UPF, 1987); Mexican, Central and South American Art; Art of the Taino of the Dominican Republic; and The Danzantes of Monte Albán, as well as numerous articles in English, Spanish, and German.

Alex Morgan first joined a soccer team when she was 14 years old, quickly impressing her peers and coaches with her skills. From there, she grew to become a world-class soccer player, reaching incredible heights including a FIFA Women's World Cup championship and an Olympic gold medal. Learn about Alex's rise in soccer in this electric biography in the Stars of Sports series.