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History and Current Events April 2026 |
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Banning Books in America: Not a How-To
by Book Author
Professors, high school teachers, novelists, anti-censorship advocates, and librarians confront and examine the banning of books in the U.S. in current, historical, and international contexts.
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To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right
by Christopher Mathias
With searing detail and exclusive reporting, To Catch a Fascist paints a vivid picture of the stakes in this ongoing, often unseen war between opposite ends of the political spectrum, highlighting the scrappy resourcefulness and resilience of anti-fascist movements against their increasingly violent adversaries. Utilizing razor-sharp storytelling and eye-opening insight, this timely and necessary book reveals the human cost, moral dilemmas, and unwavering determination involved in fighting white supremacy. Both a call to action and a pulse-raising look at the powerful work being done to combat today's gravest threat to democracy, To Catch a Fascist will inspire you to fight for your community.
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The Triangle of Power: Rebalancing the New World Order
by Alexander Stubb
How the world broke-and how we can still save it The liberal world order that emerged after World War II--and expanded triumphantly following the Cold War--is unraveling. Multilateral cooperation is giving way to multipolar rivalry and conflict. Global norms are eroding. What comes next will define the rest of the century, so the search is on for a new global framework--a rebalancing of power. In The Triangle of Power, Finnish President Alexander Stubb argues that we are living through a hinge moment in history, akin to 1918, 1945, or 1989. A new international system is taking shape, driven by three major forces: the Global West, the Global East, and the Global South. At the center is the escalating competition between the United States and China, as both try to forge bilateral deals and regional alliances, but it is the Global South that will ultimately determine whether the future tilts toward cooperation or fragmentation. Drawing on decades at the front lines of diplomacy and blending personal insight with political and academic experience, Stubb delivers a passionate call for values-based realism and dignified foreign policy--and warns that unless the West learns to listen, it will lose its place in the world it once built.
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| Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth by Daisy HernándezBlending memoir and cultural criticism, Daisy Hernández's moving and incisive book explores the racialization and politicization of American citizenship, exploring how refugees and their descendants have difficulty obtaining citizenship. Further reading: Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America by Laila Lalami; The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You by Dina Nayeri. |
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Kings and Pawns: Jackie Robinson and Paul Robeson in America
by Howard Bryant
Kings and Pawns is the untold story of sports and fame, Black America and the promise of integration through the Cold War lens of two transformative events. On the cusp of a nascent civil rights movement, Robinson and Robeson would represent two poles of a people pitted against itself by forces that demanded loyalty without equality in return - one man testifying in conflicted service to and the other in ferocious critique of a country that would ultimately and decisively wound both. In a time of great division, with America in the midst of a new era of retrenchment and Black athletes again chilled into silence advocating for civil rights, the story of these two titans reverberates today within and beyond Black America. From the revival of government overreach to curb civil liberties to the Cold War-era rhetoric of the enemy within levied against fellow citizens, Kings and Pawns is a story of a moment that remains hauntingly present.
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| We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America by Norah O'Donnell with Kate Andersen BrowerEmmy Award-wining journalist Norah O'Donnell's sweeping and inspiring book surveys women's contributions throughout American history via 35 biographical profiles. Further reading: The American Women's Almanac: 500 Years of Making History by Deborah G. Felder. |
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Super Nintendo: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play
by Keza MacDonald
In Super Nintendo, lifelong gamer and a renowned video games journalist Keza MacDonald traces Nintendo back to its quirky beginnings in 1889. Leaping from game to game, she tells the remarkable story of the people who brought us Super Mario Bros., Zelda, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, and more--not to mention the SNES, N64, Game Boy, Wii, Switch, and a host of other wacky gizmos--and charts the delights they've offered over the decades. MacDonald draws on private interviews with icons like Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, who continues to leave his stamp on the company, and takes readers on a trip to the secretive Nintendo HQ--making her one of the few Western journalists to have set foot inside the building. Along the way, she provides a close-up look at the company's willingness to take risks and place long-term success over short-term profits. A carousel of wonders, Super Nintendo whisks you back to the couch in the den, a controller in your hands for the very first time, staring up at a screen of infinite possibilities.
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| El Paso: Five Families and One Hundred Years of Blood, Migration, Race, and Memory by Jazmine UlloaIn her richly detailed debut, New York Times reporter Jazmine Ulloa spotlights the border town of El Paso, Texas, known as "the new Ellis Island," revealing over a century of its history through the experiences of five families who have shaped the area. Further reading: The Crossing: El Paso, the Southwest, and America's Forgotten Origin Story by Richard Parker. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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