Santa Cruz Public Libraries

With all of its drama and surprise, the 2008 presidential election became blockbuster entertainment. Two political journalists pull back the curtain to reveal the gripping inside story of the race for the White House, explaining the reasons behind the rise of Barack Obama, the breakdown of Hilary Clinton's campaign, McCain's choice of Sarah Palin for a running mate and Palin's widespread, yet polarizing, appeal.

Heilemann, national political correspondent for New York magazine, and Halperin, political analyst for Time magazine, provide postcampaign analysis alongside the rich detail of the “real story” behind the historic campaign. An occasionally shocking, often hilarious, yet definitive account of the campaign of a lifetime. --Gail Mason, SCPL

Depending on whose eyes are looking and whose ears are listening, Armstrong is the inventor of jazz, the most important figure in 20th century music, a pop sellout, an Uncle Tom, owned by the Mafia, another druggie jazz musician, not a real intellectual, a genius. He blew, he sang, he survived, from the beginning on the streets of New Orleans, through every jazz era, into the 1960s when he could still outsell the Beatles. Teachout provides a fascinating biography for the latest generation of fans.  --Jim Tarjan, SCPL

Nine months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus, fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin was arrested, dragged off the bus by police, and jailed for refusing to surrender her seat to a white passenger. Claudette’s story is interwoven with period photos, newspaper articles, and the larger story of the Civil Rights Movement. All together, it provides absorbing reading. --Sue Graziano, SCPL