Outstanding Books for the College Bound and Lifelong Learners, 1999
The 1999 OBCB list follows the traditional genre categories in use (with minor variations) since the inception of OBCB in 1959: fiction, nonfiction, biography, drama, and poetry. The charge for the OBCB committee, taken from the policies and procedures document, is “To prepare a revised and updated edition of the Outstanding Books for the College Bound booklists every five years.” The 1999 list is very much a revision of the 1994 list. They share many titles and the traditional emphasis on the humanities. The 1999 list is noteworthy for its extended poetry list.
Fiction
Agee, James. A Death in the Family. McDowell Oblensky, 1957. OBCB 1999.
The enchanted childhood summer of 1915 becomes a baffling experience for six-year-old Rufus Follet when his father dies suddenly in a car accident. This autobiographical novel about family and loss encompasses life before the accident and surrounding the funeral.
Allison, Dorothy. Bastard out of Carolina. Dutton, 1992. OBCB 1999, 2004, 2009.
Bone confronts illegitimacy, poverty, the troubled marriage of her mother and stepfather, and the stigma of being considered “white trash” as she comes of age in South Carolina. Despite the fact that she lives among a large extended and protective family, Bone’s stepfather, Daddy Glen, becomes increasingly abusive; her mother is either unable or unwilling to protect her; and Bone herself is too young or too embarrassed to reveal what is happening to her.
Alvarez, Julia. In the Time of Butterflies. Algonquin, 1994. OBCB 1999, 2004.
The four Mirabel sisters were called the Mariposas, or butterflies. Alvarez brings these historical figures to life by having the sisters tell their own story, beginning in childhood, through involvement with the resistance, culminating in murder and martyrdom. Their courage helped to liberate the Dominican Republic from Trujillo’s dictatorship.
Anaya, Rudolfo. Bless Me, Ultima. Warner, 1972. OBCB 1999.
In rural New Mexico shortly after World War II, Ultima, a wise old mystic, helps Antonio, a young Hispanic boy, resolve personal dilemmas caused by the differing backgrounds and aspirations of his parents and society. Elements of magical realism combine with themes of religious, cultural, and social conflict.
Atwood, Margaret. The Handmaid’s Tale. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 1986. OBCB 1999.
In Gilead, a Christian fundamentalist dystopia, fertile lower-class women serve as birth-mothers for the upper class. Offred chronicles her life in the new Republic, beginning with her training at the Rachel and Leah Center, then as handmaid to the Commander and his wife, all the while dealing with memories of the husband and child that are lost to her.
Butler, Octavia. Parable of the Sower. Four Walls Eight Windows, 1993. OBCB 1999.
Lauren Olamina begins her story in 2024, at the age of 15, living outside Los Angeles in a gated community that barely protects its inhabitants from the crime and poverty outside. Lauren, who suffers from a hereditary trait called hyperempathy that causes her to feel others’ pain physically, survives the destruction of the enclave and journeys north along the dangerous highways of 21st-century California in search of safety.
Card, Orson Scott. Ender’s Game. Tor, 1985. OBCB 1999.
In a world decimated by alien attacks, the government trains young geniuses like Ender Wiggin in military strategy with increasingly complex computer games. Ender is only six years old when he is identified by the government as their best hope against the alien “buggers” and sent to Battle School.
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening. H. S. Stone & Co., 1899. OBCB 1999.
Edna Pontellier, an unhappy wife and mother, discovers new qualities in herself when she visits Grand Isle, a resort for the Creole elite of New Orleans. Her restlessness increases when she meets and falls in love with Robert Lebrun at the resort. When he leaves her abruptly she never fully recovers, eventually leaving her family and refusing to follow convention.
Cisneros, Sandra. The House on Mango Street. Vintage, 1991. OBCB 1999.
In short, poetic stories, Esperanza describes life in a low-income, predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in Chicago. As Esperanza comes of age, she is torn between tradition and discovering life outside her neighborhood and culture.
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. Crime and Punishment. J. M. Dent, 1866. OBCB 1999.
A sensitive intellectual is driven by poverty to believe himself exempt from moral law. Rodion Raskolnikov, a poor student, kills two people. Dostoyevsky examines life in 19th-century Russia, the nature of good and evil, and the psychology of a murderer in this quintessential Russian novel.
Ellison, Ralph. Invisible Man. Random House, 1952. OBCB 1999.
A young African American seeking identity during his high school and college days, and later in New York’s Harlem, relates his terrifying experiences. He begins in the South of the 1920s and ends in Harlem with the realization that he is invisible to the white world.
Emecheta, Buchi. The Bride Price. G. Braziller, 1976. OBCB 1999.
Aku-nna, a very young Nigerian (Ibo) girl, and Chike, her teacher, fall in love despite tribal custom forbidding their romance. After Aku-nna’s father dies unexpectedly, her uncle expects her to bring a generous bride price when she marries. But she meets Chike, who will not allow anyone else to have her, and her uncle will not accept their relationship. A tribal curse dooms Aku-nna to die in childbirth.
Faulkner, William. The Bear. Vintage, 1931. OBCB 1999.
Ike McCaslin’s hunting trips for the legendary bear, Old Ben, are played out against opposing ideas of corruption and innocence. Ike’s story is told in past and present narratives, laying out the hunting trips in which he participated from ages 10 to 16, in the late 1870s and early 1880s, ending with a final glimpse of the Mississippi woods in the present, about to fall to a lumber company.
Frazier, Charles. Cold Mountain. Atlantic Monthly Press, 1997. OBCB 1999.
Inman, a wounded Civil War soldier, escapes the hospital to endure the elements, The Guard, and his own weakness and infirmity in a journey, an odyssey, to return to his sweetheart, Ada. Meanwhile, Ada is fighting her own battle to survive while farming the mountainous North Carolina terrain.
Gaines, Ernest. A Lesson before Dying. Knopf, 1993. OBCB 1999, 2009.
In 1940s Louisiana, Jefferson, a young black man, faces the electric chair for murder. When his attorney states, “I would just as soon put a hog in the electric chair as this,” his grandmother persuades disillusioned teacher Grant Wiggins to visit Jefferson in the penitentiary and help him gain a sense of dignity and self-esteem before his execution.
Gardner, John. Grendel. Knopf, 1971. OBCB 1999.
In a unique interpretation of the Beowulf legend, the monster Grendel relates his struggle to understand the ugliness in himself and mankind in the brutal world of 14th-century Denmark. Grendel’s love of words illuminates the importance of language as an interpreter of the truth of events, and the power of art as alternative to violence.
Gibbons, Kaye. Ellen Foster. Algonquin, 1987. OBCB 1999.
Casting an unflinching yet humorous eye on her situation, 11-year-old Ellen tells the story of surviving her mother’s death, an abusive father, and uncaring relatives to find a loving home and a new mama. In this coming-of-age southern novel, Ellen also learns that skin color does not determine character.
Heller, Joseph. Catch-22. Simon & Schuster, 1961. OBCB 1999.
In this satirical novel, Captain Yossarian confronts the hypocrisy and absurdity of war and bureaucracy as he frantically attempts to outwit the army and survive. A Mediterranean island is home base for the soldiers, where they escape the horrors of World War II Europe.
Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. Scribner, 1929. OBCB 1999.
World War I is the setting for this love story of an English nurse and a wounded American ambulance officer. They meet in Italy. After Frederic is wounded, Catherine visits him in the hospital, and they fall in love. When Frederic is ordered back to the front he sees that the Italian army has lost its optimism and decides to desert, taking Catherine with him to Switzerland where their story meets a tragic end.
Hesse, Hermann. Siddhartha. New Directions, 1951. OBCB 1999.
Emerging from a kaleidoscope of experiences and tasted pleasures, Siddhartha transcends to a state of peace and mystic holiness in this strangely simple story. Drawing on Eastern religions, particularly Buddhism and Hinduism, Siddhartha journeys toward self-knowledge.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. Chatto & Windus, 1932. OBCB 1999.
In a chilling vision of the future, babies are produced in bottles and exist in a mechanized world without soul. Individuality is not allowed by the state; stability is everything. A revolt ensues when John the Savage is introduced into this controlled society, having grown up outside, an exception with his own thoughts and feelings.
Keneally, Thomas. Schindler’s List. Simon & Schuster, 1982. OBCB 1999.
Oskar Schindler, a rich German factory owner, risks his life and spends his personal fortune to save Jews listed as his workers during World War II. This “documentary novel” takes the form of a series of stories based on the memories of Schindler himself, the Jews who were saved, and other witnesses to the Holocaust.
