Author: Ridley, Matt, author. Published: 2020 Call Number: 303.483 RIDLEY Format: Books Summary: Building on his national bestseller The Rational Optimist, Innovation is the main event of the modern age, the reason we experience both dramatic improvements in our living standards and unsettling changes in our society. Forget short-term symptoms like Donald Trump and Brexit, it is innovation that will shape the twenty-first century. Yet innovation remains a mysterious process, poorly understood by policy makers and businessmen alike. Matt Ridley argues that we need to see innovation as an incremental, bottom-up, fortuitous process that happens as a direct result of the human habit of exchange, rather than an orderly, top-down process developing according to a plan. Innovation is crucially different from invention, because it is the turning of inventions into things of practical and affordable use to people. It speeds up in some sectors and slows down in others. It is always a collective, collaborative phenomenon, involving trial and error, not a matter of lonely genius. It happens mainly in just a few parts of the world at any one time. It still cannot be modeled properly by economists, but it can easily be discouraged by politicians. Far from there being too much innovation, we may be on the brink of an innovation famine. Ridley derives these and other lessons from the lively stories of scores of innovations, how they started and why they succeeded or failed. Some of the innovation stories he tells are about steam engines, jet engines, search engines, airships, coffee, potatoes, vaping, vaccines, cuisine, antibiotics, mosquito nets, turbines, propellers, fertilizer, zero, computers, dogs, farming, fire, genetic engineering, gene editing, container shipping, railways, cars, safety rules, wheeled suitcases, mobile phones, corrugated iron, powered flight, chlorinated water, toilets, vacuum cleaners, shale gas, the telegraph, radio, social media, block chain, the sharing economy, artificial intelligence, fake bomb detectors, phantom games consoles, fraudulent blood tests, hyperloop tubes, herbicides, copyright, and even life itself.
Author: Johns, Geoff, 1973- writer. Robinson, James, 1963- writer. Goyer, David S., writer. Moder, Lee, artist. Kolins, Scott, artist. Published: 2020 Call Number: Y JOHNS Format: Books Summary: "Soon to star in her very own live action series, Stargirl by Geoff Johns collects his earliest work at DC Comics as he introduces the young woman who becomes Stargirl, Courtney Whitmore! Before her adventures with the Justice Society of America as Stargirl, Courtney Whitmore was part just a normal kid. When Courtney discovers her stepfather, Pat Dugan was the sidekick of the original Star-Spangled Kid, she decides to teach him a lesson for marrying her mother and moving from Los Angeles to Nebraska! After finding his old gear in his belongings, Courtney dons the costume and becomes the all-new Star-Spangled Kid! Seeing no other alternative Pat constructs an 8-foot mechanical suit of armor and takes the codename S.T.R.I.P.E. to protect her!"--
Author: Hardinge, Frances, author. Published: 2020 2019 Call Number: Y HARDINGE Format: Books Summary: The gods are dead. Decades ago, they turned on one another and tore each other apart. When 15-year-old Hark finds the still-beating heart of a terrifying deity, he risks everything to keep it out of the hands of smugglers, military scientists, and a secret fanatical cult so that he can use it to save the life of his best friend, Jelt. But with the heart, Jelt gradually and eerily transforms. How long should Hark stay loyal to his friend when he's becoming a monster and what is Hark willing to sacrifice to save him?
