Bryn Mawr Alum

My Name is Aida describes the journey of a 13-year-old Cuban-Jewish girl who left her home as an unaccompanied minor. She went to the United States by herself in 1961 through a program later known as "Pedro Pan". She studied, worked hard and eventually became a judge.The book depicts the child's feelings about leaving the only country she had known, her bewilderment in a new place where she did not know the language, and her adjustment to an unknown environment. She was distressed about feeling different but through her journey, she flourished. She learned that each person is unique and that being different is good. It helps to build a stronger more resilient society.

COVID, institutionalization, coming out, and Kurtz and Marlowe's relationship in Heart of Darkness are among many of the topics that Ollie Shane discusses in "Notes From the Void." Like in "Brute" by Emily Skaja, and fellow Wild Ink writer Johnny Francis Wolf's "Men Unlike Others", honesty and a painstakingly observant view of their subjects is what guides them through the work. Come for the transparency about mental health; stay for the numerous literary references.

"Mixing everything that's best about dragons, dystopia, and generational conflict, Tang delivers a high flying debut that pulls no punches." --E.K. Johnston, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

Things just got weird for Prudence Wu.

One minute, she's cashing in on a routine smuggling deal. The next, she's escaping enforcers on the wings of what very much appears to be a sentient cybernetic dragon.

Pru is used to life throwing her some unpleasant surprises--she goes to prep school, after all, and selling banned media across the border in a country with a ruthless corporate government obviously has its risks. But a cybernetic dragon? That's new.

She tries to forget about the fact that the only reason she's not in jail is because some sort of robot saved her, and that she's going to have to get a new side job now that enforcers are on to her. So she's not exactly thrilled when Rebelwing shows up again.

Even worse, it's become increasingly clear that the rogue machine has imprinted on her permanently, which means she'd better figure out this whole piloting-a-dragon thing--fast. Because Rebelwing just happens to be the ridiculously expensive weapon her government needs in a brewing war with its neighbor, and Pru's the only one who can fly it.

Set in a wonderfully inventive near-future Washington, D.C., this hilarious, defiant debut sparkles with wit and wisdom, deftly exploring media consumption, personal freedoms, and the weight of one life as Pru, rather reluctantly, takes to the skies.

Like a sequel to the prescient warnings of urbanist Jane Jacobs, Dr. Mindy Thompson Fullilove reveals the disturbing effects of decades of insensitive urban renewal projects on communities of color. For those whose homes and neighborhoods were bulldozed, the urban modernization projects that swept America starting in 1949 were nothing short of an assault. Vibrant city blocks?places rich in culture?were torn apart by freeways and other invasive development, devastating the lives of poor residents. Fullilove passionately describes the profound traumatic stress?the "root shock"?that results when a neighborhood is demolished. She estimates that federal and state urban renewal programs, spearheaded by business and real estate interests, destroyed 1,600 African American districts in cities across the United States. But urban renewal didn't just disrupt black communities: it ruined their economic health and social cohesion, stripping displaced residents of their sense of place as well. It also left big gashes in the centers of cities that are only now slowly being repaired. Focusing on the Hill District of Pittsburgh, the Central Ward in Newark, and the small Virginia city of Roanoke, Dr. Fullilove argues powerfully against policies of displacement. Understanding the damage caused by root shock is crucial to coping with its human toll and helping cities become whole. Mindy Thompson Fullilove, MD, is a research psychiatrist at New York State Psychiatric Institute and professor of clinical psychiatry and public health at Columbia University. She is the author of five books, including Urban Alchemy.