In A Republic of Equals: A Manifesto for a Just Society (Princeton University Press), economist Jonathan Rothwell *09 examines America’s income gap and attibutes it to a lack of opportunities for lower-status groups and privileged access to markets and services reserved for elites — a system that disproportionally affects racial minorities. Rothwell offers new proposals for greater political and social equality.
In this nonfiction medical drama, Richard Preston *83 introduces the heroes and heroines who risked their lives to save others in an Ebola outbreak. Crisis in the Red Zone: The Story of the Deadliest Ebola Outbreak in History, and of the Outbreaks to Come (Random House) is an account of the world’s response to the continent-jumping outbreak and a chilling reminder that it could happen again.
In Jay-Z: Made in America (St. Martin’s Press), professor Michael Eric Dyson *93 draws from more than a decade of his teachings on the rapper. Dyson explores Jay-Z’s talents — from his lyrics to his penchant for weaving politics and social-justice themes into his music — arguing that he deserves a place among the great American poets.
In Misa Sugiura ’91’s coming-of-age novel, This Time Will Be Different (HarperTeen), teenager CJ discovers a rewarding creative outlet working at her family’s flower shop. But when her mom considers selling the shop to people who defrauded her grandparents while they were in internment camps, CJ finds a greater purpose and fights to keep her family and community from falling apart.
Ross Kenneth Urken ’08’s Jamaican nanny Dezna Sanderson was a godsend, helping him navigate his dysfunctional family. Another Mother (Ian Randle Publishers) is her story, which Urken researched by traveling to Jamaica and developing a bond with her family and her homeland.
Father and son Philip Wexler *72 and Michael Wexler ’92 explore the life and legacy of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, the only rabbi ever awarded the Congressional Gold Medal. Social Vision: The Lubavitcher Rebbe’s Transformative Paradigm for the World (Crossroad/Herder & Herder) is an exploration of Schneerson’s social views, activism, and ideas for repairing society — ideas that are still relevant decades after his death.
Crying the News: A History of America’s Newsboys (Oxford University Press) tells a story of America with the news carrier at the epicenter of cultural, economic, and political highs and lows. Vincent DiGirolamo *97’s book offers a new perspective on the young news merchants as individuals worthy of research, vital to the survival and well-being of their families and instrumental to the development of a free press.
