Author: Derrick Jensen
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603581189
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 342
Book Description
In this far-ranging and heartening collection, Derrick Jensen gathers conversations with environmentalists, theologians, Native Americans, psychologists, and feminists, engaging some of our best minds in an exploration of more peaceful ways to live on Earth. Included here is Dave Foreman on biodiversity, Matthew Fox on Christianity and nature, Jerry Mander on technology, and Terry Tempest Williams on an erotic connection to the land. With intelligence and compassion, Listening to the Land moves from a look at the condition of the environment and the health of our spirit to a beautiful evocation of eros and a life based on love.
Listening to the Land
Author: Derrick Jensen
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603581189
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 342
Book Description
In this far-ranging and heartening collection, Derrick Jensen gathers conversations with environmentalists, theologians, Native Americans, psychologists, and feminists, engaging some of our best minds in an exploration of more peaceful ways to live on Earth. Included here is Dave Foreman on biodiversity, Matthew Fox on Christianity and nature, Jerry Mander on technology, and Terry Tempest Williams on an erotic connection to the land. With intelligence and compassion, Listening to the Land moves from a look at the condition of the environment and the health of our spirit to a beautiful evocation of eros and a life based on love.
Publisher: Chelsea Green Publishing
ISBN: 1603581189
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 342
Book Description
In this far-ranging and heartening collection, Derrick Jensen gathers conversations with environmentalists, theologians, Native Americans, psychologists, and feminists, engaging some of our best minds in an exploration of more peaceful ways to live on Earth. Included here is Dave Foreman on biodiversity, Matthew Fox on Christianity and nature, Jerry Mander on technology, and Terry Tempest Williams on an erotic connection to the land. With intelligence and compassion, Listening to the Land moves from a look at the condition of the environment and the health of our spirit to a beautiful evocation of eros and a life based on love.
Conversations with the Land
Author: Jim Vanderpol
Publisher: No Bull Press LLC
ISBN: 9780983950301
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164
Book Description
Jim VanDerPol farms and writes in a western Minnesota world very different from the one in which he was raised in the 1950s and 1960s. The small, diversified farms and tight-knit communities of his youth have been replaced by town jobs and gigantic equipment operating on huge tracts of land. The culture of the agriculture that Jim knew is almost entirely gone, and he wants it back. Through his farming, alternative marketing, writing and work with sustainable agriculture groups in Minnesota, Jim is making an important contribution toward efforts to resurrect that culture. Where others simply pine for days of yore and lament what has happened, in Conversations with the Land Jim offers a clear and down-to-earth vision for what each of us can do to return agriculture to something that can do better by the environment, the people who live within it, and even the nation as a whole. Those who are concerned that we have moved too far from the land will find much to think about - and draw inspiration from - in the pages of this book. Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics This is a book of personal reflections on farms, farming, and farmers. VanDerPol talks about the weather, people and communities, and better ways to produce food and to live. From his base in Minnesota, he gives his thoughts about the way agriculture has changed and what can be done to make it better. John Ikerd, author of Sustainable Capitalism Jim Van Der Pol has the talent as a writer to share his unique wisdom through compelling stories of life on a real family farm. Frederick Kirschenmann, author of Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays From a Farmer-Philosopher Anyone who wants to experience what living a life of wellbeing looks like in the real world, as well as get a clear understanding of the many things that stand in the way of living such a life for most of us, should read this engaging book. Shannon Hayes, author of Radical Homemakers Jim is an authentic voice from our movement. Plain spoken and poetic, a read through these essays will bring urbanites closer to the land, and farmers more deeply to their roots. I love this book. David Kline, editor of Farming Magazine These essays show us that agri-culture and agri-business are two entirely different worlds. This is a book about good farming. Patricia Larenas, author on eatdrinkbetter.com "Jim VanDerPol is a farmer- writer who writes with clarity and skill about how agribusiness has changed not only our relationship with the land and our food, but how our sense of community and connection to one another has been displaced as well."
