Library History

A “brilliant and provocative” (The New Yorker) celebration of Melville’s masterpiece—from the bestselling author of In the Heart of the Sea, Valiant Ambition, and In the Hurricane's Eye One of the greatest American novels finds its perfect contemporary champion in Why Read Moby-Dick?...

A New York Times Bestseller An Indiebound Bestseller A Kids' Next Top Ten Book A Summer/Fall 2014 Indies Introduce New Voices Selection A Junior Library Guild Selection One of Publishers Weekly’s Best Summer Reads “Not since Philip Pullman's The Golden Compass have I seen such an...

From the New York Times bestselling author and National Book Award finalist, a biography in verse and prose of science fiction visionary Octavia Butler. Acclaimed novelist Ibi Zoboi illuminates the young life of the visionary storyteller Octavia E. Butler in poems and prose. Born into the Space...

In 1876, France decided to give the United States a very big and very special present--the Statue of Liberty. The gift was to commemorate the 100th birthday of the United States, and just packing it was no small feat--350 pieces in 214 crates shipped across the ocean. The story of how the...

The history of the White House, first completed in 1799, reflects the history of America itself. It was the dream of George Washington to have an elegant "presidential mansion" in the capital city that was named after him. Yet he is the only president who never got to live there. All the rest...

It was world-famous sculptor Gutzon Borglum's dream to carve sixty-foot-high likenesses of four presidents on a granite cliff in South Dakota. Does that sound like a wacky idea? Many at the time thought so. Borglum faced a lot of opposition and problems at every turn; the blasting and carving...

What if the Bible was only half the story? In 1945, a sealed jar was unearthed in the Egyptian desert. Inside: a set of ancient texts that no one was supposed to read. Known now as the Nag Hammadi Library, these 1,600-year-old writings include lost gospels, secret revelations, and alternative takes on Jesus, God, creation, and reality itself. This book walks you straight into the fire. Not with dogma — but with myth, metaphor, and the actual words the early Church buried. You’ll meet the Demiurge, a false god who thinks he’s the real one. You’ll hear Jesus speak in riddles.

Claude Monet is considered one of the most influential artists of all time. He is a founder of the French Impressionist art movement, and today his paintings sell for millions of dollars. While Monet was alive, however, his work was often criticized and he struggled financially. With over one...

A dark and intricate fantasy, City of the Uncommon Thief is the story of a quarantined city gripped by fear and of the war that can free it. "Guilders work. Foundlings scrub the bogs. Needles bind. Swords tear. And men leave. There is nothing uncommon in this city. I hope Errol Thebes is dead...

It was like a nightmare, but there was no waking up. When the night began, Nora had two best friends and an embarrassingly storybook one true love. When it ended, she had nothing but blood on her hands and an echoing scream that stopped only when the tranquilizers pierced her veins and left...

Michelle Cooper combines the drama of pre-War Europe with the romance of debutante balls and gives us another compelling historical page turner. Sophia FitzOsborne and the royal family of Montmaray escaped their remote island home when the Germans attacked, and now find themselves in the lap of...

A lyrical audiobook from presidential inaugural poet Amanda Gorman and #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator Loren Long "I can hear change humming In its loudest, proudest song. I don't fear change coming, And so I sing along." In this stirring, much-anticipated audiobook by...

Amelia Earhart was a woman of many "firsts." In 1932, she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. In 1935, she also became the first woman to fly across the Pacific. From her early years to her mysterious 1937 disappearance while attempting a flight around the world...

The perfect biography to "bite into" at the start of a new school year! Children are sure to be fascinated by the eccentric and legendary Johnny Appleseed, a man who is best known for bringing apple trees to the midwest. Over John Chapman’s lifetime, he saw the country grow and start to spread...

From Vice President Kamala Harris comes a picture book with an empowering message: Superheroes are all around us--and if we try, we can all be heroes too. A #1 New York Times bestseller! Before Kamala Harris was elected to the vice presidency and named the Democratic presidential nominee, she...

We can all be heroes. That’s the inspiring message of this New York Times Bestselling biography series from historian and author Brad Meltzer. Even as a child, Martin Luther King, Jr. was shocked by the terrible and unfair way African-American people were treated. When he grew up, he...

Find out how this English singer-songwriter and actor who constantly reinvented his look and sound became one of the most influential musicians of the twentieth century in this new book from the #1 New York Times bestselling series. David Bowie, born David Robert Jones, wasn't just an...

From the National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning and How to Be an Antiracist comes a fresh new audiobook that empowers parents and children to uproot racism in our society and in ourselves, now with added discussion prompts to help listeners recognize and reflect...

Ever since Howard Carter uncovered King Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922, the young pharaoh has become a symbol of the wealth and mystery of ancient Egypt. This Who Was . . . ? explains the life and times of this ancient Egyptian ruler, covering the story of the tomb’s discovery, as well as myths...

In this lyrical book, world-renowned poet, New York Times bestselling author, and Coretta Scott King Honor winner Nikki Giovanni and fine artist Erin Robinson craft an ode to the magic of a library as a place not only for knowledge but also for imagination, exploration, and escape. In what...