Recent Acquisitions
Recent books and DVDs added to the library collection include:
Nonfiction
501 Spanish verbs / by Christopher Kendris & Theodore Kendris -- The most important and most commonly used Spanish verbs are presented alphabetically in chart form, one verb per page, and conjugated in all persons and tenses, both active and passive. This thorough guide to the use of verbs features many additional references and tips, including a bilingual list of more than 1,250 additional Spanish verbs, helpful expressions and idioms for travelers, and verb drills and tests with answers explained at the back of the book.
An American family / Jon and Michael Galluccio with David Groff -- Jon and Michael Galluccio, two gay men living in New Jersey, recount the experiences they had after adopting a baby born prematurely with the AIDS virus and addicted to crack, heroin, marijuana, and alcohol.
Annotated guides, myths & legends / Neil Philip -- An illustrated exploration of over fifty of the world's myths and legends, grouped in the categories of Egypt, Sumeria, Iran, Greece and Rome, Northern Europe, Celtic, the Carribean, North America, Central America, Australia, Polynesia, India, China, and Japan.
The classical Roman reader : new encounters with Ancient Rome / edited by Kenneth J. Atchity -- From Plautus' wildly comic plays to Cato's instructions on farming, and from Catullus' erotic poems to Petronius' descriptions of the decadent splendor of the declining empire, The Classical Roman Reader provides access to the literary, artistic, social, religious, political, scientific, and philosophical texts that shaped Roman thinking and helped form the backbone of Western culture.
Edward M. Kennedy : a biography / Adam Clymer
The encyclopedia of American political history / edited by Paul Finkelman, Peter Wallenstein -- Contains over 240 alphabetically arranged articles that provide information about key events and people in the political history of the United States, and includes a descriptive time line, a dictionary of acronyms and abbreviations, and an index.
Encyclopedia of American parties, campaigns, and elections / William C. Binning, Larry E. Esterly, and Paul A. Sracic -- A guide to the language of contemporary American politics that provides easy-to-understand explanations for common and complex political terms.
Encyclopedia of evolution / Mark Pagel, editor in chief – Two volume set; all aspects of evolution, including theories, researchers, history, philosophy, processes, plants, and animals, are covered in this reference work. Other science reference publications include information about evolution, but this source is unique because of its comprehensive and thorough examination of the subject. It includes thought-provoking essays on such topics as culture in chimpanzees, motherhood, and Darwinian medicine, all written by recognized scholars in the fields. Extensive indexing makes any topic easy to locate. This is a crucial research tool for anyone in search of information on any aspect of evolution.
Fabulous feasts : medieval cookery and ceremony / Madeleine Pelner Cosman -- Presents information on medieval feasts, discussing menus, etiquette, ceremony, and festivity, and includes 100 recipes from medieval manuscripts for appetizers, soups, breads, meats, fish, poultry, vegetables, desserts, and spectacle foods.
Horace's compromise : the dilemma of the American high school / Theodore R. Sizer -- The first report from a study of high schools, co-sponsored by the National Association of Secondary School Principals and the Commission on Educational Issues of the National Association of Independent Schools.
Horace's hope : what works for the American high school / Theodore R. Sizer -- The author, using the persona of fictional high school teacher Horace Smith, offers meditations on what has been learned from serious efforts at school reform in the late twentieth century.
Horace's school : redesigning the American high school / Theodore R. Sizer -- Dialogue about what it means to be, educated in this country, who the recipients of the education should be, and how best to provide that education.
Inventing modern America : from the microwave to the mouse / text by David E. Brown -- Tells the personal stories of thirty-five American scientists, technologists, and researchers whose inventions have had a significant impact on life in the twentieth century in the areas of medicine and healthcare, consumer products, transportation, energy and the environment, and computing and telecommunications.
Latin literature : a history / Gian Biago Conte -- This authoritative history of Latin literature--a revised translation of the original Italian-language edition of 1987--offers a comprehensive survey of the thousand-year period from the origins of Latin as a written language to the early Middle Ages (i.e., through the Venerable Bede in the seventh century), providing a wide-ranging panorama of all major Latin authors. Includes names, dates, edition citations, and detailed summaries.
Makers of science / Michael Allaby & Derek Gjertsen – A five volume set, presents color-illustrated, chronologically arranged biographical profiles of more than forty groundbreaking Western scientists, featuring such figures as Aristotle, Albert Einstein, and Stephen Hawking, and providing diagrams, discussion boxes, and capsule biographies of related scientists.
Mendeleyev's dream : the quest for the elements / Paul Strathern -- A history of chemistry, focusing on the life of nineteenth-century Russian scientist Dmitri Mendeleyev who conceived the periodic table upon which modern chemistry is founded in a dream.
Pandolfini's ultimate guide to chess / Bruce Pandolfini -- A comprehensive guide to chess that includes tips for including strategy, a short introduction to the game's history, explanation of the rules and principles, and advice on making the right moves.
