Central Kansas Library System

""The only way to undo racism is to consistently identify and describe it -- and then dismantle it." Ibram X. Kendi's concept of antiracism reenergizes and reshapes the conversation about racial justice in America -- but even more fundamentally, points us toward liberating new ways of thinking about ourselves and each other. In How to Be an Antiracist, Kendi asks us to think about what an antiracist society might look like, and how we can play an...

An introduction to the science behind stereotypes. From the time we're babies, our brains sort and label the world around us - a necessary skill for survival. But there's a downside: we also do it to groups of people in ways that can be harmful. With loads of examples, here's a scientific overview of stereotyping, covering the history of identifying stereotypes, secret biases in our brains, how stereotypes affect our sense of self, and current research...

On September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington DC, and Pennsylvania changed the global community, pushing terrorism into the spotlight, and triggering a series of world events that included the invasion of Afghanistan and the Iraq War. For many people in the United States, it was their first experience of terrorism in their home country. Terrorism is a global phenomenon that affects many people worldwide, yet it is not a new...

"Mary Lambert has always felt safe and protected on her beloved island of Martha's Vineyard. Her great-great-grandfather was an early English settler and the first deaf islander. Now, over a hundred years later, many people there--including Mary--are deaf and nearly everyone can communicate in sign language. Mary has never felt isolated. She is proud of her lineage. But recent events have delivered winds of change. Mary's brother died, leaving her...

Three years after being kidnapping from her home in Martha's Vineyard, fourteen-year-old Mary Lambert receives a letter from Nora O'Neal, a servant in the house where she was held, who tells her of an eight-year-old girl where she is now employed whom Nora believes to be a deaf-mute, but who is being treated as insane, and asks Mary to come and teach the nameless child; a little scared, but intrigued, and bored with domestic life, Mary agrees--only...

"Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade. As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds--and...

Obayda's family is in need of some good fortune. Her father lost one of his legs in a bomb explosion, forcing the family to move from their home city of Kabul to a small village, where life is very different and Obayda's father almost never leaves his room. One day, Obayda's aunt has an idea to bring the family luck -- dress Obayda, the youngest of her sisters, as a boy, a bacha posh. Now Obayda is Obayd. Life in this in-between place is confusing,...

Fifteen-year-old Regan's life, which has always revolved around keeping her older brother Liam's transsexuality a secret, changes when Liam decides to start the process of "transitioning" by first telling his family and friends that he is a girl who was born in a boy's body.

Zahra sees the world in vivid colors. When kids at school tell her she's different because of the color of her skin, she doesn't know how to feel, but her mother tells her to feel proud.

When a Purple flower suddenly sprouts next to a Blue, all sorts of confusion ensues. Fortunately, Momma Blue is there to remind everyone about the beauty of diversity, including how the wind, rain, sun and bees treat all flowers the same regardless of the color of their petals or the size of their stems. Award-winning author Julia Cook shares a timely and valuable lesson about appreciating differences and embracing diversity in life and in friendships.--Publisher....