18 OCT 2021 · Witnesses to the brutal murder of their families and neighbors and the violent destruction of their communities, a cadre of Jewish women in Poland—some still in their teens—helped transform the Jewish youth groups into resistance cells to fight the Nazis. With courage, guile, and nerves of steel, these “ghetto girls” paid off Gestapo guards, hid revolvers in loaves of bread and jars of marmalade, and helped build systems of underground bunkers. They flirted with German soldiers, bribed them with wine, whiskey, and home cooking, used their Aryan looks to seduce them, and shot and killed them. They bombed German train lines and blew up a town’s water supply. They also nursed the sick, taught children, and hid families. Yet the exploits of these courageous resistance fighters have remained virtually unknown. As propulsive and thrilling as Hidden Figures, In the Garden of Beasts, and Band of Brothers, The Light of Days at last tells the true story of these incredible women whose courageous yet little-known feats have been eclipsed by time. Judy Batalion—the granddaughter of Polish Holocaust survivors—takes us back to 1939 and introduces us to Renia Kukielka, a weapons smuggler and messenger who risked death traveling across occupied Poland on foot and by train. Joining Renia are other women who served as couriers, armed fighters, intelligence agents, and saboteurs, all who put their lives in mortal danger to carry out their missions. Batalion follows these women through the savage destruction of the ghettos, arrest and internment in Gestapo prisons and concentration camps, and for a lucky few—like Renia, who orchestrated her own audacious escape from a brutal Nazi jail—into the late 20th century and beyond. Powerful and inspiring, featuring twenty black-and-white photographs, The Light of Days is an unforgettable true tale of war, the fight for freedom, exceptional bravery, female friendship, and survival in the face of staggering odds.

18 OCT 2021 · As a father of three, married to a wonderful woman and holding several prominent jobs within the Christian community, Dr. Paula Stone Williams made the life-changing decision to physically transition from male to female at the age of sixty. Almost instantly, her power and influence in the evangelical world disappeared and her family had to grapple with intense feelings of loss and confusion. Feeling utterly alone after being expelled from the evangelical churches she had once spearheaded, Paula struggled to create a new safe space for herself where she could reconcile her faith, her identity, and her desire to be a leader. Much to her surprise, the key to her new career as a woman came with a deeper awareness of the inequities she had overlooked before her transition. Where her opinions were once celebrated and amplified, now she found herself sidelined and ignored. New questions emerged. Why are women’s opinions devalued in favor of men’s? Why do love and intimacy feel so different? And, was it possible to find a new spirituality in her own image? In As a Woman, Paula’s “critical questions about gender, personhood, and place are relevant to anyone. Her writing insightfully reveals aspects of our gender socialization and culture that often go unexamined, but that need to be talked about, challenged and changed” (Soraya Chemaly, author of Rage Becomes Her) in order to fully understand what it means to be male, female, and simply, human.

3 NOV 2020 · Sandy Rosenthal is an American civic activist and founder of Levees.Org, an organization created in October 2005 to educate the American public about the cause of the levee failures and catastrophic flooding in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.  In the aftermath of one of the worst disasters in U.S. history, Words Whispered in Water tells the story of one woman’s fight―against all odds―to expose a mammoth federal agency―and win. It’s a horror story, a mystery, and David and Goliath story all in one. In 2005, the entire world watched as a major U.S. city was nearly wiped off the map. The levees ruptured and New Orleans drowned. But while newscasters attributed the New Orleans flood to “natural catastrophes” and other types of disasters, citizen investigator Sandy Rosenthal set out to expose the true culprit and compel the media and government to tell the truth. This is her story. When the protective steel flood-walls broke, the Army Corps of Engineers―with cooperation from big media―turned the blame on natural types of disasters. In the chaotic aftermath, Rosenthal uncovers the U.S. corruption, and big media at the root. Follow this New Orleans hero as she exposes the federal agency’s egregious design errors and eventually changes the narrative surrounding the New Orleans flood. In this engaging and revealing tale of man versus nature and man versus man, Words Whispered in Water proves that the power of a single individual is alive and well.

3 NOV 2020 · A gender-inclusive anthology of poetry and prose that addresses the physical and psychological act of being “grabbed,” or in any way assaulted. The #MeToo movement, the infamous Access Hollywood tape, and the depraved and hypocritical actions of celebrities, politicians, CEOs, and other powerful people have caused people all over the nation to speak out in outrage, to express allegiance for the victims of these assaults, and to raise their voices against a culture that has allowed this behavior to continue for too long. The editors asked writers and poets to add to the conversation about what being “grabbed” means to them in their own experience or in whatever way the word “grabbed” inspired them. What they received are often searing, heart-rending works, ranging in topic from sexual misconduct to racial injustice, from an unwanted caress to rape, expressed in powerful, beautifully crafted prose and poetry. The writers represented here, some very well known, such as Rita Dove, Jericho Brown, Eileen Miles, Ana Menendez, and Sapphire, as well as some newer voices not yet fully discovered, have mined their collective experiences to reveal their most vulnerable moments, and in some cases, to narrate moments that they have had previously been unwilling or unable to speak of. What results is a collection of emotional, hard-hitting pieces that speak to the aftermath of violation—whether mental, emotional, or physical.

