US Outstanding Books for the College Bound

Starting in 2011, refugees flood out of war-torn Syria in Exodus-like proportions. The surprising flood of victims overwhelms neighboring countries, and chaos follows. Resentment in host nations heightens as disruption and the cost of aid grows. By 2017, many want to turn their backs on the victims. The refugees are the unwanted.

Don Brown depicts moments of both heartbreaking horror and hope in the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis. Shining a light on the stories of the survivors, The Unwanted is a testament to the courage and resilience of the refugees and a call to action for all those who read.

"Taking the form of a letter to his teenage son, Coates strives to help his son (and himself) come to grips with what it means to be Black in America today"--OBCB.

"When Ben De Backer comes out to their parents [as non-binary], they're thrown out of their house and forced to move in with their estranged older sister, Hannah, and her husband, Thomas . . . Struggling with an anxiety disorder compounded by their parents' rejection, they come out only to Hannah, Thomas, and their therapist, and try to keep a low profile in a new school. But Ben's attempts to survive the last half of senior year unnoticed are thwarted when Nathan Allan, a funny and charismatic student, decides to take Ben under his wing. As Ben and Nathan's friendship grows, their feelings begin to change, and what started as a disastrous turn of events looks like it might just be a chance to start a happier, new life"--Dust jacket.

"Follow Lena and Campbell in their action-packed night as they race for their homes when a fight that breaks out after a high school football game erupts into something much bigger"--OBCB.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the National Book Award-winning author of Stamped from the Beginning comes a "groundbreaking" (Time) approach to understanding and uprooting racism and inequality in our society--and in ourselves.

"The most courageous book to date on the problem of race in the Western mind."--The New York Times

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review * Time * NPR * The Washington Post * Shelf Awareness * Library Journal * Publishers Weekly * Kirkus Reviews

"Constructs the through line from the mid-nineties introduction of the prescription painkiller OxyContin to the current U.S. opioid crisis. Although the realities are devastating, the doctors, the bereaved, and the advocates that the author introduces offer hope"--OBCB.

"Miller was known only as Emily Doe when the letter she read during the sentencing of the man who sexually assaulted her went viral. With this memoir, she reclaims her name and describes the trauma she experienced, the injustices she and other victims face in the criminal justice system, and the ways she found healing"--OBCB.

"What seems at first to be a straightforward case of an anti-LGBTQ+ hate crime turns out to be far more complex in this true accounting of two teens, one white and one Black, from radically different worlds in the city of Oakland, and the reckless act that brought their stories to national attention"--OBCB.

"Stevenson, founder of the Equal Justice Initiative, documents his work as an attorney fighting on behalf of prisoners on death row and the wrongly convicted, and explores how the United States' legacy of racial injustice led to the current inequities in the criminal justice system"--OBCB.

"A well-executed look into how the American dream can be a nightmare for some immigrants. Evocative prose delineates struggle for survival, the uncovering of one's bravest self, and the coming together of a family"--OBCB.