In today’s world of synthetic pharmaceuticals, scientists and laypeople alike have lost this connection to the natural world. But by ignoring the potential of medicinal plants, we are losing out on the opportunity to discover new life-saving medicines needed in the fight against the greatest medical challenge of this century: the rise of the post-antibiotic era. Antibiotic-resistant microbes plague us all. Each year, 700,000 people die due to these untreatable infections; by 2050, 10 million annual deaths are expected unless we act now. No one understands this better than Dr. Cassandra Quave, whose groundbreaking research as a leading medical ethnobotanist—someone who identifies and studies plants that may be able to treat antimicrobial resistance and other threatening illnesses—is helping to provide clues for the next generation of advanced medicines. In The Plant Hunter, Dr. Quave weaves together science, botany, and memoir to tell us the extraordinary story of her own journey. Traveling by canoe, ATV, mule, airboat, and on foot, she has conducted field research in the flooded forests of the remote Amazon, the murky swamps of southern Florida, the rolling hills of central Italy, isolated mountaintops in Albania and Kosovo, and volcanic isles arising out of the Mediterranean—all in search of natural compounds, long-known to traditional healers, that could help save us all from the looming crisis of untreatable superbugs. And as a person born with multiple congenital defects of her skeletal system, she’s done it all with just one leg. Filled with grit, tragedy, triumph, awe, and scientific discovery, her story illuminates how the path forward for medical discovery may be found in nature’s oldest remedies.
Archives
Smile: The Story of a Face
The extraordinary story of one woman’s ten-year medical and metaphysical odyssey that brought her physical, creative, emotional, and spiritual healing, by a MacArthur genius and two-time Pulitzer finalist. At the height of her career, with her first play opening on Broadway, and a happily married mother of three, Sarah Ruhl had just survived a high-risk twins pregnancy when she discovered the left side of her face completely paralyzed. She is assured that ninety percent of Bell’s palsy patients see spontaneous improvement and experience a full recovery. Like Ruhl’s own mother. Like Angelina Jolie. But Sarah is in the unlucky ten percent. And for a woman, wife, mother, and artist working in theater, the paralysis and the disconnect between the interior and exterior brings significant and specific challenges. So Ruhl begins an intense decade-long search for a cure while simultaneously grappling with the reality of her new face—one that, while recognizably her own—is incapable of accurately communicating feelings or intentions. Brimming with insight, humility, and levity, Smile is a triumph by one of America’s leading playwrights. It is an intimate examination of loss and reconciliation, and above all else, the importance of perseverance and hope in the face of adversity.
Brothers On Three
From journalist Abe Streep, the story of coming of age on a reservation in the American West and a team uniting a community
March 11, 2017, was a night to remember: in front of the hopeful eyes of thousands of friends, family members, and fans, the Arlee Warriors would finally bring the high school basketball state championship title home to the Flathead Indian Reservation. The game would become the stuff of legend, with the boys revered as local heroes. The team’s place in Montana history was now cemented, but for starters Will Mesteth, Jr. and Phillip Malatare, life would keep moving on—senior year was only just beginning.
In Brothers on Three, we follow Phil and Will, along with their teammates, coaches, and families, as they balance the pressures of adolescence, shoulder the dreams of their community, and chart their own individual courses for the future.
Brothers on Three is not simply a story about high school basketball, about state championships and a winning team. It is a book about community, and it is about boys on the cusp of adulthood, finding their way through the intersecting worlds they inhabit and forging their own paths to personhood.
Reclamation
A Black descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings’ family explores America’s racial reckoning through the prism of her ancestors—both the enslaver and the enslaved.
Vinyl Moon
A teen girl hiding the scars of a past relationship finds home and healing in the words of strong Black writers. A great companion for readers of Nic Stone, Liz Acevedo, and Renee Watson.
Angel is transplanted from her home in California to Brooklyn, leaving behind her mom and siblings. She’s escaping an abusive relationship that ended with Angel in the hospital and her boyfriend in jail.
