NONFICTION TITLES PUBLISHED IN FEBRUARY 2020
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February's Nonfiction Titles PDF
Biography
Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad
An Emmy Award-winning writer and activist describes the harrowing years she spent in early adulthood fighting leukemia and how she learned to live again while forging connections with other survivors of profound illness and suffering.
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Black Magic: What Black Leaders Learned from Trauma and Triumph by Chad Sanders
An evocative tribute to Black achievement in a discriminating world draws on interviews with black leaders, scientists, artists, activists and champions while exploring the author's own experiences of being forced to emulate white culture.
Blindfold: A Memoir of Capture, Torture, and Enlightenment by Theo Padnos
The award-winning journalist and author of Undercover Muslim presents a searing account of his experiences with being captured and tortured in Syria by al Qaeda for two years, detailing his related witness to Syrian village life.
The Bona Fide Legend of Cool Papa Bell by Lonnie Wheeler
The late co-author of I Had a Hammer documents the life of the Negro League star and Hall of Famer, tracing Bell's sharecropping heritage, his extraordinary switch-hitting talents and the ways Major League Baseball's race barriers impacted his career.
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Consent by Vanessa Springora. Trans by Natasha Lehrer.
A powerful indictment of gender inequality and child sexual exploitation describes the author's perspectives as a 13-year-old girl who was seduced, manipulated and publicly heralded as the muse of a celebrated, 50-year-old writer.
Fish Out of Water: A Search for the Meaning of Life by Eric Metaxas
A five-time New York Times best-selling author and nationally syndicated radio host writes his own biography and describes growing up as the Queens-born son of Greek and German immigrants who attended Yale while feeling like an outsider.
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Floating in a Most Peculiar Way: A Memoir by Louis Chude-Sokei
A prominent African-American scholar discusses his childhood displacement from the short-lived African nation of Biafra to a relative's strictly religious Jamaican household before arriving in his mother's California home on the eve of the L.A. Riots.
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Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi & Keisha N. Blain, eds. Illus by Bayo Iribhogbe, et al.
Co-edited by the National Book Award-winning author of How to Be an Antiracist, a 400-year chronicle of African-American history is written in five-year segments as documented by 80 multidisciplinary historians, artists and writers.
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George Washington: The Political Rise of America's Founding Father by David O. Stewart
The award-winning author of The Summer of 1787 traces the political evolution of George Washington, examining how he matured from a headstrong youth to the commander in chief of the Continental Army and unanimously elected first American President.
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The Good Hand: A Memoir of Work, Brotherhood, and Transformation in an American Boomtown by Michael Patrick F. Smith
A folksinger and playwright describes the harsh conditions, friendships he made and life lessons he learned while working an oil patch in a fracking boomtown in North Dakota after the 2008 economic crash along with migrants from around the world.
Kamala's Way: An American Life by Dan Morain
A revelatory biography of the first Black woman to stand for Vice President charts how the daughter of two immigrants in segregated California became one of this country’s most effective power players.
Leave Out the Tragic Parts: A Grandfather's Search for a Boy Lost to Addiction by Dave Kindred
The author of Heroes, Fools and Other Dreamers documents his extraordinary investigation into the death of his grandson, sharing insights into the tragedies and realities of addiction and its impact on families.
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Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris
The author of Pictures at a Revolution draws on interviews with such notables as Meryl Streep, Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks to document the remarkable creative achievements and private struggles of entertainment wunderkind, Mike Nichols.
The Princess Spy: The True Story of World War II Spy Aline Griffith, Countess of Romanones by Larry Loftis
The best-selling author of Code Name: Lise chronicles the extraordinary life of OSS spy Aline Griffith, who performed deep-cover intelligence missions during and after World War II throughout the upper echelons of European politics and society.
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Queens of the Crusades by Alison Weir
Packed with incredible true stories and legendary medieval intrigue, an epic narrative history chronicles the first five queens from the powerful royal family that ruled England and France for over 300 years. England's Medieval Queens No. 2
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Radiant: The Dancer, the Scientist, and a Friendship Forged in Light by Liz Heinecke
Describes the true story of an American performance artist in Belle Epoch Paris who began a lifelong friendship with scientist Marie Curie after dreaming about using on stage a glowing blue element she discovered.
