Bookshelf

(Atlanta: Peachtree Publishing, 2021)
In this middle-grade novel, orphans Mari, 15, and her stepbrother Conor, 9, set out on a cross-country journey to find their grandmother, hoping she will take them in. Along the way, they encounter many strangers, some helpful, some predatory and threatening. As one reviewer notes, “But more important than the engaging physical journey is Mari’s deeper journey of ingenuity and courage and empathy. An adopted child with a history of abusive foster homes, suddenly orphaned, she discovers her own strength and strategic power. Expertly accommodating her brother's beautifully portrayed character — his intellectual brilliance, his inflexible obsessions — she works through her own frustration and anger and grief to discover the complex power of love.”

Harley is a two-time Grammy award-winning artist. Recipient of the lifetime achievement award from RI Council for the Humanities “for building community; promoting our common humanity; and encouraging lifelong learning, exploring and growing,” he tours nationwide as an author, performing artist, and keynote speaker.

(New York: Knopf/Random House, 2021)
“Out of Office is a book for every office worker – from employees to managers – currently facing the decision about whether, and how, to return to the office,” the publisher notes. “The past two years have shown us that there may be a new path forward, one that doesn’t involve hellish daily commutes and the demands of jam-packed work schedules that no longer make sense. But how can we realize that future in a way that benefits workers and companies alike?”

From interviews with workers and managers around the world, the authors maintain that companies need to listen to their employees as that this will promote, rather than impede, productivity and profitability. “As a society, we have talked for decades about flexible work arrangements; this book makes clear that we are at an inflection point where this is actually possible for many employees and their companies. Out of Office is about so much more than Zoom meetings and hybrid schedules: it aims to reshape our entire relationship to the office,” the authors write.

(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2021)
The U.S. Supreme Court has numbered nine justices for the past 150 years. But that number is not fixed. “With Democrats controlling the House and Senate, they could add justices to the Supreme Court. But would court-packing destroy the court as an apolitical judicial institution?” This is the question that Feldman, the Jerry W. Housel/Carl F. Arnold Distinguished Professor of Law and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the University of Wyoming, addresses using a historical, analytical, and political argument to justify court-packing in general and Democratic court packing more specifically.

According to Mark Tushnet, professor emeritus of Harvard University Law School, the book “develops a clear and cogent argument, accessible to non-specialists, that law and politics always interact with constitutional law, both in the large — as when justices are appointed — and in the small — as in every decision interpreting the Constitution. Feldman shows court-packing wouldn’t politicize a nonpolitical institution devoted solely to ‘law,’ but would respond to the form that politicization has taken on the Roberts Court. This book is an important contribution to public debate and the understanding of our Constitution and the Supreme Court.”

(Edinburgh, Scotland: Blue Diode Publishing, 2021)
The author’s debut poetry collection “gets close up with human intimacy. What’s really important in human relationships? Kerper’s startling imagery and diction never settle for easy, conventional answers. Love, faith, sex, identity, queerness — all come under her microscope, and are viewed with precision, rigour, and tenderness,” according to the publisher.

(Castroville, Texas: Black Rose Writing, 2020)
The author’s first novel begins with this line: “No one, let alone me, realized it at the time, but April 19, 2011, was the most important day in the history of the world.” After his only friend and colleague disappears, Dave Randall goes quietly about this life until he begins to understand what happened. That’s when he embarks on a journey not only to uncover the deeper meanings and implications of his friend’s fate, but also his own journey of self-discovery will have ramifications far beyond his own little life.

A five-star review in Indies Today noted, “Daniel Maunz is an exceptionally talented writer who has taken on the monumental task of not only asking, but answering, some of life’s biggest questions.”

(self-published, 2021)
With its subtitle “How a $10 Horse Became an Eventing Champion,” this inspirational story tells of the author’s lifetime journey with horses, and with one mare in particular. “The detail Tootie Anderson goes into about her chosen equine sport of eventing, the care it takes to create and maintain an equine athlete, medical situations she encountered, and the thoughtfulness she puts into being a true partner with her horse will delight any ‘horse person,’” one reviewer wrote. “Have a tissue ready for the last chapter, but by the last page Anderson’s commitment to horses and her sport will fill readers with great optimism.”

(Middletown, Del.: BestSellingBook.com, 2021)
Often people realize that a lack of diversity is a problem in their companies, but they don’t have the vocabulary, or tools, to address it effectively. An organizational development expert and consultant, the author explains how middle managers are key to achieving more inclusive, welcoming, and productive workplace environments.

“[Managers] hire new employees, push for their promotions, liaise with senior executives, and affect who decides to stay and leave,” Kalaw writes. “Unlike the executive suite, they’re interacting with employees at various levels and can directly take part in bringing in more diverse employees or carrying out a company’s DEI vision.”

Written in a straightforward, conversational tone, the book includes best practices, helpful exercises, and strategies that managers can put into place immediately to mitigate implicit bias and encourage a culture of active allyship.

(Somerville, Mass.: Candlewick Press, 2020)
Little Ernestine is getting ready to go camping for the first time. It’s going to be great … isn’t it? In this delightful children’s book, both written and illustrated by Jennifer Mann ’85, we are all reminded that opening our minds to new experiences, no matter how challenging, can lead to great memories. Described by the author as a hybrid picture book/comic, The Camping Trip has received numerous honors ranging from the Chicago Public Library’s Best of the Best List to the Washington State Book Award. The author lives in the Pacific Northwest.

(Dublin, Ohio: Telemachus Press, 2021)
This sweeping novel, the author’s first, uses the flashback/present style to tell the story of Hank Miller in the late days of the Wild West. While most cowboys ride off into the sunset, Miller’s path is more complicated. As the book jacket notes, the protagonist “survives the Civil War, Texas-sized desperados, and the great San Francisco earthquake. With a debt to pay, Hank will place himself and his twin sons in great danger in a new, wild and untamed frontier — Morocco!”

Several fans of the book are hinting at sequels. We’ll have to wait and see! Herrman is a retired physician who lives with his wife in California.

(Kirksville, Mo.: Golden Antelope Press, 2022)
Described as a “story of dispossession, refuge, and the search for justice and humanity,” this novel focuses on two Jewish families in the impending days of the Holocaust — specifically a little girl “kindertransported” to England to be raised by a foster family and a butcher’s apprentice who changes his identity and escapes to England to join the British Army.

The publisher notes, “The novel could be complete and coherent without its ‘third man’ frame, but the Prologue and Epilogue references to the famous 1949 noir film are distinctive and imaginative; they deepen the significance of the several other episodes. In the end, [the male protagonist] recognizes the similarities between himself and the film’s Harry Lime (as grifters who sometimes did questionable things). But he also identifies with his own ‘third man, the one he has tracked with revenge in mind. He recognizes that this man might have been evil, but might instead have been a ‘poor fool like himself, neither good nor evil, just a confused human being trying to muddle his way through this life.’”

The novel is inspired by Splitter’s family. His parents fled Vienna in 1938 a few years before his birth. He is a retired English professor who has written screenplays, made short films, and published short stories, novels, and a psychoanalytic study of Marcel Proust.