Back to School!

Sep 4, 2025 | Announcements, Library

By Research Librarian Jessica Zaricki

Fall is right around the corner and children have returned to school. This month’s book list draws from a variety of school subjects and in the spirit of life-long learning, with or without the structure of a classroom. We promise, this will not be graded and none of this will appear on your permanent record.

Members, find the listed titles on display in the Sawtelle Reading Room through the month of September.

The Story of a Bad Boy
FICTION

Originally published in 1869, this semi-autobiographical work from Portsmouth native Thomas Bailey Aldrich is considered a foundational work in the genre of “bad boy” fiction. These stories featuring naughty boys and their misadventures were a departure from previous books presenting boys at their best behavior and continue to be a staple in children’s literature. Join Tom Bailey as he runs amok in Rivermouth and see if his exploits remind you of any of your own.

Aldrich, Thomas Bailey. The Story of a Bad Boy. PZ7 .A37 Sto

Mississippi Writings

FICTION

This collection includes more bad boy stories including The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. While Huck Finn does fall under this category, it is also so much more—defying the simple genre description. With this novel, Twain shifts the course of children’s literature yet again in giving us a full and heartfelt depiction of American boyhood. Written in regional vernacular, the book explores ideas of race, identity, humanity, and social responsibility in a rapidly changing United States explored in an adventure down the Mississippi River.

Twain, Mark. Mississippi Writings. PS1302 .M58 1982

James: A Novel

FICTION

This reimagining of Twain’s Adventures of Huckleberry Finn won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The story centers on Jim, an enslaved man presented as intelligent, literate, and introspective. In giving agency to this formerly silenced and simplified character, Everett reclaims his dignity and uses it to address the absurdity of racism in the Antebellum South. While Twain’s novel redefined children’s literature in presenting an earnest characterization of American boyhood, Everett’s retelling redefines the original in its profound portrayal of Jim.

Everett, Percival. James: A Novel. PS3555 .V34 J36 2024

The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Written by Himself, With Related Documents

BIOGRAPHY

This autobiographical work became one of the first widely read slave narratives. It presents a depiction of Equiano’s childhood in Africa, his capture and passage to the West Indies, and his experience under enslavement in the Americas and in Britain prior to the purchase of his freedom and his work as an abolitionist in the United Kingdom. While there is some controversy around whether the accounts of his early life were fabricated to create a strong piece of abolitionist writing, the book remains powerful and continues to be taught in English and History classes due to its influence on Black literature.

Equiano, Olaudah. The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano: Written by Himself, With Related Documents.

In Plato’s Cave

BIOGRAPHY

Kernan’s memoir of his time in higher education as a student, professor, provost, and dean sheds light on the radical changes that defined colleges and universities during the second half of the 20th century. It focuses on the various educational struggles that defined the era including equal opportunity in education, administrative and intellectual authority, the rise of deconstructive theory, and the politicization of the classroom. Kernan offers a very personal story that intertwines with the history of what some call the American culture wars.

Kernan, Alvin. In Plato’s Cave. LA227.4 .K468 1999

Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race

BIOGRAPHY

This work explores the lives and careers of four African-American women mathematicians and their work with NASA. It spans several decades beginning during World War II and spanning the Cold War, Civil Rights Movement, and into the Space Race. We hear the interwoven stories of Dorothy Vaughn, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson, and Christine Darden from their beginnings as math teachers in segregated southern schools through their work with the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory in Hampton, Virginia. Their work, performed under the limitations of segregation, made the American space program possible.

Shetterly, Margot Lee. Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race. QA27.5 .L44 2016

The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science

NON-FICTION

Pulitzer-prize winning writer Natalie Angier brings us an entertaining and approachable guide to scientific literacy. She leads us through the major scientific disciplines including physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and astronomy. Want to find out if we are truly made of stardust? That question and others are explored within.

Angier, Natalie. The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science. Q162 .A59 2007

The Dream of the Great American Novel

NON-FICTION

Buell explores the 19th century concept of the Great American Novel (GAN) and argues that though it may seem antiquated, it is, in fact, central to the dynamics of our national literature as well as our national identity. He identifies four different classes into which this novel might fall including those with storylines adapted by other authors, those focusing on the “American Dream” of rising to prominence from humble origins, family sagas struggling through social divisions, and large “mega-novels” that explore the successes and failures of democracy. This survey of over 150 years of American literature explores the concept of our national identity as ever-changing, fluid, fluid, and always rebuilding.

Buell, Lawrence. The Dream of the Great American Novel. PS377 .B84 2014

Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain

NON-FICTION

This work presents a series of vignettes featuring individuals who have been impacted by music in strange and sometimes life-changing ways. We meet those who find misery or relief in music due to its complicated relationship with their own neurology. Though the subject matter seems daunting, Sacks presents topics including musicogenic epilepsy, musical hallucinations, musicality, and synesthesia in an approachable and fascinating manner.

Sacks, Oliver. Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain. ML3830 .S13 2007

The Idea of America: Reflections of the Birth of the United States

NON-FICTION

Written by one of the preeminent historians of the American Revolution, this collection of essays that explore its ideological origins—exploring ideas from ancient Rome through the Enlightenment—and the efforts of the Founders to form a new kind of democracy. Wood also explores the idea of American exceptionalism, the radicalism that marked our founding principles, and the ever growing gap between the creation of our democratic state and current views of our national government.

Wood, Gordon S. The Idea of America: Reflections of the Birth of the United States. E302.1 .W77 2011

IMAGE: Cabinet photo of the student band at Whipple Junior High School on the corner of Summer and State streets, Portsmouth, NH, circa 1920. In the back row, the young man on the far right holding his violin is believed to be Renato Fracassi who lived with his family in the North End of Portsmouth. All others are unidentified. PS2659