King, Laurie R. The Beekeeper’s Apprentice; or, On the Segregation of the Queen. St. Martin’s, 1994. OBCB 1999.
In 1915, retired Sherlock Holmes meets his intellectual match in 15-year-old orphan Mary Russell, who collaborates with him to investigate the kidnapping of an American senator’s daughter. Mary continues to work with Holmes whenever she is on holiday from Oxford University, even while their lives are threatened by a master criminal.
Kosinski, Jerzy. The Painted Bird. Houghton Mifflin, 1965. OBCB 1999.
An abandoned dark-haired child wanders alone through isolated villages of Eastern Europe in World War II, struggling to survive. He witnesses evil and savagery, tormented by the peasants he encounters.
Lee, Harper. To Kill a Mockingbird. Lippincott, 1960. OBCB 1999.
Scout, a young girl, tells of life in a small Alabama town in the 1930s, and how she and her brother, Jem, learn to fight prejudice by watching their father’s defense in court of an African American man falsely accused of raping a white woman.
LeGuin, Ursula. The Left Hand of Darkness. Walker, 1969. OBCB 1999.
First envoy to the technologically primitive world of Gethen (Winter), Genly Ai is sent to persuade the planet to join Ekumen, an organization of planets promoting cooperation and harmony. Ai deals with a hostile climate; a suspicious, bickering government; and his own conventional sexual mores. The inhabitants of Gethen are androgynous until specific periods when they are able to choose between being male and female; thus anyone can have children, equalizing the genders.
Malamud, Bernard. The Fixer. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1966. OBCB 1999.
Victim of a vicious anti-Semitic conspiracy, Yakov Bok is in a Russian prison for years, waiting for a trial, with only his indomitable will to sustain him through solitary confinement. Based on the true, infamous case of a man falsely imprisoned for murder in 1911–13 Kiev.
Markandaya, Kamala. Nectar in a Sieve. J. Day Co., 1954. OBCB 1999.
Natural disasters, arranged marriage, and industrialization of her village are the challenges educated Rukmani must face as the bride of a peasant farmer in southern India in the early 1950s.
Mason, Bobbi Ann. In Country. Harper & Row, 1985. OBCB 1999.
After her father is killed in the Vietnam War, teenager Samantha Hughes lives with her uncle Emmett, whom she suspects suffers from the effects of Agent Orange. In struggling to understand the war and her father, Sam hangs out with a group of veterans, reads her father’s letters and diary, and travels with her uncle from their Kentucky hometown to Washington, D.C., to visit the Vietnam War Memorial.
McCullers, Carson. The Member of the Wedding. Houghton Mifflin, 1946. OBCB 1999.
Twelve-year-old tomboy Frankie Adams is determined to be the third party on her brother’s honeymoon, despite all advice. The day before the wedding she walks around town, meets a soldier, visits her father at work, and returns home for a talk with their housekeeper, Berenice, and her young, ill cousin, John Henry. Set in the South during World War II.
McKinley, Robin. Beauty. Harper & Row, 1978. OBCB 1999.
Ironically, Beauty’s sisters are the ones who grow up to be lovely, while she must be content with intelligence. The family is forced to abandon their comfortable life in the city and move to a country house on the edge of a dense forest. When their father plucks the wrong rose, Beauty saves his life by offering herself to the Beast. Love is the key to unlocking a curse and transforming the Beast into a man in this romantic, traditional retelling.
Mori, Kyoko. Shizuko’s Daughter. Henry Holt, 1993. OBCB 1999.
In the years following her mother’s suicide, Japanese teenager Yuki develops the inner strength to cope with her distant father, her resentful stepmother, and her haunting, painful memories. Yuki’s relationship with her grandmother helps, as do her artistic abilities and independent nature.
Morrison, Toni. Beloved. Knopf, 1987. OBCB 1999.
Preferring death over slavery for her children, Sethe murders her infant daughter who later mysteriously returns and almost destroys the lives of her mother and sister. In post–Civil War Ohio, Sethe recounts the horrors of life as a slave on Sweet Home Farm and her escape, offering some explanation for the tragedy that followed.
O’Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried: A Work of Fiction. Houghton Mifflin, 1990. OBCB 1999.
Interrelated short stories follow Tim O’Brien’s platoon of American soldiers through a variety of personal and military encounters during the Vietnam War.
O’Connor, Flannery. Everything That Rises Must Converge. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1965. OBCB 1999.
A collection of nine short stories about misfits in small southern towns that force the reader to confront hypocrisy, prejudice and complacency.
Potok, Chaim. The Chosen. Simon & Schuster, 1967. OBCB 1999.
A baseball injury brings two Jewish boys together in World War II–era Brooklyn. Both are sons of religious fathers. Danny’s father is a Hasidic rabbi who expects Danny to follow in his footsteps. Reuven’s father is Orthodox, and a Hebrew scholar. When they enter college, both boys study to be rabbis, one by choice, the other out of obligation.
Power, Susan. The Grass Dancer. Putnam, 1994. OBCB 1999.
Ending in the 1980s with the love story of Charlene Thunder and grass dancer Harley Wind Soldier, this multigenerational tale of a Sioux family is told in the voices of the living and the dead, reaching back to 1864. Power weaves magic, visions, and the spirit world into everyday life.
Shaara, Michael. The Killer Angels. McKay, 1974. OBCB 1999.
Officers and foot soldiers from both the Union and Confederacy approach and then fight the bloody Battle of Gettysburg. The battle is presented from the points of view of several important participants, providing a revealing portrayal of the turning point in the Civil War.
Steinbeck, John. The Grapes of Wrath. Viking, 1939. OBCB 1999.
An Oklahoma farmer and his family leave the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression to go to the promised land of California. The Joads endure a difficult journey only to encounter the hard life of migrant workers.
Uchida, Yoshiko. Picture Bride. Northland, 1987. OBCB 1999.
In the early 1900s, Hana Omiya journeys from her small village in Japan to the promised land of America to marry a man she has never met. Taro is older and less well-off than she expected, but they marry and raise a family, facing racial prejudice and financial struggle, but supported by close friendships. They lose everything when World War II arrives and they are sent to a relocation camp with only a few suitcases.
Watson, Larry. Montana 1948. Milkweed, 1993. OBCB 1999.
The summer he is 12, David watches as his family and small town are shattered by scandal and tragedy. His father is the sheriff. His uncle Frank is a war hero and the town doctor. When a young Sioux woman refuses to be treated by Frank, she reveals his reputation for raping Native American women.
Wright, Richard. Native Son. Harper, 1940. OBCB 1999.
For Bigger Thomas, an African American man accused of a crime in the white man’s world, there could be no extenuating circumstances, no explanations—only death. A young man in 1930s Chicago, Thomas commits two murders. His behavior is presented as inevitable due to the racist and unjust world in which he lives.
Yolen, Jane. Briar Rose. Tom Doherty, 1992. OBCB 1999.
Disturbed by her grandmother Gemma’s unique version of “Sleeping Beauty,” Rebecca seeks the truth behind the fairy tale. It leads her to Poland during the Holocaust, and the extermination of homosexuals in the concentration camps.
Nonfiction
Alvarez, Walter. T. Rex and the Crater of Doom. Princeton University Press, 1997. OBCB 1999.
Geologist Alvarez presents the development of the impact theory of dinosaur extinction as the adventure/mystery it was. Alvarez was one of the four scientists who proposed the theory, which was initially ridiculed by the scientific community. They proved it using geology and the discovery of the impact crater in the Yucatan Peninsula.
Aronson, Marc. Art Attack: A Short Cultural History of the Avant-Garde. Clarion, 1998. OBCB 1999.
Discover everything you ever wanted to know about bohemians, hipsters, and the development of the world’s most radical art. In this social history of art in the 20th century, the visual is accompanied by the musical and literary, from Stravinsky and Nijinsky to Warhol to rock and roll. Generous black-and-white illustrations are presented beside film and music recommendations, inviting readers to make this book a multimedia experience.
Asinof, Eliot. Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1963. OBCB 1999.
It’s all here: the players, the scandal, the shame, and the damage the 1919 World Series caused America’s national pastime. The scandal went far beyond the players to the owners, politicians, and gamblers. Asinof delves into the 1921 trial that made the players the scapegoats for everyone involved and re-creates the post–World War I time period in American history.
