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  Soledad O'Brien (Biogrpahies of Biracial Achievers)

  David Robson

  A brief biography of the television reporter, Soledad O'Brien.

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  Somebody's Daughter

  Zara Phillips

  A hard-hitting and witty memoir about an adopted woman's lifelong quest to find her birth parents - and her identity. It is the fascinating and revealing account of how a beautiful woman's life has been dominated by her adoption and how it has affected her and those around her.

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  Someone Has Led This Child to Believe

  Regina Louise

  After years of jumping from one fleeting, often abusive home to the next, Louise meets a counselor named Jeanne Kerr. For the first time in her young life, Louise knows what it means to be seen, wanted, understood, and loved. After Kerr tries unsuccessfully to adopt Louise, the two are ripped apart—seemingly forever—and Louise continues her passage through the cold cinder-block landscape of a broken system, enduring solitary confinement, overmedication, and the actions of adults who seem hell-bent on convincing her that she deserves nothing, that she is nothing. But instead of losing her will to thrive, Louise remains determined to achieve her dream of a higher education. After she ages out of the system, Louise is thrown into adulthood and, haunted by her trauma, struggles to finish school, build a career, and develop relationships. As she puts it, it felt impossible “to understand how to be in the world.” Eventually, Louise learns how to confront her past and reflect on her traumas. She starts writing, quite literally, a new future for herself, a new way to be. Louise weaves together raw, sometimes fragmented memories, excerpts from real documents from her case file, and elegant reflections to tell the story of her painful upbringing and what came after. The result is a rich, engrossing account of one abandoned girl’s efforts to find her place in the world, people to love, and people to love her back.

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  Spies of Mississippi: The True Story of the Spy Network that Tried to Destroy the Civil Rights Movement

  Rick Bowers

  In the 1950s and 1960s, the Mississippi State Sovereignty Commission compiled secret files on more than 87,000 private citizens in the most extensive state spying program in U.S. history. Its mission: to save segregation.

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  Stephen Hawking: Extraordinary Theoretical Physicist

  Karen Latchana Kenney

  Chronicles the life and career of the theoretical physicist, from his battle with ALS to his work on black holes.

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  Sweet Tooth: A Memoir

  Tim Anderson

  What's a sweets-loving young boy growing up gay in North Carolina in the eighties supposed to think when he's diagnosed with type 1 diabetes? That God is punishing him, naturally. This was, after all, when gay-hating Jesse Helms was his senator, AIDS was still the boogeyman, and no one was saying, "It gets better." And if stealing a copy of a gay porno magazine from the newsagent was a sin, then surely what the men inside were doing to one another was much worse. Sweet Tooth is Tim Anderson's uproarious memoir of life after his hormones and blood sugar both went berserk at the age of fifteen. With Morrissey and The Smiths as the soundtrack, Anderson self-deprecatingly recalls love affairs with vests and donuts, first crushes, coming out, and inaugural trips to gay bars. What emerges is the story of a young man trying to build a future that won't involve crippling loneliness or losing a foot to his disease--and maybe even one that, no matter how unpredictable, can still be pretty sweet.

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  Taking Action Against Racism

  Cath Senker

  This book defines different kinds of racism, its causes, and possible solutions.

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  Teens & Gay Issues

  Hal Marcovitz and George Gallup Jr.

  Uses data from the Gallup Youth Survey and other sources to examine issues related to teens and same sex relationships.

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  Teens with Single Parents: Why Me?

  Margaret A. Schultz

  Examines the effects of living in a single-parent family, discussing such topics as emotional aspects and economic factors.

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  Telling the Truth to Your Adopted or Foster Child: Making Sense of the Past

  Betsy Keefer and Jayne Schooler

  Provides parents with the knowledge and tools they need to communicate with their adopted or foster child about the circumstances of their past.

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  The 57 Bus

  Dashka Slater

  One teenager in a skirt. One teenager with a lighter. One moment that changes both of their lives forever. If it weren't for the 57 bus, Sasha and Richard never would have met. Both were high school students from Oakland, California, one of the most diverse cities in the country, but they inhabited different worlds. Sasha, a white teen, lived in the middle-class foothills and attended a small private school. Richard, a black teen, lived in the crime-plagued flatlands and attended a large public one. Each day, their paths overlapped for a mere eight minutes. But one afternoon on the bus ride home from school, a single reckless act left Sasha severely burned, and Richard charged with two hate crimes and facing life imprisonment. The 57 Bus is Dashka Slater's true account of the case that garnered international attention and thrust both teenagers into the spotlight.

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  The ABC’s of LGBT+

  Ashley Mardell

  Shares in-depth definitions of LGBT+ terms, and offers personal anecdotes from LGBT+ people.

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  The Blending of Foster and Adopted Children into a Family

  Heather Lehr Wagner and Marvin Rosen

  Explores issues facing families confronting the challenges created by adoption and foster care, and identifies steps members of blended families can take to ensure that they have a strong foundation.

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  The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother

  James McBride

  Who is Ruth McBride Jordan? A self-declared "light-skinned" woman evasive about her ethnicity, yet steadfast in her love for her twelve children. James McBride, journalist, musician and son, explores his mother's past, as well as his own upbringing and heritage, in a poignant and powerful memoir.

