Washoe County Library System

"'How the Word is Passed' is Clint Smith's revealing, contemporary portrait of America as a slave owning nation. Beginning in his own hometown of New Orleans, Smith leads the reader through an unforgettable tour of monuments and landmarks— those that are honest about the past and those that are not— that offer an intergenerational story of how slavery has been central in shaping our nations collective history, and ourselves." --

New preface for 2018 edition : For this new edition, Loewen has added a new preface that shows how inadequate history courses in high school help produce adult Americans who think Donald Trump can solve their problems, and calls out academic historians for abandoning the concept of truth in a misguided effort to be “objective. Criticizes the way history is presented in current textbooks, and suggests a fresh and more accurate approach to teaching...

In The War on the West, Douglas Murray shows how many well-meaning people have been fooled by hypocritical and inconsistent anti-West rhetoric. After all, if we must discard the ideas of Kant, Hume, and Mill for their opinions on race, shouldn’t we discard Marx, whose work is peppered with racial slurs and anti-Semitism? Embers of racism remain to be stamped out in America, but what about the raging racist inferno in the Middle East and Asia? It’s...

"In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, George Saunders guides the reader through seven classic Russian short stories he's been teaching for twenty years as a professor in the prestigious Syracuse University graduate MFA creative writing program. Paired with stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, these essays are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it's more relevant than ever in these turbulent times. Saunders approaches...

Born the child of a poor farmer in Missouri, William Stoner is urged by his parents to study new agriculture techniques at the state university. Digging instead into the texts of Milton and Shakespeare, Stoner falls under the spell of the unexpected pleasures of English literature, and decides to make it his life. Stoner is the story of that life. The sorrows of William Stoner are tempered, somehow, by the demands of the daily routine. His own ordinary...

Examines and debunks what the Pulitzer Prize-winning author refers to as "pseudo-science," which includes such popular topics as channeling past lives, alien abduction, and communal hallucinations, suggesting that these trends are dangerous for society.

"Grey's Anatomy meets One L in this psychiatrist's funny and moving memoir about his residency at Harvard Medical School. In his memoir, Stern pulls back the curtain on the intense and emotionally challenging lessons he and his fellow doctors learned while studying the human condition, and ultimately, the value of connection. The narrative focuses on these residents, their growth as doctors, and the life choices they make as they try to survive their...

In the great green lab There was a laser And a lab notebook And a picture of Einstein with a stern look It's been a long day at the lab for this scientist. Now it's time to say good night!Goodnight laser Goodnight notebook Goodnight picture of Einstein with a stern look. While poking fun at the clutter and chaos of lab life, scientists of all ages will appreciate ending their day with this sweet parody. They'll be rested and ready to return to the...

A practical guide for teachers, students, and writers reveals how popular writing workshops need to adapt to better include marginalized writers, in a reference that explains the role of cultural expectations in informing storytelling.

Rafe heads back to the place his misadventures began: the dreaded Hills Village Middle School, where he's now being forced to take "special" classes. He also finds himself joining the school's football team--alongside his main tormentor, Miller the Killer! But Rafe has grand plans for a better year: First, he decides to start a super-secret art project that's sure to rock the school. Then, if Rafe manages to make a play to save his team, he might...