LibGuides: Earth Day: Water in our World: Books related to water

At Hostos : water and the environment

The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery
Call Number: QC 981.8 .C5 F438 2005
ISBN: 0871139359
Publication Date: 2006-01-27
From the publisher: "Sometime this century the day will arrive when the human influence on the climate will overwhelm all other natural factors. ...The Weather Makers is both an urgent warning and a call to arms, outlining the history of climate change, how it will unfold over the next century, and what we can do to prevent a cataclysmic future."
To Love the Wind and the Rain by Dianne D. Glave (Editor); Mark Stoll (Editor)
Call Number: E - book
ISBN: 9780822942757
Publication Date: 2005-12-28
From the publisher: "A groundbreaking and vivid analysis of the relationship between African Americans and the environment in U.S. history. It focuses on three major themes: African Americans in the rural environment, African Americans in the urban and suburban environments, and African Americans and the notion of environmental justice."
A. D. by Josh Neufeld
Call Number: F 379 .N553 A26 2009
ISBN: 9780307378149
Publication Date: 2009-08-18
From the publisher: "Cartoonist Josh Neufeld depicts seven extraordinary true stories of survival in the days leading up to and following Hurricane Katrina. Here we meet Denise, a counselor and social worker, and a sixth-generation New Orleanian; "The Doctor", a proud fixture of the French Quarter; Abbas and Darnell, two friends who face the storm from Abbas's family-run market; Kwame, a pastor's son just entering his senior year of high school; and the young couple Leo and Michelle, who both grew up in the city. Each is forced to confront the same wrenching decision: whether to stay or to flee."
Nothing but the Truth by John L. Purdy; James Ruppert
Call Number: PS 508 .I5 N67 2001
ISBN: 0130116424
Publication Date: 2000-08-16
From the publisher: "This anthology includes some of the best works of Native American Literature, with a good representation of major authors, geographic dispersion, gender balance, and a variety of genres...An effective introduction to Native American Literature for readers interested in this area of writing."

Books available at other CUNY colleges (request to have them sent here!)

Water: The Fate of Our Most Precious Resource by Marq De Villiers
Call Number: TD 345 .D473 2001
ISBN: 0618030093
From Kirkus Reviews: "A well-researched, fluent summary of the political and biological state of our global water resources, from Canadian author de Villiers ...The problem is not so much that there isn’t enough water, explains the author, although growing populations may put that to the test. It is that water isn’t where we want it: too much in the north when we need it in the south; too much seawater when we want freshwater; too much locked up in glaciers when we need it in our highballs or our sprinklers. So we go forth and fight for it, or steal it, or finagle it, or hold back what once flowed by."
Thirst by Michael Fox; Deborah Kaufman; Alan Snitow
Call Number: HD 1691 .S625 2007
ISBN: 9780787984588
Publication Date: 2007-03-16
From the publisher: "Out of sight of most Americans, global corporations like Nestle, Suez, and Veolia are rapidly buying up our local water sources-lakes, streams, and springs-and taking control of public water services. In their drive to privatize and commodify water, they have manipulated and bought politicians, clinched backroom deals, and subverted the democratic process by trying to deny citizens a voice in fundamental decisions about their most essential public resource. The authors' PBS documentary Thirst showed how communities around the world are resisting the privatization and commodification of water. Thirst, the book, picks up where the documentary left off, revealing the emergence of controversial new water wars in the United States and showing how communities here are fighting this battle, often against companies headquartered overseas. "
Mississippi Solo by Eddy L. Harris
Call Number: F 355 .H37 1989
ISBN: 0060972475
Publication Date: 1989-10-01
From Publisher's Weekly: "Growing up in St. Louis, Harris felt drawn to the Mississippi River and wanted to be part of it. At the age of 30 he decided it was time to challenge the riverand himself by canoeing its length, Lake Itaska to New Orleans. With very little preparation or conditioning, he set out in the fall in a borrowed canoe. In addition to expected hazards of weather, traffic and navigation, the voyage held another one: Harris, who is black, encountered gun-toting rednecks downstream (he carried a revolver). But most people were friendly and encouraging; Harris learned how to handle the canoe in the wake of tugs and successfully tested himself to the limits of physical and mental endurance."
Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Some
Call Number: DT 555.45 .D35 S667 1994
ISBN: 0874777623
Publication Date: 1994-05-04
From the publisher: "Through the healing wisdom of Africa, readers can come to understand that the life of indigenous and traditional people is a paradigm for an intimate relationship with the natural world that both surrounds us and is within us. The book is the most complete study of the role ritual plays in the lives of African people -- and the role it can play for seekers in the West."
Waterfront by Phillip Lopate
Call Number: F 128.55 .L67 2004
ISBN: 0609605054
Publication Date: 2004-02-24
From the publisher: "Fusing history, lore, politics, culture, and on-site adventures, esteemed essayist and author Phillip Lopate takes us on an exuberant, affectionate, and eye-opening excursion around Manhattan's shoreline. Waterfront captures the ever-changing character of New York in the best way possible: on a series of exploratory walks conducted by one of the city's most engaging and knowledgeable guides."

