Gorilla and the Bird

Gorilla and the Bird
Author: Zack McDermott
Publisher: Little, Brown
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2017-09-26
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 0316315117

"Glorious...one of the best memoirs I've read in years...a tragicomic gem about family, class, race, justice, and the spectacular weirdness of Wichita. [McDermott] can move from barely controlled hilarity to the brink of rage to aching tenderness in a single breath." -- Marya Hornbacher, New York Times Book Review Zack McDermott, a 26-year-old Brooklyn public defender, woke up one morning convinced he was being filmed, Truman Show-style, as part of an audition for a TV pilot. Every passerby was an actor; every car would magically stop for him; everything he saw was a cue from "The Producer" to help inspire the performance of a lifetime. After a manic spree around Manhattan, Zack, who is bipolar, was arrested on a subway platform and admitted to Bellevue Hospital. So begins the story of Zack's freefall into psychosis and his desperate, poignant, often hilarious struggle to claw his way back to sanity. It's a journey that will take him from New York City back to his Kansas roots and to the one person who might be able to save him, his tough, big-hearted Midwestern mother, nicknamed the Bird, whose fierce and steadfast love is the light in Zack's dark world. Before his odyssey is over, Zack will be tackled by guards in mental wards, run naked through cornfields, receive secret messages from the TV, befriend a former Navy Seal and his talking stuffed monkey, and see the Virgin Mary in the whorls of his own back hair. But with the Bird's help, he just might have a shot at pulling through, starting over, and maybe even meeting a partner who can love him back, bipolar and all. Introducing an electrifying new voice, Gorilla and the Bird is a raw and unforgettable account of a young man's unraveling and the relationship that saves him.

Mountain Gorillas

Mountain Gorillas
Author: Karen Kane
Publisher: Lerner Publications
Total Pages: 56
Release: 2001-01-01
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780822530404

Describes the physical characteristics, behavior, and life cycle of mountain gorillas.

Mental

Mental
Author: Jaime Lowe
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2017-10-03
Genre: Psychology
ISBN: 0399574514

A riveting memoir and a fascinating investigation of the history, uses, and controversies behind lithium, an essential medication for millions of people struggling with bipolar disorder. It began in Los Angeles in 1993, when Jaime Lowe was just sixteen. She stopped sleeping and eating, and began to hallucinate—demonically cackling Muppets, faces lurking in windows, Michael Jackson delivering messages from the Neverland Underground. Lowe wrote manifestos and math equations in her diary, and drew infographics on her bedroom wall. Eventu­ally, hospitalized and diagnosed as bipolar, she was prescribed a medication that came in the form of three pink pills—lithium. In Mental, Lowe shares and investigates her story of episodic madness, as well as the stabil­ity she found while on lithium. She interviews scientists, psychiatrists, and patients to examine how effective lithium really is and how its side effects can be dangerous for long-term users—including Lowe, who after twenty years on the medication suffers from severe kidney damage. Mental is eye-opening and powerful, tackling an illness and drug that has touched millions of lives and yet remains shrouded in social stigma. Now, while she adjusts to a new drug, her pur­suit of a stable life continues as does her curiosity about the history and science of the mysterious element that shaped the way she sees the world and allowed her decades of sanity. Lowe travels to the Bolivian salt flats that hold more than half of the world’s lithium reserves, rural America where lithium is mined for batteries, and tolithium spas that are still touted as a tonic to cure all ills. With unflinching honesty and humor, Lowe allows a clear-eyed view into her life, and an arresting inquiry into one of mankind’s oldest medical mysteries.

Good Night, Gorilla (oversized board book)

Good Night, Gorilla (oversized board book)
Author: Peggy Rathmann
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 36
Release: 2004-09-09
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0399242600

This roomy trim size is perfect for sharing with groups and lap sitters, and will stand up to years of repeat readings.