Publisher: No Bull Press LLC
ISBN: 9780983950301
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 164
Book Description
Jim VanDerPol farms and writes in a western Minnesota world very different from the one in which he was raised in the 1950s and 1960s. The small, diversified farms and tight-knit communities of his youth have been replaced by town jobs and gigantic equipment operating on huge tracts of land. The culture of the agriculture that Jim knew is almost entirely gone, and he wants it back. Through his farming, alternative marketing, writing and work with sustainable agriculture groups in Minnesota, Jim is making an important contribution toward efforts to resurrect that culture. Where others simply pine for days of yore and lament what has happened, in Conversations with the Land Jim offers a clear and down-to-earth vision for what each of us can do to return agriculture to something that can do better by the environment, the people who live within it, and even the nation as a whole. Those who are concerned that we have moved too far from the land will find much to think about - and draw inspiration from - in the pages of this book. Marion Nestle, author of Food Politics This is a book of personal reflections on farms, farming, and farmers. VanDerPol talks about the weather, people and communities, and better ways to produce food and to live. From his base in Minnesota, he gives his thoughts about the way agriculture has changed and what can be done to make it better. John Ikerd, author of Sustainable Capitalism Jim Van Der Pol has the talent as a writer to share his unique wisdom through compelling stories of life on a real family farm. Frederick Kirschenmann, author of Cultivating an Ecological Conscience: Essays From a Farmer-Philosopher Anyone who wants to experience what living a life of wellbeing looks like in the real world, as well as get a clear understanding of the many things that stand in the way of living such a life for most of us, should read this engaging book. Shannon Hayes, author of Radical Homemakers Jim is an authentic voice from our movement. Plain spoken and poetic, a read through these essays will bring urbanites closer to the land, and farmers more deeply to their roots. I love this book. David Kline, editor of Farming Magazine These essays show us that agri-culture and agri-business are two entirely different worlds. This is a book about good farming. Patricia Larenas, author on eatdrinkbetter.com "Jim VanDerPol is a farmer- writer who writes with clarity and skill about how agribusiness has changed not only our relationship with the land and our food, but how our sense of community and connection to one another has been displaced as well."
Beyond the Town
Author: Gabriela Burkhalter
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783906915180
Category : Artists and community
Languages : en
Pages : 211
Book Description
Beyond the Town addresses the wide audience of visitors coming to Hauser & Wirth Somerset at Durslade Farm in England--once an 18th-century agricultural property, transformed into a 21st-century arts center. A portrait of the people and ideas behind this unique project, it is geared toward both professional and amateur audiences interested in art, architecture and landscape architecture, as well as cooking and gardening. Four essays place Durslade Farm in the wider context of the society and environment of Somerset and beyond. Each essay concentrates on one topic (architecture, gardening, society, art and education) to discuss the richness of this gallery model and to approach and reflect upon it from unexpected points of view. The essays are woven together with a trove of images as well as more personal conversations with the people at the heart of Durslade.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9783906915180
Category : Artists and community
Languages : en
Pages : 211
Book Description
Beyond the Town addresses the wide audience of visitors coming to Hauser & Wirth Somerset at Durslade Farm in England--once an 18th-century agricultural property, transformed into a 21st-century arts center. A portrait of the people and ideas behind this unique project, it is geared toward both professional and amateur audiences interested in art, architecture and landscape architecture, as well as cooking and gardening. Four essays place Durslade Farm in the wider context of the society and environment of Somerset and beyond. Each essay concentrates on one topic (architecture, gardening, society, art and education) to discuss the richness of this gallery model and to approach and reflect upon it from unexpected points of view. The essays are woven together with a trove of images as well as more personal conversations with the people at the heart of Durslade.
