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Still Standing

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Still Standing by Larry Hogan and Ellis Henican
Format: Book, eBook, eAudiobook
Who it’s for: Adults
What do you know about Governor Larry Hogan? You may have heard during his six years in office about crises like the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore, managing the COVID-19 pandemic, and his personal battle with cancer. You may have read news stories about bipartisan agreements on economic and justice department reforms during his tenure. Now you can go behind those headlines and get the inside story in Larry Hogan’s recently released autobiography.
In an era of political divide, Larry Hogan offers a refreshing approach to practical problem solving that focuses on listening, being respectful, and working on the problem at hand for the benefit of the people rather than promoting a political party or agenda. We need more voices like this on the political landscape today.

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The Captain and the Glory: An Entertainment

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The Captain and the Glory: An Entertainment
Format: Book
Who’s it for: Adult

The Glory was a massive and beautiful ship that housed people from all over the world.  Led by a brave, noble captain it welcomed any displaced people found at sea with open arms, knowing that in their diversity they would find the strength needed to continue on course.  The Glory stood for something greater than a ship.  It stood for opportunity and understanding and was a beacon of hope to the rest of the ships of the ocean.  It inspired whole generations to be good people and to respect their fellow human beings.

Then one day, after the brave and noble captain died, it became time to choose another captain.  When the ship’s scholars were busy debating how to choose the next captain a man with a yellow feather in his hair stepped forward and shouted: “Make me captain!”

“Should we pick someone who has extensive nautical knowledge?” asked an older man.

The man with the yellow feather in his hair had no experience running a ship of any kind, no nautical knowledge whatsoever.  Still, he yelled: “Make me captain!”

“Should the next captain be someone that served in the military, someone who risked their life to protect our ship against raids led by the Pirate King?” another scholar suggested.

The man with the yellow feather had never served in the military.  In fact, during the last great pirate raid, he hid in the boiler room thumbing through adult magazines.  Yet he continued to shout: “Make me captain!”

“Maybe our next captain should be chosen by how much they extoll the virtues of our mighty ship?  By how much they know and respect our many laws and ideals?” a small girl recommended.

The man with the yellow feather had seemingly no knowledge whatsoever of what the Glory stood for.  In fact, he had spent much of his life arguing against many of the most revered ideals of the Glory, often directly besmirching the character of almost every captain that had served before. He even spent months loudly arguing that the previous captain hadn’t been born on the ship.  Although there was no sane reason to take the man with the yellow feather in his hair seriously, he still shouted: “Make me captain!”

“Oh! We should pick the next captain based on how well they treat their fellow human beings!” a woman offered.

The only people the man with the yellow feather ever treated with an ounce of respect were mass murderers, liars, and thieves.  It was common knowledge that he and his close group of friends, the “Upskirt Boys”, were known throughout the ship for hanging out under the stairs leading to the women’s room with cameras in hand.  Yet he still yelled: “Make me the captain! MAKE ME THE CAPTAIN! MAKE ME THE CAPTAIN!”

This is the story of how the man with the yellow feather became the next captain of the Glory, and what it did to its people and the ideals that the Glory stood for.

The Captain and the Glory: An Entertainment, by Dave Eggers, is an excellent book about life at sea and any similarities the reader finds with the man with the yellow feather in his hair and the current American president are purely coincidental.

Find it in the catalog.

What the Eyes Don’t See A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in an American City

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What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in an American City
By Mona Hanna-Attisha
Who it’s for:  Adults

In 2014, the water source for residents living in the city of Flint, Michigan was switched from Lake Huron and the Detroit River to the Flint River, which was considered less costly.  Residents were immediately concerned that the water smelled and tasted bad, and looked dirty, but public officials continued to say that the water was fine.  In August of 2015, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, a pediatrician and professor at Hurley Medical Center in Flint was informed by a friend that the residents’ concerns were well founded.  Not only was the water dirty, it also contained very high levels of lead.  Concerned about her young Flint patients, Dr.  Mona (as she likes to be called) immediately sought out test data which would reveal whether high levels of lead were actually present in the blood tests of these children.

In What the Eyes Don’t See, Dr. Mona gives her own account of the crisis.  Armed with data that confirmed high levels of lead were present in the blood of Flint children, Dr. Mona stopped at nothing to get local government to switch the water source and save Flint’s children from the devastating, life-long effects of lead poisoning.  She shares stories of her heritage, her belief in activism, her work at Hurley Medical Center, and the small team of supporters who helped her initiate this change.       Find it in our catalog.

What the Eyes Don’t See has been chosen as the 2019 One Maryland One Book.  Take some time to read this gripping story as it is shared through discussion and programming throughout the state of Maryland this fall.  Register to join us at the Leonardtown Library for the Director’s Book Club on Wednesday, October 16, 2019 at 12:15 p.m..  St. Mary’s County Library Director, Michael Blackwell, will host a book discussion of this book.