World Views
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The Freedom to Read

Annie Searle's picture
Annie Searle
May 11, 2023

“If you read, you can learn to think for yourself.” Those words came from esteemed novelist Doris Lessing some years ago, when speaking of the value of public libraries and their role in creating an informed citizenry. 

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Books
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Decline of Stories About the Urban Working Class

PR for People Team
May 07, 2023

According to author Patricia Vaccarino, “I keep a very close eye on what is being published. My Yonkers Trilogy did not fit the current needs of agents or publishers. Stories about the urban working-class are not welcome at this time.”

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Arts & Culture
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NOTES FROM THE WORKING CLASS: SPARE ME

Patricia Vaccarino's picture
Patricia Vaccarino
May 06, 2023

The royals are fun, engaging and great fodder for gossip, but spare me. We fought a war to get rid of them. The Declaration of Independence in July, 1776 listed twenty-seven grievances against George III. Among his offenses it was noted, “He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people."

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Books
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Discussion Guide Planned for Yonkers Trilogy

PR for People Team
May 03, 2023

A Discussion Guide is in development to address the controversial issues in Patricia Vaccarino’s Yonkers Trilogy. Titled Yonkers Beats, this Discussion Guide is intended for use by teachers, book clubs—or anyone who wants—to examine controversial topics that engender difficult conversations. 

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Books
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So Not Yonkers is the third book in the Yonkers trilogy

PR for People Team
May 01, 2023

So Not Yonkers by Patricia Vaccarino has been released. Ms. Vaccarino’s controversial coming-of-age novels take us on a dark journey encountering racism, sexual harassment, abortion, child abuse, homophobia, mental illness, organized crime, violence, death, lost love and lost friendship among the working class and poor in Yonkers. So Not Yonkers is the third book in her Yonkers trilogy.

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Books
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Book Review: O Pioneers! by Willa Cather

Patricia Vaccarino's picture
Patricia Vaccarino
April 25, 2023

O Pioneers!, the first book in Willa Cather’s Great Plains Trilogy, unfolds along the crags and ridges of  rough terrain that is harsh to all those who dwell here. Set in the still uncultivated Nebraska Prairie, the story is told through the lens of young Swedish-American woman Alexandra Bergson who has an uncanny head for business and an even stronger knack for spotting fertile land.

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World Views
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Interview with UW History Professor Vicente Rafael on his new book

Robin Lindley
April 24, 2023

Robin Lindley interviews  UW History Professor Vicente Rafael on his new book The Sovereign Trickster: Death and Laughter in the Age of Duterte (Duke University Press).

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Politics
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Banning Abortion Pills – Choosing Between Secularism And Moralism

Nick J. Licata
April 24, 2023

Texas Federal District Judge Matthew J. Kacsmaryk recently banned prescribing and distributing the abortion pill mifepristone as unsafe. However, after a four-year review, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certified the pill safe in 2000. 

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