My Conversations with Canadians
Author: Lee Maracle
Publisher: Book*hug Press
ISBN: 9781771663588
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Finalist for the 2018 Toronto Book Award My Conversations With Canadians is the book that "Canada 150" needs. On her first book tour at the age of 26, Lee Maracle was asked a question from the audience, one she couldn't possibly answer at that moment. But she has been thinking about it ever since. As time has passed, she has been asked countless similar questions, all of them too big to answer, but not too large to contemplate. These questions, which touch upon subjects such as citizenship, segregation, labour, law, prejudice and reconciliation (to name a few), are the heart of My Conversations with Canadians. In prose essays that are both conversational and direct, Maracle seeks not to provide any answers to these questions she has lived with for so long. Rather, she thinks through each one using a multitude of experiences she's had as a First Nations leader, a woman, a mother, and grandmother over the course of her life. Lee Maracle's My Conversations with Canadians presents a tour de force exploration into the writer's own history and a reimagining of the future of our nation. Praise for My Conversations with Canadians "My Conversations With Canadians? offer s] strength and solidarity to Indigenous readers, and a generous guide to ally-ship for non-Indigenous readers. For the latter, these books will unsettle, but to engage in ally-ship is to commit to being unsettled--all the time." --The Globe and Mail
Publisher: Book*hug Press
ISBN: 9781771663588
Category : Literary Criticism
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Finalist for the 2018 Toronto Book Award My Conversations With Canadians is the book that "Canada 150" needs. On her first book tour at the age of 26, Lee Maracle was asked a question from the audience, one she couldn't possibly answer at that moment. But she has been thinking about it ever since. As time has passed, she has been asked countless similar questions, all of them too big to answer, but not too large to contemplate. These questions, which touch upon subjects such as citizenship, segregation, labour, law, prejudice and reconciliation (to name a few), are the heart of My Conversations with Canadians. In prose essays that are both conversational and direct, Maracle seeks not to provide any answers to these questions she has lived with for so long. Rather, she thinks through each one using a multitude of experiences she's had as a First Nations leader, a woman, a mother, and grandmother over the course of her life. Lee Maracle's My Conversations with Canadians presents a tour de force exploration into the writer's own history and a reimagining of the future of our nation. Praise for My Conversations with Canadians "My Conversations With Canadians? offer s] strength and solidarity to Indigenous readers, and a generous guide to ally-ship for non-Indigenous readers. For the latter, these books will unsettle, but to engage in ally-ship is to commit to being unsettled--all the time." --The Globe and Mail
More Powerful Together
Author: Jen Gobby
Publisher: Fernwood Publishing
ISBN: 1773632515
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249
Book Description
How can social movements help bring about large-scale systems change? This is the question Jen Gobby sets out to answer in More Powerful Together. As an activist, Gobby has been actively involved with climate justice, anti-pipeline, and Indigenous land defense movements in Canada for many years. As a researcher, she has sat down with folks from these movements and asked them to reflect on their experiences with movement building. Bringing their incredibly poignant insights into dialogue with scholarly and activist literature on transformation, Gobby weaves together a powerful story about how change happens. In reflecting on what’s working and what’s not working in these movements, taking inventory of the obstacles hindering efforts, and imagining the strategies for building a powerful movement of movements, a common theme emerges: relationships are crucial to building movements strong enough to transform systems. Indigenous scholarship, ecological principles, and activist reflections all converge on the insight that the means and ends of radical transformation is in forging relationships of equality and reciprocity with each other and with the land. It is through this, Gobby argues, that we become more powerful together. 100% of the royalties made from the sales of this book are being donated to Indigenous Climate Action www.indigenousclimateaction.com
Publisher: Fernwood Publishing
ISBN: 1773632515
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 249
Book Description
How can social movements help bring about large-scale systems change? This is the question Jen Gobby sets out to answer in More Powerful Together. As an activist, Gobby has been actively involved with climate justice, anti-pipeline, and Indigenous land defense movements in Canada for many years. As a researcher, she has sat down with folks from these movements and asked them to reflect on their experiences with movement building. Bringing their incredibly poignant insights into dialogue with scholarly and activist literature on transformation, Gobby weaves together a powerful story about how change happens. In reflecting on what’s working and what’s not working in these movements, taking inventory of the obstacles hindering efforts, and imagining the strategies for building a powerful movement of movements, a common theme emerges: relationships are crucial to building movements strong enough to transform systems. Indigenous scholarship, ecological principles, and activist reflections all converge on the insight that the means and ends of radical transformation is in forging relationships of equality and reciprocity with each other and with the land. It is through this, Gobby argues, that we become more powerful together. 100% of the royalties made from the sales of this book are being donated to Indigenous Climate Action www.indigenousclimateaction.com
