Shelf Life

NEW MODEL FAMILY

Radical Relations: Lesbian Mothers, Gay Fathers & Their Children in the United States Since World War II, Daniel Winunwe Rivers, MA '05, PhD '07; U. of North Carolina Press, $32.50.

Who decides what makes a family? Rivers, an assistant professor of history at Ohio State University, explores how lesbian and gay parents have worked to expand the cultural and legal definitions of family since the 1950s. Interviews with activists and their now-grown children, many of whom were caught in the middle of custody battles, illuminate their struggles and the power of support networks throughout an era of rapid change and progress.

Teaching Naked: How Moving Technology Out of Your College Classroom Will Improve Student Learning, ANTONIO BOWEN, '84, MA '86 and MA '89, PhD '94; Jossey-Bass, $36.

Traditionalists may shudder at the author's assertion that "we need to make college more like a video game," but he defends that view and shows how games can virtually teach. Bowen warns that students now expect the kind of stimulation and interactivity provided by their gadgetry and that higher education should pay heed or wither. He offers a guide to "flipping" the classroom—technology outside, active engagement inside—to ensure successful learning outcomes: critical thinking ability and the capacity to adapt.

Many Rivers to Cross, THOMAS ZIGAL, MA '74; TCU Press, $37.95.

The second novel in Zigal's New Orleans trilogy follows Vietnam veteran Hodge Grant as he searches for his family in a flooded city that's growing more treacherous by the hour, its landmarks and social fabric disintegrating in the days following Hurricane Katrina. The book hurtles its antiheroes through the muck and reveals what it takes to survive when nature's worst brings humanity to its knees.

The UnAmericans, MOLLY ANTOPOL; W.W. Norton, $24.95.

This is the first short story collection by Antopol, an English department lecturer and a 2006-08 Stegner fellow. Family dynamics and dysfunction are the common motif in these eight well-observed narratives, whose characters' immigrant heritage—be it Russian, Czech or Israeli—can weigh uneasily on their New World lives. The lies they tell their loved ones are most often poignantly well intentioned; the truth they tell hurts.

Men We Reaped: A Memoir, JESMYN WARD, '99, MA '00; Bloomsbury, $26.

Unable to shake the town's cloak of low expectations, five young men from DeLisle, Miss., lose their lives one by one over a four-year span to violence, drugs and suicide. Ward, a 2008-10 Stegner fellow, recounts her memories of the men—her brother, cousin and friends—as each stumbles through poverty and disadvantage toward his seemingly inevitable tragic end.

Newton's Football: The Science Behind America's Game, ALLEN ST. JOHN AND AINISSA G. RAMIREZ, MS '92, PhD '98; Ballantine Books, $26.

Chaos theory meets the no-huddle offense in this readable book that aims to deconstruct football's inner workings through the prism of science. In chapters such as "How Is a Quarterback Like Your Laptop?" the authors connect Boolean algebra and the Butterfly Effect to former Stanford coach Bill Walsh's innovative West Coast offense. And who knew that quantum physics could help explain the zone blitz?

We’re broadening our Shelf Life section to include Stanford-connected music and film. Let us know if you have something creative in the pipeline, and we’ll consider featuring it in a future issue of the magazine, in print, online or both.

The following did not appear in the print version of Stanford.

Nonfiction

Personal Development

The Myths of Happiness: What Should Make You Happy, but Doesn't; What Shouldn't Make You Happy, but Does, Sonja Lyubomirsky, PhD '94; Penguin Press, $27.95.

Creative Confidence: Unleashing the Creative Potential Within Us All, David Kelley, MS '78, head of Stanford's d.school, and Tom Kelley; Crown Business, $29.

Her Best-Kept Secret: Why Women Drink—and How They Can Regain Control, Gabrielle Glaser, '86, MA '86; Simon and Schuster, $24.

Futurity: Contemporary Literature and the Quest for the Past, Amir Eshel, professor of comparative literature and of German; U. of Chicago Press, $40.

Civic Work, Civic Lessons: Two Generations Reflect on Public Service, Thomas Ehrlich, former dean of the Law School and visiting professor, Graduate School of Education, and Ernestine Fu, '13, MS '13; University Press of America, $19.99.

Education

Vernacular Insurrections: Race, Black Protest, and the New Century in Composition-Literacies Studies, Carmen Kynard, '93; SUNY Press, $26.95.

Learning from the Experts: Teacher Leaders on Solving America's Education Challenges, ed. CELINE COGGINS, PhD '04, Heather G. Peske, Kate McGovern; Harvard Education Press, $29.95.

Business

Collaboration and Peak Performance: A Multidisciplinary Perspective for Emerging Leaders, ed. SILVIA RAMIREZ, MA '86, and Patricia Mitchell; Robertson Publishing, $30.

The Five-Fold Effect: Unlocking Power Leadership for Amazing Results in Your Organization, Walt Pilcher, MBA '66; WestBow Press, $19.95.

Founder: Ventures of a Serial Entrepreneur, Don Seehusen, MS '65; self-published, $27.50.

Idea Agent: Leadership that Liberates Creativity and Accelerates Innovation, Lina M. Echeverria, PhD '78; AMACOM, $27.95.

Cultural Studies

Rhymin' and Stealin': Musical Borrowing in Hip-Hop, Justin A. Williams, '04; U. of Michigan Press, $60.

Little Manila Is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California, Dawn Bohulano Mabalon, PhD '04; Duke University Press, $28.95.

Our Uncertain Future: When Digital Evolution, Global Warming and Automation Converge, David Mills, MS '66, PhD '71; self-published, $6.95.

Guides / How-To

Freeway Birding, San Francisco to Seattle, Harry Fuller, MA '70; Living Gold Press, $21.95.

Ski the Great Potato: Idaho Ski Areas, Past and Present, Margaret Fuller, '56, Doug Fuller and Jerry Painter; Trail Guide Books, $22.95.

21 Genres and How to Write Them, Brock Dethier, '74; Utah State U. Press, $26.95.

The Ultimate Panini Press Cookbook, Kathy Strahs, '96, MBA '02; Harvard Common Press, $19.95.

Sports

From Black Sox to Three-Peats: A Century of Chicago's Best Sports Writing, ed. Ron Rapoport, '62; U. of Chicago Press, $18.

Humor

Wince: A Pun on Thyme, Lou Lippman, '62; self-published, $12.95.

Memoir/Biography

The Little Bookstore of Big Stone Gap: A Memoir of Friendship, Community, and the Uncommon Pleasure of a Good Book, Wendy Welch, '65; St Martin's Griffin, $14.99.

Frances Elizabeth Willis: Up the Foreign Service Ladder to the Summit—Despite the Limitations of Her Sex, Nicholas J. Willis, '56; self-published, $24.95. (Willis, '20, PhD '23, was the first person to receive a doctorate in political science at Stanford.)

Fiction