Atkin, S. Beth. Voices from the Streets: Young Former Gang Members Tell Their Stories. Little, Brown, 1996. OBCB 1999. o.p. (BBYA)
Gang members from all races and backgrounds describe why they joined, and why—and how—they left. Their first-person narratives are filled with street language and harsh events, made more positive by the fact that these young people are reconstructing their lives after leaving gang life. Black-and-white photographs of the subjects are included.
Bernstein, Leonard. The Joy of Music. Simon & Schuster, 1959. OBCB 1999.
Bernstein describes all aspects of classical music in a passionate, accessible narrative, even while admitting the impossibility of fully explaining organized sound with words. Bernstein addresses Beethoven, jazz and musical theater, opera, and the American symphony, always focusing on the music itself.
Blackstone, Harry, Jr. The Blackstone Book of Magic and Illusion. Newmarket Press, 1985. OBCB 1999, 2004.
The classic of legerdemain describes the rich history of modern magic from ancient times to the present, including vaudeville, Broadway, Vegas, and television. Illustrated with black-and-white photographs, Blackstone’s book reveals the secrets and psychology behind popular magic tricks and effects. The foreword is by Ray Bradbury.
Blais, Madeleine. In These Girls, Hope Is a Muscle. Atlantic Monthly Press, 1995. OBCB 1999. (BBYA)
Learn about the year of heart, sweat, and muscle that transformed the Amherst Lady Hurricanes basketball team into state champions. Blais follows this high school basketball team through its 1992–93 season, covering the lives of the individual players, how they developed into a winning team, and the small town that united behind them.
Bodanis, David. The Secret Family: Twenty-four Hours Inside the Mysterious World of Our Minds and Bodies. Simon & Schuster, 1997. OBCB 1999. o.p. (Alex Award)
The unseen world around us and within our bodies is shown in vivid detail as we follow a typical family through their day. Photography and text combine to awe and disgust the reader. Bodanis reveals everything from the ingredients in baby food, to the germs exchanged during a first kiss, to the disturbing effects of antibiotics.
Boorstin, Jon. Making Movies Work: Thinking like a Filmmaker. Silman-James Press, 1996. OBCB 1999.
Both novice and expert can enjoy this behind-the-scenes look at the art of filmmaking. Boorstin posits that movies must work on three levels: voyeur, vicarious, and visceral. Successful films make the audience feel, and Boorstin writes about the craft necessary to create that success.
Brown, Dee. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West. Holt, Rinehart, and Winston, 1970. OBCB 1999.
There’s another side of America’s western expansion: the one seen through Native American eyes. Brown tells how American Indians lost their land to white settlers from 1860 to 1890, tracing history from the Long Walk to Wounded Knee, and the brutal results of resistance.
Brumberg, Joan Jacobs. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. Random House, 1997. OBCB 1999.
The historical evolution of body perception has turned the value system of American girls inside out. Brumberg traces physical enhancements through the 19th and 20th centuries, from clothing and makeup to piercings and diets. She also covers cultural changes that have affected menstruation, hygiene, and sexuality. Generous illustrations and primary-source research augment the text.
Carson, Rachel. Silent Spring. Houghton Mifflin, 1962. OBCB 1999.
This landmark book gave birth to the environmental movement and is still chillingly relevant today. Carson writes about pesticides and other chemicals, and the way in which they are poisoning the natural world and making their way into our food sources.
Chang, Iris. The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II. Basic Books, 1997. OBCB 1999, 2009.
Barely a postscript in official Japanese history, the horrific torture and murder of hundreds of thousands of Chinese citizens took place over the course of just seven weeks. The Japanese army invaded Nanking in December 1937 and proceeded to slaughter over 300,000 soldiers and civilians. Chang analyzes the continued Japanese denial of responsibility, then turns to the story of a German businessman who persuaded Hitler to put a stop to the killing.
Clark, Kenneth. Civilisation: A Personal View. Harper & Row, 1969. OBCB 1999. o.p.
Clark explores history through the works, impulses, and beliefs of the great creative individuals of Western civilization. This book is the companion to an acclaimed BBC television series in which Clark illuminated European and American cultural history from the fall of the Roman Empire to the present.
Cooke, Mervyn. The Chronicle of Jazz. Abbeville Press, 1998. OBCB 1999. o.p.
Cooke provides a comprehensive guide to this uniquely American musical form. This is a chronological, year-by-year history of jazz from the turn of the century to the early 1990s, including discographies, biographies, and photographs, which takes into account the roots of the form as well as its interaction with other musical styles.
Copland, Aaron. What to Listen For in Music. McGraw-Hill, 1939. OBCB 1999.
The composer provides a basic introduction to the mysteries of musical composition and music appreciation. Copland takes the reader through the fundamentals (rhythm, melody, harmony, tone color), then introduces texture, classical forms (sonata, fugal, variation, etc.) and contexts, such as opera and film.
Cumming, Robert. Annotated Art. Dorling Kindersley, 1995. OBCB 1999. o.p.
Art masterpieces from the 14th century to the present are made understandable through the exploration of some of the world’s greatest paintings. Each painting is briefly interpreted from a variety of angles: technique, subject matter, time period, artist, and symbolism.
Day, David. The Search for King Arthur. Facts on File, 1995. OBCB 1999. o.p.
Discover through magnificent illustrations and romantic retellings what is fact and what is legend about this fifth-century hero, Artorius Dux Bellorum. Incorporating literature, art, religion, and politics, Day places Arthur, as well as related people and events, in context.
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. Norton, 1997. OBCB 1999, 2004.
Why do some societies become rich and powerful while others remain poor and powerless? Diamond, an evolutionary biologist, contends that three elements—guns, germs, and steel—determined the course of history. The rise of human civilizations is explained in terms of geography, ecology, and the development of agriculture.
Dorris, Michael. The Broken Cord. Harper & Row, 1989. OBCB 1999.
Dorris, part Native American, was 26 and single when he decided to adopt a child. He knew that Adam was small for his age, and behind his peers developmentally. However, the persistent physical and emotional problems of his adopted son baffled him until he learned the condition had a name: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.
Du Bois, W. E. B. The Souls of Black Folk: Essays and Sketches. A. C. McClurg, 1903. OBCB 1999.
Educator Du Bois describes the lives and history of African American farmers, including the career of Booker T. Washington. In this collection of 14 essays, Du Bois illuminates the injustices of being an African American at the turn of the 20th century, and declares race to be the 20th century’s most important issue.
Due, Linnea. Joining the Tribe: Growing Up Gay and Lesbian in the ’90s. Anchor Books, 1995. OBCB 1999.
Being young and gay in America means surviving cruelty, abuse, and isolation, as these individual stories of courage from teens around the country attest. There are also tales of support from family, friends, and communities. Due provides context and commentary while allowing the teens to tell their own stories.
Edelman, Marion Wright. The Measure of Our Success: A Letter to My Children and Yours. Beacon Press, 1992. OBCB 1999.
A child advocate shares her thoughts on values, raising families, service, and the future of our country. Edelman founded the Children’s Defense Fund, is a civil rights attorney, and raised three sons. Here she shares 25 Lessons for Life and a letter to her sons.
Epictetus and Sharon Lebell. The Art of Living: The Classic Manual on Virtue, Happiness, and Effectiveness. HarperCollins, 1995. OBCB 1999.
A modern interpretation of the Stoic philosopher (Epictetus was born in 55 A.D.) answers the timeless questions of how to be a good person and live a good life. Lebell updates his advice, which is based on knowing the difference between what we can and cannot control and responding to life accordingly.
Faludi, Susan. Backlash: The Undeclared War against American Women. Crown, 1991. OBCB 1999.
This unflinching analysis examines the current status of American women and gender equality. Faludi posits that the achievements of feminism unleashed a backlash against women in the 1980s and finds evidence in TV, film, advertising, fashion, politics, and popular psychology. A model of passionate writing and meticulous research.
Finn, David. How to Look at Sculpture: Text and Photographs. Harry N. Abrams, 1989. OBCB 1999. o.p.
To understand sculpture, you have to know what to look for. Finn teaches the reader how to fully experience and appreciate sculpture: the importance of viewing from multiple angles, placement of the sculpture, light, touch, texture, form, and materials. The author includes examples from a variety of time periods and cultures, and his photographs are especially elucidating.
