President George W. Bush nominated Leslie H. Southwick in 2007 to the federal appeals court, Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans. Initially, Southwick seemed a consensus nominee. Just days before his hearing, though, a progressive advocacy group distributed the results of research it had conducted on opinions of the state court on which he had served for twelve years. Two opinions Southwick had signed off on but not written became the center of the debate over the next five months. One dealt with a racial slur by a state worker, the other with a child custody battle between a father and a bisexual mother. Apparent bipartisan agreement for a quick confirmation turned into a long set of battles in the Judiciary Committee, on the floor of the Senate, and in the media. In early August, Senator Dianne Feinstein completely surprised her committee colleagues by supporting Southwick. Hers was the one Democratic vote needed to move the nomination to the full Senate. Then in late October, by a two-vote margin, he received the votes needed to end a filibuster. Confirmation followed. Southwick recounts the four years he spent at the Department of Justice, the twelve years on a state court, and his military service in Iraq while deployed with a Mississippi National Guard Brigade. During the nomination inferno Southwick maintained a diary of the many events, the conversations and emails, the joys and despairs, and quite often, the prayers and sense of peace his faith gave him--his memoir bears significant spiritual content. Throughout the struggle, Southwick learned that perspective and growth are important to all of us when making decisions, and he grew to accept his critics, regardless of the outcome. In The Nominee there is no rancor, and instead the book expresses the understanding that the difficult road to success was the most helpful one for him, both as a man and as a judge.

Throughout the contest for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination, politicians and voters alike worried that the outcome might depend on the preferences of unelected superdelegates. This concern threw into relief the prevailing notion that—such unusually competitive cases notwithstanding—people, rather than parties, should and do control presidential nominations. But for the past several decades, The Party Decides shows, unelected insiders in both major parties have effectively selected candidates long before citizens reached the ballot box. Tracing the evolution of presidential nominations since the 1790s, this volume demonstrates how party insiders have sought since America’s founding to control nominations as a means of getting what they want from government. Contrary to the common view that the party reforms of the 1970s gave voters more power, the authors contend that the most consequential contests remain the candidates’ fights for prominent endorsements and the support of various interest groups and state party leaders. These invisible primaries produce frontrunners long before most voters start paying attention, profoundly influencing final election outcomes and investing parties with far more nominating power than is generally recognized.

Matthew McAvoy’s surprising nomination to lead his Christian denomination is, at first, exhilarating — the apex of a career in ministry, education, and leadership. But that joy is undercut when a member of the church calls attention to Matthew’s support for persons who are gay or lesbian. What follows is an eight-month ordeal, challenging Matthew and providing a new awareness of what the gospel demands. When the opposition becomes a threat, the story takes a sinister turn that involves not only Matthew but his whole family–and raises even more questions about the meaning of leadership in our age. Inspired by the author’s own story, The Nominee shows that places we think are refuges can be the most dangerous.

Washington press insider Brian McGrory, whose debut novel, The Incumbent, soared onto the national bestseller lists amid rave reviews, is back with a second sizzling political thriller featuring Jack Flynn, the intrepid newspaperman with the wry turn of phrase. News is crackling all around him when Jack Flynn, ace reporter for The Boston Record, is summoned to a secret meeting with his esteemed publisher, Paul Ellis. Ellis sadly reveals that the newspaper they both love, owned by his family for more than a century, is the target of a hostile takeover bid by a shadowy corporate chain. Desperate, he asks for Jack's help. Already on the brink of a hot political scoop, Jack sets out in pursuit of a hidden truth. But that very day his life is threatened. The Record is beset by horrific tragedy. And a death from years ago no longer appears what it once seemed. Now Jack is forced to question not only the words published in his own paper but the relationships that have been the bedrock of his life -- in particular those with his gorgeous ex-girlfriend, who writes for a rival tabloid, and with the venerable Record reporter Robert Fitzgerald, Jack's longtime mentor. And all along, Jack is sitting on a goldmine of information that could torpedo the president's controversial nomination of the Massachusetts governor to be the next U.S. Attorney General. As he balances on a tightrope of personal and professional peril, shuttling from the swamps of central Florida to the corridors of Congress, then back to the alleyways of Boston, Jack is left with just two questions: Will his newspaper survive long enough for him to tell his story? Will he? Combining breakneck speed and tension-packed plotting with the insights of a consummate political insider, Brian McGrory explores the ethics and direction of modern journalism and analyzes how, in this era of media saturation, reputations are made and too often destroyed. The Nominee, peopled with irresistible characters that linger long after the last page is turned, confirms his position at the forefront of today's most talented young suspense writers.

"The author of The Butler presents a revelatory biography of the first African-American Supreme Court justice--one of the giants of the civil rights movement, and one of the most transforming Supreme Court justices of the 20th century, "--Novelist.

"Explores one of the most important questions in American politics--how we narrow the list of presidential candidates every four years. Focuses on how presidential candidates have sought to alter the rules in their favor and how their failures and successes have led to even more change"--Provided by publisher.

A heart-warming and hilarious family memoir of growing up as one of eleven siblings raised by a single dad in Northern Ireland at the end of the Troubles. Séamas O’Reilly’s mother died when he was five, leaving him, his ten (!) brothers and sisters, and their beloved father in their sprawling bungalow in rural Derry. It was the 1990s; the Troubles were a background rumble, but Séamas was more preoccupied with dinosaurs, Star Wars, and the actual location of heaven than the political climate. ­ An instant bestseller in Ireland, Did Ye Hear Mammy Died? is a book about a family of loud, argumentative, musical, sarcastic, grief-stricken siblings, shepherded into adulthood by a man whose foibles and reticence were matched only by his love for his children and his determination that they would flourish. “In this joyous, wildly unconventional memoir, Séamas O'Reilly tells the story of losing his mother as a child and growing up with ten siblings in Northern Ireland during the final years of the Troubles as a raucous comedy, a grand caper that is absolutely bursting with life.”―Patrick Radden Keefe, NYT bestselling author of Say Nothing and Empire of Pain One of NPR’s Best Books of the Year

Winner of the Coretta Scott King Book Awards for Author and Illustrator A Caldecott Honor Book A Sibert Honor Book Longlisted for the National Book Award A Kirkus Prize Finalist A Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book "A must-have"—Booklist (starred review) Celebrated author Carole Boston Weatherford and illustrator Floyd Cooper provide a powerful look at the Tulsa Race Massacre, one of the worst incidents of racial violence in our nation's history. The book traces the history of African Americans in Tulsa's Greenwood district and chronicles the devastation that occurred in 1921 when a white mob attacked the Black community. News of what happened was largely suppressed, and no official investigation occurred for seventy-five years. This picture book sensitively introduces young readers to this tragedy and concludes with a call for a better future. Download the free educator guide here: https://lernerbooks.com/download/unspeakableteachingguide

When her best friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover the culprits in her small North Carolina town.