Author: Mann, J. Albert, author. Published: 2020 Call Number: Y MANN Format: Books Summary: In 1928, Maxine, Rose, Alice, and London face vicious attendants and bullying older girls at the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded, each determined to change her fate at all costs. Includes historical notes about eugenics. 1928. At the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded, Maxine is doing everything she can to protect her younger sister Rose. Vicious attendants and bullying older girls treat them as the morons, imbeciles, and idiots the doctors have deemed them to be. Alice was left there when her brother couldn't bring himself to support a sister with a club foot. London was dragged there from the best foster situation she's ever had, thanks to one unexpected, life altering moment. But each girl is determined to change her fate, no matter what it takes. -- adapted from jacket
Author: Beha, Christopher R., author. Published: 2020 Call Number: F BEHA Format: Books Summary: "The day Sam Waxworth arrives in New York to write for The Interviewer, a street-corner preacher declares that the world is coming to an end. A sports statistician, data journalist, and newly minted media celebrity who correctly forecasted every outcome of the 2008 election, Sam's familiar with predicting the future. But when projection meets reality, things turn complicated. Sam's editor sends him to profile disgraced political columnist Frank Doyle. To most readers, Doyle is a liberal lion turned neocon Iraq war apologist, but to Sam he is above all the author of the great works of baseball lore that sparked Sam's childhood love of the game-books he now views as childish myth-making to be crushed with his empirical hammer. But Doyle proves something else in person: charming, intelligent, and more convincing than Sam could have expected. Then there is his daughter, Margo, to whom Sam becomes desperately attracted-just as his wife, Lucy, arrives from Wisconsin. The lives of these characters are entwined with those of the rest of the Doyle family-Frank's wife, Kit, whose investment bank collapsed during the financial crisis; his son, Eddie, an Army veteran just returned from his second combat tour; and Eddie's best childhood friend, hedge funder Justin Price. While the end of the world might not be arriving, Beha's characters are each headed for apocalypses of their own making"--
Author: Bushnell, Candace, author. Cotugno, Katie, author. Published: 2020 Call Number: Y BUSHNELL Format: Books Summary: Marin, a star pupil and editor of the school paper, is mentored by her English teacher, Mr. Beckett, but when he takes things too far and she tells the administration, she finds that no one believes her and she uses the newpaper to fight back, finding unexpected allies among her classmates. It starts before you can even remember: You learn the rules for being a girl ... Marin has always been good at navigating these unspoken guidelines. A star student and editor of the school paper, she dreams of getting into Brown University. Marin's future seems bright--and her young, charismatic English teacher, Mr. Beckett, is always quick to admire her writing and talk books with her. But when Bex takes things too far and comes on to Marin, she's shocked and horrified. Had she somehow led him on? Was it her fault? When Marin works up the courage to tell the administration what happened, no one believes her. She's forced to face Bex in class every day. Except now, he has an ax to grind. But Marin isn't about to back down. She uses the school newspaper to fight back and she starts a feminist book club at school. She finds allies in the most unexpected people, like slutty Gray Kendall, who she'd always dismissed as just another lacrosse bro. As things heat up at school and in her personal life, Marin must figure out how to take back the power and write her own rules.
Author: Coats, J. Anderson (Jillian Anderson), author. Published: 2020 Call Number: Y COATS Format: Books Summary: "Wales, 1109. Three years ago, a warband raided Elen's home. Her baby sister could not escape the flames. Her older sister fought back and almost killed the warband's leader, Owain ap Cadwgan, before being killed herself. Despite Elen's own sexual assault at the hands of the raiders, she saw a chance to live and took it. She healed Owain's wound and spun a lie: Owain ap Cadwgan, son of the king of Powys, cannot be killed, not by blade nor blow nor poison. Owain ap Cadwgan has the protection of Saint Elen, as long as he keeps her namesake safe from harm and near him always. For three years, Elen has had plenty of food, clothes to wear, and a bed to sleep in that she shares with the man who brought that warband to her door. Then Owain abducts Nest, the wife of a Norman lord, and her three children, triggering full-out war. As war rages, and her careful lies threaten to unravel, Elen begins to look to Nest and see a different life -- if she can decide, once and for all, where her loyalties lie" --
