Helen Plum Library

Profiles the world's most renowned sociologists and more than 100 of their biggest ideas, including issues of equality, diversity, identity, and human rights; the effects of globalization; the role of institutions; and the rise of urban living in modern society

Frankie Stein was created in a laboratory, and when she enters Mount Hood High School camouflaged as a "normi," all she wants is to fit in, but it takes the help of another new student who believes that everyone should be treated equally before Frankie even has a chance

Examining such disciplines as education, journalism, encyclopedia creation, museum curation, photography and broadcasting, an award-winning writer explores how humans have attained, stored, and disseminated knowledge "From the creation of the first encyclopedia to Wikipedia, from ancient museums to modern kindergarten classes--this is award winning writer Simon Winchester's brilliant and all-encompassing look at how humans acquire, retain, and pass...

"How do religiously-observant American parents pass on their religion to their children? Sociologist Christian Smith and his team sought to answer this question by interviewing over two hundred parents from across the U.S. affiliated with religious congregations of various types. The book presents the voices of parents from diverse socioeconomic and religious backgrounds interested in passing on their religious convictions and practices to their children,...

"We are living in an age of heightened individualism. Success is a personal responsibility. Out culture tells us that to succeed is to be slim, rich, happy, extroverted, popular--flawless. We have become self-obsessed. And our expectation of perfection comes at a cost. Millions are suffering under the torture of this impossible fantasy. The pressure to conform to this ideal has changed who we are. It was not always like this. To explain how we got...

"Since the beginning of civilization, humans have built cities to wall nature out, then glorified it in beloved but quite artificial parks. In Urban Jungle Ben Wilson...looks to the fraught relationship between nature and the city for clues to how the planet can survive in an age of climate crisis"-- Since the beginning of civilization humans have built cities to wall nature out, then glorified it in beloved but quite artificial parks. Wilson looks...

"From middle-grade darling Anna Staniszewski comes the story of a girl who might just have being popular down to a science. Lily loves science and hanging out with her best friend, Katie. But after a really embarrassing incident, she jumps at the chance to switch schools. She's ready to start over. With the scientific process, anything is possible! After a summer spent coming up with theories and prepping for the switch, Lily starts her new school...

Carlos Castaneda takes the reader into the very heart of sorcery, challenging both imagination and reason, shaking the very foundations of our belief in what is "natural" and "logical."
Fire from Within is the author's most brilliant thought-provoking and unusual book, one in which Castaneda, under the tutelage of don Juan and his "disciples," at last constructs, from the teachings of don Juan and his own experiences, a stunning portrait...

Amy Flowers is a new seventh-grader at the super-exclusive Allington Academy. She's trying to fit in, but there's one thing standing in her way: The League. They rule the school and their leader is the oh-so-mean Fiona. If Amy can pass The League's tests, she'll be part of the popular crowd--but what will she have to give up to fit in?