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  The Foster Care System

  Joyce Libal

  If your parents were unable to care for you, where would you go? Do you have family or friends who would take you in and support you? Unfortunately, many children don't have this option. The foster care system was put in place to help young people who find themselves without homes. As you follow the story of Bobby and Cara, two children whose family was torn apart, you'll discover more about the foster care system.

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  The Homeless

  Gail B. Stewart

  Presents first-person accounts of individuals and families who are living as homeless persons in America's cities.

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  The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed

  Judy Shepard

  The mother of Matthew Shepard shares her story about her son's death and the choice she made to become an international gay rights activist. Today, the name Matthew Shepard is synonymous with gay rights, but before his grisly murder in 1998, Matthew was simply her son. For the first time in book form, Judy Shepard speaks about her loss, sharing memories of Matthew, their life as a typical American family, and the pivotal event that changed everything. The book follows the Shepard family in the days after the crime, when their incapacitated son was on life support; how they learned of the response from strangers all across America who held candlelit vigils and memorial services for their child; and finally, how they struggled to navigate the legal system as Matthew's murderers were on trial. It not only captures the historical significance and civil rights issues, but it also chronicles one ordinary woman's struggle to cope with the unthinkable.

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  The Road Back: Living with a Physical Disability

  Harriet Sirof

  Examines the various ways in which young people cope with sudden physical disabilities and learn to live again after serious injuries or illnesses.

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  The Survival Guide for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders (And Their Parents)

  Elizabeth Verdick and Elizabeth Reeve M.D.

  This positive, straightforward book offers kids with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) their own comprehensive resource for both understanding their condition and finding tools to cope with the challenges they face every day. Some children with ASDs are gifted; others struggle academically. Some are more introverted, while others try to be social. Some get "stuck" on things, have limited interests, or experience repeated motor movements like flapping or pacing ("stims"). The Survival Guide for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders covers all of these areas, with an emphasis on helping children gain new self-understanding and self-acceptance. Meant to be read with a parent, the book addresses questions ("What's an ASD?" "Why me?") and provides strategies for communicating, making and keeping friends, and succeeding in school. Body and brain basics highlight symptom management, exercise, diet, hygiene, relaxation, sleep, and toileting. Emphasis is placed on helping kids handle intense emotions and behaviors and get support from family and their team of helpers when needed. The book includes stories from real kids, fact boxes, helpful checklists, resources, and a glossary. Sections for parents offer more detailed information.

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  They Called Themselves the KKK: The Birth of an American Terrorist Group

  Susan Campbell Bartoletti

  Documents the history and origin of the Ku Klux Klan from its beginning in Pulaski, Tennessee, and provides personal accounts, congressional documents, diaries, and more.

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  This Book is Gay

  James Dawson

  Lesbian. Bisexual. Queer. Transgender. Straight. Curious. This book is for everyone, regardless of gender or sexual preference. This book is for anyone who's ever dared to wonder. This book is for YOU. There's a long-running joke that, after "coming out," a lesbian, gay guy, bisexual, or trans person should receive a membership card and instruction manual. THIS IS THAT INSTRUCTION MANUAL. You're welcome. Inside you'll find the answers to all the questions you ever wanted to ask: from sex to politics, hooking up to stereotypes, coming out and more. This candid and uncensored exploration of sexuality and what it's like to grow up LGBT also includes real stories from people across the gender and sexual spectrums, not to mention illustrations.

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  Three Little Words: A Memoir

  Ashley Rhodes-Courter

  "Sunshine, you're my baby and I'm your only mother. You must mind the one taking care of you, but she's not your mama." Ashley Rhodes-Courter spent nine years of her life in fourteen different foster homes, living by those words. As her mother spirals out of control, Ashley is left clinging to an unpredictable, dissolving relationship, all the while getting pulled deeper and deeper into the foster care system.

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  Transitions - A Guide To Transitioning for Transsexuals and Their Families

  Mara Drummond

  Having a gender identity that conflicts with one's physical gender is a huge emotional burden. The anxiety, stress and depression that can result from having such a conflict can push a person to the point where everything in life that is held dear is risked to undertake one of the hardest challenges a human being can make: transitioning from one gender to the other. If you have an incongruent gender identity and are considering a gender transition to bring peace to your life, Transitions will help you understand all the implications of the journey you are about to undertake. Transitions will guide you through the transition process from end to end, teaching you how to come out to friends and family, maintain employment, manage transition finances, deal with sex and religion, plan your physical changes, pass and fit in as a member of your new gender, and more.

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  Transracial Adoption: Children and Parents Speak

  Constance Pohl

  Explores the issues related to interracial and international adoptions, using interviews with black, biracial, Asian, and Hispanic young people who were adopted into white or biracial families.

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  Tripping on the Color Line: Black-White Multiracial Families in a Racially Divided World

  Heather M. Dalmage

  Through interviews with individuals from black-white multiracial families, together with sociological analysis, this study examines the challenges faced by people living in such families, and explores how their experiences demonstrate the need for rethinking race in America.