Ford, Michael Thomas. The Voices of AIDS: Twelve Unforgettable People Talk about How AIDS Has Changed Their Lives. Morrow Junior Books, 1995. OBCB 1999. o.p. (BBYA)
Individuals whose AIDS experiences have been catalysts for making a difference share their poignant and personal stories. All twelve, both men and women, are active in the fight against AIDS, and for AIDS education. Informational sections alternate with the interviews.
Fouts, Roger. Next of Kin: What Chimpanzees Have Taught Me about Who We Are. Morrow, 1997. OBCB 1999.
Describing his career of communicating with chimpanzees, Fouts explains evolutionary, genetic, and emotional bonds with our next of kin. In particular, Fouts relates his experiences with the chimpanzees in his American Sign Language program, including his groundbreaking work on Project Washoe.
Freedman, Samuel G. Small Victories: The Real World of a Teacher, Her Students, and Their High School. Harper & Row, 1989. OBCB 1999.
How does New York’s Seward Park, an overcrowded, underfunded inner-city high school, send 92 percent of its graduates to college? Freedman follows one English teacher, Jessica Siegel, through the 1987–88 school year, alternating her experience with chapters about other members of the school community.
Fremon, Celeste. Father Greg and the Homeboys: The Extraordinary Journey of Father Greg Boyle and His Work with the Latino Gangs of East L.A. Hyperion, 1995. OBCB 1999. o.p. (BBYA)
Conscience, parent, motivator, drill sergeant: Father Greg was all this and more to the gangbangers who called his barrio parish community home. Boyle worked to find jobs and schooling for the kids in his neighborhood, helping them to change their lives. Fremon intersperses first-person narratives from several of the boys.
Garfunkel, Trudy. On Wings of Joy: The Story of Ballet from the 16th Century to Today. Little, Brown, 1994. OBCB 1999, 2004.
Immerse yourself in the world of ballet, from its earliest choreography to the life of a modern ballerina. Garfunkel provides entertaining, comprehensive coverage of the history of ballet, as well as the lives of the great dancers, choreographers, and composers involved.
Goldberg, Vicki. The Power of Photographs: How Photography Changed Our Lives. Abbeville Press, 1991. OBCB 1999.
Photographers and photographs evolve, rather than springing forth fully formed. The history of the photograph is traced from the daguerreotype to the present, and specific, famous photographs are reproduced and studied for their influence on larger events such as the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement.
Gombrich, E. H. The Story of Art. Phaidon, 1995 (original: Phaidon, 1950). OBCB 1999.
Everything from cave paintings to the experimental art of today is covered, in words and pictures, in one of the most famous and popular art books ever published. This 16th edition has enhanced and expanded illustrations, improved captions, and a new index.
Gould, Stephen Jay. The Mismeasure of Man. Norton, 1981. OBCB 1999.
Gould’s history of the attempt to quantify intelligence could be called the “misuse of science.” He demonstrates that those who insisted on finding ways to measure intelligence throughout history did so in order to maintain their own position as the most worthy, in particular white European men.
Green, Bill. Water, Ice, and Stone: Science and Memory on the Antarctic Lakes. Harmony Books, 1995. OBCB 1999.
A chemist investigates Antarctica’s ice-covered lakes and discovers beauty and poetry. This is an account of fieldwork in Antarctica that illuminates the process of scientific research, while delivering an adventure story and a personal reflection on what motivates us to explore our world.
Hafner, Katie, and Matthew Lyon. Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet. Simon & Schuster, 1996. OBCB 1999.
The origins of the world’s first computer network are explained, with tales of the motivations, breakthroughs, and personalities that created it. It began with ARPANET, a network created in the 1960s to link research laboratory computers across the country. The authors profile the men, agencies, and universities that made the Internet possible, substantiated by extensive interviews.
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology. Little, Brown, 1942. OBCB 1999.
Gods and heroes, their clashes and adventures, come alive in this splendid retelling of the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths.
Hawking, Stephen. A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. Bantam, 1988. OBCB 1999.
Cosmology becomes understandable as the author discusses the origin, evolution, and fate of our universe. Hawking addresses cutting-edge questions about gravity, black holes, time, and the Big Bang in a manner accessible to the lay reader.
Hersch, Patricia. A Tribe Apart: A Journey into the Heart of American Adolescence. Fawcett Columbine, 1998. OBCB 1999.
An intimate three-year journey through contemporary adolescence with eight “typical” teens in Reston, Virginia, reveals a separate culture spawned not from personal choice, but rather from adult alienation and abandonment. Hersch concludes that teenagers want and need more guidance and attention.
Hersey, John. Hiroshima. Knopf, 1946. OBCB 1999.
Six Hiroshima survivors reflect on the aftermath of the first atomic bomb. Hersey begins with what each person was doing when the bomb was dropped, then follows them through the aftermath.
Holy Bible: New Revised Standard Version. Collins, 1973. OBCB 1999.
Biblical scholars revise text and modernize terms to bring one version of the Bible up-to-date.
Hubbell, Sue. A Country Year: Living the Questions. Random House, 1986. OBCB 1999.
A former wife and librarian observes her natural surroundings during a year spent as a beekeeper on a beautiful Ozark farm. Most of the short chapters are essays about a particular plant or animal and include a small sketch. Hubbell’s writing is shaped by the seasons of honey production and her own constantly inquiring mind.
Humes, Edward. No Matter How Loud I Shout: A Year in the Life of Juvenile Court. Simon & Schuster, 1996. OBCB 1999.
Humes paints a tragic and heartbreaking portrait of the chaos characterizing America’s juvenile justice system where, as one inmate writes, “my screams have no voice, no matter how loud I shout.” Humes spent 1994 studying the system in Los Angeles, following the cases of seven young people and some of the adults trying to work effectively within it.
Jonas, Gerald. Dancing: The Pleasure, Power, and Art of Movement. Harry N. Abrams, 1992. OBCB 1999.
This international survey explores dance as social, cultural, and religious expression. This illustrated volume was created as the companion to a 1983 television series which brought together experts from across the field. Dancing spans the world, including both Western and non-Western, traditional and modern, and points out similarities in the way dance is used in various societies.
Jones, K. Maurice. Say It Loud! The Story of Rap Music. Millbrook Press, 1994. OBCB 1999. o.p.
From a village in West Africa to a street in Brooklyn to MTV, rappers make the Scene. Jones traces rap music from its birth thousands of years ago, to its dissemination via the slave trade, through its effects on young people today. The inclusion of quotes, lyrics, and photographs, as well as careful documentation, create a complete study of a popular culture.
Junger, Sebastian. The Perfect Storm: A True Story of Men against the Sea. Norton, 1997. OBCB 1999. (Alex Award)
Haunting premonitions didn’t save seven fisherman from the ferocious and deadly power of the sea. Junger interviewed survivors, Coast Guard rescue swimmers, and family members to create an adventure narrative about the doomed swordfish boat and crew that perished in October 1991 off the coast of Nova Scotia.
Karnos, David D., and Robert G. Shoemaker, eds. Falling in Love with Wisdom: American Philosophers Talk about Their Calling. Oxford University Press, 1993. OBCB 1999.
Contemporary philosophers share their contemplations and epiphanies. Sixty-two short essays by today’s teachers of philosophy reveal different paths to the discipline, and a passion for the study of meaning.
Kendall, Elizabeth. Where She Danced. Knopf, 1979. OBCB 1999. o.p.
The contributions of major innovators and the conditions of their times are the basis for this history of modern American dance. Kendall studies the ancestors of modern art dance in America, from spectacle-extravaganzas to the revival of ballet as an art form, Ruth St. Denis, Martha Graham, musical theater, and Hollywood.
Kerner, Mary. Barefoot to Balanchine: How to Watch Dance. Anchor Books, 1990. OBCB 1999. o.p.
Understand dance by reading about its history, choreography, and backstage action. Kerner teaches readers to evaluate dance by outlining the elements (basic steps, techniques, and types of movement), and what to watch for in a performance.
Kolb, Rocky. Blind Watchers of the Sky: The People and Ideas That Shaped Our View of the Universe. Addison-Wesley, 1996. OBCB 1999.
Kolb delivers a witty and lively history of astronomy and cosmology over the last 400 years. He emphasizes the process of discovery as a disorganized human struggle, presenting major leaps of understanding in a humorous manner.
Kotlowitz, Alex. The Other Side of the River: A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America’s Dilemma. Nan A. Talese, 1998. OBCB 1999.