Conversations with Mies Van Der Rohe
Author: Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
ISBN: 9781568987538
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 100
Book Description
"The thirty years modernist legend Mies van der Rohe spent working in America arguably reflect his most consistent and mature efforts toward achieving his goal: a new architecture for the twentieth century. Focusing on this American period, Conversations with Mies van der Rohe gives new credence to this claim by presenting the architect's most important design concerns in his own words. In this collection of interviews Mies talks freely about his relationship with clients, the common language he sought in his architectural projects, the influences on his work, and the synthesis of architecture and technology that he advanced in his designs and built works. An essay by Inaki Abalos provides a context for these interviews and looks at Mies's legacy from a contemporary perspective."--
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
ISBN: 9781568987538
Category : Architecture
Languages : en
Pages : 100
Book Description
"The thirty years modernist legend Mies van der Rohe spent working in America arguably reflect his most consistent and mature efforts toward achieving his goal: a new architecture for the twentieth century. Focusing on this American period, Conversations with Mies van der Rohe gives new credence to this claim by presenting the architect's most important design concerns in his own words. In this collection of interviews Mies talks freely about his relationship with clients, the common language he sought in his architectural projects, the influences on his work, and the synthesis of architecture and technology that he advanced in his designs and built works. An essay by Inaki Abalos provides a context for these interviews and looks at Mies's legacy from a contemporary perspective."--
Sand Talk
Author: Tyson Yunkaporta
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062975633
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
A paradigm-shifting book in the vein of Sapiens that brings a crucial Indigenous perspective to historical and cultural issues of history, education, money, power, and sustainability—and offers a new template for living. As an indigenous person, Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from a unique perspective, one tied to the natural and spiritual world. In considering how contemporary life diverges from the pattern of creation, he raises important questions. How does this affect us? How can we do things differently? In this thoughtful, culturally rich, mind-expanding book, he provides answers. Yunkaporta’s writing process begins with images. Honoring indigenous traditions, he makes carvings of what he wants to say, channeling his thoughts through symbols and diagrams rather than words. He yarns with people, looking for ways to connect images and stories with place and relationship to create a coherent world view, and he uses sand talk, the Aboriginal custom of drawing images on the ground to convey knowledge. In Sand Talk, he provides a new model for our everyday lives. Rich in ideas and inspiration, it explains how lines and symbols and shapes can help us make sense of the world. It’s about how we learn and how we remember. It’s about talking to everyone and listening carefully. It’s about finding different ways to look at things. Most of all it’s about a very special way of thinking, of learning to see from a native perspective, one that is spiritually and physically tied to the earth around us, and how it can save our world. Sand Talk include 22 black-and-white illustrations that add depth to the text.
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062975633
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225
Book Description
A paradigm-shifting book in the vein of Sapiens that brings a crucial Indigenous perspective to historical and cultural issues of history, education, money, power, and sustainability—and offers a new template for living. As an indigenous person, Tyson Yunkaporta looks at global systems from a unique perspective, one tied to the natural and spiritual world. In considering how contemporary life diverges from the pattern of creation, he raises important questions. How does this affect us? How can we do things differently? In this thoughtful, culturally rich, mind-expanding book, he provides answers. Yunkaporta’s writing process begins with images. Honoring indigenous traditions, he makes carvings of what he wants to say, channeling his thoughts through symbols and diagrams rather than words. He yarns with people, looking for ways to connect images and stories with place and relationship to create a coherent world view, and he uses sand talk, the Aboriginal custom of drawing images on the ground to convey knowledge. In Sand Talk, he provides a new model for our everyday lives. Rich in ideas and inspiration, it explains how lines and symbols and shapes can help us make sense of the world. It’s about how we learn and how we remember. It’s about talking to everyone and listening carefully. It’s about finding different ways to look at things. Most of all it’s about a very special way of thinking, of learning to see from a native perspective, one that is spiritually and physically tied to the earth around us, and how it can save our world. Sand Talk include 22 black-and-white illustrations that add depth to the text.
