Ruby Sisson Library

"In 1846, a young surgeon, J. Marion Sims ("The Father of Gynecology"), began several years of experimental surgeries on a young enslaved woman known as Anarcha ("The Mother of Gynecology"). This series of procedures-performed without anesthesia and resulting in Anarcha's so-called "cure"-forever altered the path of women's health. Despite brutal practices and failed techniques, Sims proclaimed himself the curer of obstetric fistula, a horrific condition...

"Do you find yourself constantly asking your child to "pick up the pace"? Does he or she seem to take longer than others to get stuff done--whether completing homework, responding when spoken to, or getting dressed and ready in the morning? Drs. Ellen Braaten and Brian Willoughby have worked with thousands of kids and teens who struggle with an area of cognitive functioning called "processing speed," and who are often mislabeled as lazy or unmotivated....

Staring in the face of prostate cancer at age thirty-five and metastatic disease and proposed surgical castration at age forty, Paul Steinberg was forced to take two simultaneous journeys. The first was to transition from doctor to patient and surrender his physical health to a medical establishment he knew from firsthand knowledge would be using approaches that would be outdated within a few years. The second was a spiritual journey. His search for...

In this fascinating biography, Annette Wood delves deep into Grandin's life from childhood to adulthood. Wood tells of the trials and tribulations of the icon: What difficulties Grandin struggled with and how she's become a hero for the autistic community. She also tells what Temple has done since the movie came out, where she is today, what kind of difference she's made, and what her future holds. For the 22 million people worldwide afflicted by...

"Dr. Paul Farmer left the U.S. to live with the world's poor. He cofounded Partners in Health to try to secure healthcare for the people of Haiti; the organization also has projects in Russia, Rwanda, Lesotho, Malawi, and Peru. Wangari Maathai was a feminist and environmentalist who started the Green Belt Movement in Kenya. The 30,000 women of the movement have planted more than 40 million trees"--Provided by the publisher.

Pearl S. Buck's groundbreaking memoir, hailed by James Michener as 'spiritually moving,' about raising a child with a rare developmental disorder. The Child Who Never Grew is Buck's candid memoir of her relationship with her oldest daughter, who was born with a rare type of mental retardation. A forerunner of its kind, the memoir was published in 1950 and helped demolish the cruel taboos surrounding learning disabilities. Buck describes life with...

Barbara Butcher was recovering from addiction problems and unhappy relationships when she landed a job at the Medical Examiner's Office in New York City. The second woman ever hired for the role of Death Investigator in Manhattan, she was the first to last more than three months. The work was gritty and demanding, sometimes dangerous. And she loved it. In a voice full of attitude, a real New Yorker some might say, Barbara writes about what it was...

"To Senior Midwife Lucy Ryuan, pregnancy is not an unusual condition, it's her life's work. But when two kidnappings and a vicious stabbing happen on her watch in a university hospital in Manhattan, her focus abruptly changes. Something has to be done, and Lucy is fearless enough to try. Rumors begin to swirl, blaming everyone from the Russian Mafia to an underground adoption network. The feisty single mom teams up with a skeptical NYPD detective...