Geographically, only a river separates two closely neighboring towns, but the murder mystery surrounding the death of a young black man exposes a deeply rooted racial divide. Eric McGinnis’s body was found in that Michigan river in 1991. On one side predominantly white St. Joseph, on the other poverty-ridden predominantly African American Benton Harbor.
Kozol, Jonathan. Savage Inequalities: Children in America’s Schools. Crown, 1991. OBCB 1999.
Kozol’s stinging indictment of America’s public school system advocates an equal distribution of per pupil funding to right the gross inequities in our current system. Visiting schools around the country, he found tracking that separates minority children into secondary tiers. Teachers and students speak for themselves, revealing appalling conditions and racial segregation.
Krakauer, John. Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster. Villard, 1997. OBCB 1999. (Alex Award, BBYA)
His dream expedition to Everest became a nightmare when human error and a sudden storm combined to claim the lives of some of the world’s best mountain climbers. Krakauer went to Nepal in 1996 to report on the commercialization of climbing to the peak, and came away with a tragic narrative of survivor’s guilt, questions about the presence of amateur climbers in such a setting, and the responsibilities of the relationship between guides and clients.
McCloud, Scott. Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art. Kitchen Sink Press, 1993. OBCB 1999.
A comic book asks and answers the question of whether or not comics are a literary form. McCloud tells the history of using pictures to tell stories and explains how comics are created and how they should be read.
McPhee, John. In Suspect Terrain. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1982. OBCB 1999.
Traveling along I-80 from New York City to Chicago with geologist Anita Harris, McPhee describes the geologic features that reveal the history of the Appalachians. Harris does not accept all of the elements of plate tectonic theory and glacial geology as they stand; this work reveals the questions still being studied and the land that provides the evidence.
Murray, Albert. Stomping the Blues. McGraw-Hill, 1976. OBCB 1999.
An aficionado gives the lowdown on what the blues are, what they are not, and their origins. Murray also finds the connections between blues and both art music and popular music today.
Occhiogrosso, Peter. The Joy of Sects: A Spirited Guide to the World’s Religious Traditions. Doubleday, 1994. OBCB 1999.
This lively, easy-to-understand guidebook to world religions is for everyone from the faithful believer to the curious doubter. Contains chapters on Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and New Age religions.
O’Gorman, James F. ABC of Architecture. University of Pennsylvania Press, 1998. OBCB 1999.
Function, structure, and beauty are the interdependent basics—the ABC—of architecture. Writing for the beginner, O’Gorman provides a concise introduction to both the history and theory of the topic.
Paulos, John Allen. Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences. Hill and Wang, 1988. OBCB 1999.
Paulos illustrates the importance of understanding (and the consequences of misunderstanding) mathematical concepts in everyday life. Entertaining anecdotes balance diatribe proving innumeracy equal in significance to illiteracy in modern society.
Penn, W. S., ed. The Telling of the World: Native American Stories and Art. Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, 1996. OBCB 1999. o.p.
Traditional and contemporary legends, stories, and art from many North American tribes explain our world. The book is organized according to the life cycle, from birth through adolescence, marriage, family, old age, death, and renewal. Tales are inventively paired with contemporary art.
Petroski, Henry. Invention by Design: How Engineers Get from Thought to Thing. Harvard University Press, 1996. OBCB 1999.
Using examples from paper clips to monumental bridges, Petroski shows how engineers work. A series of case studies is presented, enhanced by illustrations and quotes from patent applications. Petroski shows how technical failures are resolved and inventions are made economically affordable.
Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. Putnam, 1994. OBCB 1999.
Pipher looks at societal “girl poisoning” and the emotional and psychological havoc it wreaks on the lives of young women. She uses case histories, anecdotal evidence, and research findings, as well as her own work as a psychotherapist, to demonstrate the difficulties and dangers faced by teenage girls in today’s world.
Regis, Ed. Virus Ground Zero: Stalking the Killer Viruses with the Centers for Disease Control. Pocket Books, 1996. OBCB 1999.
The history of the CDC is told through the handling of the 1995 Ebola outbreak in Zaire. Regis presents the CDC as a heroic institution, successfully combating infectious disease since its creation in the 1940s.
Rybczynski, Witold. The Most Beautiful House in the World. Viking, 1989. OBCB 1999.
The author’s dream of building a boat evolves into the expansion of a boathouse into a full-scale home, a process he uses to explain complex architectural ideas. Rybczynski meditates on the meaning of a house and the nature of an architect’s work.
Sheehan, Neil. A Bright Shining Lie: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam. Random House, 1988. OBCB 1999.
A soldier exposes the corruption undermining the American war effort in Vietnam. Lt. Col. John Paul Vann was an army field adviser who became disillusioned with the way the war was being fought and run. He shared his pessimism with the press in Saigon, including Sheehan. Several years of research resulted in this blend of biography, history, and Sheehan’s own memories of the conflict.
Sherman, Robert, and Philip Seldon. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Classical Music. Alpha Books, 1997. OBCB 1999. o.p.
This practical guide will help the reader to understand and enjoy classical music. The authors cover all the basics, including a history of classical music, composers, performers, instrumental and vocal music including opera, identifying the sound of particular instruments, concert hall etiquette, starting a listening collection, and even buying a sound system.
Simon, David, and Edward Burns. The Corner: A Year in the Life of an Inner-City Neighborhood. Broadway Books, 1997. OBCB 1999.
Crack owns this corner and infects the lives of all those within reach. Simon and Burns (creators of the HBO series The Wire) follow the McCullough family for a year, exposing life on the drug-filled streets of Baltimore.
Singh, Simon. Fermat’s Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World’s Greatest Mathematical Problem. Walker, 1997. OBCB 1999.
A Princeton professor pursues a lifelong dream of solving a 350-year-old mathematical puzzle. Singh follows the story of Andrew Wiles, who worked in solitude for seven years before presenting a solution for Fermat’s theorem in 1993, while tracing the failed attempts that preceded his.
Sobel, Dava. Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time. Walker, 1995. OBCB 1999, 2004.
The little-known story behind the greatest innovation in navigational science: an 18th-century version of the GPS. The English government created a contest with an incredibly generous cash prize for the person who could devise a way to determine east-west position while at sea. The popular option was astronomy, but clockmaker John Harrison’s chronometer eventually proved the solution to the problem.
Spiegelman, Art. The Complete Maus: A Survivor’s Tale. Knopf/Pantheon, 1996. OBCB 1999, 2009.
The author portrays his parents’ experiences during the Holocaust, their time at Auschwitz, survival, and years in the United States in this seminal graphic novel. Spiegelman also reveals his own struggle to come to terms with the past, the success of Maus: A Survivor’s Tale, and the effects of his choice to represent the Nazis as cats and the Jews as mice.
Strickland, Carol. The Annotated Mona Lisa: A Crash Course in Art History from Prehistoric to Post-Modern. Andrews McMeel, 2007. OBCB 1999, 2009.
In an accessible format, this unique work provides a basic working knowledge of art and art history through short essays, sidebars, and photographs. Strickland covers it all, from cave paintings to digital media.
Stringer, Christopher, and Robin McKie. African Exodus: The Origins of Modern Humanity. Henry Holt, 1997. OBCB 1999. o.p.
The authors support the theory of a single origin of modern humanity with paleoanthropological, archaeological, and DNA evidence. They show that all modern-day humans are of one race, which originated in Africa less than 100,000 years ago. The many complexities surrounding human evolution are elucidated, using numerous illustrations for clarification.
Thomas, Lewis. The Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher. Viking, 1974. OBCB 1999.
Twenty-nine short essays offer an optimistic scientist’s view of a wide variety of subjects.
Watson, James D. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery and Structure of DNA. Atheneum, 1968. OBCB 1999.
The author re-creates the excitement of co-discovering the structure of DNA with Francis Crick and winning the Nobel Prize as a result. Watson demonstrates to the nonscientist how the scientific method works, and shares his experiences, warts and all.
Williams, Juan. Eyes on the Prize: America’s Civil Rights Years, 1954–1965. Viking, 1987. OBCB 1999.
From Brown v. Board of Education to the Voting Rights Act, Williams outlines the social and political gains of African Americans, detailing the events of the civil rights movement. Photographs and words by participants are interspersed.
Yolen, Jane, ed. Favorite Folktales from Around the World. Pantheon, 1986. OBCB 1999.
This collection of international folktales provides an understanding of the roots of diverse cultures. The tales are grouped by theme, and each section is introduced by Yolen, who emphasizes connections to a tradition of oral storytelling around the world. One hundred and sixty tales from over 40 cultures are included, both classics and lesser-known stories.
