Family

• Gever Tullay & Julie Spiegler
• New American Library; 2011
• Paperback; 144 pages
• 9780451234193

• Dan Savage (editor)
• Dutton, 2011
• Hardcover, 352 pages
• 9780525952336

• Gillian Ranson
• UTP, 2010
• Paperback, 214 Pages
• 9781442603585

Drawing on findings from interviews done with 32 families living in cities across Canada, Ranson challenges dominant understandings of mothering and fathering by looking closely at how couples who have opted for less traditional divisions of labour negotiate their parental and household responsibilities. Included are interviews with breadwinner mothers and caregiver fathers, and with dual-earner couples, both heterosexual and same-sex, who struggle to share equally in the nurture and support of their families. A central claim of the book is that, to the extent that both parents are equally involved in hands-on caregiving, they tend to become, over time, functionally interchangeable and move away from "mothering" and "fathering," and toward parenting. Against the Grain offers us an excellent opportunity to examine how social change happens at the forefront of family life. Gillian Ranson is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Calgary. She has written numerous articles on gender and parenting.

• Jacquelyne Luce
• UTP, 2010
• Paperback, 304 Pages
• 9781442610088

Available March 2010. An in-depth study of lesbian, bi, and queer women's experiences of thinking about and trying to become a parent, Beyond Expectation draws on eighty-two narrative interviews conducted during the late 1990s in British Columbia. Jacquelyne Luce chronicles these women's experiences, which took place from 1980 to 2000, during a period that saw significant changes to the governance of assisted reproduction and the status of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender parents and same-sex partners. Beyond Expectation looks closely at the changing contexts in which women's experiences occurred and draws attention to complex issues such as 'contracting' relationships, mediating understandings of biology and genetics, and decision-making amidst various social, legal, and medical developments. Luce skillfully juxtaposes the stories of her interviewees with the wider public discourses about lesbian/bi/queer parenting and reproductive technology and highlights gaps in existing legislative reforms. Most importantly, Beyond Expectation foregrounds the lived experiences of lesbian, bi, and queer women as they negotiate kinship at the intersection of reproduction, technology, and politics. Jacquelyne Luce is a research fellow at Zeppelin University.

• Susan Gregory Thomas
• Mariner Books, 2009
• Paperback, 276 pages
• 9780547237954

Our kids are becoming consumers at an alarmingly young age. Many children are already asking for products by brand name at age two. Toy and media corporations have long manipulated the insecurities of parents to move their products, but Buy, Buy Baby unveils the chilling fact that these companies are now using and often funding the latest research in child development to enable them to sell directly to babies and toddlers. Susan Gregory Thomas presents shocking evidence that some of these products actually impair development and could harm our kids socially and cognitively, for life. The good news is that parents can overcome this dangerous economic and cultural shift. Blending prodigious reportage with an empathic voice, Thomas shows how we can help our children live at their natural pace, not the frenetic clip that serves only the toddler-industrial complex. Buy, Buy Baby helps us fight the power that marketers wield by exposing the false fears they spread. An investigative journalist examines how marketers exploit infants and toddlers, and the broad, often shocking, impact of that exploitation in our society at large. SUSAN GREGORY THOMAS is an investigative journalist and broadcaster. Formerly a senior editor at US News  World Report and co-host of public TVs Digital Duo, she has written for several publications, including Time, the Washington Post, and Glamour. She lives in Brooklyn with her two daughters, who are seven and five years old.

• Wendy Rosenoff
• Krause Publications, 2009
• Paperback, 239 pages
• 9781440203671

This one-of-a-kind guide delivers 101 forward-thinking activities and projects that teach children sustainable living habits. Readers will discover hands-on projects in cooking, crafts and science that address global warming, saving energy, recycling and reusing packaging and bags, and growing and eating locally-grown foods, among others.

• Lise Eliot
• Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009
• Hardcover, 420 pages
• ISBN: 9780618393114

A neuroscientist shatters the myths about gender differences, arguing that the brains of boys and girls are largely shaped by how they spend their time. In the past decade, we've heard a lot about the innate differences between males and females. As a result, we've come to accept that boys can't focus in a classroom and girls are obsessed with relationships. That's just the way they're built.

• Ina May Gaskin
• Bantam Books, 2009
• Paperback, 340 pages
• ISBN: 9780553384291

Everything you need to know to make breastfeeding a joyful, natural, and richly fulfilling experience for both you and your baby. Drawing on her decades of experience in caring for pregnant women, mothers, and babies, Ina May Gaskin explores the health and psychological benefits of breastfeeding and gives you invaluable practical advice that will help you nurse your baby in the most fulfilling way possible. Inside you’ll find answers to virtually every question you have on breastfeeding, including topics such as the benefits of breastfeeding, nursing challenges, pumps and other nursing products, sleeping arrangements, nursing and work, medications, nursing multiples, weaning, sick babies, nipplephobia, and much more. Ina May's Guide to Breastfeeding is filled with helpful advice, medical facts, and real-life stories that will help you understand how and why breastfeeding works and how you can use it to more deeply connect with your baby and your own body. Whether you’re planning to nurse for the first time or are looking for the latest, most up-to-date expert advice available, you couldn’t hope to find a better guide than Ina May. Ina May Gaskin, certified professional midwife, has been a midwife for more than thirty years at The Farm Midwifery Center at The Farm, in Summertown, Tennessee.

