June 2022

Tucker, a young veteran, returns from the Korean War to work for a bootlegger. He falls in love and starts a family, and while the Tuckers don’t have much, they have the love of their home and each other. But when his family is threatened, Tucker is pushed into violence, which changes everything. The story of people living off the land and by their wits in a backwoods Kentucky world of shine-runners and laborers.

The best-selling phenomenon from Japan that shows us a minimalist life is a happy life.

Drawing on social science, philosophy, biography, theology and eastern wisdom, as well as dozens of interviews with everyday men and women, Brooks shows us that true life success is well within our reach. By refocusing on certain priorities and habits that anyone can learn, such as deep wisdom, detachment from empty rewards, connection and service to others and spiritual progress, we can set ourselves up for increased happiness. Highly inspirational.

Tells the awe-inspiring story of an pioneering woman who was often overlooked and underestimated – a woman who refused to exit a train car meant for white passengers; a woman brought to light the horrors of lynching in America; a woman who cofounded the NAACP. Written by Wells’s great-granddaughter Michelle Duster, this incredible story of a woman whose mark can be felt today is a must-read.

A shop teacher had asked me for some book picks, and I thought this would make a great project for any class. Community togetherness has never been so at the fore of our consciousness – or so important. Around the world, a community movement is underway featuring quaint landscape structures mounted on posts in front yards and other green spaces. A great tool on the road to helping you build community in your neighborhood.

The war with no name rages on, setting the world on fire. Humanity faces extinction at the hands of the Colony, a race of intelligent ants seeking to overthrow the humans and establish a new order. Relentless, bloody, and unforgiving, this is the story of an antihero (the bobcat Culdesac – one of the fiercest warriors fighting for the Colony) with no soul to lose, carving a path of destruction that consumes the innocent and the guilty alike. Great series.

Willink enlisted in the Navy SEALs after high school and rose through the ranks to become the commander of the most highly decorated special operations unit of the war in Iraq. Many books offer advice on how to overcome obstacles and reach your goals – but that advice often misses the most critical ingredient: discipline. Without discipline, there will be no real progress. I think more teens should learn his mantra: find your will, find your discipline – and you will find your freedom.

From beloved Newbery Honor winner and three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Rita Williams-Garcia comes a powerful and heartfelt novel about loss, family and love. Clayton feels most alive when he’s with his grandfather, Cool Papa Byrd, and the band of Bluesmen – he can’t wait to join them, just as soon as he has a blues song of his own. But then the unthinkable happens. Cool Papa Byrd dies, and Clayton’s mother forbids Clayton from playing the blues. And Clayton knows that’s no way to live. Armed with his grandfather’s brown porkpie hat and his harmonica, he runs away from home in search of the Bluesmen, hoping he can join them on the road. But on the journey that takes him through the New York City subways and to Washington Square Park, Clayton learns some things that surprise him.

Yikes! Mr. Wright announces that word endings will be tackled after lunch. The suffixes written on Mr. Wright's board are in a tizzy. How can they defend themselves and prove that suffixes are helpful? The creators of Punctuation Takes a Vacation, Nouns and Verbs Have a Field Day, and Silent Letters Loud and Clear, have concocted another memorable language arts picture book.

A young panda's feet walk, run, swing, and splash through the day in this charming story for preschoolers that is also an ode to imaginative play.