The Boy and the Gorilla

The Boy and the Gorilla
Author: Jackie Azúa Kramer
Publisher: Candlewick
Total Pages: 49
Release: 2020-10-13
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0763698326

This profoundly moving tale about a grieving boy and an imaginary gorilla makes real the power of talking about loss. On the day of his mother’s funeral, a young boy conjures the very visitor he needs to see: a gorilla. Wise and gentle, the gorilla stays on to answer the heart-heavy questions the boy hesitates to ask his father: Where did his mother go? Will she come back home? Will we all die? Yet with the gorilla’s friendship, the boy slowly begins to discover moments of comfort in tending flowers, playing catch, and climbing trees. Most of all, the gorilla knows that it helps to simply talk about the loss—especially with those who share your grief and who may feel alone, too. Author Jackie Azúa Kramer’s quietly thoughtful text and illustrator Cindy Derby’s beautiful impressionistic artwork depict how this tender relationship leads the boy to open up to his father and find a path forward. Told entirely in dialogue, this direct and deeply affecting picture book will inspire conversations about grief, empathy, and healing beyond the final hope-filled scene.

Haldol and Hyacinths

Haldol and Hyacinths
Author: Melody Moezzi
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2014-07-01
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1583335501

With candor and humor, a manic-depressive Iranian-American Muslim woman chronicles her experiences with both clinical and cultural bipolarity. Born to Persian parents at the height of the Islamic Revolution and raised amid a vibrant, loving, and gossipy Iranian diaspora in the American heartland, Melody Moezzi was bound for a bipolar life. At 18, she began battling a severe physical illness, and her community stepped up, filling her hospital rooms with roses, lilies and hyacinths. But when she attempted suicide and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, there were no flowers. Despite several stays in psychiatric hospitals, bombarded with tranquilizers, mood-stabilizers, and anti-psychotics, she was encouraged to keep her illness a secret—by both her family and an increasingly callous and indifferent medical establishment. Refusing to be ashamed or silenced, Moezzi became an outspoken advocate, determined to fight the stigma surrounding mental illness and reclaim her life along the way. Both an irreverent memoir and a rousing call to action, Haldol and Hyacinths is the moving story of a woman who refused to become a victim. Moezzi reports from the frontlines of an invisible world, as seen through a unique and fascinating cultural lens. A powerful, funny, and moving narrative, Haldol and Hyacinths is a tribute to the healing power of hope and humor.

Jonny Lambert's Bear and Bird: Learn to Share

Jonny Lambert's Bear and Bird: Learn to Share
Author: Jonny Lambert
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 23
Release: 2021-12-14
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
ISBN: 0744057736

Journey through the forest with Huxley and Bluebird, and introduce your toddlers to the idea of friendship and sharing with others. Meet Huxley, the lovable and rather hungry bear. It is beginning to snow, which means it is almost time to hibernate. So Huxley, Bluebird, and their friends must set out to collect food to get them through the Winter. But Huxley is really hungry, and wants all the food to himself. Is there enough food for everyone? Follow Huxley and Bluebird on their adventure through the freezing forest to collect food for hibernation. With stunning illustrations by renowned artist Jonny Lambert, and an enchanting story, this picture book is perfect for adults and toddlers to share together. Huxley and the Bluebird teaches little ones vital life lessons about friendship and sharing with others, and gently introduces them to the idea of hibernation as well. So come and join the search with this magical bedtime story.

Mountain Gorillas

Mountain Gorillas
Author: Gene Eckhart
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2009-01-12
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9780801890116

Tucked into one of the most beautiful and conflicted regions of the world are the last of the mountain gorillas. These apes have survived centuries of human encroachment into their habitat and range and decades of intense conflict and violence. The remaining 720 mountain gorillas exist in a fragile habitat, nestled in an area torn by human interests and needs for land, water, and minerals. With captivating photography and the most recent scientific research, Mountain Gorillas takes you deep into the montane rain forests of Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to reveal the complex story of the mountain gorillas of the Virunga Volcanos and Bwindi. Gene Eckhart and Annette Lanjouw reveal how humankind affects the gorillas and their habitat, detail the innovative conservation and education efforts undertaken by governments and nongovernmental organizations, and explain how ecotourism and other conservation-focused enterprises support efforts to protect the two mountain gorilla populations. This perfect blend of intimate photography, thought-provoking scholarship, and engaging stories demonstrates the inexorable ties among the animals, environment, and peoples of the region, and makes clear why the continued existence of the Virunga and Bwindi gorillas is so important. Mountain Gorillas features stunning photos and four appendices documenting key biological and ecological information, habitat vegetation, milestones in mountain gorilla conservation, and travel information.

Wild Rwanda

Wild Rwanda
Author: Ken Behrens
Publisher:
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2015
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9788496553965