• Robbie E. Davis-Floyd (ed.)
• University of California Press, 2009
• Paperback, 484 pages
• ISBN: 9780520258914

This groundbreaking book takes us around the world in search of birth models that work in order to improve the standard of care for mothers and families everywhere. The contributors describe examples of maternity services from both developing countries and wealthy industrialized societies that apply the latest scientific evidence to support and facilitate normal physiological birth; deal appropriately with complications; and generate excellent birth outcomes--including psychological satisfaction for the mother. The book concludes with a description of the ideology that underlies all these working models--known internationally as the midwifery model of care.

• Rachel Epstein (ed.)
• Sumach Press, 2009
• Paperback, 375 pages
• ISBN: 9781894549783

This groundbreaking collection of writing brings vital and refreshing insights into current discussions about queer parenting, blending narrative and academic voices from Canada, the United States, England and Australia. The contributors are parents, prospective parents, writers, academics, lawyers, activists, health care professionals and — most significantly — queer spawn, the children of LGBTQ parents. The themes represented in these 40 essays include butches raising sons; queer youth as parents; trans experience in fertility clinics; legal and historical reflections; bisexuality and adoption; race relations in the family; heteronormativity in queer family kids' books; class issues within families; dealing with infertility; polyamory and parenting; discussions with sperm donors, single moms, gay dads; developments in reproductive technologies; rural and urban experience; and reflections on the meanings of biology and of "queer" parenting. Who's Your Daddy? is a timely and dynamic collection that moves queer parents away from the defensive position they have historically been placed in having to prove that they are "normal" and that their kids are "okay." Instead, it offers a more honest exploration of the diversity that exists within queer families and a broader understanding of the complex issues that concern both queer parents and their children. These writings make a profound contribution to queer parenting discourse, looking at issues that have been previously unaddressed and introducing new and vibrant perspectives.

• Jeremy Adam-Smith
• Beacon Press, 2009
• Hardcover, 232 pages
• ISBN: 9780807021200

The first nuanced look at the meaning-for men and for American society-of stay-at-home fatherhood, The Daddy Shift is an accessible, personal, and deeply researched book about a growing phenomenon among American families: fathers who stay at home from work and take a larger role in raising children. What happens when dads stay home? And what does it mean for the larger society? In chapters that alternate between large-scale analysis and beautifully written close-up portraits of men and their partners, Smith traces the complications, myths, psychology, sociology, and history of a new set of social relationships. He explores the hopes and ideals that inform men's choices, and analyzes the economic and social developments that have made their choices possible. Filled with stories as well as entertaining history and research, Smith's book is a guide for thoughtful readers to a terrain more and more families are exploring.

• Mary F. Pols
• Harper Perennial, 2008
• Paperback, 272 pages
• ISBN: 9780061256943

This book is not currently in stock, but is available to order (2-3 weeks). At thirty-nine, movie critic Mary Pols knew she wanted to have a baby. But never—not in a million years—on her own. When she finds herself unexpec­tedly expecting, she plunges into the greatest adventure of her life. With humor, insight, and compelling honesty, Pols reveals what it means to compromise in the name of love and to find joy in an accidental life, suddenly brimming with purpose. Mary F. Pols is a longtime movie critic and freelance journalist based in northern California. She has written for the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Self, and Gourmet, and her film criticism appears regularly online at MSN and Time. A former Knight Fellow at Stanford, she is an adjunct professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

• Brian Fies
• Harry Abrams; March 2006
• Hardcover; 128 pages
• 9780810958401

Each year, approximately 1.5 million people in the United States and Canada are diagnosed with cancer. This is one family's story. Winner of the 2005 Eisner Award in the category of Best Digital Comic, Mom's Cancer is finally available as a graphic novel. An honest, unflinching, and sometimes humorous look at the practical and emotional effect that serious illness can have on patients and their families, Mom's Cancer is a story of hope--uniquely told in words and illustrations. Brian Fies is a freelance writer whose mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. As he and his sisters struggled with the effects of her illness and her ongoing recovery from treatment, Brian processed their story as a Web comic, posting it to share information and insights gained from his family's experience. Brian's online readers were surprised and gratified to realize that they weren't alone. Abrams Image is proud to bring this acclaimed story to a whole new audience.