National Network for Equitable Library Service

On November 14, 1963, a volcano fifteen miles off the shore of Iceland exploded under the sea, resulting in a brand-new island. Scientists immediately recognized Surtsey for what it was: an opportunity to observe the way life takes hold. Loree Griffin Burns follows entomologist Erling Olafsson on a five-day trip to Surtsey, where since 1970 he has studied the arrival and survival of insects and other species.

On a hot day in July 1919, five black youths went swimming in Lake Michigan, unintentionally floating close to the "white" beach. An angry white man began throwing stones at the boys, striking and killing one. Racial conflict on the beach erupted into days of urban violence that shook the city of Chicago to its foundations. This mesmerizing narrative draws on contemporary accounts as it traces the roots of the explosion that had been building for decades in race relations, politics, business, and clashes of culture. Archival photos and prints, source notes, bibliography, index.

Considered the "lungs of the world," the Amazon provides a full fifth of the world's oxygen, and every year unsustainable human practices destroy 2.7 million acres. What can be done to help' That's where Project Piaba comes in. Join the award-winning author Sy Montgomery and the photographer Keith Ellenbogen as they traverse the river and rainforest to discover how tiny fish, called piabas, can help preserve the Amazon, its animals, and the rich legacy of its people.

We know dogs are our best animal friends, but have you ever thought about what that might mean' Fossils show we've shared our work and homes with dogs for tens of thousands of years. Now there's growing evidence that we influenced dogs' evolution-and they, in turn, changed ours. Even more than our closest relatives, the apes, dogs are the species with whom we communicate best.

In Beastly Brains, Castaldo delves into the minds of animals and explores animal empathy, communication, tool use, and social societies through interviews and historical anecdotes. Researchers from Charles Darwin to Jane Goodall have spent years analyzing the minds of animals, and today's science is revolutionizing old theories and uncovering surprising similarities to our own minds. Humans are not alone in our ability to think about ourselves, make plans, help each other, or even participate in deception.

First-hand accounts that include diary entries and personal letters describe the experiences of boys, sixteen years old or younger, who fought in the Civil War.

You gotta know the rules to play the game. Ball is life. Take it to the hoop. Soar. What can we imagine for our lives' What if we were the star players, moving and grooving through the game of life' What if we had our own rules of the game to help us get what we want, what we aspire to, what will enrich our lives' Illustrated with photographs by Thai Neave, The Playbook is intended to provide inspiration on the court of life.

In July of 2015 a robotic spacecraft reached Pluto after a nine-and-half-year journey. New Horizons is the first spacecraft mission to Pluto and revealed its five moons as never before seen. Images from the mission show a reddish surface covered in ice-water mountains, moving glaciers, and hints of possible ice volcanoes and an underground ocean. Pluto is geologically alive and changing! This addition to the Scientists in the Field series goes where no person or spacecraft has ever gone before.

If you had to name a statue, any statue, odds are good you'd mention the Statue of Liberty. Have you seen her' She's in New York. She's holding a torch. And she's taking one step forward. But why' In this fascinating, fun take on nonfiction, uniquely American in its frank tone and honest look at the literal foundation of our country, Dave Eggers and Shawn Harris investigate a seemingly small trait of America's most emblematic statue. What they find is about more than history, more than art.

Elizabeth Cotten was only a little girl when she picked up a guitar for the first time. It wasn't hers (it was her big brother's), and it wasn't strung right for her (she was left-handed). But she flipped that guitar upside down and backwards and taught herself how to play it anyway. By age eleven, she'd written "Freight Train," one of the most famous folk songs of the twentieth century. And by the end of her life, people everywhere'from the sunny beaches of California to the rolling hills of England'knew her music.