"It's in the nature of things that whole worlds disappear," writes the poet Robert Hass in the foreword to Jimmye Hillman's insightful memoir. "Their vanishings, more often than not, go unrecorded or pass into myth, just as they slip from the memory of the living." To ensure that the world of Jimmye Hillman's childhood in Greene County, Mississippi during the Great Depression doesn't slip away, he has gathered together accounts of his family and the other people of Old Washington village. There are humorous stories of hog hunting and heart-wrenching tales of poverty set against a rural backdrop shaded by the local social, religious, and political climate of the time. Jimmye and his family were subsistence farmers out of bare-bones necessity, decades before discussions about sustainability made such practices laudable. More than just childhood memories and a family saga, though, this book serves as a snapshot of the natural, historical, and linguistic details of the time and place. It is a remarkable record of Southern life. Observations loaded with detail uncover broader themes of work, family loyalty, and the politics of changing times. Hillman, now eighty-eight, went on to a distinguished career as an economist specializing in agriculture. He realizes the importance of his story as an example of the cultural history of the Deep South but allows readers to discover the significance on their own by witnessing the lives of a colorful cast of characters. Hogs, Mules, and Yellow Dogs is unique, a blend of humor and reflection, wisdom and sympathy—but it's also a hard-nosed look at the realities of living on a dirt farm in a vanished world.

One of the best-selling young adult books of all time, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Zindel. John Conlan is nicknamed “The Bathroom Bomber” after setting off firecrackers in the boys’ bathroom 23 times without ever getting caught. John and his best friend, Lorraine, can never please their parents, and school is a chore. To pass the time, they play pranks on unsuspecting people and it's during one of these pranks that they meet the “Pigman.” In spite of themselves, John and Lorraine soon get caught up in Mr. Pignati’s zest for life. In fact, they become so involved that they begin to destroy the only corner of the world that has ever mattered to them. Can they stop before it’s too late?'

In the jungle of animals, where everyone is compelled to live on edge, not knowing what to expect the next moment, misfortunes and sufferings of all types,when they befall individuals, are accepted as a natural and blessed necessity for the continuation and sustaining of life. Once in a while, however, this rule is overturned in the anguish of the pain caused by such a dreadful reality. In Jungle Revolt, the merciless slaughter of the family of Mr Pig before his own very eyes compels him, in his humbleness, to dare this long established and fast rule of the survival of the fittest in the jungle. And notwithstanding the obviously formidable challenges to such an unprecedented undertaking, he manages, at the expense of his own life, to shake the foundations of the rule leaving behind a lasting legacy that does not necessarily annul the rule, but brings relief to many. Jungle revolt tries to explain a peculiar and age old human phenomenon. On account of different abilities and natures, stronger human beings tend to lord it on the weaker ones who, on account of their weakness are generally resigned to the undesirable fate. Occasionally, however, because of this unpleasant reality, these weak ones stand up in revolt, yearning for a better life, and even though they may not reap exactly what they desire, their situation, compelled by a Higher Power could not be exactly the same again.

Such women as Gwendolyn Brooks, Mary Elizabeth King, Gloria Naylor, and Kyoko Mori celebrate the unique roles of grandmothers.

Molly Jong-Fast grew up in a town house with a pink door and paintings of ladies playing naked Twister. There were world-famous therapists living in her cellar, a secretary with a brain tumor, a nanny who was a numbers runner, and grandparents who revealed that they had sex on their first date. Leading therapists agree: a normal childhood. In Girl [Maladjusted], Molly Jong-Fast takes us on a tour of her big fat Jewish bohemian upbringing. With the same keen insight, effortless cool, and buoyant wit that won her legions of devoted readers in Normal Girl, she offers a riotous and affecting coming-of-age story that is both uniquely weird and weirdly universal.