Going Underground

Del is a good kid who's been caught in horrible circumstances. When we meet him, he is 17, trying to put his life together after an incident in his past that made him a social outcast - and a felon. As a result, he can't get into college; the only job he can get is digging graves; and when he finally meets a girl he might fall in love with, there's a whole sea of complications that threaten to bring the world crashing down around him again. But what has Del done? In flashbacks to Del's 14th year, we slowly learn the truth: his girlfriend texted him a revealing photo of herself, a teacher confiscated his phone, and soon the police were involved. Basing her story on real-life cases of teens being charged with sex crimes for texting explicit photos, Susan Vaught has created a moving portrait of an immensely likable young character caught up in a highly controversial legal scenario.

The product of decades of work and multiple self-published editions, Going Underground, written by 1980s scene veteran George Hurchalla, is the most comprehensive look yet at America’s nationwide underground punk scene. Despite the mainstream press declarations that “punk died with Sid Vicious” or that “punk was reborn with Nirvana,” author Hurchalla followed the DIY spirit of punk underground, where it not only survived but thrived nationally as a self-sustaining grassroots movement rooted in seedy clubs, rented fire halls, Xeroxed zines, and indie record shops. Rather than dwell solely on well-documented scenes from Los Angeles, New York, and Washington, DC, Hurchalla delves deep into the counterculture, rooting out stories from Chicago, Philadelphia, Austin, Cincinnati, Miami, and elsewhere. The author seamlessly mixes his personal experiences with the oral history of dozens of band members, promoters, artists, zinesters, and scenesters. Some of the countless bands covered include Articles of Faith, Big Boys, Necros, Hüsker Dü, Bad Brains, Government Issue, and Minutemen, as well as many of the essential zines of the time such as Big Takeover, Maximum RocknRoll, Flipside, and Forced Exposure. Going Underground features over a hundred unique photos from Marie Kanger-Born of Chicago, Dixon Coulbourn of Austin, Brian Trudell of LA, Malcolm Riviera of DC, Justina Davies of New York, Ed Arnaud of Arizona, and many others, along with flyers from across the nation.

First popularized by newspaper coverage of the Underground Railroad in the 1840s, the underground serves as a metaphor for subversive activity that remains central to our political vocabulary. In Going Underground, Lara Langer Cohen excavates the long history of this now familiar idea while seeking out versions of the underground that were left behind along the way. Outlining how the underground’s figurative sense first took shape through the associations of literal subterranean spaces with racialized Blackness, she examines a vibrant world of nineteenth-century US subterranean literature that includes Black radical manifestos, anarchist periodicals, sensationalist exposés of the urban underworld, manuals for sex magic, and the initiation rites of secret societies. Cohen finds that the undergrounds in this literature offer sites of political possibility that exceed the familiar framework of resistance, suggesting that nineteenth-century undergrounds can inspire new modes of world-making and world-breaking for a time when this world feels increasingly untenable.

Each book in the Adventures with the Parkers series for kids 8-13 takes the Parker family to a popular national park and is packed with adventure as well as interesting facts about park activities, natural history, outdoor safety, and much more.

The Underground Railroad was not a transportation system with metal tracks and whistling trains that zipped along a grid of tracks through tunnels below the ground. Instead, this system was an organized network of people who--in utmost secrecy--helped others escape the bonds of slavery. The routes to freedom were filled with danger, but the risks were worth it. Climb aboard to travel back in time and find out how this system of "passengers," "conductors," and "stationmasters" saved thousands of lives and helped change the nation.

From beloved Newbery Honor winner and three-time Coretta Scott King Award winner Rita Williams-Garcia comes a powerful and heartfelt novel about loss, family, and love that will appeal to fans of Jason Reynolds and Kwame Alexander. Clayton feels most alive when he’s with his grandfather, Cool Papa Byrd, and the band of Bluesmen—he can’t wait to join them, just as soon as he has a blues song of his own. But then the unthinkable happens. Cool Papa Byrd dies, and Clayton’s mother forbids Clayton from playing the blues. And Clayton knows that’s no way to live. Armed with his grandfather’s brown porkpie hat and his harmonica, he runs away from home in search of the Bluesmen, hoping he can join them on the road. But on the journey that takes him through the New York City subways and to Washington Square Park, Clayton learns some things that surprise him. National Book Award Finalist * Kirkus Best Books of 2017 * Horn Book Best Books of 2017 * Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2017 * School Library Journal Best Books of 2017 * NAACP Image Awards Youth/Teens Winner * Chicago Public Library Best Books * Boston Globe Best Books of 2017 "This slim novel strikes a strong chord."—Publishers Weekly (starred review) "This complex tale of family and forgiveness has heart.” —School Library Journal (starred review) "Strong characterizations and vivid musical scenes add layers to this warm family story.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “An appealing, realistic story with frequent elegant turns of phrase." —The Horn Book (starred review) "Garcia-Williams skillfully finds melody in words.” —Booklist (starred review)

Jay Wearden was and is a pioneering, successful underground DJ who is a born & bred native of Manchester, a northern UK city and once bastion of Acid House/Dance music culture! His journey began on the tough streets of East Manchester, where street cred and being street wise where an essential factor of day to day life until that is, when he embraced what would become a massive global music revolution unmatched then or since! Manchester is very well known for its most talked about (press wise) club brand 'The Hacienda', which leads many to think that it was all the city offered as regards venues and clubs, which really isn't the case. Jay cut his teeth in the other tougher clubs of this infamous city, namely 'The Thunderdome' and the Hippodrome (Hippos).This a fantastic insight into the rise and influence a working-class man had on the embryonic dance music scene after turning his back on gang warfare, to help establish Manchester as one of the most respected Acid house/Dance music cities in the world. Credit: Iconic Underground Magazine