The Ratline: The Exalted Life and Mysterious Death of a Nazi Fugitive by Philippe Sands
An acclaimed, award-winning author and international lawyer describes the rise and fall of Baron Otto von Wächter, a high-ranking Nazi official who set off on a post-war, four-year flight to escape justice via "the Ratline" from Rome to Argentina.
Surviving the White Gaze by Rebecca Carroll
A woman describes growing up as the only black person in a rural New Hampshire town, the tense relationship she had with her birth mother, her loyalty towards her adoptive parents and her search for racial identity.
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Tangled Up in Blue: Policing the American City by Rosa Brooks
A former Washington, D.C. reserve officer and Georgetown University law professor presents an insider's critique of policing in America that explains the complex relationship between law enforcement and vulnerable communities while calling for urgently needed change.
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The Three Mothers: How the Mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin Shaped a Nation by Anna Malaika Tubbs
From Gates Scholar and First Lady of Stockton, CA, comes the first book to celebrate the three great women who raised and shaped America's most pivotal heroes: MLK, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin.
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Two Truths and a Lie: Murder, Obsession, and Justice in the Sunshine State by Ellen McGarrahan
An investigative reporter-turned-private detective describes the brutal state execution of a possibly innocent man that haunted her career, her decision to reopen the case and the complex web of crime and corruption that her investigation exposed.
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Under Our Roof: A Son's Battle for Recovery, a Mother's Battle for Her Son by Madeleine Dean & Harry Cunnane
A Pennsylvania Congresswoman recounts her son's 10-year battle with opioid abuse from the perspective both of a legislator and a mother, describing their journey as a means of offering hope to families similarly affected by this far-reaching, unspoken disease.
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Unfinished: A Memoir by Priyanka Chopra Jonas
In a revealing memoir, readers will accompany one of the world’s most recognizable women on her journey of self-discovery.
Vibrate Higher: A Rap Story by Talib Kweli
One of the most lyrically gifted, socially conscious rappers of the past 20 years offers a firsthand account of hip-hop as a political force.
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Walk in My Combat Boots: True Stories from America's Bravest Warriors by James Patterson & Matt Eversmann with Chris Mooney.
The decorated war hero who inspired the movie, Black Hawk Down, shares firsthand wartime accounts describing the courageous battlefield sacrifices of men and women from every branch and operational specialty of the U.S. military.
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When Harry Met Minnie: A True Story of Love and Friendship by Martha Teichner
The Emmy Award-winning CBS Sunday Morning correspondent describes how she adopted a dying friend's Bull Terrier as a companion to her own, forging unexpected heartwarming and heartbreaking bonds along the way.
Business & Economics
The Conversation: How Seeking and Speaking the Truth About Racism Can Radically Transform Individuals and Organizations by Robert Livingston
A social psychologist discusses how businesses and other organizations can develop strategies to address racism in their ranks, identify and eliminate bias to make their workplaces and cultures more equitable and take steps to measure positive outcomes.
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The Data Detective: Ten Easy Rules to Make Sense of Statistics by Tim Harford
An award-winning economist presents a new way of using statistics and how they can be used to improve our lives and understanding of the world around us by making complicated ideas more accessible for readers.
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The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau's Code of Excellence by Frank Figliuzzi
Featuring illustrative case stories from the author's career as the FBI's former head of counterintelligence, a field-tested playbook for unlocking individual and organizational excellence is based on the FBI's rigorous and closely guarded standards of conduct.
Hot Seat: What I Learned Leading a Great American Company by Jeff Immelt & Amy Wallace
The former CEO of General Electric discusses how he led the corporation through the days immediately after 9/11 and the 2008-09 financial crisis and refocus it into a more diverse, globalized and innovative company.
Never Enough: A Navy Seal Commander on Living a Life of Excellence, Agility, and Meaning by Mike Hayes
A former commander of SEAL Team TWO shows readers how to apply high-stakes lessons about excellence, agility, and meaning across the spectrum of their personal and professional lives.
Think Again: The Power of Knowing What You Don't Know by Adam Grant
The Wharton organizational psychologist and best-selling author of Originals examines the critical art of rethinking, explaining how questioning one's opinions and opening the minds of others can promote personal and professional excellence.
