A female marine’s “absorbing memoir” recounting her work with the remains and personal effects of fallen soldiers and her battle with PTSD (Publishers Weekly). In 2008, CBS chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan candidly speculated about the human side of the war in Iraq: “Tell me the last time you saw the body of a dead American soldier. What does that look like? Who in America knows what that looks like? Because I know what that looks like, and I feel responsible for the fact that no one else does . . .” Logan’s query raised some important yet ignored questions: How did the remains of American service men and women get from the dusty roads of Fallujah to the flag-covered coffins at Dover Air Force Base? And what does the gathering of those remains tell us about the nature of modern warfare and about ourselves? These questions are the focus of Jessica Goodell’s story Shade It Black: Death and After in Iraq. Goodell enlisted in the Marines immediately after graduating from high school in 2001, and in 2004 she volunteered to serve in the Marine Corps’ first officially declared Mortuary Affairs unit in Iraq. Her platoon was tasked with recovering and processing the remains of fallen soldiers. With sensitivity and insight, Goodell describes her job retrieving and examining the remains of fellow soldiers lost in combat in Iraq, and the psychological intricacy of coping with their fates, as well as her own. Death assumed many forms during the war, and the challenge of maintaining one’s own humanity could be difficult. Responsible for diagramming the outlines of the fallen, if a part was missing she was instructed to “shade it black.” This insightful memoir also describes the difficulties faced by these Marines when they transition from a life characterized by self-sacrifice to a civilian existence marked very often by self-absorption. In sharing the story of her own journey, Goodell helps us to better understand how post-traumatic stress disorder affects female veterans. With the assistance of John Hearn, she has written one of the most unique accounts of America’s current wars overseas yet seen.

Photographs and poetic text celebrate the beauty and diversity of African American children. On board pages.

Dark Shade of Black is a collection of 49 verses inspired by the agony of love, life and heartbreak. And so I find/Through battles fierce/That knights be but/The choice of few Endowed and gifted/To hearts of snow. White as snow/And cold as white/Who says that dark/Is shade of black? White be greater far/The agony bright/Crushing, squeezing/My heart so tight The verses reveal a journey outlined by reflection and struggle, purpose and indifference; of the stark reality that there is no greater pain than knowing that in essence, we are, for all purposes, truly alone and also yet, that there is life after the pain and the agony. In it, the darkest nights are also the ones that drive us to find a deeper meaning, a greater purpose to that which we call life. Pain in a sense catalyses, forces and propels us to look within. Dark Shade of Black is then to some degree, a reflection and a humble submission of the trials, struggles and the aches that is faced at some level, by one and all and also a glance into the reality and promise of hope.

When Brad Shade arrives in Swift Current in the wake of an old friend's suicide, all he wants to do is make an appearance at the funeral and get back home. But Mitzi, the grieving widow, can't believe her husband took his own life, especially when his multimillion-dollar business is thriving. When Shade starts asking questions, he ends up taking a sometimes violent detour through the dark side of a small prairie town that has no shortage of secrets it wants kept at almost any cost. The second in the Brad Shade series, The Black Ace reunites us with the wisecracking former journeyman who never played by a rule he wouldn't bend or break for a win, who always plays to win, and doesn't know how to leave well enough alone.

A child reflects on the meaning of being Black in this moving and powerful anthem about a people, a culture, a history, and a legacy that lives on. Red is a rainbow color. Green sits next to blue. Yellow, orange, violet, indigo, They are rainbow colors, too, but My color is black . . . And there’s no BLACK in rainbows. From the wheels of a bicycle to the robe on Thurgood Marshall's back, Black surrounds our lives. It is a color to simply describe some of our favorite things, but it also evokes a deeper sentiment about the incredible people who helped change the world and a community that continues to grow and thrive. Stunningly illustrated by Caldecott Honoree and Coretta Scott King Award winner Ekua Holmes, Black Is a Rainbow Color is a sweeping celebration told through debut author Angela Joy’s rhythmically captivating and unforgettable words. An ALSC Notable Children's Book 2021 An NCTE 2021 Notable Poetry Book A 2021 Notable Social Studies Trade Book of the NCSS/CBC A New York Public Library Best Book of 2020 A Washington Post Best Book of 2020 A Horn Book Fanfare Best Book of the Year A 2020 Jane Addams Children's Book Award Honoree

Lilly has just enough black not to be white and just enough white not to be black. As a slave caught in between two worlds she is kept out of the sun so as not to be burned by it's rays and to keep her skin that tinge that the massa wanted. She is implicitly and explicitly taught that she is slave yet she is also different from other slaves, distanced from those who work the fields. Her mother worries constantly about her virginity. In a boarder line that keeps her from fully feeling a part of either world, Lilly entertains notions of freedom while struggling with various challenges and figuring out her identity as a creamed colored girl. Through all her challenges, Lilly somehow finds the courage to redefine herself and chart a new path. This is the story of how she changes her destiny.

Twenty-six edition oral histories of Orange County African-American pioneers from Willis Duffy to the family of Robert Clemons.