Preview Shelf: New and Notable Books by CDPL Volunteer Janice Clauser

The One World School House: Education Reimagined comes from Salman Khan, founder of The Khan Academy, who has established free videos and software about every conceivable subject, offered free on the Internet. Khan is believed by many to be the chief innovator for successful learning in the future.   

A big new paperback available for borrowing is called World Heritage Sites, a complete guide to 936 UNESCO sites around the world.  There are 21 in the United States. Photographs capture the essence of the sites, chosen for their “outstanding universal value.” They’re part of the World Heritage Convention, adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in Paris in 1972.

History books begin with The Course of Irish History, edited by T. W. Moody. Master of the Mountain:Thomas Jefferson and His Slaves is the result of archaeological work by Henry Wiencek. Ronald Coddington’s AfricanAmerican Faces of the Civil War is the third album in a series of previously unpublished photos of participants, many of whom won their freedom by enlisting in the Union army or navy. Munich 1972 by David Large provides the first comprehensive history of those Olympic Games when Israeli athletes died after a botched rescue mission by the German police. Bill O’Reilly’s Killing Kennedy not only tells details of the crime, but its effect on the nation. 

There are beautiful photos in Richard Sale’s A Complete Guide toArctic Wildlife and Ronald Orenstein’s Turtles,Tortoises and Terrapins: A Natural History.

Yes, China! is Clark Nielsen’s love-hate relationship as a teacher learning techniques of his profession; it’s also about life in modern China – the food, language, and customs.  In Route 66 Still Kicks, Rick Antonson drove America’s Main Street, 2,448 miles long originally, 90 percent drivable today. The author traced its history, discovering the vitality and American character still vibrant through our heartland. On the way, a truck driver told him “You’ll never understand America until you’ve driven Route 66 – that’s old Route 66 – all the way.”