3 NOV 2020 · An intriguing and accessible nonfiction graphic novel about the role that wealth and influence play in American democracy. Despite our immense political divisions, Americans are nearly united in our belief that something is wrong with our government: It works for the wealthy and powerful, but not for anyone else. Unrig exposes the twisted roots of our broken democracy and highlights the heroic efforts of those "Unrigging" the system to return power to We the People. This stirring nonfiction graphic novel by democracy reform leader Daniel G. Newman and artist George O’Connor takes readers behind the scenes—from the sweaty cubicles where senators dial corporate CEOs for dollars, to lavish retreats where billionaires boost their favored candidates, to the map rooms where lawmakers scheme to handpick their voters. Unrig also highlights surprising solutions that limit the influence of big money and redraw the lines of political power. If you're overwhelmed by negative news and despairing about the direction of our country, Unrig is a tonic that will restore your faith and reveal the path forward to fix our broken democracy. Daniel G. Newman is a national expert on government accountability and money in politics. He is president and co-founder of MapLight, a nonpartisan nonprofit that promotes transparency and political reform. Newman has appeared in hundreds of media outlets, including CNN, CBS, MSNBC, FOX Business News, and NPR. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

22 OCT 2020 · Grace Elizabeth Hale is a Professor for History and American Studies at the University of Virginia and the author of Making Whiteness: The Culture of Segregation in the South, 1890-1940, and A Nation of Outsiders. She has also contributed articles and essays to publications, including Southern Exposure, Southern Cultures, Labor History, Georgia Historical Quarterly, and Atlanta History. The conquest of the New York underground by the B-52’s in the summer of 1978 and the band’s later success in the music sales charts called attention to the southern college town of Athens, Georgia. Soon, more Athens bands followed, leading what came to be known as alternative, including R.E.M. In Cool Town: How Athens, Georgia, Launched Alternative Music and Changed American Culture (University of North Carolina Press) history professor Grace Elizabeth Hale, who experienced the Athens scene in the 80s as a student, small-business owner, and band member, offers the inside story of an unexpected mecca of music, experimental art, DIY spirit, and progressive politics. The New York Times Book Review noted that “…with this meticulously reported microhistory, Hale, who once played in a band and ran an underground club in Athens, delivers more than a love song to the music. Cool Town also serves up a textured portrait of a generation caught between baby and tech booms, wriggling under the thumb of the mainstream.”

30 OCT 2019 · Philip Mudd, the author of Takedown, a detailed account of intelligence gathering in the hunt for al-Qa’ida, is the ex–deputy director of the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center and the FBI’s National Security Branch. His writing has appeared in Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, Foreign Policy, and the Washington Post. Mudd’s Black Site (Liveright) is an account of one of the most controversial initiatives in American history. After September 11, 2001, almost overnight, the CIA evolved into a warfighting intelligence service. In Black Site Mudd addresses how far America actually went to pursue al-Qa’ida and prevent another catastrophe. One tool was an interrogation program of suspected al-Qaida members and other terrorists, known internally as “The Program.” Because the methods might have been questionable by American legal, ethical and moral standards, the work was often done in a web of top-secret “black sites” in other countries outsourced to intelligence agents of other governments. Debates about torture ignited in 2014 after the US Senate published a report of the Program. But the report, Mudd argues, did not fully address questions such as: How did the officials actually come to their decisions? What happened at the detention facilities on a day-to-day basis? And how did the officers feel about what they were doing? Based on interviews from dozens of officials―many of whom have never spoken out before― Black Site seeks answers to these questions and more. It shows the tragedy and triumph of the CIA during its most difficult days. Kirkus Review called Black Site “a revealing and engaging account of life in the shadows.”

30 OCT 2019 · Susannah Charleson is the New York Times bestselling author of Scent of the Missing and The Possibility Dogs. She trains search and detection K9s, service dogs for the disabled, and comfort dogs that serve the community. She shares her home with a fur and feather menagerie, including a paralyzed pup on wheels named Ruff Draft. She is the author of Where the Lost Dogs Go: A Story of Love, Search, and the Power of Reunion (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). In Where the Lost Dogs Go, Susannah Charleson, author of Scent of the Missing and a trusted chronicler of the human/animal bond, dives headlong into the world of missing dogs. The mission to reunite lost pets with their families starts with Susannah’s own shelter rescue, Ace, a plucky Maltese mix with a mysterious past who narrowly survived months wandering lost. Along the way, Susannah finds a part of herself also lost. And when unexpected heartbreak shatters her own sense of direction, it is Ace—the shelter dog that started it all—who leads Susannah home. Inquisitive, instructive, heartrending, and hopeful, Where the Lost Dogs Go pays tribute to the missing dogs—and to the found—and to the restless space in between.

30 OCT 2019 · A deeply textured and compelling biography of comedy giant Mel Brooks, covering his rags-to-riches life and triumphant career in television, films, and theater, from Patrick McGilligan, the acclaimed author of Young Orson: The Years of Luck and Genius on the Path to Citizen Kane and Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light. Patrick McGilligan is the author of Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light; Fritz Lang: The Nature of the Beast; and George Cukor: A Double Life; and books on the lives of directors Nicholas Ray, Robert Altman, and Oscar Micheaux, and actors James Cagney, Jack Nicholson, and Clint Eastwood. He also edited the acclaimed five-volume Backstory series of interviews with Hollywood screenwriters and (with Paul Buhle), the definitive Tender Comrades: A Backstory of the Hollywood Blacklist. He lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, not far from Kenosha, where Orson Welles was born.

30 OCT 2019 · Jennine Capo Crucet, author of several books, including My Time Among the Whites, which is featured at the Miami Book Fair coming up November 17-24. Jennine is a contributing opinion writer for the NY Times. Her novel, Make Your Home Among Strangers, was an NYT Editors Choice book, the winner of the 2015 International Latino Book Award and was cited as the best book of the year by numerous media outlets. It’s also been adopted as an all-campus read at over 25 American universities. Jennine is the author of award-winning short stories as well. She is an associate professor in the Dept of English and Institute for Ethnic Studies at the Univ of Nebraska.