Author: El Kaliouby, Rana, author. Published: 2020 Call Number: B KALIOUBY Format: Books Summary: "In a captivating memoir, an Egyptian American visionary and scientist provides an intimate view of her personal transformation as she follows her calling-to humanize our technology and how we connect with one another. Rana el Kaliouby is a rarity in both the tech world and her native Middle East: a Muslim woman in charge in a field that is still overwhelmingly white and male. Growing up in Egypt and Kuwait, el Kaliouby was raised by a strict father who valued tradition-yet also had high expectations for his daughters-and a mother who was one of the first female computer programmers in the Middle East. Even before el Kaliouby broke ground as a scientist, she broke the rules of what it meant to be an obedient daughter and, later, an obedient wife to pursue her own daring dream. After earning her PhD at Cambridge, el Kaliouby, now the divorced mother of two, moved to America to pursue her mission to humanize technology before it dehumanizes us. The majority of our communication is conveyed through nonverbal cues: facial expressions, tone of voice, body language. But that communication is lost when we interact with others through our smartphones and devices. The result is an emotion-blind digital universe that impairs the very intelligence and capabilities-including empathy-that distinguish human beings from our machines. To combat our fundamental loss of emotional intelligence online, she cofounded Affectiva, the pioneer in the new field of Emotion AI, allowing our technology to understand humans the way we understand one another. Girl Decoded chronicles el Kaliouby's journey from being a "nice Egyptian girl" to becoming a woman, carving her own path as she revolutionizes technology. But decoding herself-learning to express and act on her own emotions-would prove to be the biggest challenge of all"--
Author: Morrison, Mary B., author. Published: 2020 Call Number: F MORRISON Format: Books Summary: "For Jordan, Victoria, Kingston, and Chancelor, exciting, fast-paced Atlanta offers everything their hometowns couldn't. But career success is easy compared to the city's dating scene of users, losers, and gold diggers. So they decide online dating might just be the answer - as long as they take precautions, work their perfect odds-beating plan, and have each other's backs. With luck, and prayers, they'll fulfill their fantasies and find real love at the same time...An accomplished lawyer, Jordan must look hard at potential suitors. But Terrence seems to be the honest man of her dreams, until accusations and her career threaten to come between them. . . . Sixty-something real estate pro Victoria thinks young men equal satisfaction that a good Christian woman like her deserves, but anything-goes sex makes her bet more than she can afford to lose. . . . Basketball star Kingston has the perfect life and wife, but exploring what he really wants on the downlow is a game he may not win. . . . And for marketing guru Chancelor, the net is a paradise of prey, but the consequences could blow more than his schemes apart. Soon enough, thanks to secret agendas, lies, and truths they can't even admit to themselves, all four friends' lives are in danger of being upended. And the results could rack up a price no one can pay"--Publisher.
Author: Carson, Rae, author. Published: 2020 Call Number: Y CARSON Format: Books Summary: "After unearthing a conspiracy at court, Red Sparkle Stone, the foundling orphan Empress Elisa has taken under her wing, dares to become a recruit for the Royal Guard-something no woman has done before"-- Red Sparkle Stone is a foundling orphan with an odd name and a veiled past, but she's about to be adopted into the royal family-- by Empress Elisa herself. When the empress's greatest rival blocks the adoption, Red is left with no family and no future. Determined to find her place, Red hatches a daring plan: she will prove herself as a recruit for the world's most elite fighting force, the legendary Royal Guard-- something no woman has done before. As someone puts everything she loves at risk, it will be up to Red and her friends-- and maybe some enemies--to save the empire. If they can survive recruitment year. -- adapted from Amazon info
Author: Caldwell, Patrice, editor. Published: 2020 Call Number: Y PHOENIX Format: Books Summary: Black girls, including gender non-conforming individuals, star in this collection of sixteen stories of fantasy, science fiction, and magic. From folktales retold to futuristic societies, this collection of stories centers on Black women and gender nonconforming individuals dealing with love and betrayal, strength and resistance. In all of them, the heroines shine brightly-- characters in which you cannot help but see yourself reflected. -- adapted from jacket
Author: Harper, Karen (Karen S.), author. Published: 2020 Call Number: F HARPER Format: Books Summary: "Alexandra Collister came to her estranged cousins' B and B in Falls Lake, Alaska, looking for a fresh start. The surrounding forest can be harsh and unforgiving--luckily, rugged wilderness tracker Quinn Mantell offers to be her guide. Still recovering from a toxic previous relationship, Alex is wary of getting too close, but when savagely deep claw marks appear outside her bedroom window, keeping her distance from Quinn is no longer an option. Then a body turns up exhibiting the same ruthless slash marks, and Alex knows it isn't a coincidence. Something sinister is lurking in the woods around Falls Lake, turning Alex's fresh start into a brutal game of survival. The murky veil of forest offers more threats than answers. Can Alex and Quinn find the killer before darkness falls for good?"--Provided by publisher.