At her new public school, Angel attends H.E.R. Leadership Advisory class and learns about the works of “revolutionary” Black writers like Toni Morrison, James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry for the first time. Through her classmates-turned-friends and inspired by these strong authors who speak to her experience, Angel might be able to heal from her past scars and build a new future.
Award-winning author Mahogany L. Browne delivers her first prose and poetry novel that delves into the love of literature, the heartbeat of Brooklyn, and the strength it takes to start again.
Lost Legends: The Rise Of Flynn Rider
The first book in a new middle grade series that features the adventures of Disney’s most loveable roguish heroes as kids! Twelve-year-old Eugene Fitzherbert needs a plan. It’s not that he doesn’t love his time in the orphanage that raised him—Miss Clare and the boys are his family. As is his best friend, Arnie, with whom he’s often in cahoots, acting out passages from his favorite Flynnigan Rider books, or pretending they’re Lance Archer, the iconic thief who takes from the rich to give to the poor. But Eugene knows that most orphans his age set off to make their own way, and the orphanage already doesn’t have the means to support them all. Besides, he wants to see the world with Arnie, and maybe, just maybe find his parents someday.So when a traveling circus comes to the kingdom promising a life of adventure, brotherhood, and riches, Eugene jumps at the chance to join them. He even convinces Arnie to come too. But soon it becomes clear that there’s more to this ragtag crew than meets the eye, and they may have a dubious plot in the works. It’ll take new heroes—namely, Flynn Rider and Lance Strongbow, to save the day.
The Mirror: Shattered Midnight
The second book in the innovative four-book fairy-tale series The Mirror, Shattered Midnight takes place decades after the events of the first book and places readers right in the middle of the Roaring Twenties with magical intrigue and dangerous gangsters abound.
Beasts of Prey
In this much-anticipated series opener, fate binds two Black teenagers together as they strike a dangerous alliance to hunt down the creature menacing their home—and uncover ancient deadly secrets.
There’s no such thing as magic in the broken city of Lkossa, especially for sixteen-year-old Koffi, who holds a power within her that could only be described as magic—a power that if discovered could cost her life. Indentured to the notorious Night Zoo, Koffi knows the fearsome creatures in her care and paying off her family’s debts to secure their eventual freedom can be her only focus. But the night those she loves are gravely threatened by the Zoo’s cruel master, Koffi finally unleashes the power she doesn’t fully understand, upending her life completely. As the second son of a decorated hero, Ekon is all but destined to become a Son of the Six—an elite warrior—and uphold a family legacy. But on the night of his final rite of passage, Ekon encounters not only the Shetani—a vicious monster that has plagued the city for nearly a century and stalks his nightmares, but Koffi who seems to have the power to ward off the beast. Koffi’s power ultimately saves Ekon’s life, but his choice to let her flee dooms his hopes of becoming a warrior. Desperate to redeem himself, Ekon vows to hunt the Shetani and end its reign of terror, but he can’t do it alone. Meanwhile, Koffi believes finding the Shetani could also be the key to solving her own problems. Koffi and Ekon form a tentative alliance and together enter the Greater Jungle, a world steeped in wild, frightening magic and untold dangers. The hunt begins. But it quickly becomes unclear whether they are the hunters or the hunted.
The Last She
A plague has swept over the Earth, killing the majority of the population and every female. Except one. Ara witnessed the horror and destruction, but for the last three years she has survived. Now, desperation and hunger force her out of the mountains and onto a dangerous path; across the flooded downtown and through the gangs of survivors is hope. Ara’s father spoke of a clue that could save not just her, but humanity. Then she is captured by a group of men. Despite the seeming kindness of one of the young men her own age, Ara doesn’t know if she can trust them. Then again, there’s no way she can cross the plague-ridden city on her own. Men. Monsters. Is there a difference?
Daughter of the Deep
New York Times #1 best-selling author Rick Riordan pays homage to Jules Verne in his exciting modern take on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Rick Riordan’s trademark humor, fast-paced action, and wide cast of characters are on full display in this undersea adventure.