Did you know manatees swim using farts? Or that herrings communicate by passing gas? Butts are used for breathing, eating, swimming, talking, and even killing in the animal kingdom. Focusing on ten different animals and their derrières, and offering fun facts about their origin, habitat, and "posterior power," this hilarious book captures the wonder of our ecosystem. Which animal has the coolest butt power? That's up to you to decide! An MASL Dogwood Reader's Award Title Towner Award Winner 2024 Texas Topaz Nonfiction Reading List Selection

“A badass debut by any measure—nimble, knowing, and electrifying.” —Colson Whitehead, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Nickel Boys and Harlem Shuffle "...'My Monticello' is, quite simply, an extraordinary debut from a gifted writer with an unflinching view of history and what may come of it." — The Washington Post Winner of the Weatherford Award in Fiction A winner of 2022 Lillian Smith Book Awards A young woman descended from Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings driven from her neighborhood by a white militia. A university professor studying racism by conducting a secret social experiment on his own son. A single mother desperate to buy her first home even as the world hurtles toward catastrophe. Each fighting to survive in America. Tough-minded, vulnerable, and brave, Jocelyn Nicole Johnson’s precisely imagined debut explores burdened inheritances and extraordinary pursuits of belonging. Set in the near future, the eponymous novella, “My Monticello,” tells of a diverse group of Charlottesville neighbors fleeing violent white supremacists. Led by Da’Naisha, a young Black descendant of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, they seek refuge in Jefferson’s historic plantation home in a desperate attempt to outlive the long-foretold racial and environmental unravelling within the nation. In “Control Negro,” hailed by Roxane Gay as “one hell of story,” a university professor devotes himself to the study of racism and the development of ACMs (average American Caucasian males) by clinically observing his own son from birth in order to “painstakingly mark the route of this Black child too, one whom I could prove was so strikingly decent and true that America could not find fault in him unless we as a nation had projected it there.” Johnson’s characters all seek out home as a place and an internal state, whether in the form of a Nigerian widower who immigrates to a meager existence in the city of Alexandria, finding himself adrift; a young mixed-race woman who adopts a new tongue and name to escape the landscapes of rural Virginia and her family; or a single mother who seeks salvation through “Buying a House Ahead of the Apocalypse.” United by these characters’ relentless struggles against reality and fate, My Monticello is a formidable book that bears witness to this country’s legacies and announces the arrival of a wildly original new voice in American fiction.

Danger and forbidden romance … England, 1688: Imperious and handsome, Sir Gaden Brehnt is on a mission to overthrow King James. Brehnt has made many enemies by joining sides with the usurper. Enemies that now threaten the lives and safety of those he cares about. Jocelyn Chambers is beautiful, stubborn and fiercely independent. She has her life planned out before her, and her plans do not include losing her freedom to the dictates of a husband. But when she tries to save her friend from a disastrous betrothal, she comes face to face with Gaden, a man who turns her ordered world upside down. Thrown together when she becomes an unwilling pawn in Sir Gaden’s mission, Jocelyn resists his arrogant authority as she is drawn deeper into his dangerous world. But she soon finds she has another battle to contend with – her traitorous heart as she becomes irresistibly drawn to this dark-haired knight. Everything is at risk: her life, her reputation, and, above all, her heart.

Elizabeths oldest daughter, Jocelyn, was diagnosed with a rare, debilitating neurological disorder known as Rett syndrome. Since that instant, Elizabeth has been on the front lines of a battle to find a cure. Without the deep pockets of big pharmaceutical companies, she has orchestrated a grassroots fundraising army that is poised to beat the odds and cure her daughter and thousands of others. Jocelyns Journey exposes the devastating struggles a special-needs family experiences: physical struggles of an ill child, marital struggles, struggles to fit in with society, and struggles with questioning faith. Jocelyns Journey tells of how Elizabeth and her family have overcome hurdles and found faith in adversity. It will leave you with an overwhelming hope for their future and yours.

A fiction novel penned by the British Jeffery Farnol. Set against the backdrop of English literature, this narrative offers readers a thrilling adventure filled with love stories, knights, and knighthood. Farnol masterfully crafts a tale that transports readers to a world of chivalry, romance, and heroism, making it a must-read for those who appreciate finely woven tales of adventure.