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Women's Stories and Voices March 2025 |
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Take my hand
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
In 1973 Montgomery, Alabama, Civil Townsend, a young black nurse working for the Montgomery Family Planning Clinic, grapples with her role when she takes two young girls into her heart and the unthinkable happens, and nothing will ever be the same for any of them.
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Once I was you : a memoir of love and hate in a torn America
by Maria Hinojosa
The Emmy Award-winning journalist and anchor of NPR's Latino USA documents the story of immigration in America through the human lens of her family's experiences and her decades in the media. 75,000 first printing. Illustrations.
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The woman with no name : a novel
by Audrey Blake
When her house bombed and she has nothing left, Yvonne Rudellat prepares to take her own life but fate intervenes, offering her the opportunity to train as a Special Operative Executive where she vows to set Europe ablaze and clear the way for the women who come after. Original.
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Life in motion : an unlikely ballerina
by Misty Copeland
The first female African American principal dancer in American Ballet Theatre history recounts her road to stardom, from her first ballet class to her rise through the professional ranks while dealing with a challenging home life
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Beautiful little fools : a novel
by Jillian Cantor
After the events of The Great Gatsby, West Egg police officers discover a diamond hair pin near the millionaire's pool putting three women under suspicion for the murder of Jay Gatsby and mechanic George Wilson. 25,000 first printing.
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In true face : a woman's life in the CIA, unmasked
by Jonna Mendez
A former female spy for the CIA during the height of the Cold War discusses the challenges of overcoming a prevailing culture of sexism while undertaking dangerous missions across the globe.
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Yellow wife : a novel
by Sadeqa Johnson
Born on a plantation, but set apart from the others by her mother's position as a medicine woman, a young slave is forced to leave home at 18 and unexpectedly finds herself in an infamously cruel jail. 60,000 first printing.
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The nightingale
by Kristin Hannah
Reunited when the elder's husband is sent to fight in World War II, French sisters Vianne and Isabelle find their bond as well as their respective beliefs tested by a world that changes in horrific ways. Discussion guide available online. By the #1 New York Times best-selling author of Firefly Lane.
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Things past telling : a novel
by Sheila Williams
Recalling the last 100-plus years of her triumphant and tumultuous life, the narrator shares how her midwifery skills allowed her to sometimes transcend the racial and class barriers of her enslavement and how she never lost her sense of self. 50,000 first printing.
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My own words
by Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Offers a collection of engaging, serious, and playful writings and speeches from the Supreme Court justice on topics ranging from gender equality and the workings of the Court to Judaism and the value of looking beyond U.S. shores when interpreting the Constitution
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When Franny stands up
by Eden Robins
In post-WWII Chicago, aspiring Jewish comedienne Franny Steinberg discovers that her comedy heals men's pain and must summon the courage to find humor in her darkest trauma to break boundaries, discover her voice and heal her family through the power of laughter. Original.
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The women's history of the modern world : how radicals, rebels, and everywomen revolutionized the last 200 years
by Rosalind Miles
"Now is the time for a new women's history--for the famous, infamous, and unsung women to get their due--from the Enlightenment to the #MeToo movement. Recording the important milestones in the birth of the modern feminist movement and the rise of women into greater social, economic, and political power, Miles takes us through a colorful pageant of astonishing women, from heads of state like Empress Cixi, Eugenia Charles, Indira Gandhi, Jacinda Ardern, and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to political rainmakers Kate Sheppard, Carrie Chapman Catt, Anna Stout, Dorothy Height, Shirley Chisholm, Winnie Mandela, STEM powerhouses Jocelyn Bell Burnell, Rosalind Franklin, Sophia Kovalevskaya, Marie Curie, and Ada Lovelace, revolutionaries Olympe de Gouges, Harriet Tubman,Sojourner Truth, Patyegarang, and writer/intellectuals Mary Wollstonecraft, Simon de Beauvoir, Elaine Morgan, and Germaine Greer. Women in the arts, women in sports, women in business, women in religion, women in politics--this is a one-stop roundup of the tremendous progress women have made in the modern era. A testimony to how women have persisted--and excelled--this is a smart and stylish popular history for all readers."--Amazon.com
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Pachinko
by Min Jin Lee
In early 1900s Korea, Sunja finds herself pregnant and alone, bringing shame on her family until a minister offers to marry her and take her to Japan, in the saga of a family bound together as their faith and identity are called into question
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Yours, eventually : a novel
by Nura Maznavi
Asma Ibrahim, a dedicated doctor and the middle daughter of a family reeling from their patriarch's financial ruin, must navigate familial pressures and societal expectations when her college sweetheart, Farooq Waheed, reenters her life after achieving success, prompting her to confront her past and pursue her own desires. Original.
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Yellowface : a novel
by R. F. Kuang
After the death of her literary rival in a freak accident, author June Hayward steals her just-finished masterpiece, sending it to her agent as her own work, but as emerging evidence threatens her success, she discovers just how far she'll go to keep what she thinks she deserves. 150,000 first printing.
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Sparks like stars : a novel by Nadia HashimiAdopted from Afghanistan 40 years earlier by an American diplomat in the aftermath of a coup and assassination, Aryana has a chance encounter with the soldier who saved her life and killed her family. 75,000 first printing.
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The hidden life of Cecily Larson : a novel
by Ellen Baker
Now 94 and living a quiet life, Cecily Larson, when her family surprises her with an at-home DNA test, finds the unexpected results not only bringing to light the tragic love story she's kept hidden for decades but also calls into question everything about the family she's raised and claimed as her own.
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The story of the forest
by Linda Grant
In 1913, Mina, a Jewish merchant's daughter, meets Bolsheviks in a Baltic Sea forest, prompting her and her brother Jossel to emigrate to England, where the Great War and subsequent events intertwine their lives with a wounded soldier's, leading to marriage, trade dynasties, and struggles with discrimination in Liverpool chronicled through family lore.
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When southern women cook : history, lore, and 300 recipes with contributions from 70 women writers
by Morgan Bolling
"Shepherded by Toni Tipton-Martin and Cook's Country Executive Editor and TV personality Morgan Bolling, When Southern Women Cook showcases the hard work, hospitality, and creativity of women who have given soul to Southern cooking from the start. Every page amplifies their contributions, from the enslaved cooks making foundational food at Monticello to Mexican Americans accessing sweet memories with colorful conchas today"
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The storm we made : a novel
by Vanessa Chan
"Malaya, 1945. Cecily Alcantara's family is in terrible danger: her fifteen-year-old son, Abel, has disappeared, and her youngest daughter, Jasmin, is confined in a basement to prevent being pressed into service at the comfort stations. Her eldest daughter Jujube, who works at a tea house frequented by drunk Japanese soldiers, becomes angrier by the day. Cecily knows two things: that this is all her fault; and that her family must never learn the truth. A decade prior, Cecily had been desperate to be more than a housewife to a low-level bureaucrat in British-colonized Malaya. A chance meeting with the charismatic General Fuijwara lured her into a life of espionage, pursuing dreams of an "Asia for Asians." Instead, Cecily helped usher in an even more brutal occupation by the Japanese. Ten years later as the war reaches its apex, her actions have caught up with her. Now her family is on the brink of destruction--and she will do anything to save them. Spanning years of pain and triumph, told from the perspectives of four unforgettable characters, The Storm We Made is a dazzling saga about the horrors of war; the fraught relationships between the colonized and their oppressors, and the ambiguity of right and wrong when survival is at stake"
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The movement : how women's liberation transformed America, 1963-1973
by Clara Bingham
This first oral history of the decade (1963-1973) that built the modern feminist movement through the individual voices of the people who lived it captures emotions of this personal, cultural and political revolution where women insisted on being treated as first-class citizens, forever changing the fabric of American life. Illustrations.
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The secret history of the rape kit : a true crime story
by Pagan Kennedy
An investigation of the overlooked contributions of Martha“Marty” Goddard, who pioneered the rape kit and advocated for the rights of sexual assault survivors in the 1970s, while also confronting the troubling history of forensics in America and reflecting on her personal experiences with injustice. Original.
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Last seen in Havana
by Teresa Dovalpage
A newly widowed Cuban American baker, Mercedes Spivey returns to her homeland to care for her ailing grandmother and investigate the mysterious disappearance of her mother, in the fourth novel of the series following "Death of a Telenovela Star."
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Women, money, power : the rise and fall of economic equality
by Josie Cox
"For centuries, women were denied equal access to money and the freedom and power that came with it. They were restricted from owning property or transacting in real estate. Even well into the 20th century, women could not take out their own loans or ownbank accounts without their husband's permission. They could be fired for getting married or pregnant, and if they still had a job, they could be kept from certain roles, restricted from working longer hours, and paid less than men for equal work. It wasa raw deal, and women weren't happy with it. So they pushed back. In Women Money Power, financial journalist Josie Cox tells the story of women's fight for financial freedom. This is an inspirational account of brave pioneers who took on social mores andthe law, including the "Rosies" who filled industrial jobs vacated by men and helped win WWII, the heiress whose fortune helped create the birth control pill, the brassy investor who broke into the boys' club of the New York Stock Exchange, and the namesake of landmark equal pay legislation who refused to accept discrimination. But as any woman can tell you, the battle for equality-for money and power-is far from over. Cox delves deep into the challenges women face today and the culture and systems that hold them back. This is a fascinating narrative account of progress, women's lives, and the work still to be done"
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When the jessamine grows
by Donna Everhart
With her husband and son off at war, and the burden of running the farm falling to her, Joetta, shunned because she doesn't support the Confederacy's position on slavery, finds one act of kindness bringing her family to the edge of even greater disaster. Original.
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How women made music : a revolutionary history from NPR music
by Alison Fensterstock
Based on the NPR series“Turning the Tables” this chronicle of the transformative impact of female artists on music history features insights from icons like Joan Baez, Dolly Parton, Patti Smith and Nina Simone. 100,000 first printing.
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A grandmother begins the story
by Michelle Porter
Five generations of Indigenous women from Canada's Prairie Provinces struggle for healing and meaning through the strength of familial bonds, in the debut fiction novel from the award-winning author of Scratching River. A first novel. 25,000 first printing.
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Violeta : a novel
by Isabel Allende
Living out her days in a remote part of her South American homeland, Violeta finds her life shaped by some of the most important events of history as she tells her story in the form of a letter to someone she loves above all others.
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Normal women : 900 years of making history
by Philippa Gregory
Drawing on an enormous archive of primary and secondary sources to rewrite history, focusing on the agency, persistence and effectiveness of everyday women throughout periods of social and cultural transition, the #1 New York Times best-selling historical novelist redefines "normal" female behavior to include heroism, rebellion, crime, treason, money-making and sainthood.
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The volcano daughters
by Gina Maria Balibrera
Spending years under the cruel dictator El Gran Pendejo's regime in El Salvador, sisters Graciela and Consuelo, when genocide strikes the community from which they hail, and each believing the other to be dead, flee across the globe, reinventing themselves until fate brings them back together in the most unlikely of ways.
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Quartet : how four women changed the musical world
by Leah Broad
"Ethel Smyth (b.1858): Famed for her operas, this trailblazing queer Victorian composer was a larger-than-life socialite, intrepid traveler, and committed Suffragette. Rebecca Clarke (b.1886): This talented violist and Pre-Raphaelite beauty was one of the first women ever hired by a professional orchestra, later celebrated for her modernist experimentation. Dorothy Howell (b.1898): A prodigy who shot to fame at the 1919 Proms, her reputation as the "English Strauss" never dented her modesty; on retirement, she tended Elgar's grave alone. Doreen Carwithen (b.1922): One of Britain's first woman film composers who scored Elizabeth II's coronation film, her success hid a 20-year affair with her married composition tutor. In their time, these women were celebrities. They composed some of the century's most popular music and pioneered creative careers; but today, they are ghostly presences, surviving only as muses and footnotes to male contemporaries like Elgar, Vaughan Williams and Britten--until now.Leah Broad's magnificent group biography resurrects these forgotten voices, recounting lives of rebellion, heartbreak, and ambition, and celebrating their musical masterpieces. Lighting up a panoramic sweep of British history over two World Wars, Quartet revolutionizes the canon forever"
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The berry pickers : a novel
by Amanda Peters
Growing up as the only child of affluent and overprotective parents, Norma, troubled by recurring dreams and visions that seem more like memories than imagination, searches for the truth, leading her to the blueberry fields of Maine, where a family secret is finally revealed.
