National Network for Equitable Library Service

A riveting, deeply-affecting true story of one girl's coming-of-age in a polygamist cult. Ruth Wariner was the thirty-ninth of her father's forty-two children. Growing up on a farm in rural Mexico, where authorities turned a blind eye to the practices of her community, Ruth lives in a ramshackle house without indoor plumbing or electricity. At church, preachers teach that God will punish the wicked by destroying the world and that women can only ascend to Heaven by entering into polygamous marriages and giving birth to as many children as possible.

The inside look at one of the most captivating and consequential figures in our culture--with never-before-heard interviews. Kobe Bryant's death in January 2020 did more than rattle the worlds of sports and celebrity. The tragedy of that helicopter crash, which also took the life of his daughter, Gianna, unveiled the full breadth and depth of his influence on our culture, and by tracing and telling the oft-forgotten and lesser-known story of his early life, The Rise promises to provide an insight into Kobe that no other analysis has.

The explosive, never-before-told story behind the historic rise of the Wu-Tang Clan, as told by one of its founding members, Lamont "U-God" Hawkins."It's time to write down not only my legacy, but the story of nine dirt-bomb street thugs who took our everyday life--scrappin' and hustlin' and tryin' to survive in the urban jungle of New York City--and turned that into something bigger than we could possibly imagine, something that took us out of the projects for good, which was the only thing we all wanted in the first place."--Lamont "U-God" HawkinsThe Wu-Tang Clan are considered hip-hop ro

This program is read by the author. An intimate look at the lives of our most celebrated female musicians--and their challenges with fame--from a legendary music journalistOver four decades, Lisa Robinson has made a name for herself as a celebrated journalist in a business long known for its boys' club mentality. But to Robinson, the female performers who sat down with her, most often at the peak of their careers, were the true revelations.

This program includes excerpts read by the author. One of Atlas & Boots' Top 10 Adventure Travel Books of 2021A dramatic account of the deadly earthquake on Everest--and a return to reach the summit. On April 25, 2015, Jim Davidson was climbing Mount Everest when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake released avalanches all around him and his team, destroying their only escape route and trapping them at nearly 20,000 feet. It was the largest earthquake in Nepal in eighty-one years and killed about 8,900 people.

Now a documentary narrated by Common, produced by Grant Hill, Dwyane Wade, and 9th Wonder, from filmmaker Mary MazzioThe moving true story of a group of young men growing up on Chicago's West side who form the first all-black high school rowing team in the nation, and in doing so not only transform a sport, but their lives. Growing up on Chicago's Westside in the 90's, Arshay Cooper knows the harder side of life. The street corners are full of gangs, the hallways of his apartment complex are haunted by junkies he calls "zombies" with strung out arms, clutching at him as he passes by.

A revelatory account of the life of beloved American music icon, Paul Simon, by the bestselling rock biographer Peter Ames CarlinTo have been alive during the last sixty years is to have lived with the music of Paul Simon. The boy from Queens scored his first hit record in 1957, just months after Elvis Presley ignited the rock era. As the songwriting half of Simon & Garfunkel, his work helped define the youth movement of the '60s. On his own in the '70s, Simon made radio-dominating hits.

The true, harrowing story of the ill-fated 1913 Canadian Arctic Expedition and the two men who came to define it. In the summer of 1913, the wooden-hulled brigantine Karluk departed Canada for the Arctic Ocean. At the helm was Captain Bob Bartlett, considered the world's greatest living ice navigator. The expedition's visionary leader was a flamboyant impresario named Vilhjalmur Stefansson hungry for fame. Just six weeks after the Karluk departed, giant ice floes closed in around her.

This is a memoir written and read by two-time CrossFit Games champion, Katrin Davidsdottir. Dottir is two-time consecutive CrossFit Games Champion Katrin Davidsdottir's inspiring and poignant memoir. As one of only two women in history to have won the title of "Fittest Woman on Earth" twice, Davidsdottir knows all about the importance of mental and physical strength. She won the title in 2015, backing it up with a second win in 2016, after starting CrossFit in just 2011.A gymnast as a youth, Davidsdottir wanted to try new challenges and found a love of CrossFit.

This program contains examples of J Dilla's music performed in the story by drummer Nate Smith and is accompanied by a bonus PDF of maps, photos, guides, and more. Equal parts biography, musicology, and cultural history, Dilla Time chronicles the life and legacy of J Dilla, a musical genius who transformed the sound of popular music for the twenty-first century. He wasn't known to mainstream audiences, even though he worked with renowned acts like D'Angelo and Erykah Badu and influenced the music of superstars like Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson.