Social Studies Study Guide

The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph from the Frontiers of Brain Science (2007) by psychiatrist Norman Doidge explores breakthroughs in neuroscience regarding plasticity, or the brain’s ability to change. Doidge shares inspiring stories of the work done by what he calls “neuroplasticians” - neuroscientists who are pioneering new methods for optimizing brain function....

After narrowly avoiding a firing squad when he was just twenty-eight years old, Dostoevsky never took things lightly. His great novels burst upon the European literary scene like a succession of thunderbolts. His understanding of the darker and more extreme recesses of the human mind cast a forceful light into these areas of experience. The raw psychology and passionate involvement of his books galvanized writers and thinkers as disparate as Nietzsche and Kafka.

An inclusive and empowering manifesto for change in women’s healthcare – exploring the systemic and deep rooted sexism within medicine, and offering actionable ways for women to advocate for ourselves and others and get the diagnosis and treatment we need. Have you ever been to a doctor and felt like you were being fobbed off or ignored? Did they belittle or overlook your concerns about your health? Ever been told you’re just ‘hormonal’? You’re not alone.

Stamped is Reynolds’ self-described remix of Kendi’s 2016 National Book Award winner Stamped from the Beginning, utilizing humor and slang to transform intellectual and political history into a story for middle school and high school listeners. As the book discusses historical struggles and empowerment, racism and antiracism, and violence and resistance, it invites listeners to become the next generation of empowered and educated antiracists that can resist ongoing affronts to Black freedom and equality.

This audio study guide for The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up a Generation for Failure by Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt includes a detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes, such as the counterproductive culture of "Safetyism" and the benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

This audio study guide for Saltwater Slavery by Stephanie E. Smallwood includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as the commodification of African captives, diaspora, and social death, and the Middle Passage. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

This audio study guide for Savage Inequalities by Jonathan Kozol includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as inequality, segregation, and equity versus liberty. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics. Savage Inequalities is a work of nonfiction that explores ethnic and racial prejudice in the American educational system, as well as the divide in educational access between rich and poor.

When award-winning journalist Nick Davies decided to break Fleet Street's unwritten rule by investigating his own colleagues, he found that the business of reporting the truth had been slowly subverted by the mass production of ignorance.

This audio study guide for Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as the tyranny of the majority and the remedy for it, nostalgia for an aristocracy in decline, and the importance of religious faith. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics. Democracy in America is a multilayered work that spans genres, topics, and continents.

This audio study guide for The Great Influenza by John M. Barry includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as the triumphs and limits of science and the need for truth and leadership in crises. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

This audio study guide for Spillover by David Quammen includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes, such as the value of scientific expertise, randomness and risk, and humans as animals. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

This audio study guide for Courtroom 302 by Steve Bogira includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes, such as the prison-industrial complex and the influences of corruption and politics on trial cases. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

This audio study guide for Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism by Benedict Anderson includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes, such as nationalism, print capitalism, imperialism, and post-colonialism.

This audio study guide for The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the novel’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as cancer as the disease of the atomic age and success through medical failure. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics

This audio study guide for How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as the dire consequences of racism, historical knowledge in contemporary social transformation, and rethinking racist power. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

This audio study guide for So You Want to Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as systemic racism, activism, and social justice. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

This audio study guide for Rising out of Hatred by Eli Saslow includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as white nationalism and white supremacy, internal conflict, nonjudgmental inclusion, and family.

This audio study guide for Separate Pasts by Melton A. McLaurin includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes, such as the effects of segregation on Southern society and the power of human connection to create social change. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

SuperSummary, a modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, offers high-quality instructional study guides for challenging works of literature. This audio study guide for Circe by Madeline Miller includes detailed summary and analysis of each chapter and an in-depth exploration of the book’s multiple symbols, motifs, and themes such as the nature and power of victory and misogyny and female suffering. Featured content also includes commentary on major characters, 25 important quotes, essay questions, and discussion topics.

Are you ready to have kids? More and more gay men are turning to adoption and surrogacy to start their own families. An estimated two million American LBGTQ people would like to adopt and an estimated 65,000 adopted children are living with a gay parent. Unlike other parenting books that have whole chapters focusing on things specifically related to mothers (such as how to get the perfect latch when breastfeeding), this parenting book replaces those sections with things relevant to gay dads.