At Hostos: Water as setting or metaphor

The Color of Water : A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother by James McBride
Call Number: F 130 .N4 M38 2006
ISBN: 159448192X
Publication Date: 2006-02-07
From the publisher: " Over two years on The New York Times bestseller list...The son of a black minister and a woman who would not admit she was white, James McBride grew up in "orchestrated chaos" with his eleven siblings in the poor, all-black projects of Red Hook, Brooklyn. "Mommy," a fiercely protective woman with "dark eyes full of pep and fire," herded her brood to Manhattan's free cultural events, sent them off on buses to the best (and mainly Jewish) schools, demanded good grades, and commanded respect. As a young man, McBride saw his mother as a source of embarrassment, worry, and confusion--and reached thirty before he began to discover the truth about her early life and long-buried pain."
Life of Pi : A Novel by Yann Martel
Call Number: PR 9199.3 .M3855 L54 2001c
ISBN: 0156030209
Publication Date: 2004-05-03
From the publisher: "Pi Patel is an unusual boy. The son of a zookeeper, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of animal behavior, a fervent love of stories, and practices not only his native Hinduism, but also Christianity and Islam. When Pi is sixteen, his family emigrates from India to North America aboard a Japanese cargo ship, along with their zoo animals bound for new homes. The ship sinks. Pi finds himself alone in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger."
Back to the Lake by Thomas Cooley
Call Number: PE 1417 .C6549 2015
ISBN: 9780393937367
Publication Date: 2015-02-03
From the publisher: "Back to the Lake 3e includes new chapters on writing paragraphs and using rhetorical modes in academic writing--which shows how the patterns taught in this book are used in the kinds of writing college students are expected to do."
Freshwater Road by Denise Nicholas
Call Number: Leisure Reading - PS 3614 .I337 F74 2006
ISBN: 1416524827
Publication Date: 2006-09-05
From the publisher: "It is the summer of 1964, and University of Michigan sophomore Celeste Tyree travels to Mississippi to volunteer her efforts in Freedom Summer. She ends up helping voters register in the small town of Pineyville, a place best known for a notorious lynching that occurred only a few years earlier. Through her work, Celeste finds inner strength as she helps lift the veil of oppression and learns valuable lessons about race, social change and violence."
Born on a Blue Day by Daniel Tammet
Call Number: Leisure Reading--RC 553 .A88 T36 2007
ISBN: 9781416549017
Publication Date: 2007-10-16
From the publisher: "A journey into one of the most fascinating minds alive today--guided by the owner himself. Bestselling author Daniel Tammet (Thinking in Numbers) is virtually unique among people who have severe autistic disorders in that he is capable of living a fully independent life and able to explain what is happening inside his head. He sees numbers as shapes, colors, and textures, and he can perform extraordinary calculations in his head...Fascinating and inspiring, Born on a Blue Day explores what it's like to be special and gives us an insight into what makes us all human--our minds."

