Leaves are falling and its getting chilly! Take some “me time” and learn something new! Take a look at some of the books we are super excited about this month. Interested in reserving a title? Simply click on the title to be redirected to our online catalog

Drawing secrets revealed : basics by Parks, Sarah Artist extraordinaire Catherine V. Holmes has written numerous successful step-by-step drawing books.101 Drawing Secrets takes a different spin on the traditional how-to-draw book. Busy artists who are short on time or just want to learn something new easily can dip into the book at any point and pick up a tip or trick they can immediately apply to their own artwork. From quick written tips, to illustrated examples, to simple step-by-step tutorials, the tips provide valuable insight into drawing for anyone wanting to take their art to the next level. Tips include: Draw from different points of view; Draw what you see, not what you think, by drawing upside down; Use a grid system to improve accuracy; Look at negative space to check accuracy; Break the subject down into simple shapes; Sketch daily to improve more quickly; Create an eye-catching focal point; Draw on unusual surfaces; Convert your reference image to black and white to simplify; Draw with one continuous line to strengthen your brain, eye, and hand coordination; Develop your signature style; Draw more realistic teeth; Focus on the process, not the product; Avoid smudging that can ruin your drawings; Crop your artwork to create a more compelling piece

Across the Rainbow Bridge : Stories of Norse Gods and Humans. by Crossley-Holland, Kevin/ Love, Jeffrey Alan (ILT) Step back into a sweeping landscape of green glades and glaciers where dwarves, frost giants, and ghosts roam and where gods and goddesses work their magic for Middle Earth, sometimes crossing the great rainbow bridge to come to the aid of humans. Five gripping new tales by Kevin Crossley-Holland plumb Norse mythology as never before, while Jeffrey Alan Love’s illustrations give the epic figures bold new life. Eerie, lyrical, and arresting, this must-have companion book to Norse Myths: Tales of Odin, Thor, and Loki is the ideal gift for fantasy and mythology fans as well as newcomers to Viking lore

African icons : ten people who shaped history by Baptiste, Tracey Every year, American schoolchildren celebrate Black History Month. They study almost exclusively American stories, which are not only rooted in struggle over enslavement or oppression, but also take in only four hundred years of a rich and thrilling history that goes back many millennia across the African continent. Through portraits of ten historical figures—from Menes, the first ruler to be called Pharaoh, to Queen Idia, a sixteenth-century power broker, visionary, and diplomat—African Icons takes readers on a journey across Africa to meet some of the great leaders and thinkers whose ideas built a continent and shaped our world

Black ballerinas : my journey to our legacy by Copeland, Misty As a young girl living in a motel with her mother and her five siblings, Misty Copeland didn’t have a lot of exposure to ballet or prominent dancers. She was sixteen when she saw a black ballerina on a magazine cover for the first time. The experience emboldened Misty and told her that she wasn’t alone—and her dream wasn’t impossible. In the years since, Misty has only learned more about the trailblazing women who made her own success possible by pushing back against repression and racism with their talent and tenacity. Misty brings these women’s stories to a new generation of readers and gives them the recognition they deserve.

Fallout : spies, superbombs, and the ultimate Cold War showdown by Sheinkin, Steve As World War II comes to a close, the United States and the Soviet Union emerge as the two greatest world powers on extreme opposites of the political spectrum. After the United States showed its hand with the atomic bomb in Hiroshima, the Soviets refuse to be left behind. With communism sweeping the globe, the two nations begin a neck-and-neck competition to build even more destructive bombs and conquer the Space Race. In their battle for dominance, spy planes fly above, armed submarines swim deep below, and undercover agents meet in the dead of night. The Cold War game grows more precarious as weapons are pointed towards each other, with fingers literally on the trigger. The decades-long showdown culminates in the Cuban Missile Crisis, the world’s close call with the third—and final—world war.

Finding Refuge by Victorya Rouse What is a refugee? This anthology recounts the personal immigration experiences of teenage refugees from around the world, including where they came from, why they left, how they arrived in the United States, and what happened next. These writers know firsthand it means to leave a beloved but unsafe homeland for a distant place where everyone speaks another language. English teacher Victorya Rouse has assembled a collection of real-world stories essential for our times, complete with maps, context, and background on the refugees’ home countries. As immigration has catapulted into the current discourse, this poignant collection emphasizes the USA’s rich tradition of welcoming people from all over the world.

Marvel Studios Be More Captain America: Lessons in Leadership Unleash your inner Avenger and make the world a better place! Captain America is a strong and noble leader, an inspiration for others with his bravery, honor, and unrivaled sense of justice. Join the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s most famous Super Soldier as he and the Avengers face adversity and encourage those around them to live up to their full potential. When it comes to integrity, principles, and leadership, no other hero comes close to Cap! Packed with iconic movie scenes, inspiring quotes, and helpful lifestyle tips from across nearly a decade of Marvel Studios films, Be More Captain America is the perfect gift for friends, family, and colleagues who need guidance on how to take charge, better themselves, and lead by example!