Working Backwards: Insights, Stories, and Secrets from Inside Amazon by Colin Bryar & Bill Carr
Two long-time, top-level Amazon executives present an insider's breakdown of Amazon's approach to culture, leadership and best practices.
Family & Relationships
The 80/80 Marriage: A New Model for a Happier, Stronger Relationship by Nate Klemp & Kaley Klemp
A husband-and-wife mindfulness and leadership consulting team shares the personal struggles they have had with balance in their own relationship, outlining recommendations for using radical generosity to promote a mutually beneficial marriage of connection and fulfillment.
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The Scaffold Effect: Raising Resilient, Self-Reliant, and Secure Kids in an Age of Anxiety by Harold Koplewicz
The founding president of the Child Mind Institute counsels parents on how to prevent and counteract the mainstream anxiety affecting today's young people, outlining strategies for helping children take risks, grow from mistakes and practice positive habits.
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Stronger Than You Think: The 10 Blind Spots That Undermine Your Relationship… and How to See Past Them by Gary W. Lewandowski, Jr.
A nationally recognized expert on the psychology of relationships offers surprising insights and science-backed tools to help readers find hidden strengths in their relationships and appreciate the love they have or find the one they want.
General Nonfiction
American Melancholy: Poems by Joyce Carol Oates
A latest poetry collection by the National Book Award-winning author of We Were the Mulvaneys observes the human heart and mind while exploring subjects ranging from politics and racism to poverty and loss.
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Boomers: The Men and Women Who Promised Freedom and Delivered Disaster by Helen Andrews
Examines the legacy of the six prominent Baby Boomers, including Steve Jobs, Aaron Sorkin, Sonya Sotomayor and Camille Paglia, and how their effect on the world has often been contrary to their original good intentions.
KG: A to Z: An Uncensored Encyclopedia of Life, Basketball, and Everything in Between by Kevin Garnett with David Ritz.
A unique, unfiltered memoir from the NBA champion and fifteen-time all-star is here, just ahead of his induction into the Hall of Fame.
The New Normal: A Roadmap to Resilience in the Pandemic Era by Jennifer Ashton
The Chief Medical Correspondent at ABC News presents a guide to resilience in the era of COVID, sharing insights into how to understand evolving medical updates, adapt to evolving norms and make responsible choices throughout the pandemic.
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Ticking Clock: Behind the Scenes at 60 Minutes by Ira Rosen
A two-time Peabody Award-winning writer and producer reveals the intimate, untold stories of his decades at America’s most iconic news show.
We Had a Little Real Estate Problem: The Unheralded Story of Native Americans & Comedy by Kliph Nesteroff
An acclaimed comedy historian explores how Native Americans have influenced and advanced the entertainment industry, tracing the achievements of performers ranging from Will Rogers and Adrianne Chalepah to Hill and the 1491s.
Health & FITNESS
Ancient Remedies: Secrets to Healing with Herbs, Essential Oils, CBD, and the Most Powerful Natural Medicine in History by Josh Axe
The best-selling author of Eat Dirt draws on centuries of traditional Chinese, Ayurvedic and biblical medicine to identify specific dietary choices, medicinal herbs and mind-body practices for more than 70 common conditions, from hypothyroidism to autoimmune disease.
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Intuitive Fasting: The Flexible Four-week Intermittent Fasting Plan to Recharge Your Metabolism and Renew Your Health by Will Cole. Foreword by Gwyneth Paltrow.
A guide to intermittent fasting outlines a unique plan that merges the science behind fasting with a holistic approach to eating. By the best-selling author of Ketotarian and The Inflammation Spectrum.
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The Pegan Diet: 21 Practical Principles for Reclaiming Your Health in a Nutritionally Confusing World by Mark Hyman
The UltraWellness Center director and best-selling author of The Blood Sugar Solution combines approaches from paleo and vegan lifestyles to outline a balanced, healthful diet that is both satisfying and environmentally responsible.
History
The Black Church: This Is Our Story, This Is Our Song by Henry Louis Gates
The Harvard University professor, NAACP Image Award recipient and Emmy Award-winning creator of The African Americans presents a history of the Black church in America that illuminates its essential role in culture, politics and resistance to white supremacy.
