ADMISSION by Julie Buxbaum C’99 (Delacorte Press, 2020, $18.99.) Inspired by the recent college admissions scandal, Buxbaum’s sixth novel follows the story of Chloe Wynn Berringer, a teenage girl whose privileged world is shattered when her family’s lies are exposed. Chloe must reckon with what happened—and her own guilt. Buy this book
GRIDIRON: Stories From 100 Years of the National Football League by Fred Bowen C’75 and James E. Ransome (Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2020, $19.99.) Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the NFL last year, this illustrated book takes readers from the league’s scrappy beginnings in an automobile showroom, through World War II and desegregation, to where it is today—the most popular sports league in the United States. Buy this book
COUNTING KINDNESS: Ten Ways to Welcome Refugee Children by Hollis Kurman C’85 (Charlesbridge, 2020, $16.99.) Kurman, a human rights activist, offers a warm and welcoming introduction to immigration, refugees, and inclusivity in this book endorsed by Amnesty International. Children count from one to ten with one boat, two helping hands, and the kindness of many. Buy this book
PERSPECTIVES ON FAIR HOUSING edited by Penn faculty members Vincent J. Reina, Wendell E. Pritchett Gr’97, and Susan M. Wachter (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2020, $45.00.) Fifty years after the passage of the Fair Housing Act, the US faces a dire crisis in housing. The essays in this volume provide historical, sociological, economic, and legal perspectives on the continuing problem of housing discrimination and review tools that could promote racial and economic equity in America. Buy this book
THE BOTTOM: A Theopoetic of the Streets by Charles “Chaz” Howard C’00 (Changemaker Books, 2020, $19.95.) This novel in verse explores the topic of homelessness by fusing theology, jazz, and storytelling. By showing the complex journeys of individuals who are navigating homelessness, it explores liberation theology and how to handle the gray areas of activism. Buy this book
FALCONS: New and Selected Poems by Michael H. Levin C’64 (Finishing Line Press, 2020, $14.99.) Levin, an environmental lawyer, solar energy developer, and writer, offers 34 short poems that present a tour through history, music, and art. Buy this book
MAASAI: A Novel of Love, War, and Witchcraft in 19th Century East Africa by Elliot Fratkin C’70 (Africa World Press, 2020, $21.95.) Based on true events of the 19th century, this novel is set in what is now called Kenya during a period of warfare between pastoralist groups fighting over grazing lands and cattle. The story focuses on two lovers, Maron and Endelepin, and their son Kitoip, as they endure the tribulations of warfare, smallpox, slave traders, and the coming of European colonialism. Buy this book
WHEN THE UNLIKELY ARE CHOSEN by Hon. Kathryn Streeter Lewis CW’72 (Self-Published, 2019, $15.95.) Coming of age in the 1950s, Streeter longed to be a lawyer. She had no idea about the hurdles that would be placed in front of her, as a young Black girl from an impoverished neighborhood in North Philadelphia. Yet she grew up to be a respected judge in the city’s Court of Common Pleas. Her memoir underscores the importance of fatherhood, family, and the vision required within the village to raise a child, not just to become a lawyer, but to prepare for life. Buy this book
TO DROWN A MAN by Tyler J. Russell C’11 (Unsolicited Press, 2020, $15.00.) Exploring the meaning of redemption and shame as related to the personal, the marital, and the spiritual, these are the poems of a soul at war with itself. Buy this book
WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO LOSE? Mr. President, Let’s Look at the Numbers by Iraj Zandi Hon’71, Faculty (Self-Published, 2020, $9.95.) Looking back at the past 11 presidential elections and drawing on a vast collection of data on health, security, education, and the economy, Zandi, a professor emeritus of systems at Penn, paints a picture of a nation divided into two kinds of states based on two kinds of worldviews. Analyzing the wellbeing of each, he contends that people in Republican-leaning states on average live shorter, less healthy, more anxious, and poorer lives than the residents of Democrat-leaning states. Buy this book
THE LONG SHOT: The Secret History of 1776 by Dr. Ronald S. Gibbs M’69 GM’74 (Self-Published, 2020, $14.95.) What if, during the early days of the American Revolution, General George Washington took a deadly musket ball shot in his chest? This medical history novel imagines what would have been, when a surgeon and faculty member at the Medical College of Philadelphia (a fictional college based on Penn) saves Washington’s life. Buy this book
GHOST RENDITION: A CIA Thriller by Larry Weitzman W’85 (Humanix Books, 2020, $25.99.) Gib Alexander is a CIA contractor trying to balance the demands of his perilous profession and his suburban family life. When a young computer coder threatens a top-secret NSA project, Gib is hired to conduct a ghost rendition, spiriting the coder away to a black site in Egypt for extreme interrogation that is outlawed in the United States. Buy this book
IN-LAW RELATIONSHIPS: Mothers, Daughters, Fathers, and Sons by Geoffrey Greif SW’74 and Michael E. Woolley (Oxford University Press, 2020, $35.00.) Drawing on interviews and survey data with more than 1,500 in-laws, Greif and Wooley’s book shows how these complicated relationships develop over time. It describes both the highly successful and nurturing connections as well as those that are troubled and distant. Buy this book
NON-TOXIC: Guide to Living Healthy in a Chemical World by Dr. Aly Cohen C’95 and Frederick vom Saal (Oxford University Press, 2020, $19.95.) Written in clear language and based on scientific evidence, this book is filled with tools like tear-off sheets, recipes, and pragmatic, cost-effective tips designed to help readers reduce chemical and radiation exposures. Buy this book
JOY: A Modern Fable by Alisha Berger Gorder C’95 (Self-Published, 2020, $11.99.) Five loosely interwoven characters navigate hope, loss, love, parenting, family, and reinvention in Gorder’s first novel: an aging, lonely pastor; a professor on the cusp of tenure; a mother with a depth of love; an angry man who resents everyone who crosses his path; and a great-grandfather who lives alone in the house in which he raised his family. Buy this book
Very Briefly
LAIBON: An Anthropologist’s Journey with Samburu Diviners of Kenya by Elliot Fratkin C’70 (Rowman & Littlefield, 2012, $38.00.) Buy this book
IN CASE YOU GET HIT BY A BUS: How to Organize Your Life Now for When You’re Not Around Later by Abby Schneiderman C’02 and Adam Seifer (Workman Publishing; 2021; $17.95) Buy this book
ATTACHMENT AND ADULT CLINICAL PRACTICE: An Integrated Perspective on Developmental Theory, Neurobiology, and Emotional Regulation by Toni Egnal Mandelbaum C’93 (Routledge, 2020, $31.16.) Buy this book
SHALLOW DRAUGHTS: Faith in the Absence of Free Will by Steve Mendelsohn GEE’82 L’91 (Self-Published, 2017, $10.00.) Buy this book
SEQUITUR by Steve Mendelsohn GEE’82 L’91 (Self-Published, 2020, $10.00.) Buy this book
POULTRY PRINCESS PRESENTS COOKBOOK 1: 100 of Schatar’s Favorite Delicious Chicken Recipes to Make Your Guests Say Yassss! by Schatar Sapphira Collier C’92 (New Vista Studios, 2018, $20.00.) Buy this book
TORT LAW AND HOW IT’S TIED TO OUR CULTURE by M. Stuart Madden C’71 (Dorrance Publishing Company, 2019, $22.00.) Buy this book
OCTOPUS MOM by Jill Goldberg Haddadin C’04 (Primedia eLaunch, 2020, $17.99.) Buy this book
THE FALL OF THE REPUBLIC by Scott Savitz GEng’96 Gr’99 (Self-Published, 2020, $6.13.) Buy this bookH
HUMAN TRAFFICKING: A Treatment Guide for Mental Health Professionals edited by Dr. Mollie Gordon C’00, Dr. John Coverdale, and Phuong T. Nguyen (American Psychiatric Association Publishing, 2020, $48.00.) Buy this book