Books at other CUNY colleges - water as setting or metaphor

Radiance from the Waters by Sylvia Ardyn Boone
Call Number: NX 589.6.S5 B66 1986
ISBN: 0300048610
Publication Date: 1990-08-29
From the publisher: "The Sande Society of the Mende people of Sierra Leone is a secret female regulatory society that both guards and transmits the ideals of feminine beauty so fundamental to the aesthetic criteria in Mende culture. In this eloquent and moving book, Sylvia Ardyn Boone describes the Society, its rituals and organization, and the mask worn by its members."
Blue Water by A. Manette Ansay
Call Number: PS 3551 .N645 B58 2006
ISBN: 0688172873
Publication Date: 2006-04-11
From the publisher: "Blue Water is the story of people learning to face the unthinkable -- a compelling affirmation of the human potential for forgiveness, redemption, and grace."
Over the Edge of the World by Laurence Bergreen
Call Number: G 420 .M2 B47 2004
ISBN: 0066211735
Publication Date: 2003-11-01
From the publisher: "Ferdinand Magellans daring circumnavigation of the globe in the sixteenth century was a three-year odyssey filled with sex, violence, and amazing adventure...acclaimed author Laurence Bergreen, interweaving a variety of candid, first-person accounts, some previously unavailable in English, brings to life this groundbreaking and majestic tale of discovery."
Conquering Gotham by Jill Jonnes
Call Number: TF 302 .N7 J66 2008
ISBN: 9780143113249
Publication Date: 2008-03-25
From the publisher: "Conquering Gotham re- creates the riveting struggle waged by the great Pennsylvania Railroad to build Penn Station and the monumental system of tunnels that would connect water-bound Manhattan to the rest of the continent by rail."
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
Call Number: PS 3607 .R696 W38 2006
ISBN: 1565124995
Publication Date: 2006-05-26
From the publisher: " Jacob Janowski's luck had run out: orphaned and penniless, he had no direction until he landed on a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth."
The Whale Rider (children's book) by Witi Ihimaera
Call Number: P Z7 .I273 Wh 2003
ISBN: 0152050175
Publication Date: 2003-05-01
From the publisher: "Eight-year-old Kahu, a member of the Maori tribe of Whangara, New Zealand, fights to prove her love, her leadership, and her destiny."
In the Pond : A Novel by Ha Jin
Call Number: PS 3560.I6 I6 1998
ISBN: 0944072925
Publication Date: 1998-06-01
From the Boston Globe: "In the Pond is a close, unsentimental depiction of life in a small factory town; the maneuvering, posturing, petty jealousies and injustices of an ordinary man who tangles with the party bosses."
Measuring the World by Daniel Kehlmann; Carol Brown Janeway (Translator)
Call Number: PT 2671 .E32 V4713 2006
ISBN: 0375424466
Publication Date: 2006-11-07
From the publisher: "The young Austrian writer Daniel Kehlmann conjures a brilliant and gently comic novel from the lives of two geniuses of the Enlightenment."
The Highest Tide : A Novel (Young Adult) by Jim Lynch
Call Number: PS 3612 .Y542 H54 2005
ISBN: 1582346054
Publication Date: 2005-09-08
From the publisher: "One moonlit night, thirteen-year-old Miles O'Malley slips out of his house, packs up his kayak and goes exploring on the flats of Puget Sound. But what begins as an ordinary hunt for starfish, snails, and clams is soon transformed by an astonishing sight: a beached giant squid. ...while the sea continues to offer up discoveries from its mysterious depths, Miles struggles to deal with the difficulties that attend the equally mysterious process of growing up. "
Essays of E. B. White by E. B. White (Foreword by)
Call Number: PS 3545 .H5187 A16 1999
ISBN: 0060932236
Publication Date: 2006-12-12
Includes his famous essay, "Once More to the Lake"

Other books

Where the Water Goes: Life and Death Along the Colorado River by David Owen

From the publisher: "A downstream adventure into the heart of one of America’s most important water systems examining where our water comes from and where it all goes. The Colorado River is a crucial resource for a surprisingly large part of the United States, and every gallon that flows down it is owned or claimed by someone. David Owen traces all that water from the Colorado’s headwaters to its parched terminus, once a verdant wetland but now a million-acre desert."

[just released April 2017; will be coming to Hostos library soon.]

Tapped Out: The Coming World Crisis in Water and What We Can Do About It by Paul Simon

From Publishers Weekly: "Simon, a former Democratic senator from Illinois, delivers a call-to-arms to citizens and political leaders to act to save the world's water supply. "Within a few years," he writes, "a water crisis of catastrophic proportions will explode on us." Simon, who was a newspaperman before he was a politician, is a clear and forceful writer who makes use of compelling statistics to outline the looming crisis...Simon's book is well reasoned and well researched and deserves serious attention--not least because he offers the bracing example of a former public servant still committed to the intelligent and informed discussion of a pressing issue."

Available for in-library use only at the New York Public Library Schwartzman Building.

Seven-Tenths: The Sea and Its Thresholds by James Hamilton-Peterson

From the publisher: "Hamilton-Paterson writes about fishing, piracy, ecological crises, and is especially brilliant on the melancholy fascination of those border places where the sea and land meet and human experience seems transient.

Taking humanity’s complex relationship with the sea as its starting point, Seven-Tenths is an enthralling meditation on the sea as the physical birthplace of the human race and the emotional source of our dreams."

Available at the New York Society Library.

The Color of Water by Kim Dong-Hwa (children's book)

From the publisher:

"When Ehwa goes to the town festival, she meets a handsome young wrestler named Duksam who's eager to catch her eye. After he wins the festival wrestling championship, he and Ehwa begin to meet, sneaking spare moments to be together. But a shadow falls on their romance when Master Cho sends Duksam away and asks for Ehwa's hand in marriage himself It is then that Ehwa discovers the pain of heartbreak--and that love is always complicated"

Available at the New York Public Library

Water, ed. by John Knechtel

From the Alphabet City series of publications, by MIT Press: "In each volume writers and artists address single theme from many perspectives, revealing its processes and possibilities."

Available at the New York Public Library. Select excerpts available here.

The Left-Handed Story: Writing and the Writer's Life by Nancy Willard.

From the publisher: "Expounding on topics as diverse as the many muses of writers, fairy tales, the origins and meaning of inspiration, and the astonishing and mysterious powers of the litany form in poetry, The Left-Handed Story will appeal to writers, avid readers, and established fans of Willard's work."

Available for in-library use only at the Schwarzman building of the New York Public Library