A Thirsty Land
Author: Seamus McGraw
Publisher: Univ of TX + ORM
ISBN: 1477322655
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 330
Book Description
“An important story not just about [Texas’s] water history, but also about its social, economic, and political identity” (Western Historical Quarterly). As a changing climate threatens the whole country with deeper droughts and more furious floods that put ever more people and property at risk, Texas has become a bellwether state for water debates. Will there be enough water for everyone? Is there the will to take the steps necessary to defend ourselves against the sea? Is it in the nature of Americans to adapt to nature in flux? The most comprehensive—and comprehensible—book on contemporary water issues, A Thirsty Land delves deep into the challenges faced not just by Texas but also by the nation, as we struggle to find a way to balance the changing forces of nature with our own ever-expanding needs. Part history, part science, part adventure story, and part travelogue, this book puts a human face on the struggle to master that most precious and capricious of resources, water. Seamus McGraw goes to the taproots, talking to farmers, ranchers, businesspeople, and citizen activists, as well as to politicians and government employees. Their stories provide chilling evidence that Texas—and indeed the nation—is not ready for the next devastating drought, the next catastrophic flood. Ultimately, however, A Thirsty Land delivers hope. This deep dive into one of the most vexing challenges facing Texas and the nation offers glimpses of the way forward in the untapped opportunities that water also presents. “A hard look at a hard problem: finding sufficient water to live in a place without much of it. . . . McGraw’s fine book serves as a useful guide. Observers of Western waterways will want to have this on their shelves alongside the likes of Marc Reisner and Charles Bowden.” —Kirkus Reviews “In stark prose that often gleams like a bone pile bleached in the sun, McGraw travels back and forth across Texas to give a free-ranging but deadeye view of the crisis on the horizon.” —Texas Monthly “It’s hard to write about the slow creep of environmental crises like drought without resorting to shock tactics or getting lost in the weeds . . . [McGraw] draws out the conflicts in compelling ways by drilling into the plight of individual water users. Even if you feel no connection to Texas, these stories are relevant to every part of the country.” —Outside “Interviewing both scientific experts and everyday water users, [McGraw] clearly delineates the competing interests, describes political and geological reality, and makes a compelling argument for statewide water policy that utilizes modern technology and fairly weighs parochial needs against the good of the whole.” —Arizona Daily Star, Southwest Books of the Year
Publisher: Univ of TX + ORM
ISBN: 1477322655
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 330
Book Description
“An important story not just about [Texas’s] water history, but also about its social, economic, and political identity” (Western Historical Quarterly). As a changing climate threatens the whole country with deeper droughts and more furious floods that put ever more people and property at risk, Texas has become a bellwether state for water debates. Will there be enough water for everyone? Is there the will to take the steps necessary to defend ourselves against the sea? Is it in the nature of Americans to adapt to nature in flux? The most comprehensive—and comprehensible—book on contemporary water issues, A Thirsty Land delves deep into the challenges faced not just by Texas but also by the nation, as we struggle to find a way to balance the changing forces of nature with our own ever-expanding needs. Part history, part science, part adventure story, and part travelogue, this book puts a human face on the struggle to master that most precious and capricious of resources, water. Seamus McGraw goes to the taproots, talking to farmers, ranchers, businesspeople, and citizen activists, as well as to politicians and government employees. Their stories provide chilling evidence that Texas—and indeed the nation—is not ready for the next devastating drought, the next catastrophic flood. Ultimately, however, A Thirsty Land delivers hope. This deep dive into one of the most vexing challenges facing Texas and the nation offers glimpses of the way forward in the untapped opportunities that water also presents. “A hard look at a hard problem: finding sufficient water to live in a place without much of it. . . . McGraw’s fine book serves as a useful guide. Observers of Western waterways will want to have this on their shelves alongside the likes of Marc Reisner and Charles Bowden.” —Kirkus Reviews “In stark prose that often gleams like a bone pile bleached in the sun, McGraw travels back and forth across Texas to give a free-ranging but deadeye view of the crisis on the horizon.” —Texas Monthly “It’s hard to write about the slow creep of environmental crises like drought without resorting to shock tactics or getting lost in the weeds . . . [McGraw] draws out the conflicts in compelling ways by drilling into the plight of individual water users. Even if you feel no connection to Texas, these stories are relevant to every part of the country.” —Outside “Interviewing both scientific experts and everyday water users, [McGraw] clearly delineates the competing interests, describes political and geological reality, and makes a compelling argument for statewide water policy that utilizes modern technology and fairly weighs parochial needs against the good of the whole.” —Arizona Daily Star, Southwest Books of the Year
Make Or Break Conversations
Author: Mary Schmid
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781952233258
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 198
Book Description
The most powerful way to build trust is through more powerful conversations. Clients don't just want conversations about facts, numbers, and market knowledge; they want to know that you listen and that you care. Make Or Break Conversations teaches guiding principles, but not by boring how-tos, robotic responses, or scripts of conversations. You will learn how to have conversations that matter in your own way. Based on understanding the science, psychology, and human behavior behind quality conversations, you will discover that the conversations we have, the relationships we build, the actions we take, and the results we get are simply better together. When you have the skills to masterfully lead a make-or-break conversation, you gain a powerful competitive advantage over those who just stick to the facts.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781952233258
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 198
Book Description
The most powerful way to build trust is through more powerful conversations. Clients don't just want conversations about facts, numbers, and market knowledge; they want to know that you listen and that you care. Make Or Break Conversations teaches guiding principles, but not by boring how-tos, robotic responses, or scripts of conversations. You will learn how to have conversations that matter in your own way. Based on understanding the science, psychology, and human behavior behind quality conversations, you will discover that the conversations we have, the relationships we build, the actions we take, and the results we get are simply better together. When you have the skills to masterfully lead a make-or-break conversation, you gain a powerful competitive advantage over those who just stick to the facts.
