NPHS Library News

To celebrate Valentine's Day, the library is playing matchmaker! Going out on a blind date is like opening up a new book. You never know what kind of experience you are going to have.

Between now and Valentine's Day, select your "date" from the display of wrapped books, check it out, and then unwrap it. Hopefully, it's love at first sight.

February is the month every year when we honor Black history in the United States. It’s the perfect time to expand your knowledge about key figures and moments in Black history and consider how your life has been impacted because of them. While there are so many ways to learn, one is by streaming a movie.

There are so many amazing movies out there sharing important stories about the lives of African Americans. We have paired each one with a book that you can find in our library to learn more about the subject of the movie.

In this biopic, the late Chadwick Boseman (who also brought us the incredible Black Panther) stars as baseball legend Jackie Robinson. Robinson made history when he was drafted to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1945, becoming the first Black player in Major League Baseball. It’s a sports movie that’s about so much more than sports.

Book: Hand in Hand: Ten Black Men Who Changed America

Offers insight into the lives of ten influential Black men, including Jackie Robinson.

The voting rights marches of 1965 are chronicled in this powerful film starring David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King, Jr. and Stephan James as Representative John Lewis. It was also directed by Ava DuVernay, the groundbreaking director who was also the first Black woman to win an award for directing at the Sundance Film Festival for drama.

Book: Because They Marched: The People's Campaign for Voting Rights That Changed America

Provides an account of the march for voting rights led by Dr. Martin Luther King in January 1965.

The name Harriet Tubman is one many of us first hear in elementary school, but this biopic gives us a more complete picture of the abolitionist’s life. English triple threat Cynthia Erivo leads the cast as Tubman, who personally freed more than 70 slaves and also served as a spy during the Civil War.

Book: She Came to Slay: the Life and Times of Harriet Tubman

Explores the life of Harriet Tubman, best known as one of the most famous conductors on the Underground Railroad.

Also directed by DuVernay, this documentary about the rise of mass incarceration in the United States is hard to watch, and it should be. Adopted in 1865, the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution did end slavery, but led to the imprisonment of African Americans on a devastating scale.

Book: The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness

Argues that mass incarceration of African- and Latino Americans in the United States is a form of social control, and contends the civil rights community needs to become more active in protecting the rights of criminals.

While the entire country marveled at the accomplishments of NASA during the Space Race of the 1960s, no one knew about the incredible Black female mathematicians working behind the scenes. The film stars Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Janelle Monáe as Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan and Mary Jackson.

Book: Hidden Figures: the American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race

The movie was based on this book.

Michael B. Jordan plays real-life defense lawyer and founder of the Equal Justice Initiative Bryan Stevenson in this legal drama. It follows Stevenson’s fight to have the conviction of a Black man imprisoned for allegedly murdering a white woman. Stevenson continues to work on behalf of those who cannot afford proper representation.

Book: Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

The movie was based on this book. We also have the book that is adaptation for young adults.

Prolific Black director Spike Lee’s epic tribute to activist Malcolm X is brilliant from start to finish. It follows Malcolm’s life from rural Michigan to his joining the Nation of Islam and his eventual assassination. Denzel Washington’s performance remains the most iconic representation of the civil rights leader on film.

Book: X: a Novel

Co-written by Malcolm X's daughter, this riveting and revealing novel follows the formative years of the man whose words and actions shook the world.

Based on the 1853 memoir written by former slave Solomon Northup. Director Steve McQueen’s period piece features Chiwetel Ejiofor as a free man who was kidnapped and sold into slavery. It brings another horrific side of slavery to light as we follow ​​Northup’s 12 years spent working on Louisiana plantations. Rated R

Book: Stolen Into Slavery: the True Story of Solomon Northup

Relates the harrowing experiences of a freeborn New York resident who was kidnapped, drugged, and sold into slavery in 1841.

In 1967, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could not have laws prohibiting interracial marriage. The couple at the center of the case was the Lovings: Richard (a white man) and Mildred (a woman of color). The title roles are played by Ruth Negga and Joel Edgerton, reminding us of the power of love amid their fight for equal rights.

Book: Loving vs. Virginia: a Documentary Novel of the Landmark Civil Rights Case

The story of Mildred Loving, an African American girl, and Richard Loving, a Caucasian boy, who challenge the Virginia law forbidding interracial marriages in the 1950s.

During the Stonewall uprising of 1969, gay liberation activist and drag queen Marsha P. Johnson faced off against the New York City Police Department, at the forefront of a moment that defined the fight for LGBTQIA rights. Black trans women are more in danger now than perhaps ever before, which makes this one such an important watch.

Book: Stonewall : Breaking Out in the Fight for Gay Rights

An exploration of the Stonewall Riots and the national gay rights movement that followed.

Click on the "Recent Arrivals" button above for a link to the newest books. Sign in with your ID number (username) and last name (password). Click on the cover images to see more information. The icon to place a hold looks like a hand touching a book.

A remix of the classic adventure novel Treasure Island.

"The book includes some historical fiction. It's about pirates and adventure. It focuses around a hidden treasure but it includes some romance as well. There is unexpected betrayal and all around, it's a roller-coaster of a book."

5 stars - review by 11th grade student

In addition to a large collection of print books, we have subscriptions to online resources.

On campus you will not need to sign on, but off campus you will need the school's username/password. You can find those on this document (you will need to be signed into your school Google account).

NoodleTools is an online research management platform to which our school has a subscription.

Students who have created accounts in the past will be asked to revalidate their accounts the first time they log in this school year. The password to revalidate is "panthers".

NoodleTools was updated during the summer and looks very different. Ask Mrs. Heraper if you have questions about using NoodleTools.

Sue Heraper, Teacher Librarian, sheraper@conejousd.org

Denise Coulter, substitute Library Technician, dcoulter@conejousd.org

Website: https://sites.google.com/learn.conejousd.net/nphslibrary
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