Author: Gulledge, Laura Lee, author. Published: 2020 Call Number: Y GULLEDGE Format: Books Summary: A bold and original YA graphic novel about battling your inner doubts and fears and finding your genius Sometimes, the world is too much for Mona Starr. She's sweet, geeky, and creative, but it's hard for her to make friends and connect with other people. She's like a lot of sensitive teenagers-but in the hands of graphic novelist Laura Lee Gulledge, Mona's struggle with depression takes on a vivid, concrete form. Mona calls it her Matter. The Matter gets everywhere, telling Mona she's not good enough, and that everyone around her wishes she would go away. But through therapy, art, writing, and the persistence of a few good friends, Mona starts to understand her Matter, and how she-and readers-can turn their fears into strengths. Heartfelt, emotionally vulnerable, and visually stunning, The Dark Matter of Mona Starr is a story that takes the inner life of a teenager seriously, while giving readers a new way to look at the universal quest for meaning and connection.
Author: Safier, David, 1966- author. MacCormac, Helen, translator. Published: 2020 2014 Call Number: Y SAFIER Format: Books Summary: In Warsaw, Poland, in 1942, Mira faces impossible decisions after learning that the Warsaw ghetto is to be "liquidated," but a group of young people are planning an uprising against their Nazi captors. Warsaw, 1942. Mira smuggles food into the Warsaw ghetto to keep herself and her family alive. When she learns the entire ghetto is to be "liquidated" she joins a group of young people who are planning an uprising against the Nazi forces. For twenty-eight days, as the resistance fighters hold out, Mira experiences betrayal, suffering... and even moments of happiness. -- adapted from jacket
Author: Patrick, Phaedra, author. Published: 2020 Call Number: F PATRICK Format: Books Summary: "It's summer in the city and passions are soaring along with the temperature - for everyone but Mitchell Fisher, who hates all things romance. He relishes his job cutting off the padlocks that couples fasten to the famous "love story" bridge. Only his young daughter, Poppy, knows that behind his prickly veneer, Mitchell still grieves the loss of her mother. Then one hot day, everything changes when Mitchell courageously rescues a woman who falls from the bridge into the river. He's surprised to feel an unexpected connection to her, but she disappears before he can ask her name. Desperate to find out her identity, Mitchell is shocked to learn she's been missing for almost a year. He teams up with her spirited sister, Liza, on a quest to find her again. However, she's left only one clue behind - a message on the padlock she hung on the bridge."--Publisher.
Author: Kane, Andrea, author. Published: 2020 Call Number: F KANE Format: Books Summary: "Jewelry designer Fiona McKay is working on her latest collection of Celtic-inspired jewelry. She's excited by the possibilities uncovered by Rose Flaherty, the antiquities dealer helping her research the heirloom tapestries inspiring her new collection. So when Rose calls to tell her she has answers, Fiona hurries to meet her. But her artistic world is shattered when she finds the lifeless body of the elderly woman. Why would anyone kill such a harmless person? And what if Fiona had arrived just a few minutes earlier? Would she have been killed as well? Unnerved, she heads for her brother's Brooklyn apartment seeking advice and comfort. Ryan McKay, Forensic Instincts' technology wiz is not amused by his little sister interrupting his evening with his girlfriend and co-worker, Claire Hedgleigh. But when Ryan and Claire hear the details of Rose's murder, they fear that Fiona could be next, and quickly assume the role of her protectors. What they're unaware of is how many people are desperately seeking the information now buried along with Rose." -- Amazon.