Children of the Land
Author: Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062825607
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 307
Book Description
An NPR Best Book of the Year A 2020 International Latino Book Award Finalist An Entertainment Weekly, The Millions, and LitHub Most Anticipated Book of the Year This unforgettable memoir from a prize-winning poet about growing up undocumented in the United States recounts the sorrows and joys of a family torn apart by draconian policies and chronicles one young man’s attempt to build a future in a nation that denies his existence. “You were not a ghost even though an entire country was scared of you. No one in this story was a ghost. This was not a story.” When Marcelo Hernandez Castillo was five years old and his family was preparing to cross the border between Mexico and the United States, he suffered temporary, stress-induced blindness. Castillo regained his vision, but quickly understood that he had to move into a threshold of invisibility before settling in California with his parents and siblings. Thus began a new life of hiding in plain sight and of paying extraordinarily careful attention at all times for fear of being truly seen. Before Castillo was one of the most celebrated poets of a generation, he was a boy who perfected his English in the hopes that he might never seem extraordinary. With beauty, grace, and honesty, Castillo recounts his and his family’s encounters with a system that treats them as criminals for seeking safe, ordinary lives. He writes of the Sunday afternoon when he opened the door to an ICE officer who had one hand on his holster, of the hours he spent making a fake social security card so that he could work to support his family, of his father’s deportation and the decade that he spent waiting to return to his wife and children only to be denied reentry, and of his mother’s heartbreaking decision to leave her children and grandchildren so that she could be reunited with her estranged husband and retire from a life of hard labor. Children of the Land distills the trauma of displacement, illuminates the human lives behind the headlines and serves as a stunning meditation on what it means to be a man and a citizen.
Publisher: HarperCollins
ISBN: 0062825607
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 307
Book Description
An NPR Best Book of the Year A 2020 International Latino Book Award Finalist An Entertainment Weekly, The Millions, and LitHub Most Anticipated Book of the Year This unforgettable memoir from a prize-winning poet about growing up undocumented in the United States recounts the sorrows and joys of a family torn apart by draconian policies and chronicles one young man’s attempt to build a future in a nation that denies his existence. “You were not a ghost even though an entire country was scared of you. No one in this story was a ghost. This was not a story.” When Marcelo Hernandez Castillo was five years old and his family was preparing to cross the border between Mexico and the United States, he suffered temporary, stress-induced blindness. Castillo regained his vision, but quickly understood that he had to move into a threshold of invisibility before settling in California with his parents and siblings. Thus began a new life of hiding in plain sight and of paying extraordinarily careful attention at all times for fear of being truly seen. Before Castillo was one of the most celebrated poets of a generation, he was a boy who perfected his English in the hopes that he might never seem extraordinary. With beauty, grace, and honesty, Castillo recounts his and his family’s encounters with a system that treats them as criminals for seeking safe, ordinary lives. He writes of the Sunday afternoon when he opened the door to an ICE officer who had one hand on his holster, of the hours he spent making a fake social security card so that he could work to support his family, of his father’s deportation and the decade that he spent waiting to return to his wife and children only to be denied reentry, and of his mother’s heartbreaking decision to leave her children and grandchildren so that she could be reunited with her estranged husband and retire from a life of hard labor. Children of the Land distills the trauma of displacement, illuminates the human lives behind the headlines and serves as a stunning meditation on what it means to be a man and a citizen.