The periodic kingdom : a journey into the land of the chemical elements / P.W. Atkins -- Uses the periodic table of chemical elements to present principles in chemistry and a review of discoveries in chemistry that have influenced the world.
The students are watching : schools and the moral contract / Theodore R. Sizer, Nancy Faust Sizer -- Discusses the influence of schools and teachers on students, considering the messages teenagers receive from educators who are not prepared or buildings that are in poor condition; and explores the power of good schools to reinvigorate public life.
Tom Paine : a political life / John Keane -- A definitive biography portrays the life of one of democracy's greatest champions--a soldier, diplomat, and pamphleteer of the American Revolution who helped draft the French Constitution--and reveals tensions, discoveries, and dramatic surprises.
Westminster / Westminster Historical Society
Fiction
110 stories : New York writes after September 11 / edited by Ulrich Baer -- Presents personal reflections, short stories, and poems on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, by 110 New York authors.
The alchemist / Paulo Coelho -- Tells the story of an Andalusian shepherd boy who follows his dream and meets an alchemist.
Videos/DVD’s
Bowling for Columbine -- Filmmaker Michael Moore looks for an explanation about why the U.S. is notorious for being a nation without a civil war, and at the same time has large numbers of people killed by firearms. Also examines school violence and school shootings specifically in Colorado.
A class divided -- Documents a reunion of Iowa teacher Jane Elliott and her third-grade class of 1970, subjects that year of an ABC News television documentary entitled "The eye of the storm". Shows how her experimental curriculum on the evils of discrimination had a lasting effect on the lives of the students. Includes scenes of her lesson being used in a prison setting.
Crime & punishment -- A desperate and impoverished student named Raskolnikov commits a murder, thinking he is above moral law, but eventually must confront his inner mind and consequences. This is an intense psychological study, terrifying murder mystery, and fascinating detective thriller, instilled with philosophical, religious and social commentary.
Dr. Strangelove, or, How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb -- A satire in which the U.S. president and his military advisors struggle ineptly to avert a holocaust after a psychotic Air Force general launches a nuclear attack on the Soviet Union because he fears that the Russians are poisoning the water supply in the United States.
Greek drama -- Traces Greek theater from ancient harvest rites to the golden age of Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes. Key scenes from 'Antigone', 'Oedipus Tyrranus', 'Medea', and 'Lysistrata' show how these works remain relevant by exploring the timeless themes of honor, class, gender, sexuality, and politics. Essential concepts such as catharsis, hamartia, and the use of masks and a chorus are discussed. Scholarly commentary by Helene Foley of Barnard College, Jeffrey Henderson of Boston University, Princeton University's Robert Fagles, and Peter Meineck of NYU's Aquila Theatre Company emphasizes the vitality of classical drama and the essential role it played in the everyday lives of the ancient Greeks.
Electra -- Desolation and despair reign supreme in the kingdom of Mycenae. The great Agamemnon has been brutally murdered; his son Orestes has fled and his daughter Electra has been imprisoned within the walls of the castle. All hope seems lost until the sacred oracle speaks and replaces Electra's broken spirit with an unquenchable desire for justice and bloody vengeance.
Finding Forrester -- Sixteen-year-old New Yorker Jamal Wallace is a standout basketball player with a secret passion for literature. William Forrester is a Pulitzer winning author turned recluse who lives in the same neighborhood. After a chance meeting, Forrester becomes mentor to the boy, and the two form an unlikely friendship.
Gandhi -- Chronicles the life of Gandi beginning with his political activities in South Africa during the late 1890's and ending with his assassination at the hands of a Hindu extremist in 1948. Shows the development of his philosophy of non-violence as he leads the people of India to independence from the British.
Hamlet -- A contemporary adaptation of Shakespeare's epic story of passion, betrayal and revenge. The president of the Denmark Corporation is dead, and already his wife is remarried to the man suspected of his murder. No one is more troubled by this than her son, Hamlet. Now, after this hostile takeover, trust is impossible, passion is on the rise and vengeance is in the air.
Holes -- Young Stanley Yelnats finds himself at Camp Green Lake, where digging a hole a day keeps the warden at bay and "builds character". An ancient family curse still dogs Stanley and he's thrown headlong into the adventure of his life. Stanley and his campmates will have to forge fast friendships to unearth the mystery of what's really going on in the desert.
Lord of the flies -- Thirty English schoolboys are stranded on an uncharted island and with no adults present, they quickly turn into savages.
Oedipus Rex -- The Stratford, Ontario, Shakespearean Festival Players, speaking through Greek masks, present the tragedy of Oedipus, who, having unwittingly slain his father and unknowingly married his mother, is driven by the plague that has swept through his kingdom to track down the evildoer who has polluted his land and its people.
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Please send comments and/or suggestions to Tom Anderson, Librarian. This page was posted on March 9, 2004.