Particularly recommended for incoming 9th graders (but great for everyone else too!)
The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui explores the nature of family in the retelling of her family's daring escape from South Vietnam in the 1970s. Told with beautiful illustrations and poetic writing, the reader learns about the human face of history. As Bui becomes a parent herself she reflects on how a parent's love may not be seen in the moment, but looking back it is all too clear.
Available through the UHS library and SFPL in print, and ebook formats.
Memoirs
Eleven Rings by Memoir of Phil Jackson, coach of the Chicago Bulls and LA Lakers. Jackson was tagged as the “Zen master” half in jest by sportswriters, but the nickname speaks to an important truth: this is a coach who inspired, not goaded his players to be better people and teammates.
Recommended by Elizabeth Schaffernoth (Athletics)
Know My Name by From the publisher: Know My Name will forever transform the way we think about sexual assault, challenging our beliefs about what is acceptable and speaking truth to the tumultuous reality of healing.
Recommended by Elizabeth Schaffernoth (Athletics)
Murder in the Front Row by Bay Area Thrash metal is a world wide phenomenon...well, it was in the late 80s and early 90s! Despite the slightly jarring title, MitFR not only tells the history of Bay Area thrash, but also highlights the black and Asian American promotors, venue owners, and music journalist that helped build the scene and launch the careers of bands like Metallica.
Recommended by Sandeep Bhuta (Math & Learning Services)
Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me by Graphic novel memoir of growing up in the Philippines that recounts the story of a revolution and explores the concept of home.
Recommended by Nicole Hunter (Library)
Untamed by SUCH A GOOD BOOK! So empowering for non-male, once you start reading you can't stop. She really explores the ideas of breaking out of the world's expectations and abandon those instead of abandoning your own version of the self.
Recommended by Mirabel Haskin Fernald (Student)
Essays
The Witches Are Coming by In a laugh-out-loud, incisive cultural critique, West extolls the world-changing magic of truth, urging readers to reckon with dark lies in the heart of the American mythos, and unpacking the complicated, and sometimes tragic, politics of not being a white man in the twenty-first century.
Recommended by Elizabeth Schaffernoth (Athletics)
Minor Feelings by From the publisher: "A radically honest work of art, Minor Feelings forms a portrait of one Asian American psyche--and of a writer's search to both uncover and speak the truth."
This is my favorite book of nonfiction!!
Recommended by a student.
Long form creative nonfiction
Hood Feminism by Today's feminist movement has a glaring blind spot, and paradoxically, it is women. Mainstream feminists rarely talk about meeting basic needs as a feminist issue, argues Mikki Kendall, but food insecurity, access to quality education, safe neighborhoods, a living wage, and medical care are all feminist issues.
Recommended by Elizabeth Schaffernoth (Athletics)
Caste by It's an important issue, and Wilkerson's writing is clear and artful.
Recommended by Deborah Shaw (Languages)
No One Succeeds Alone by This is a brand new book by a distinguished UHS alumnus, about his journey from a challenging childhood and school experience to founding a successful corporation. His core message, “learn everything you can from everyone you can”, is compelling and wise.
Recommended by Nasif Iskander (Assistant Head of School & Dean of Faculty)
The Meritocracy Trap by Recommended by a student.
Articles
- A Cemetery's Big Secret: Lots of Weird MushroomsUHS alumnx Hannah Kingsley-Ma follows amateur mycologists into Brooklyn's famed Greenwood Cemetery.
- Private Schools Have Become Truly ObsceneCaitlin Flanagan's provocative article from The Atlantic.
- How College Became a Ruthless Competition Divorced From LearningSomething of an abridged version of Daniel Markovits's book "The Meritocracy Trap"