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The Daughters of Kobani: A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice by Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
The story of how an all-female Kurdish militia drove ISIS from the Syrian town of Kobani, empowering the women of that region and earning the respect and support of U.S. Special Operations Forces.
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The Delusions of Crowds: Why People Go Mad in Groups by William J. Bernstein
Inspired by Charles Mackay’s 19th-century classic Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, an award winning financial theorist and historian examines the history of financial and religious mass manias over the past five centuries.
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The Eagles of Heart Mountain: A True Story of Football, Incarceration, and Resistance in World War II America by Bradford Pearson
A painstakingly researched account details the tragic and triumphant story of the Eagles, a high school football team from Cody, Wyoming's World War II Japanese-American incarceration camp. A first book.
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Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz
A quest explores some of the most spectacular ancient cities in human history—and aims to figure out why people abandoned them.
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The Ravine: A Family, a Photograph, a Holocaust Massacre Revealed by Wendy Lower
The award-winning author of Hitler's Furies draws on years of forensic and archival detective work to illuminate the open-air massacres of World War II Ukraine as reflected in a Holocaust Memorial Museum photograph of a family murder.
The Rope: A True Story of Murder, Heroism, and the Dawn of the NAACP by Alex Tresniowski
The best-selling author of The Vendetta chronicles the 1910 Asbury Park murder of 10-year-old Marie Smith and a rookie detective's investigation against a backdrop of Jim Crow violence and the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement.
Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob by Russell Shorto
The best-selling author of The Island at the Center of the World examines the history of the mob in small-town America and his grandfather's clandestine activities as the head of a Pennsylvania gambling empire.
Three Ordinary Girls: The Remarkable Story of Three Dutch Teenagers Who Became Spies, Saboteurs, Nazi Assassins and WWII Heroes by Tim Brady
Tells the story of three fearless female resisters during World War II whose youth and innocence belied their extraordinary daring in the Nazi-occupied Netherlands.
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The York Patrol: The Real Story of Alvin York and the Unsung Heroes Who Made Him World War I's Most Famous Soldier by James Carl Nelson
Documents the stories of a legendary World War I soldier and his fellow Medal of Honor-decorated patrol members, heralding their courageous capture of dozens of German adversaries in the Argonne Forest.
Science
An Anatomy of Pain: How the Body and the Mind Experience and Endure Physical Suffering by Abdul-Ghaaliq Lalkhen
An authoritative examination of the science of pain includes coverage of the current landscape of treatments, including opioids, while illuminating the complex body and brain interactions that trigger pain and its perception.
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How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need by Bill Gates
The technologist, business leader and philanthropist who founded Microsoft draws on the input of experts in physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science and finance to create an accessible, concrete plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid certain environmental disaster.
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Probable Impossibilities: Musings on Beginnings and Endings by Alan Lightman
The author of Einstein's Dreams presents a collection of scientific, meditative essays on the possibilities and impossibilities of nothingness and infinity, exploring such questions as the link between neurons and consciousness and whether life can really be lab-created.
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The Genome Odyssey: Medical Mysteries and the Incredible Quest to Solve Them by Euan Angus Ashley
A Stanford professor of medicine and genetics brings to vivid life the breakthroughs of precision medicine and the potential of genomics to treat, beat, and prevent disease.
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What Is Life?: Five Great Ideas in Biology by Paul Nurse
A Nobel Prize-winning scientist heralds the achievements of forefront innovators while drawing on personal lab expertise to illuminate five major ideas underpinning biology, including the cell, the gene, evolution by natural selection, life as chemistry and life as information.
Self-Help
The Art of Impossible: A Peak Performance Primer by Steven Kotler
The peak performance expert and author of The Rise of Superman draws on cutting-edge neuroscience to outline a blueprint for extreme performance improvement based on the examples of history's elite athletes, artists, scientists and CEOs.
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Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends, and Colleagues by David Bradford & Carole Robin
Based on Stanford's successful Interpersonal Dynamics course, a guide to building more fulfilling relationships in personal and professional arenas shares time-tested strategies for giving feedback, negotiating boundaries and overcoming tricky disputes.