Marvel Map by Map by Hill, James Navigate a universe of wonders. Chart a journey across Marvel Comics’ vast and vibrant universe, from its Earthbound mean streets and hidden lands, to its mythic realms and cosmic outer reaches. This Marvel-approved compendium of specially curated essays features stunning, newly commissioned cartography, illustrations, and diagrams to help readers navigate their way around iconic locales such as Asgard, Wakanda, Atlantis, Olympus, Hell’s Kitchen, Latveria, Knowhere, The Savage Land, Battleworld, and many more. Marvel Universe: Map by Map delineates the contours of the ever-expanding, complex, and interconnected Marvel Universe, illuminating the incredible locations, epic events, and extraordinary characters that have shaped it. Boasting dazzling new artwork, gorgeous comic book visuals, and insightful, authoritative text, this is a premium, indispensable way finder for any armchair explorer.

Picturing a Nation : The Great Depression’s Finest Photographers Introduce America to Itself. by Sandler, Martin W. In an exquisitely curated volume of 140 full-color and black-and-white photographs, Martin W. Sandler unpacks the United States Farm Security Administration’s sweeping visual record of the Great Depression. In 1935, with the nation bent under unprecedented unemployment and economic hardship, the FSA sent ten photographers, including Walker Evans, Dorothea Lange, and Gordon Parks, on the road trip of a lifetime. The images they logged revealed the daily lives of Southern sharecroppers, Dust Bowl farmers in the Midwest, Western migrant workers, and families scraping by in Northeast cities. Using their cameras as weapons against poverty and racism–and in service of hope, courage, and human dignity–these talented photographers created not only a collective work of art, but a national treasure. Grouped into four geographical regions and locked in focus by rich historical commentary, these images–many now iconic–are history at its most powerful and immediate. Extensive back matter includes photographer profiles and a bibliography

The shelter and the fence : when 982 Holocaust refugees found safe haven in America by Finkelstein, Norman H. The story of Holocaust refugees who found shelter in the United States–with unique parallels to today’s stories of asylum seekers. In 1944, at the height of World War II, 982 European refugees found a temporary haven at Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York. They were men, women, and children who had spent frightening years one step ahead of Nazi pursuers and death.  

They spoke nineteen different languages, and, while most of the refugees were Jewish, a number were Catholic, Greek Orthodox, and Protestant Christians. From the time they arrived at the Fort Ontario Emergency Refugee Shelter on August 5 they began re-creating their lives and embarked on the road to becoming American citizens.  In the history of World War II and the Holocaust, this “token” save by President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the War Refugee Board was too little and too late for millions. But for those few who reached Oswego it was life changing.  The Shelter and the Fence tells their stories

The story of more : how we got to climate change and where to go from here by Jahren, Hope

Hope Jahren, acclaimed geochemist and geobiologist, details the science behind key inventions, clarifying how electricity, large-scale farming, and automobiles have both helped and harmed our world. Jahren explains the current and projected consequences of unchecked global warming, from superstorms to rising sea levels, resulting from the unprecedented amounts of greenhouse gases being released into our atmosphere. The links between human consumption habits and our endangered existence are very real, with consequences leading to a crossroads of survival and extinction. Still, Jahren maintains that our ever-broadening science-based knowledge can help us counter this dilemma. The eye-opening information provided in The Story of More will help readers understand the path we must take. If we collectively make informed choices now, Jahren reassures us, our future can be as bright as we imagine it can be.

Wild tongues can’t be tamed : 15 voices from the Latinx diaspora by Fennell, Saraciea J. (EDT) In Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed, writers from across the Latinx diaspora interrogate the different myths and stereotypes about this rich and diverse community. From immigration to sexuality, music to language, and more, these personal essays and poems are essential additions to the cultural conversation, sure to inspire hope and spark dialogue.Wild Tongues Can’t Be Tamed features bestselling and award-winning authors as well as new, up-and-coming voices, including: Elizabeth Acevedo, Cristina Arreola, Ingrid Rojas Contreras, Naima Coster, Natasha Diaz, Kahlil Haywood, Zakiya Jamal, Janel Martinez, ,Jasminne Mendez, Meg Medina, Mark Oshiro, Julian Randall,Lilliam Rivera and Ibi Zoboi.

Finding Refuge: Real-Life Immigration Stories from Young People by Victorya Rouse What is a refugee? This anthology recounts the personal immigration experiences of teenage refugees from around the world, including where they came from, why they left, how they arrived in the United States, and what happened next. These writers know firsthand it means to leave a beloved but unsafe homeland for a distant place where everyone speaks another language. English teacher Victorya Rouse has assembled a collection of real-world stories essential for our times, complete with maps, context, and background on the refugees’ home countries. As immigration has catapulted into the current discourse, this poignant collection emphasizes the USA’s rich tradition of welcoming people from all over the worl