Biography
Isabel Allende
Allende, Isabel. Paula. HarperCollins, 1995. OBCB 1999.
At the bedside of her dying daughter, Allende spins tales of childhood, of ancestors, and of becoming a novelist. In this memoir she tells of her childhood in Chile, her uncle Salvador’s reign as president of Chile and his violent death, and the family’s flight to Venezuela. Allende writes of her own mother, her grandmother, her marriages, and occasionally touches on fantasy.
American Service Personnel
Edelman, Bernard, ed. Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam. Norton, 1985. OBCB 1999.
Letters from those who made it back and from those who did not return provide a glimpse into the lives of the men and women who served during the Vietnam War.
Maya Angelou
Angelou, Maya. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Random House, 1970. OBCB 1999.
In the first of her five autobiographies, the African American writer, poet, and actress traces her coming of age in 1930s and ’40s America. After their parents separate, Marguerite (Maya) and her brother (ages 3 and 4) are shuttled between living with their grandmother in rural Arkansas, and their mother in St. Louis and later San Francisco. Maya endures rape at a young age, a later unwanted pregnancy, and the loss of her brother to the merchant marines.
Russell Baker
Baker, Russell. Growing Up. Congdon & Weed, 1982. OBCB 1999.
A columnist with a sense of humor takes a gentle look at his childhood in Virginia, New Jersey, and Baltimore during the Depression. Baker intersperses stories of his mother’s and father’s lives before his birth with those of his own youth, enlistment in the Navy, meeting his future wife, and becoming a Baltimore Sun reporter in 1950.
Marie Curie
Curie, Eve. Madam Curie: A Biography. Doubleday, 1937. OBCB 1999.
In sharing personal papers and her own memories, a daughter pays tribute to her unique and generous mother, a scientific genius. Eve Curie emphasizes her mother’s achievements: her work on radioactivity, her discovery of radium and polonium, and winning the Nobel Prize twice, in physics and chemistry.
Frederick Douglass
Douglass, Frederick. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself. Anti-Slavery Office, 1845. OBCB 1999.
Former slave and famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass describes the horrors of his enslavement and eventual escape. Born into slavery, Douglass escaped in 1838 at the age of 20 and moved to Massachusetts, where he began his abolitionist activities.
Richard Feynman
Feynman, Richard P., as told to Ralph Leighton. Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman: Adventures of a Curious Character. Norton, 1985. OBCB 1999.
This Nobel Prize–winning physicist was also a bongo drummer, a practical joker, and a loving husband. His autobiography is a series of anecdotes based on conversations with Ralph Leighton during drumming sessions.
Anne Frank
Frank, Anne. Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl. Doubleday, 1952. OBCB 1999. (BBYA)
In 1942 Amsterdam, Anne and her sister and parents went into hiding in an attempt to escape deportment to a concentration camp. Through the diary she kept, 13-year-old Anne Frank put a human face on the Holocaust experience.
John Hockenberry
Hockenberry, John. Moving Violations: War Zones, Wheelchairs, and Declarations of Independence. Hyperion, 1995. OBCB 1999. (BBYA)
Journalist Hockenberry is fearless and funny as he relates the personal and professional experiences he encounters from his wheelchair. He shares how he was left a paraplegic after a car accident at age 19, then tells of his rehab, marriage, and being an NPR correspondent in the Middle East.
Stonewall Jackson
Robertson, James I. Stonewall Jackson: The Man, the Soldier, the Legend. Macmillan, 1997. OBCB 1999.
Both the genius and the failings of the confederate Civil War general are chronicled in this meticulous account, which emphasizes Jackson’s religious faith and military career.
Ji-li Jiang
Jiang, Ji-li. Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution. HarperCollins, 1997. OBCB 1999. (BBYA)
A young Chinese girl must make difficult choices when the government urges her to repudiate her ancestors and inform on her own parents. Jiang was 12 in 1966, when the Cultural Revolution began. Her family suffered because Jiang’s grandfather was once a landlord. Over time Jiang transforms from a follower to a young adult who questions those in power.
Mary Karr
Karr, Mary. The Liars’ Club: A Memoir. Viking, 1995. OBCB 1999.
Growing up in “a family of liars and drunks” is never easy, and yet, despite alcoholism, rape, and other dark secrets, the author makes childhood in an east Texas refinery town sound as funny as it was painful.
Helen Keller
Keller, Helen. The Story of My Life. Grosset & Dunlap, 1902. OBCB 1999.
Overcoming deafness and blindness to become an outstanding citizen, Helen Keller embodies courage, passion, and perseverance. Keller writes about the illness that left her disabled; learning to express herself, to read and write and speak; her relationship with her teacher, Annie Sullivan; and life through her second year at Radcliffe.
Yelena Khanga
Khanga, Yelena, and Susan Jacoby. Soul to Soul: A Black Russian American Family, 1865–1992. Norton, 1992. OBCB 1999. o.p.
A young Russian journalist of African American and Jewish heritage analyzes and compares attitudes on race, religion, and sexism in Russia and America. After growing up in white, anti-America Soviet Union, Khanga worked at Moscow News and then in Boston at the Christian Science Monitor. In America she tracked down her relatives and had strong reactions to the racism she encountered.
Jamaica Kincaid
Kincaid, Jamaica. My Brother. Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 1997. OBCB 1999.
The author returns to the Caribbean island of her birth to help care for her younger brother who is dying of AIDS. She never knew him well because she left for the United States when she was 16 and he was only 3. Caring for her brother during his last year, Kincaid also faces up to her difficult relationship with their mother.
Meriwether Lewis
Ambrose, Stephen E. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West. Simon & Schuster, 1996. OBCB 1999.
Lewis and Clark brave the wilds of North America in a vivid account of exploration and adventure. This biography of Meriwether Lewis relies on the journals of both Lewis and Clark, as well as the author’s own travels along their route. Lewis lived in the White House as secretary to Thomas Jefferson for two years, and was hand-picked for the expedition. Following the years of exploration, Lewis suffered from depression and took his own life.
Mark Mathabane
Mathabane, Mark. Kaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa. Macmillan, 1986. OBCB 1999.
Growing up under the brutalities of apartheid South Africa, Mathabane describes the growing unrest in his country. Mathabane was born outside Johannesburg, the son of desperately poor parents. His mother sacrificed to send him to school where he excelled, eventually escaping to America on a tennis scholarship.
James Mcbride and Ruth Mcbride-Jordan
McBride, James. The Color of Water: A Black Man’s Tribute to His White Mother. Riverhead, 1996. OBCB 1999.
McBride’s father, a black Harlem musician, and his mother, the daughter of an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, married in 1942. The author blends his own story with that of his white mother, who battled poverty and racism to raise 12 children in Queens.
Frank McCourt
McCourt, Frank. Angela’s Ashes: A Memoir. Scribner, 1996. OBCB 1999.
Illness, hunger, alcoholism, and death plagued McCourt’s childhood in Ireland, but somehow he survived with his spirit and humor intact. His father drank what little money the family had, his mother was reduced to begging for assistance, and he lost three siblings to sickness. As a teenager, McCourt learned to be ashamed of poverty and discovered Shakespeare and the Irish Catholic Church.
Ved Mehta
Mehta, Ved. Sound-Shadows of the New World. Norton, 1985. OBCB 1999.
Leaving his home, family, country, and culture behind, a blind Indian 15-year-old boy travels to Arkansas in 1949 to attend a special school where he is challenged by handicap, loneliness, poor preparation, and culture shock. He learns to walk without a cane, using the school’s system of sounds and shadows, and eventually leaves for college in California.
Ann Moody
Moody, Ann. Coming of Age in Mississippi. Dial Press, 1968. OBCB 1999.
One of the first brave young African American students to participate in a lunch counter sit-in, Moody becomes a heroine of the civil rights movement. Moody grew up in the rural South in the 1940s and ’50s; Emmett Till’s lynching took place one week before she began high school. An excellent student, she won a basketball scholarship to college, and began to join in demonstrations and sit-ins.
Pat Mora
Mora, Pat. House of Houses. Beacon Press, 1997. OBCB 1999.
With magic and imagination, author Pat Mora weaves the voices of her ancestors into her own personal account of growing up in a Mexican American family in El Paso, Texas. The story begins with a visit to the cemetery, where all of her relatives come alive. Songs, recipes, and stories enliven this account in 12 chapters, one for each month of a year in the family’s life.
