Lethal legacy, by Linda Fairstein

What's beneath the fabled 42nd Street library? Alex Cooper and her two cohorts, Mike and Mercer, are looking for clues to a murder and get a behind-the-scenes look at NYPL. Rich donors, eccentric board members, secret tunnels - for library lovers, this is great fun; library staff and conservators will be horrified by the rough handling of rare books and maps. Put on white gloves before you pick up that bloodstained clue!!

Racism 101, by Nikki Giovanni

What a wonderful collection of messages! "... the biggest stumbling block to progress in America is still racism... we have to find a way to comfort young white people about the fact that, though they will never ... rule the world again, they can make valid contributions to our planet. The world is not, and has never been, white..." A great way to touch base with how far we've come, and how far we still need to go.

Enough, by Juan Williams

Subtitle: the phony leaders, dead-end movements, and culture of failure that are undermining Black America - and what we can do about it. Williams is excited by Bill Cosby's perceptive, focused challenge to parents in his famous speech celebrating the anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling. "Study," Cosby (and Williams) tells students. "That's all." Williams quotes statistics such as the difference in the amount of time spent studying by white, African-American, Hispanic and Asian students, the amount of time spent watching TV, the number of middle-class African-Americans leaving inner city schools, and time spent by parents helping their children with homework. It all points to more parental involvement. Williams is scathing of so-called civil rights leaders who help their own families to succeed, but don't lead marches on our failing schools or stand in front of crack houses.