Books with author Ava Berman

A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, NonfictionA New York Times Notable Book of 2015A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2015A Boston Globe Best Book of 2015A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of 2015An NPR Best Book of 2015Countless books have been written about the civil rights movement, but far less attention has been paid to what happened after the dramatic passage of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) in 1965 and the turbulent forces it unleashed. Give Us the Ballot tells this story for the first time.In this groundbreaking narrative history, Ari Berman charts both the transformation of American democracy under the VRA and the counterrevolution that has sought to limit voting rights, from 1965 to the present day. The act enfranchised millions of Americans and is widely regarded as the crowning achievement of the civil rights movement. And yet, fifty years later, we are still fighting heated battles over race, representation, and political power, with lawmakers devising new strategies to keep minorities out of the voting booth and with the Supreme Court declaring a key part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional.Berman brings the struggle over voting rights to life through meticulous archival research, in-depth interviews with major figures in the debate, and incisive on-the-ground reporting. In vivid prose, he takes the reader from the demonstrations of the civil rights era to the halls of Congress to the chambers of the Supreme Court. At this important moment in history, Give Us the Ballot provides new insight into one of the most vital political and civil rights issues of our time.

Ray, a young boy finds himself living in squalor. Crying out to the Universe for help, he is visited individually by a cast of helpful characters. Each one is an expert in a specific aspect of cleaning.Told in the style of "A Christmas Carol" and "The Wizard of Oz," this is a fun and enjoyable way to teach children the importance and responsibility of keeping their environments neat and clean. A book whose lessons can be taken and applied into adulthood.

Misdirected is the story of fifteen-year-old Ben, who moves to a small conservative Colorado town where his atheism seems to be the only thing about him that matters to everyone. His classmates bully him for not fitting in, his teachers don’t understand him, and with his brother serving in Iraq and his sister away at college with problems of her own, Ben is left on his own to figure things out. Being a teen is tricky to navigate when you’re an outsider, and Ben struggles to find his place without compromising who he is. He rebels against his teachers, he argues with his classmates, and he rejects what others believe, bringing the reader with him on his enlightening journey as he learns the value of challenging accepted beliefs—including his own.

CLIMBING LIFE’SMOUNTAINHOW VALUES, PRIORITIES, CHARACTER,AND REPUTATION SHAPE OUR LIVESThe avalanche roared down the valley Al had just left. Itcarried his climbing team over a cliff and buried themunder tons of snow - his close friends were gone forever.At that moment, Al vowed to never climb again. But, thathad changed because of the letter in his pocket. It wasfrom the United Nation’s Climate Change Committee. Theywere asking Al to lead a team of climbing scientists up theMountain of Life to collect highly critical climate data. Buthis team was gone. To select his new team, Al conductedrigorous training sessions, with two objectives in mind:1) to test their climbing skills and 2) more importantly:to get a measure of each person’s Values, Priorities,Character and Reputation. Al knew that these were thekey elements that would determine success on the slopesof the Mountain of Life. With the team selected, the climbbegins. Values, Priorities, Character, and Reputation shapeour lives. Several elements of these traits are woven intoeach segment of our climbing team’s difficult ascent asthey face a series of challenges on the Mountain of Life.This dangerous environment magnifies the importance ofthese traits. After each climbing segment, an original storytranslates these concepts into daily life situations. Thesestories are sad, humorous, adventuresome, mysterious,and are always descriptive lessons of how to grow andreach our life’s POTENTIAL. This is a good family andmentoring book for all ages.

Misdirected is the story of fifteen-year-old Ben, who moves to a small conservative Colorado town where his atheism seems to be the only thing about him that matters to everyone. His classmates bully him for not fitting in, his teachers don’t understand him, and with his brother serving in Iraq and his sister away at college with problems of her own, Ben is left on his own to figure things out. Being a teen is tricky to navigate when you’re an outsider, and Ben struggles to find his place without compromising who he is. He rebels against his teachers, he argues with his classmates, and he rejects what others believe, bringing the reader with him on his enlightening journey as he learns the value of challenging accepted beliefs—including his own.