Luis Rodriguez
Rodriguez, Luis. Always Running: La Vida Loca, Gang Days in L.A. Curbstone Press, 1993. OBCB 1999.
Hoping to dissuade his son from the life, Rodriguez tells the story of his youth in a Los Angeles gang in the 1960s and ’70s. Rodriguez found a way out through poetry and education, and recounts his experiences as a Chicano activist.
Richard Rodriguez
Rodriguez, Richard. Hunger of Memory: The Education of Richard Rodriguez; An Autobiography. D. R. Godine, 1982. OBCB 1999.
Rodriguez is the son of Mexican immigrants whose journey through the educational system convinced him that family, culture, and language must be left behind to succeed in mainstream America. Hunger of Memory was controversial upon publication due to the author’s criticism of affirmative action; Rodriguez did not believe he should be considered a minority, thanks to his education.
Tsar Nicholas Romanov and Tsarina Alexandra
Massie, Robert K. Nicholas and Alexandra. Atheneum, 1967. OBCB 1999.
On the brink of revolution, the last tsar of Russia and his family become victims of their own mismanagement and personal problems. While the royal family is Massie’s focus, he presents a clear picture of Russia as a whole during the time period.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Cook, Blanche Wiesen. Eleanor Roosevelt: Vol. 1, 1884–1933. Viking, 1992. OBCB 1999.
Born into a privileged world, Eleanor Roosevelt became a champion of the underprivileged and a fighter for human rights. After a difficult childhood, Eleanor was orphaned at age 12 and taken in by relatives, fell in love with and married her cousin, then found an agenda of her own, supporting the rights of women, children, and workers.
Harry S. Truman
McCullough, David G. Truman. Simon & Schuster, 1992. OBCB 1999.
This notable president earned America’s respect by helping to end World War II and reshape the world for postwar peace. McCullough evaluates Truman’s presidency and praises him for being an ordinary American with solid values. The controversies of his presidency included dropping the atomic bomb, sending troops into the Korean War, establishing the CIA, and desegregating the armed forces.
Tobias Wolff
Wolff, Tobias. This Boy’s Life: A Memoir. Atlantic Monthly Press, 1989. OBCB 1999.
In and out of trouble in his youth, this charter member of the “Bad Boys’ Club” survives boyhood in this coming-of-age memoir. After his parents divorce when he is 10, Wolff moves with his mother from Florida to the Pacific Northwest to avoid a violent boyfriend. When she remarries, he must deal with an abusive stepfather until escaping to a boarding school back east.
Richard Wright
Wright, Richard. Black Boy: A Record of Childhood and Youth. Harper, 1945. OBCB 1999.
Wright writes his autobiography as a novel, recalling his pre–World War II youth in the Jim Crow South, when racial and personal obstacles seemed insurmountable.
Malcolm X
Malcolm X with the assistance of Alex Haley. The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Grove Press, 1965. OBCB 1999.
A great and controversial Black Muslim figure relates his transformation from street hustler to religious and national leader. Malcolm Little moved to Michigan after his father was killed by white supremacists. He spent years in foster homes, then as a drug dealer and pimp in New York and Boston. While in prison, he converted and joined the Nation of Islam, changed his name, and quickly became a leader in the organization. He later left the Nation of Islam, but continued as an activist until his assassination in 1965.
Drama
Albee, Edward. Three Tall Women. Dramatists Play Service, 1994. OBCB 1999.
A frustrated 92-year-old reveals three arduous and painful stages of her life, embodied by three versions of the same woman (one in her 20s, one at 52, and one at 92). She remembers the fun of childhood, her marriage, and her biggest regret, that she and her gay son are estranged.
Beckett, Samuel. Waiting for Godot. Grove Press, 1954. OBCB 1999.
Two tramps wait eternally for the elusive Godot in this first success of the Theater of the Absurd. Estagon and Vladimir (Gogo and Didi) consider various activities and conversations to pass the time as they spend two days waiting along the side of a road.
Bernstein, Leonard, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim. West Side Story. Random House, 1958. OBCB 1999.
The “American” Jets and Puerto Rican Sharks, rival gangs on the west side of New York City, battle it out in song and dance as Tony and Maria fall in love in this musical based on Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.
Christie, Agatha. Mousetrap. Samuel French, 1954. OBCB 1999.
A group of guests are stranded at an inn by a snowstorm. The next day, a police sergeant arrives to tell them that a woman was murdered in London, and that her murderer is likely among their group.
Coward, Noel. Blithe Spirit. Doubleday, Doran, 1941. OBCB 1999.
A drawing-room farce in which a novelist’s second marriage is disturbed by the ghost of his first wife.
Fugard, Athol. “Master Harold” . . . and the Boys. Knopf, 1982. OBCB 1999.
This one-act play takes place in a tea room in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, in 1950. Hally, a precocious white teenager and son of the tea room owner, lashes out at two older black friends who are substitute figures for his alcoholic father, who is returning home from the hospital later that day.
Hansberry, Lorraine. A Raisin in the Sun. Random House, 1959. OBCB 1999.
The sudden appearance of money tears a 1950s African American family apart. Mama uses most of the money to buy a house for the family, which is in a white neighborhood, promising difficulties with the neighbors.
Hellman, Lillian. The Little Foxes. Random House, 1939. OBCB 1999.
Members of the greedy and treacherous Hubbard family compete with each other for control of the mill that will bring them riches in the post–Civil War South. In a play resembling a Greek tragedy, Regina and her two brothers wish to borrow money from Regina’s ill husband in order to invest in the cotton mill. When he refuses, the depth of Regina’s hatred is revealed.
Ibsen, Henrik. A Doll’s House. Joshua James Press, 1879. OBCB 1999.
In this 19th-century Scandinavian play, Nora, one of feminism’s great heroines, steps off her pedestal and encounters the real world. When her lawyer husband repudiates her innocent actions out of concern for his own reputation, Nora sees her life clearly for the first time and leaves her family behind.
Ionesco, Eugene. Rhinoceros. Grove Press, 1959. OBCB 1999.
The subject is conformity; the treatment is comedy and terror. As everyone in his town turns into a rhinoceros, Berenger rejects his former alienation, alcohol abuse, and laziness to become a man willing to resist conformity, even if he is the only one left.
Kushner, Tony. Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes. Pt. 1, Millennium Approaches (1992); Pt. 2, Perestroika (1993). Theatre Communications Group. OBCB 1999.
Kushner chronicles AIDS in America during the Reagan era, through the lives of two couples. God has abandoned heaven, gay men are hiding their homosexuality and dying in secret, greed and corruption, political speeches, magical realism . . . all come together in a fantasia of life and death.
Larson, Jonathan. Rent. Morrow, 1996. OBCB 1999.
This award-winning musical depicts life, death, passion, drug addiction, and loyalty among AIDS-stricken artists in New York’s East Village. Loosely based on Giacomo Puccini’s 19th-century opera, La Bohème.
Miller, Arthur. Death of a Salesman. Viking, 1949. OBCB 1999.
After years on the road as a traveling salesman, Willy Loman faces his failure as husband, father, and human being. His sons are unsuccessful (one has even been in jail) and disdainful of their father. The only solution he can see is suicide.
O’Neill, Eugene. Long Day’s Journey into Night. Yale University Press, 1956. OBCB 1999.
This painful autobiographical play set in 1912 Connecticut reveals the illusions and delusions of the Tyrone family. James is a miserly retired actor; his wife Mary is addicted to morphine and on the brink of madness. Their older son is an alcoholic; the younger is consumptive. As the day turns to night, the father and sons drink and share resentments and blame.
Sartre, Jean Paul. No Exit. Knopf, 1946. OBCB 1999.
In this existential drama, three people are trapped in a drawing room together, an experience which constitutes their punishment in hell.
Shakespeare, William. King Lear. 1605. OBCB 1999.
King Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his daughters, according to how well they express their love for him. The one daughter who sincerely loves him refuses to make a speech, and is disinherited. When the other two fail to support him, Lear goes mad. Political deception and romantic jealousy cause tragic ends for all.
Shaw, George Bernard. Pygmalion. Dodd, Mead, 1914. OBCB 1999.
Professor Higgins bets a friend he can turn common Eliza Doolittle into a duchess.
Stoppard, Tom. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. Grove Press, 1967. OBCB 1999, 2009.
Two bit players from Shakespeare’s Hamlet are thrust into a terrifying and surreal new situation. Involved in court intrigue beyond their control, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern find themselves trapped in a futile, fatal situation. This witty, existential play addresses individual freedom, fate, and luck.
