{"id":44094,"date":"2022-05-02T06:00:38","date_gmt":"2022-05-02T11:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/?p=44094"},"modified":"2022-04-22T16:37:04","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T21:37:04","slug":"online-reading-challenge-may-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/online-reading-challenge-may-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Online Reading Challenge – May"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Hello again Fellow Readers!<\/p>\n

Today we launch a new month of the Online Reading Challenge with books that focus on racial injustice<\/strong>, advocacy<\/strong> and civil rights<\/strong>. These aren’t necessarily “fun” reads, but they’re powerful, moving and important reads.<\/p>\n

Our main title is Just Mercy<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Bryan Stevenson. A powerful true story about the potential for\u00a0mercy<\/span> to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice\u2014from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time. Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship\u2014and transformed his understanding of mercy<\/span>\u00a0and justice forever.\u00a0Just<\/span>\u00a0Mercy<\/span>\u00a0is at once an unforgettable account of an idealistic, gifted young lawyer’s coming of age, a moving window into the lives of those he has defended, and an inspiring argument for compassion in the pursuit of true justice.<\/em><\/p>\n

Also available as an e-book<\/strong><\/a> and an e-audiobook<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Also in this month’s Book Flight:<\/p>\n

An American Marriage<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Tayari Jones. Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the\u00a0American<\/span>\u00a0Dream and the New South. He is a young executive and she is\u00a0an<\/span>\u00a0artist on the brink of\u00a0an<\/span>\u00a0exciting career. But as they settle into the routine of their life together, they are ripped apart by circumstances neither could have imagined. Roy is arrested and sentenced to twelve years for a crime Celestial knows he didn’t commit. Though fiercely independent, Celestial finds herself bereft and unmoored, taking comfort in Andre, her childhood friend, and best man at their wedding. As Roy’s time in prison passes, she is unable to hold on to the love that has been her center. After five years, Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned, and he returns to Atlanta ready to resume their life together.<\/em><\/p>\n

Also available in Large Print,<\/strong><\/a> as an e-book<\/strong><\/a> and an e-audiobook<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Blood of Emmett Till<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Timothy Tyson.\u00a0In 1955, white men in\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0Mississippi Delta lynched a fourteen-year-old from Chicago named\u00a0Emmett<\/span>\u00a0Till<\/span>. His murder was part\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0a wave\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0white terrorism in\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0wake\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a01954 Supreme Court decision that declared public school segregation unconstitutional.\u00a0The<\/span>\u00a0national coalition organized to protest\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0Till<\/span>\u00a0lynching became\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0foundation\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0modern civil rights movement. Only weeks later, Rosa Parks thought about young\u00a0Emmett<\/span>\u00a0as she refused to move to\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0back\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0a city bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Five years later,\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0Emmett<\/span>\u00a0Till<\/span>\u00a0generation, forever marked by\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0vicious killing\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0a boy their own age, launched sit-in campaigns that turned\u00a0the<\/span> struggle into a mass movement.\u00a0But what actually happened to\u00a0Emmett<\/span>\u00a0Till<\/span>\u00a0— not\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0icon\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0injustice but\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0flesh-and-blood<\/span>\u00a0boy? Part detective story, part political history, cultural scholar Timothy Tyson draws on a wealth\u00a0of<\/span>\u00a0new evidence, including\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0only interview ever given by Carolyn Bryant,\u00a0the<\/span>\u00a0white woman in whose name\u00a0Till<\/span>\u00a0was killed.<\/em><\/p>\n

Also available in Large Print.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

To Kill a Mockingbird<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Harper Lee. A<\/span>\u00a0gripping, heart-wrenching, and wholly remarkable tale of coming-of-age in\u00a0a<\/span>\u00a0South poisoned by virulent prejudice, it views\u00a0a<\/span>\u00a0world of great beauty and savage inequities through the eyes of\u00a0a<\/span> young girl, as her father – a<\/span> crusading local lawyer – risks everything to<\/span>\u00a0defend\u00a0a<\/span>\u00a0black man unjustly accused of\u00a0a<\/span>\u00a0terrible crime.<\/em><\/p>\n

Be sure to stop by one of the Davenport library locations for displays with these and many more titles!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hello again Fellow Readers! Today we launch a new month of the Online Reading Challenge with books that focus on racial injustice, advocacy and civil rights. These aren’t necessarily “fun” reads, but they’re powerful, moving and important reads. Our main title is Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson. A powerful true[Read more]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10,3371,1],"tags":[2352,415,661,3395,2310],"class_list":["post-44094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-books","category-online-book-challenge","category-reference","tag-african-american","tag-civil-rights","tag-discrimination","tag-online-reading-challenge","tag-racism"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pd0CXx-btc","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44094","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44094"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44094\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44097,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44094\/revisions\/44097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44094"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44094"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.davenportlibrary.com\/reference\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44094"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}