Summer sizzles–cool off with a great book!

I’ve selected a few good novels that should get you through this summer. With temperatures and gas prices rising, who wouldn’t want to stay indoors in an air-conditioned room tearing into great novel? The list includes a number of fiction and non-fiction titles that are sure to hold your attention. Enjoy!

                                                          

1. Come On People by Bill Cosby and Alvin F. Poussaint
2. The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama
3. Nothing to Lose by Lee Child
4. A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle                                  
5. Sail by James Patterson and Howard Rougham
6. The Mis-Education of the Negro by Carter G. Woodson
7. Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
8. Netherland by Joseph O’Neill Pantheon
9. Life Beyond Measure: Letters to My Great-Granddaughter by Sidney Poitier
10. The Condition by Jennifer Haigh

                                                                                                                           

What are you reading this summer?

Seattle PI: Native American, black kids more likely to end up in foster care

By JOHN IWASAKI
P-I REPORTER

Until he was 17, Charles Goodwin spent most of his teen years living with foster families and interacting with caseworkers who never fully understood him for a basic reason: None shared his Native American heritage.

The state removed him from his dysfunctional home and passed him through the child welfare system, where some foster parents referred to him as an “Injun” and disregarded his cultural interests, he said, while the state ignored his requests for a Native American caseworker. MORE…

Seattle PI: Another dead black kid — still no justice

By ROBERT L. JAMIESON Jr.
P-I COLUMNIST

There is no justice for Jessie Drungo. He’s dead, got a knife in the chest at 23.

The man authorities said killed him in Kent nearly two years ago now stands cleared of the crime. Last week, King County prosecutors quietly dismissed a second-degree homicide charge against Lonnie Lee Johnson. They couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt whether he or another man stole Drungo’s life in a parking lot melee. READ ON…

Seattle Times: Seattle Schools budget of $556 million would use savings to fund raises, new hires

By Linda Shaw

Costs are going up, and the number of students is going down, but Seattle Public Schools plans to increase its staff by 102 jobs next school year and use $12.6 million of its savings to do so.

It’s a plan that Steve Sundquist, chairman of the School Board’s finance committee, calls unsustainable but responsible. MORE…

NY Times: More Lesbians Discharged in 2007

By THOM SHANKER

The New York Times

WASHINGTON — The Army and Air Force discharged a disproportionate number of women in 2007 under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that prohibits openly gay people from serving in the military, according to Pentagon statistics gathered by an advocacy group. READ ON…

Campaign Launched to Promote Black Men and Boys’ Achievement

From DiversitySpectrum.com:

On the heels of a growing body of research revealing that the isolation and negative outcomes for African American men and boys is more extreme than previously acknowledged, the Open Society Institute has launched a campaign to promote Black men and boys’ achievement. For example, more than 50% of all African American boys do not finish high school and a mere 18% of black males aged 18 to 21 are enrolled in college. MORE…

NY Times: Muslim Voters Detect a Snub From Obama

By: Andrea Elliot, June 24, 2008

As Senator Barack Obama courted voters in Iowa last December, Representative Keith Ellison, the country’s first Muslim congressman, stepped forward eagerly to help. Mr. Ellison believed that Mr. Obama’s message of unity resonated deeply with American Muslims. He volunteered to speak on Mr. Obama’s behalf at a mosque in Cedar Rapids, one of the nation’s oldest Muslim enclaves. But before the rally could take place, aides to Mr. Obama asked Mr. Ellison to cancel the trip because it might stir controversy. MORE…

Two shootings. Six months pass. Zero suspects.

By Levi Pulkkinen, P-I Reporter

Six months have passed since two South Seattle teens were gunned down in separate incidents in disparate corners of the city. And police still have no suspects, as witnesses refuse to come forward.

Allen Joplin and De’Che Morrison had much in common. Both were sons of Seattle, students at city schools who had minor scrapes with the law. Both were mourned as children killed before they could correct mistakes made in the arrogance of youth. MORE…

Become a Mentor

Who wouldn’t want to make a child smile? There are thousands of children in our neighborhood waiting for someone to put a smile on their faces. You have the opportunity to be that person. Become a mentor with Big Brothers Big Sisters of America. They are in dire need of responsible role models who can help change the life of the youth in our community.

The youth have so much to gain by being in this program. It is proven that they are more likely to engage in school, and to refrain from using drugs and alcohol. It is our responsibility to reach out to these kids, afterall, they are the future of America. There are thousands of children between the ages of 6 and 18 in the program. For a minimum of four hours each month, you can transform the life of someone’s child.

Can you think of a better way to invest your time?… Didn’t think so! Check out BBBS at their website www.bbbs.org for more information and to join the program.

NY Times: Plan Seeks More Access for Disabled

June 16, 2008
By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON — The Bush administration is about to propose far-reaching new rules that would give people with disabilities greater access to tens of thousands of courtrooms, swimming pools, golf courses, stadiums, theaters, hotels and retail stores. MORE…