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In true face : a woman's life in the CIA, unmasked
by Jonna Mendez
A former female spy for the CIA during the height of the Cold War discusses the challenges of overcoming a prevailing culture of sexism while undertaking dangerous missions across the globe.
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Black butterflies
by Priscilla Morris
Zora, an artist and teacher, sends her husband and elderly mother safely to England but stays in Sarajevo to fight and rebuild as the city fractures along ethnic lines during the Balkan conflict in 1992.
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The last fire season : a personal and pyronatural history
by Manjula Martin
In this part memoir, part natural history, part literary inquiry, the author recounts her experiences in Northern California during the worst fire season on record, which causes her to question her own assumptions about nature and the complicated connections between people and the land on which we live.
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The librarian of burned books : a novel
by Brianna Labuskes
Set against the backdrop of World War II, this unforgettable novel, inspired by the true story of the Council of Books in Wartime, follows three women whose fates become intertwined by their belief in the power and goodness in the written word to triumph over the very darkest moments of war. 30,000 first printing.
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Slow noodles : a Cambodian memoir of love, loss, and family recipes
by Chantha Nguon
Sharing over 20 Khmer recipes, a Cambodian refugee recounts her life after the dictator Pol Pot tore her country apart in the 1970s, showing how she relied on her beloved mother's“slow noodles” approach to healing and to cooking—one that prioritizes time and care over expediency. Illustrations.
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The sound of a thousand stars : novel
by Rachel Robbins
Jewish physicist Alice Katz, defying her family's expectations, joins the secretive government project in Los Alamos during World War II, where she meets Caleb Blum, an Orthodox Jew in the explosives division, and amidst the race to develop a weapon before the Nazis, they navigate fear, uncertainty, and an unexpected romance.
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Family lore : a novel
by Elizabeth Acevedo
Follows the lives of several generations of women in the Marte family after gathering to honor Flor, who can predict the day someone will die, decides to throw herself a huge party as a living wake. 250,000 first printing.
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We set the night on fire : igniting the gay revolution
by Martha Shelley
"Martha Shelley didn't start out in life wanting to become a gay activist, or an activist of any kind. The daughter of Jewish refugees and undocumented immigrants in New York City, she grew up during the Red Scare of the late 1940s and 1950s, was inspired by the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements that followed, and struggled with coming out as a lesbian at a time when being gay made her a criminal. Shelley rose to become a public speaker for the New York chapter of the lesbian rights group the Daughters of Bilitis, organized the first gay march in response to the Stonewall Riots of 1969, and then cofounded the Gay Liberation Front. She coproduced the newspaper Come Out!, worked on the women's takeover of the RAT Subterranean News, and took a central role in the Lavender Menace action to confront homophobia in the women's movement. Martha Shelley's story is a feminist and lesbian document that gives context and adds necessary humanity to the historical record"--Dust jacket flap
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The verifiers
by Jane Pek
Stealth-recruited by Veracity, a referral-only online-dating detective agency, Claudia, when a client disappears, breaks protocol to investigate and uncovers a maelstrom of personal and corporate deceit. Original.
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A thousand times before
by Asha Thanki
This gripping family narrative spanning from the era of partition in India to contemporary Brooklyn follows the lives of three generations of women united by the echoes of their predecessors' experiences. their predecessors' experiences.
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Pierce County Library System
3005 112th St. E, Tacoma, Washington 98446
253-548-3300mypcls.org |
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