Benbrook Public Library

"Female characters throughout history have been burdened by the moral trap that is likeability. Any woman who dares to reveal her messy side has been treated as a cautionary tale. And yet today, unlikeable female characters are everywhere in film, TV, and wider pop culture. For the first time ever, they are being accepted by audiences and even showered with industry awards. We are finally accepting that women are-gasp-fully fledged human beings. How...

Fat Kids: Truth and Consequences is an informational vault of deeply personal tales and essential information, focusing on the lives, questions, and concerns of parents and children living in a childhood obesity crisis. Unlike most books about weight, however, Fat Kids is not a dieting or weight loss how-to; it instead explores the true human experiences and often untold science outside the current political positioning on children and weight. ...

In this groundbreaking and timely book, antiracist educator Robin DiAngelo deftly illuminates the phenomenon of white fragility. Referring to the defensive moves that white people make when challenged racially, white fragility is characterized by emotions such as anger, fear, and guilt, and by behaviors including argumentation and silence. These behaviors, in turn, function to reinstate white racial equilibrium and prevent any meaningful cross-racial...

For millions of conservative Christians, America is their kingdom--a land set apart, a nation uniquely blessed, a people in special covenant with God. This love of country, however, has given way to right-wing nationalist fervor, a reckless blood-and-soil idolatry that trivializes the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Alberta retraces the arc of the modern evangelical movement, placing political and cultural inflection points in the context of church teachings...

Orators take ordinary words and weave them into brilliant speeches. It takes a substantial amount of skill to be a great orator. History is full of leaders who have given inspiring speeches. Learn about twelve famous speeches from leaders such as Cesar Chavez, Ronald Reagan, Pat Summitt, Justin Trudeau, and Martin Luther King Jr. This diverse collection of speeches will open your eyes and ears to the power of the spoken word! Packed with fun facts,...

"An inspired weaving of indigenous knowledge, plant science, and personal narrative from a distinguished professor of science and a Native American whose previous book, Gathering Moss, was awarded the John Burroughs Medal for outstanding nature writing. As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders,...

"Data is fundamental to the modern world. From economic development to health care to education and public policy, we rely on numbers to allocate resources and make crucial decisions. But because so much data fails to take into account gender, because it treats men as the default and women as atypical, bias and discrimination are baked into our systems. And women pay tremendous costs for this bias, in time, money, and often with their lives. Celebrated...

Zinester, author, maturing hipster, and graduate of the prestigious Wesleyan University, Pagan Kennedy first captured the hearts of America with her personal zine Pagan's Head. Drawing from this source, she presents not only the zine-world standards (an interview with the ever-beguiling Lisa Suckdog, articles on dumpster diving, and eight-track collecting), but also includes some helpful dating tips, such as "Pretend to go to the bathroom and never...

"You cannot fix a problem you do not know you have." So begins Emmanuel Acho in his essential guide to the truths Americans need to know to address the systemic racism that has recently electrified protests in all fifty states. "There is a fix," Acho says. "But in order to access it, we're going to have to have some uncomfortable conversations." In Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive...

Shares the story of the author's family and upbringing, describing how they moved from poverty to an upwardly mobile clan that included the author, a Yale Law School graduate, while navigating the demands of middle class life and the collective demons of the past.