Uhry, Alfred. Driving Miss Daisy. Theatre Communications Group, 1988. OBCB 1999.
At the beginning of the play, 72-year-old Daisy crashes her car backing out of her garage. Her son hires a black chauffeur, Hoke. Over the next 25 years, Hoke and Daisy develop a deep and abiding friendship, even as they fight to maintain their dignity as they age. Daisy needs to keep control over her life, while Hoke gently resists her attempts to boss him around.
Vogel, Paula. How I Learned to Drive. Theatre Communications Group, 1998. OBCB 1999.
The friendship between Li’l Bit and her uncle Peck turns toward alcohol and seduction over the course of Li’l’s adolescence. The play takes place in 1960s Maryland, a mix of flashback, monologue, and voice-over.
Wilde, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. Joshua James Press, 1895. OBCB 1999.
Can a baby, abandoned at Victoria Station, grow up to find love, romance, identity, and the importance of being earnest? In this satirical play, two couples create and endure much identity confusion before living happily ever after.
Wilder, Thornton. Our Town. Coward McCann, 1938. OBCB 1999.
Love and death in a typical American small town are seen through the eyes of the Stage Manager. Neighbors George and Emily happily court and marry. When Emily dies in childbirth she is given the chance to experience one day over again.
Williams, Tennessee. The Glass Menagerie. Random House, 1945. OBCB 1999.
A brother is haunted by the memory of his teenage sister, who took refuge from the world in her collection of glass animal figurines. Amanda encourages her son Tom to bring home suitors to meet his painfully shy sister. When this does not work out as planned, they have a terrible fight and Tom leaves home for good.
Wilson, August. Fences: A Play. New American Library, 1986. OBCB 1999.
Troy, a garbageman and ex-convict, recalls his career as a Negro League baseball star. He admits to his wife, Rose, that he has fathered a child with another woman. When the other woman dies in childbirth, Troy and Rose take responsibility for the baby, even as their grown son leaves home for good. Fences is the second in Wilson’s Century Cycle depicting 20th-century African American life.
Poetry
Blum, Joshua, et al., eds. The United States of Poetry. Harry N. Abrams, 1996. OBCB 1999. (BBYA)
Contemporary poems enhanced by outstanding photographs and other illustrations highlight poets ranging from Nobel laureates to rappers. The poems are organized by theme, to reflect the premise that poetry reflects American culture, so the works of former presidents, Beats, and cowboys exist side by side in this attractive volume.
Carlson, Lori M., ed. Cool Salsa: Bilingual Poems on Growing Up Latino in the United States. Henry Holt, 1994. OBCB 1999.
Party times, hard times, memories, and dreams come to life in these English, Spanish, and Spanglish poems. The collection mixes traditional and street poetry, famous and lesser-known poets. Each poem is presented in its original language and in translation. For the poems mixing both languages, a glossary of translations is included.
Ciardi, John, and Miller Williams. How Does a Poem Mean? Houghton Mifflin, 1960. OBCB 1999. o.p.
A poet and a critic discuss the value and nature of poetry, using selections from six centuries of American and English poems. A poem is more than its subject matter; it is about form, imagery, rhythm, sound.
Dickinson, Emily. Dickinson: Poems. Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets. Everyman’s Library, 1993. OBCB 1999.
A compact collection of the best known works of an eminent American poet proves that good things do come in small packages.
Dunning, Stephen, Edward Lueders, Naomi Shihab, Deith Gilyard, and Demetrice Q. Worldy, comps. Reflections on a Gift of Watermelon Pickle . . . and Other Modern Verse. Scott Foresman, 1995. OBCB 1999.
Photographs complement or illustrate 114 poems chosen for their appeal to young people. The poems range from sharp and biting to easygoing and optimistic; poets from the recognized to the relatively unknown.
Giddings, Robert. The War Poets. Orion Books, 1988. OBCB 1999. o.p.
The work of a variety of World War I poets, many of whom died in the conflict, is reinforced with biographical notes and a brief history of “the war to end all wars.” Illustrated with paintings and photographs, poetry of Rupert Brooke, Robert Graves, Wilfred Owen, Siegfried Sassoon, and more is included.
Gillan, Maria Mazziotti, and Jennifer Gillan, eds. Unsettling America: An Anthology of Contemporary Multicultural Poetry. Penguin, 1994. OBCB 1999.
This poetry feast challenges stereotypes about who or what is American. Poems by Louise Erdrich, Lucille Clifton, Sherman Alexie, Pat Mora, Sonia Sanchez, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, among many, many others, are divided into thematic sections: “Uprooting,” “Performing,” “Naming,” “Negotiating,” and “Re-envisioning.”
Gordon, Ruth, ed. Pierced by a Ray of Sun: Poems about the Times We Feel Alone. HarperCollins, 1995. OBCB 1999. o.p. (BBYA)
Poets from around the world and across time reflect on solitude and loneliness. The poems in this collection chosen for young readers reflect both hope and despair.
Heaney, Seamus, and Ted Hughes, eds. The Rattle Bag. Faber and Faber, 1982. OBCB 1999.
This hefty compilation includes poems from the oral tradition. The two editors, famous poets themselves, simply present their favorite poetry arranged alphabetically, in hopes that each poem will communicate on its own terms.
Homer. Odyssey. Translated by Robert Fagles. Viking, 1996. OBCB 1999.
Smell the salt air and experience Odysseus’s temptations as the ancient world and his journey come alive again through this fresh poetic translation.
Miller, E. Ethelbert, ed. In Search of Color Everywhere: A Collection of African-American Poetry. Stewart, Tabori, & Chang, 1994. OBCB 1999. o.p. (BBYA)
From spirituals to rap to classic works by famous poets, this presentation delights the senses. Recent and past poetry, by the renowned and the up-and-coming, unite in an anthology with range.
Neil, Philip, ed. Singing America. Viking, 1995. OBCB 1999. o.p.
Experience American poetic heritage through dramatic black-and-white drawings that illustrate a wealth of poetry from Walt Whitman to spirituals, songs of the Sioux, the national anthem, and Woody Guthrie.
Niatum, Duane, ed. Harper’s Anthology of 20th Century Native American Poetry. Harper & Row, 1988. OBCB 1999.
The century’s best Native American poets capture their cultural heritage through powerful poetry. Niatum has gathered work by 36 poets from 30 different tribes. The collection ends with a brief biography of each poet.
Nye, Naomi Shihab, sel. The Tree Is Older Than You Are: A Bilingual Gathering of Poems and Stories from Mexico with Paintings by Mexican Artists. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1995. OBCB 1999. (BBYA)
Modern and ancient Mexican poetry, prose, and paintings from all regions come alive in this lavish anthology. English translations are laid out next to the original folktales, stories, and poems.
Nye, Naomi Shihab, and Paul B. Janeczko, eds. I Feel a Little Jumpy around You: A Book of Her Poems and His Poems Collected in Pairs. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1996. OBCB 1999. (BBYA)
In this anthology of thought-provoking modern poems, male and female writers view life from gender perspectives. The grouping of nearly 200 poems in pairs by topic reveals as many similarities as differences.
Oliver, Mary. New and Selected Poems. Beacon Press, 1992. OBCB 1999.
The Pulitzer Prize–winning poet presents a smorgasbord of her poems, composed and published over the last three decades, about life, death, and humanity’s relationship to the natural world.
Rosenberg, Liz, ed. Earth-Shattering Poems. Henry Holt, 1998. OBCB 1999. o.p.
Poets from around the world and through the centuries, encompassing many different cultures, express the emotional intensity of life’s experiences. The poems are presented in chronological order, beginning with Sappho.
Rubin, Robert Alden, ed. Poetry Out Loud. Algonquin, 1993. OBCB 1999.
Poems from the world’s greatest poets, including raps, ballads, and other lyrics, are annotated and followed by suggestions for reading aloud.
Smith, Philip, ed. 100 Best-Loved Poems. Dover, 1995. OBCB 1999.
Shakespeare, English and American ballads, and the classics most of us remember and love are part of the treasure found in this collection of traditional poetry.
Stallworthy, Jon, ed. A Book of Love Poetry. Oxford University Press, 1986. OBCB 1999.
You can experience love throughout the ages, as expressed in the past 2,000 years of poetry from around the world. The poems are arranged thematically in sections such as “Declarations,” “Persuasions,” and “Desolations.”