Author: Dolan, Lian, author. Published: 2020 Call Number: F DOLAN Format: Books Summary: "Maggie, Eliza, and Tricia Sweeney grew up as a happy threesome in the idyllic seaside town of Southport, Connecticut. But their mother's death from cancer fifteen years ago tarnished their golden-hued memories, and the sisters drifted apart. Their one touchstone is their father, Bill Sweeney, an internationally famous literary lion and college professor universally adored by critics, publishers, and book lovers. When Bill dies unexpectedly one June night, his daughters return to their childhood home. They aren't sure what the future holds without their larger-than-life father, but they do know how to throw an Irish wake to honor a man of his stature. But as guests pay their respects and reminisce, one stranger, emboldened by whiskey, has crashed the party. It turns out that she too is a Sweeney sister. What does this mean for William's literary legacy? Where is the unfinished memoir he's stashed away? And how will a fourth Sweeney sister, a blond among redheads, fit into their story?"--Provided by publisher.
Author: Maden, Mike, author. Clancy, Tom, 1947-2013, creator. Published: 2020 Call Number: LP F MADEN Format: Large print Summary: "While on vacation in Barcelona, Jack Ryan, Jr. is surprised to run into an old friend at a small café. A first, Renee Moore seems surprised to see Jack, but then she just seems irritated and distracted. After making plans to meet later, Jack leaves, only to miss the opportunity to ever speak to Renee again, as the café is destroyed minutes later by a suicide bomber. A desperate Jack plunges back into the ruins to save his friend, but it's too late. As she dies in his arms, she utters one word, "Sammler." When the police show up they are initially suspicious of Jack until they are called off by a member of the Spanish Intelligence Service. This mysterious sequence of events sends the young Campus operative on an unrelenting search to find out the reason behind Renee's death. Along the way, he discovers that his old friend had secrets of her own--and some of them may have gotten her killed. Jack has never backed down from a challenge, but some prey may be too big for one man"--
Author: Brown, Rita Mae, author. Brown, Sneaky Pie, 1982- author. Gellatly, Michael, illustrator. Published: 2020 Call Number: LP F BROWN Format: Large print Summary: "Someone's passed their expiration date in this thrilling new mystery in the bestselling Mrs. Murphy series from Rita Mae Brown and her feline co-author Sneaky Pie Brown. Mary Minor "Harry" Harristeen and her pet sleuths uncover a rotten scam to dupe consumers when they discover that substandard produce is being passed off for organic, upmarket groceries. As always, Harry's crime-solving cats Mrs. Murphy and Pewter and Tee Tucker the Corgi share her determination to sniff out the foes among friends, the spoiled among the fresh"--
Author: Sellers, Bakari, 1984- author. Published: 2020 Call Number: B SELLERS Format: Books Summary: "The CNN analyst and youngest state representative in South Carolina's history illuminates the lives of America's forgotten rural, Black working-class men and women"-- "An eye-opening odyssey through the South's past, present, and future that is a moving and gripping tribute to America's forgotten rural working-class black folks. The small town of Denmark was once a thriving hub of South Carolina's idyllic Low Country. Yet today, this majority African-American town with a population of 3,500 is emblematic of the "Forgotten South" -- small communities of color stretching from Appalachia to the Sunbelt. For CNN political analyst Bakari Sellers, Denmark is "home" -- the land on which his forefathers toiled to build lives of meaning and substance, despite systemic racism and Jim Crow laws. In My Vanishing Country, he illuminates the pride and pain that continue to fertilize the soil of one of the poorest states in the nation and the forces threatening rural working-class black life. As he eloquently and powerfully argues, places like Denmark are worth saving; its people -- and their hopes and dreams -- matter because they are an indelible part of America. Since the 2016 election, politicians and the media have focused on the struggles of the white working class while consistently overlooking the residents of Denmark. In this atmospheric, rich, and poetic book, Sellers shines a light on life in today's rural South, where Americans still struggle for the basics of modern life: internet access, groceries, medical care, and clean water. Part memoir, part historical and cultural analysis, My Vanishing Country is a compelling read that captures the remarkable spirit and resilience of one small town and makes visible other "forgotten" communities. My Vanishing Country charts Seller's extraordinary journey -- from growing up the son of civil rights icon Cleveland Sellers to building on his father's achievements as the youngest person to serve in the South Carolina legislature, to his work today at CNN, and to his life as the father of twins he hopes will embrace the Sellers family name and carry on its legacy." --
