As their infatuation with President Obama fades, millions of Americans anxiously ask, Is this the change we were waiting for? The current administration represents change, for sure, Steven Malanga argues-a momentous transformation of the fundamental structure of American politics. A self-interested coalition of public-sector unions and government-financed community activists (like the young Barack Obama) has become our era's characteristic political...

"They call him "HERO," but he's no HERO--not to me. Every day, on her way to school, a little girl sees a towering statue: a statue of a man who sold freedom for cotton and tea. The world around her says this man is hero. But she knows he's not a hero--not a real one. Heroes are hard to find. She looks for them around corners, under rocks, and on TV, but there are none that she can see. And so, the little girl writes their names and marches for them...

"Tracing the author's journey into the strange subculture of Real Life Superheroes (RLSHs), this book examines citizens who have adopted comic book-style personas and have hit the streets to fight injustice in a variety of ways. Some RLSHs concentrate on humanitarian or activist missions--helping the homeless, gathering donations for food banks, or delivering toys to children--while others actively patrol their neighborhoods looking for crime to fight....

A housewife and an elderly woman believe that the industrial plants in their town are health hazards. They fight for what they believe to be true at the risk of destroying their own personal lives. Based on the true story of the group of women who banded together to defeat Shintech's plans to build a vinyl chloride monomer-polyvinyl chloride complex at Convent, LA. The cards were stacked against the women as the governor, the Louisiana Association...

"From deep in the mountains of Appalachia to the steps of Capitol Hill, Mud Creek Medicine chronicles the life of an iconoclastic woman with a resolute spirit to help her people. Eula Hall, born into abject poverty in Greasy Creek, Kentucky, found herself -- through sheer determination and will -- at the center of a century-long struggle to lift up a part of America that is too often forgotten. Through countless interviews and meticulous research,...

This is the story of four visionaries who profoundly shaped the world we live in today. Together, these women showed what one person speaking truth to power can do. With a keen eye for historical detail, Andrea Barnet traces the arc of each woman's career and explores how their work collectively changed the course of history. Consummate outsiders, each prevailed against powerful and mostly male adversaries while also anticipating the disaffections...

A story about a community coming together to save their library, led by one little girl. This inspiring book shows how every child has the power to change the world.