Out of the Sea and Into the Fire: Latin American-US Immigration in the Global Age
Kari Lydersen

Publisher Comments
From the misty highlands of Chiapas or the idyllic coast of Honduras; to the harsh dry desert of the U.S.-Mexico border; to a frozen street corner in Chicago or a sweltering tomato field in Florida; these are the stories of Latin American migrants in the age of globalization. As the effects of free trade policies become felt throughout the region, we look at the personal tales of people forced to leave their homelands and forge a new existence in Latin American cities, in the border netherlands, or in the U.S. Behind the acronyms like NAFTA, FTAA and PPP, we see fishermen sadly leaving the sea in Oaxaca, young women toiling in toxic conditions in maquilas at the border, immigrants bravely and successfully fighting for their rights in the U.S.

Beyond Choice: Reproductive Freedom in the 21st Century
Alexander Sanger

Publisher Comments
Thirty years after Roe v. Wade, the argument between "pro-choicers" and "pro-lifers" has reached stalemate. Pro-choice arguments haven't persuaded a comfortable majority that legal abortion is vital to our society, nor addressed our moral qualms. Younger people are less and less supportive of reproductive rights. Since 1996, state legislatures have enacted nearly 300 pieces of anti-choice legislation. With Roe in jeopardy, International Planned Parenthood Council Chair Alexander Sanger asks a simple but heretical question: How many more pieces of anti-choice legislation will it take to get the pro-choice movement to rethink its approach to the issue?

In Beyond Choice, Sanger explores the history of the reproductive rights movement to discover how it got stuck in its thinking, and then provides a convincing new argument for the moral rightness of its cause. He shows why it is vital to the health and survival of the human race that couples be able to have children, or not, when they choose; why reproductive rights are just as important to men as to women; and why, in an era of new reproductive technologies, completely unfettered choice is not morally defensible.

Beyond Choice is inspiring and important reading for women's rights advocates, opinion leaders, medical ethicists, and anyone concerned to preserve our freedom to reproduce, or not, without government intervention.

A Gringo Like Me
Jennifer Knox

Publisher Comments
Borrowing its title from an Ennio Morricone ditty in the spaghetti western Gunfight at Red Sands, Jennifer L. Knox's A Gringo Like Me contains poems at once raucous and sexy, tender and high. In favorites such as "Hot Ass Poem," "Cruising for Prostitutes," and "Chicken Bucket," Knox's speakers appear ornery, hickish, undereducated, misogynist, or worse, but each quirky character manages to elucidate a truth we're better off knowing, even if we'd rather forget it. At other times, Knox's lyrical "I" is downright pretty; in poems like "A Common American Name" and "Freckles" she charms.

Knox has collected dramatic monologues, personal lyrics, and even screenplays together in a single energetic volume for a genuinely surprising debut. Between the poles of her unique range, Knox straddles and tames what she may yet prove to be an artificial divide in American poetry: she's a former slam champion, but also a two-time contributor to The Best American Poetry; she's hilarious and performative on stage, but also deeply intellectual and formally in control. In A Gringo Like Me, Knox roughrides her muse at full gallop, shouting obscene slogans, bits of jokes, and sweet nothings at the top of her lungs along the way.

Invasion of the Dykes to Watch Out For
Alison Bechdel

Publisher Comments
Book 11 in the Dykes to Watch Out For series finds Alison Bechdel's beloved cast of characters discovering that nothing but change is constant in our multihued-terror alert-system world. Mo is working her way through library school by shelving best sellers at Bounders Books and Muzak, Sparrow and Stuart face parenthood with a mixture of ambivalence and zeal, Clarice and Toni clash over the gay marriage debate while their 10-year-old son Raffi jacks cars and slaps hos on his best friend's computer, Sydney's mammogram yields very bad news, Ginger's love life is finally looking up, and is a Hello Kitty thong really the best gift Lois can give 13-year-old Jonas when s/he becomes Janis? Alison Bechdel is legendary for her ability to examine global politics through the prism of dinner conversations, and this book is no exception. Sydney's doctor insists in likening her malignant cells to terrorists, Stuart's home improvement project develops disturbing parallels to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Ginger's best student turns out to be her most conservative, resulting in an ideology-busting clash of red- and blue-state values.

The Penelopiad
Margaret Atwood

Publisher Comments
In The Odyssey, Penelope — daughter of King Icarius of Sparta, and the cousin of the beautiful Helen of Troy — is portrayed as the quintessential faithful wife. Atwood’s dazzling retelling of the old myth is as haunting as it is wise and compassionate, as disturbing as it is entertaining. With incomparable wit and verve, she gives the story of Penelope new life and reality.