From tenements to alleyways to latrines, twentieth-century American cities created spaces where pests flourished and people struggled for healthy living conditions. In Pests in the City, Dawn Day Biehler argues that the urban ecologies that supported pests were shaped not only by the physical features of cities but also by social inequalities, housing policies, and ideas about domestic space. Community activists and social reformers strived to control pests in cities such as Washington, DC, Chicago, Baltimore, New York, and Milwaukee, but such efforts fell short when authorities blamed families and neighborhood culture for infestations rather than attacking racial segregation or urban disinvestment. Pest-control campaigns tended to target public or private spaces, but pests and pesticides moved readily across the porous boundaries between homes and neighborhoods. This story of flies, bedbugs, cockroaches, and rats reveals that such creatures thrived on lax code enforcement and the marginalization of the poor, immigrants, and people of color. As Biehler shows, urban pests have remained a persistent problem at the intersection of public health, politics, and environmental justice, even amid promises of modernity and sustainability in American cities. Watch the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG9PFxLY7K4&feature=c4-overview&list=UUge4MONgLFncQ1w1C_BnHcw

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In The Burning City, Alaya Dawn Johnson continues the trilogy begun with her debut, Racing the Dark, delving deeper into the world of magic wielded by women who understand the dark trade-offs of power and sacrifice. Lana, the heroine, has become the black ange l —a harbinger of destruction unheard of in the islands for 500 years. Nui'ahi, the sleeping volcano of the great city Essel, has erupted. In the chaos, the city is reshaping itself and violence threatens from all corners. A rebel movement has formed in the destroyed heart of the city, determined to oust Kohaku, the mad Mo'i of Essel. Lana wants no part of the rebels' cause — the death spirit still chases her, and the great witch Akua has kidnapped Lana's mother. But the more Lana looks for her mother, the more she is drawn into the city's political conflicts. As Kohaku descends deeper into madness, determined to subdue the city by any means necessary, his wife has run away to the fire temple, where she too is slowly converted to the rebel's cause. When long-running tensions spill over into civil war, Lana must make her hardest decision yet: her mother's life, or a city's freedom?

In this YA sci-fi, an heiress flees her controlling father to prevent her test-subject sister’s mind from being reprogrammed—but must ally with a smuggler to outwit a monstrous AI, gravity-shifting gladiatorial pits, and bloodthirsty criminal matriarchs to save her sister and their city.

Opulent and lush poems inspired by Japanese, Chinese, and Elizabethan poets.

The Knight and His Queen: Book One: The Journey to the City By: Damion Lopez When Damion Lopez wrote his book, The Knight and His Queen, he strived to make it one that would spark conversation. He saw the state of the world and wanted to show the ugly parts. To show strong female characters can have dimension and depth. Lopez spent his nights writing and building characters. All through his life, his love for stories has always guided him. From history to religion, History is the story of humanity and religion is the stories that give us hope. We as humans have always looked to stories for lessons from the past. And a looking glass into the future. Now it’s time to evolve them. Stories and culture are what bring people together. From the different beliefs of how the world came to be. Lopez saw all the similarities and thought, If we all disappear, what would be left? This one question was the start. Lopez wanted to make that a story to look back on. Something that all people can see themselves in. He has constructed a tale to make the reader think, to ponder, to analyze our lives and the impact we have on each other and our planet.