Dance Your Dance: 8 Steps to Unleash Your Passion and Live Your Dream by Laurieann Gibson with Mark Dagostino
The A-list choreographer and pop-culture influencer behind such superstars as Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Diddy draws on her celebrity expertise to encourage creative readers to embrace their distinct qualities and carve a personal path to success.
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Do Better: Spiritual Activism for Fighting and Healing from White Supremacy by Rachel Ricketts
The racial justice educator and spiritual activist outlines mindfulness-based practices for dismantling racism at both personal and community levels, sharing actionable, sustainable recommendations for overcoming obstacles, healing and mitigating harm.
Laziness Does Not Exist by Devon Price
A social psychologist uncovers the psychological basis of the "laziness lie," which originated with the Puritans and has ultimately created blurred boundaries between work and life with modern technologies and offers advice for not succumbing societal pressure to "do more."
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The Listening Path: The Creative Art of Attention by Julia Cameron
The "Godmother" of creativity and best-selling author of forty books provides readers with a six-week plan and the tools they need to become better listeners, explaining how intentional listening can provide healing, insight and clarity and transform the creative process.
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Your Fully Charged Life: A Radically Simple Approach to Having Endless Energy and Filling Every Day With Yay by Meaghan B. Murphy
A magazine editor offers her secrets for embracing a can-do mindset through small changes in your personal outlook and habits to help cultivate gratitude, make meaningful connections, learn to say no and make life more fun.
Social Science
Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal by Mark Bittman
From hunting and gathering to GMOs and ultraprocessed foods, an expansive tour of human history rewrites the story of our species—and points the way to a better future.
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Blood Gun Money: How America Arms Gangs and Cartels by Ioan Grillo
From the acclaimed author of El Narco comes a searing investigation into the role of the drug trade in the black market for firearms, both within the U.S. and across the U.S.-Mexican border.
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The Devil You Know: A Black Power Manifesto by Charles M. Blow
The New York Times columnist and best-selling author of Fire Shut Up in My Bones presents a rallying call to action that challenges popular myths about race and urges Black Americans to unite against white supremacy.
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Halfway Home: Race, Punishment, and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration by Reuben Jonathan Miller
A Chicago Cook County Jail chaplain and mass-incarceration sociologist examines the lifelong realities of a criminal record, demonstrating how America's justice system is less about rehabilitation and more about structured disenfranchisement.
The Oak Papers by James Canton
The author of Out of Essex draws on ecological, spiritual, cultural and personal sources in an evocative tribute to the oak tree's role in history that challenges readers to reconnect with the healing potential of nature.
True Crime
American Delirium by Betina González. Trans by Heather Cleary.
An English-language debut by an award-winning novelist from Buenos Aires depicts a small Midwestern community where people and wildlife begin behaving in violently erratic ways that prevent a taxidermist from revealing his findings about a mysterious hallucinogen.
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American Serial Killers: The Epidemic Years 1950-2000 by Peter Vronsky
Collects chilling narrative accounts of serial killers from the age of the serial murder “epidemic” (1950-2000).
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Confident Women: Swindlers, Grifters, and Shapeshifters of the Feminine Persuasion by Tori Telfer
The acclaimed author of Lady Killers returns with a new collection about notorious female con artists and their outrageous scams, from Jeanne de Saint-Rémy who scammed jewelers in 1700s Paris to Roxie Ann Rice who scammed the NFL in 1975.
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Guilty Admissions: The Bribes, Favors, and Phonies Behind the College Cheating Scandal by Nicole Laporte
An entertaining exposé on how the other half gets in tells the shockingly true story of the Varsity Blues scandal, and all of the crazy parents, privilege, and con men involved.
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The Officer's Daughter by Elle Johnson
The author describes the life-altering tragedy she experienced as a teen, when her cousin was murdered in a robbery gone wrong and explains why she needed to meet one of the killers 30 years later at his parole hearing.
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We Own This City: A True Story of Crime, Cops, and Corruption by Justin Fenton
Documents the corrupt activities of sergeant Wayne Jenkins and the Gun Trace Task Force of 2015-2017 Baltimore, revealing how they skimmed confiscated drugs and money while planting evidence to hide their crimes, triggering wrongful convictions and at least two deaths.
