Millennial Momentum: How a New Generation Is Remaking America

By Morley Winograd
"In this timely analysis of demographic data, Winograd and Hais (Millennial Makeover) examine the habits, values, and desires of the generation born between 1982 and 2003. Turning away from the apathetic and introverted attitudes of Generation X, the disillusioned idealism of the boomer generation, and the pragmatism of the silent generation, Millennials most resemble the G.I. generation, which supported the New Deal and oversaw a radical reshaping of government's role in improving quality of life in America. Like the G.I.s, Millennials are a "civic generation," one that responds to fear, uncertainty, and doubt by attempting to better the world through public service, personal engagement, and demand for a transparent and responsive government. The most racially diverse and ideologically tolerant population the U.S. has ever known, Millennials are also the best networked group of humans in history. Believing that every consumer choice, every vote, every blog post and tweet matters, young people come of age expecting to be heard and to make change. Although still gaining momentum, Millennial thinking has already proved itself powerfulthe networked grassroots organization that elected Barack Obama is the book's most persuasive example. Though general readers might be put off by the academic quality of Winograd and Hais's prose, the book offers important insights into the dynamic, interdependent forces that will shape America's future."  (Publishers Weekly)   Check Our Catalog

Red Alert: How China's Growing Prosperity Threatens the American Way of Life

By Stephen Leeb
"The U.S. was galvanized by the terrorist attacks of September 11, but according to economist Leeb, what we should have been worrying about was the contemporaneous emergence of China's enormous impact on commodity conservation and use. By 2012, the Chinese will hold a leading position in every aspect of renewable energy. Leeb argues that we as a nation are not paying enough attention to the threat of China's growing influence; he paints a picture of our government as fundamentally scattered and shortsighted, though his ire isn't aimed at any particular administration. Our political and economic systems don't lend themselves to tackling major problems until they reach crisis proportions, whereas the Chinese are relentlessly long-term thinkers (furthermore, their leaders don't have to answer to a fickle electorate). While we have no plan as to how to secure or develop our resources, China does, and its drive for growth means that its leaders will leave carbon reduction (and other initiatives) to the free market. Though he does touch upon the potential problems China will face, his main purpose is to provoke Americans to wake up to a situation that threatens to destroy our economy and our environment. Terse, well-reasoned, and comprehensive, this is a much-needed shot in the arm for American complacency."  (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

Cartel: The Coming Invasion of Mexico's Drug Wars

By Sylvia Longmire

"Overview of the war on drugs being fought without relief in Mexico and the United States.
In her debut, Longmire is a longtime analyst of drug trafficking, advising government agencies on the realities and solutions that might mean a few victories along the porous, violence-ridden U.S.-Mexican border. The author covers a lot of material in a relatively brief book, sometimes giving the text the feel of linked encyclopedia entries. Still, the prevalence of breadth over depth is no major shortcoming, since Longmire offers fresh insights into almost every facet of the war on drugs. She makes a convincing case that within the United States, the violence stemming from illegal substances has caused more injuries and deaths than generally acknowledged by law-enforcement agencies. Those casualties are in addition to the dangers of ingesting contaminated narcotics sold and purchased illegally. Mexican drug organizations have established sizable marijuana growing fields within national parks and forests throughout the United States. When law-enforcement officers or unsuspecting civilians enter the fields, their lives might be endangered by trigger-happy Mexican criminals determined to protect their lucrative cash crops from detection. The most frequent danger from infiltrated marijuana fields seems to be concentrated in California. Longmire demonstrates, however, that potential free-fire zones have cropped up in North Carolina, West Virginia, Tennessee and other states far from the Mexican border. Switching aspects of the drug war chapter by chapter, Longmire explains why law-enforcement agents have been mostly unable to halt the flow of weapons from the United States into Mexico. Legalization of currently illegal substances will never serve as a panacea, writes the author, but strategic legalization might alleviate some of the violence.
One-stop shopping for basic knowledge about U.S.-Mexican narcotics diplomacy."   (Kirkus Reviews)  Check Our Catalog

Plastic Ocean: How a Sea Captain's Chance Discovery Launched a Determined Quest to Save the Oceans

By Capt Charles Moore
"In 1997, Moore, captain of the oceanographic research vessel Alguita, discovered what became known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a massive plastic soup... lightly seasoned with plastic flakes, bulked out here and there with dumplings: buoys, net clumps, floats, crates and other macro debris  floating between Hawaii and California. This now-famous discovery led Moore, already a long-time environmentalist, to become a scientist-activist focusing on what others concerned with oceanic plastic proliferation had ignored: the plastic confetti created by ultraviolet light and ocean chemicals granulating the hundreds of millions of tons of plastic waste that have washed, blown, or been dumped into the ocean. In this sobering, impassioned book, Moore chronicles his attempts to mitigate the insidious effects of these bits, which are ingested by ocean creatures and can work their way up the food chain to poison humans. Moore, the grandson of a president of Hancock Oil, is also able to guide the reader through a history of plastic, the chemical process of plastics production, and its indestructibility and threat to our world. He covers some of the same ground as Susan Freinkels Plastic, but his scientific background takes his investigation deeper."  (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

Fool Me Twice: Fighting the Assault on Science in America

By Shawn Lawrence Otto
"In this incredible book, Otto, the great-grandson of Charles Darwin, explores the devaluation of science in America. His exhaustively researched text explains the three-pronged attack on science: how right-wing Christian fervor discredits evolution; how post-modernism and cultural sensitivity makes people believe that objective truth doesn't exist; and how corporations discredit scientists in order to further economic agendas. Otto also shows how Christian beliefs aren't traditionally anti-science, and how America went from a nation that valued scientific achievement to one suspicious of it. By attacking science, America diminishes its capacity to compete in the global marketplace, and endangers the world for future generations. The accessible book will inform scientists about what has happened to their field, provide an overview for laypeople, and allow educators to equip themselves to address these issues for the next generation and reverse this troubling trend."  (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

Disordered World: Setting a New Course for the Twenty-First Century

By Amin Maalouf

"From a distinguished journalist and award-winning novelist, an extended essay with an urgent warning: The world is on the brink of disaster, and humanity must act now to avert it.
Maalouf (Origins: A Memoir, 2008, etc.), a Lebanese Christian living in Paris, looks at the tensions between the Western world and the Arab world from a unique perspective, and what he sees is more than a clash of civilizations. Both, he writes, have reached their limits and are morally bankrupt. Now is the time for human beings to build a common civilization that respects and benefits from cultural diversity; not to do so, he warns, means that we will "descend together into a common barbarity." In chapters aptly titled "Hollow Victories" and "Lost Legitimacy," he writes knowledgeably of the history of relations between the Arab world and the West. In his third chapter, "Imaginary Certainties," Maalouf explores the relationship between politics and religion and between countries and their immigrant populations, and he gives his arguments for taking collective action now to deal with the grave threat of global warming. He presents two visions of the world's future: one in which humanity is divided into tribes that detest one another but share a bland global culture, and another in which humanity is united around common values but continues to develop rich, diverse expressions of culture. Doing nothing leads to the first; to achieve the second requires making what he calls a step-change. Maalouf describes himself as in a state of worried anticipation, but with a measure of hope. He gives four reasons for his hopefulness about humanity's ability to ward off the decline: the increasing pace of scientific progress, the continuing emergence of populous nations from poverty, the example of cooperation shown by the European Union, and the election of Barack Obama, which he sees as an indication of the reawakening of a great nation.
Eloquent and full of passion."  (Kirkus Reviews)  Check Our Catalog

The Beautiful and the Damned: A Portrait of the New India

By Siddhartha Deb
"Deb grew up in northeastern India, won a fellowship to Columbia, published two novels plus lots of reviews and other pieces (e.g., "Boston Globe, n + 1"), then returned to India to work underground for the "Guardian" at a call center in New Delhi. He turned his experiences into this account of the massive contradictions of India, where BMWs idle before gentle cows. India's future matters, and as a novelist Deb should give his writing a narrative arc." (Library Journal)  Check Our Catalog

Remedy and Reaction: The Peculiar American Struggle Over Health Care Reform

By Paul Starr

"In Pulitzer Prizewinning author and presidential advisor Starr's latest effort, he achieves two daunting tasks. First, he objectively draws together the threads of myriad voices and special interests in the century-long American health-care debate and weaves them into a wholly comprehensible pattern. Sadly, it is a pattern of self-destructive behavior of epic proportions wherein the U.S. has repeatedly shot its health-care hopes in the foot and then wondered why it wasn't healing. Indeed, due to a series of radical social and political national mood swings, the entire history reads more like the script for a Punch and Judy puppet show than a focused effort toward a single goal. However, unlike in other industrialized democracies, it appears that such chaos may have to be the fate of a country still trying to invent itself. Second, Starr cogently explains the highlights of the recently passed and highly controversial Affordable Care Act, including important background information that accounts for the law's necessary complexity. In sum, this self-admitted universal-health-care advocate and seasoned realist leaves readers questioning, as he does, whether Americans can summon the elementary decency toward the sick that characterizes other democracies."  (Booklist)  Check Our Catalog

Winning the War on War: The Decline of Armed Conflict Worldwide

By Joshua Goldstein
"American University professor and international relations expert Goldstein argues that military conflicts are on the retreat globally. Using analysis and statistics, he rebuts the claim that the 20th century was among the bloodiest in human history, that civilian casualties in warfare have been increasing as a proportion of total casualties, along with violence against women, and that the number of wars being fought has been increasing since World War II. Goldstein contends that peace is a worthwhile objective for its own sake, even without other causes, such as social justice or economic reform. Goldstein reviews the history and development of U.N. peace keeping operations from their inception under Ralph Bunche and Count Bernadotte in Palestine, and while surveying the world's ongoing armed struggles, he presents leading peace research institutes (such as the one in Uppsala, Sweden) and researchers (such as the late Randy Forsberg on nuclear weapons). In addition, he reveals the flawed nature of casualty estimates based on epidemiological models that were employed for the Congo and Iraq. The result is an optimistic, if controversial, assessment by a respected anti-war advocate."  (Publishers Weekly)  Check Our Catalog

Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and the Education of a President

By Ron Suskind
"How did the Obama administration handle the financial crisis? Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Suskind, whose books routinely appear near the top of the "New York Times" best sellers list, put in hundreds of hours interviewing administration figures (and the President himself) to discover how the battle between Washington and Wall Street played out."  (Library Journal)  Check Our Catalog