Adult Non-Fiction

After a chance encounter with a powerful Senator on an airplane catapults him to fame, Ady and a motley crew of activists ignite a once-in-a-generation movement for universal healthcare, in a journey that transforms his belief in what is possible for the country and for his family.

These suggested readings provide a range of perspectives on issues raised by the POV documentaryNot Going Quietlyand allow for deeper engagement. This list of books was created by Constance Zack of the School Library Association of Rhode Island.

Barkan, Ady. Eyes to the Wind: a Memoir of Love and Death, Hope and Resistance. NewYork: Atria Books, 2019
At thirty-two, Ady Barkan had everything he wanted: a fulfilling career in the progressive movement, a brilliant wife, and a beautiful newborn son.

Then his luck ran out. What he thought might be carpal tunnel was in fact ALS, a neurological disease that would probably paralyze and kill him quickly. But then, with his life slipping away and American democracy under grave threat, he turned a devastating diagnosis into his most potent tool. [This book] is a rousing memoir featuring intertwining narratives about determination, perseverance, and now to live a life of purpose. The first traces Ady's battle with ALS. The second shows his journey from a goofy political nerd to a prominent figure in the progressive movement, becoming one of today's most vocal advocates for social justice.”

Brawley, Otis Webb. How We Do Harm: A Dr. Breaks Ranks about Being Sick in America.St. Martin’s Press. 2012
Dr. Otis Brawley is the chief medical and scientific officer of The American Cancer Society, How We Do Harm pulls back the curtain on how medicine is really practiced in America. Brawley tells of doctors who select treatment based on payment they will receive, rather than on demonstrated scientific results; hospitals and pharmaceutical companies that seek out patients to treat even if they are not actually ill (but as long as their insurance will pay); a public primed to swallow the latest pill, no matter the cost; and rising healthcare costs for unnecessary--and often unproven--treatments that we all pay for. Brawley calls for rational healthcare, healthcare drawn from results-based, scientifically justifiable treatments, and not just the peddling of hot new drugs.

Jobin-Leeds, Greg and AgitArte. When We Fight, We Win: Twenty-First Century Social Movements and the Activists That Are Transforming Our World. New York: The New Press, 2016
Same-sex marriage, Black Lives Matter, the Dream Act, the People's Climate March, End the New Jim Crow, Occupy Wall Street--these are just a few of the initiatives that have taken flight in the past decade, the most fertile and productive era of activism and reform this country has seen since the 1960s. Now, in a visually rich and deeply inspiring book, movement leaders and activists distill their wisdom, sharing lessons of what works and what hinders transformative social change.

Kirsch, Richard. Fighting for Our Health Care: The Epic Battle to Make Health Care a Right in the United States. Rockefeller Press, 2012.
This first-person account brings readers inside the biggest and most consequential issue campaign in American history. Fighting for Our Health recounts how a reform campaign led by grassroots organizers played a crucial role in President Obama’s signing historic health reform legislation in March of 2010—defeating the tea partiers, Republican Party, health insurance industry, and the US Chamber of Commerce. The action takes place inside the Beltway—the White House, Congressional anterooms, and the streets of DC—and at hundreds of town meetings, demonstrations, and confrontations in places like Danville, Virginia and Lincoln, Nebraska.

Mellander, Rochelle. Mightier Than the Sword : Rebels, Reformers, and Revolutionaries Who Changed the World Through Writing.Beaming Books, 2021.
Throughout history, people have picked up their pens and wielded their words--transforming their lives, their communities, and beyond. Now it's your turn! Representing a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences, Mightier Than the Sword connects over forty inspiring biographies with life-changing writing activities and tips, showing readers just how much their own words can make a difference. Readers will explore nature with Rachel Carson, experience the beginning of the Reformation with Martin Luther, champion women's rights with Sojourner Truth, and many more. These richly illustrated stories of inspiring speechmakers, scientists, explorers, authors, poets, activists, and even other kids and young adults will engage and encourage people to pay attention to their world, to honor their own ideas and dreams, and to embrace the transformative power of words to bring good to the world.

Reid, T.R. The Healing of America: a Global Quest for Better, Cheaper and Fairer Health Care.Penguin Press, 2009.
Reid provides a whirlwind tour of successful health care systems worldwide, revealing possible paths toward U.S. reform. Reid shows how all the other industrialized democracies have achieved something the United States can't seem to do: provide health care for everybody at a reasonable cost.

In his global quest to find a possible prescription, Reid visits wealthy, free market, industrialized democracies like our own--including France, Germany, Japan, the U.K., and Canada--where he finds inspiration in example. Reid shares evidence from doctors, government officials, health care experts, and patients the world over, finding that foreign health care systems give everybody quality care at an affordable cost. And that dreaded monster "socialized medicine" turns out to be a myth. Many developed countries provide universal coverage with private doctors, private hospitals, and private insurance.

Richards, Cecile. Make Trouble: Standing Up, Speaking Out, and Finding the Courage to Lead.Touchstone, 2018.
"To make change, you have to make trouble.” From Cecile Richards comes a story about learning to lead and make change, based on a lifetime of fighting for women's rights and social justice. Cecile Richards has been an activist since she was taken to the principal's office in seventh grade for wearing an armband in protest of the Vietnam War. She had an extraordinary childhood in ultra-conservative Texas, where her civil rights attorney father and activist mother taught their kids to be troublemakers. In the Richards household, the 'dinner table was never for eating--it was for sorting precinct lists. From the time Richards was a girl, she had a front-row seat to observe the rise of women in American politics. She watched her mother, Ann, transform from a housewife to an electrifying force in the Democratic party who made a name for herself as the straight-talking, truth-telling governor of Texas. But Richards also witnessed the pitfalls of public life that are unique to women. Her experiences paint a powerful portrait of the misogyny, sexism, fake news, and even the threat of violence confronting those who challenge authority. As a young woman, Richards worked as a labor organizer alongside women earning minimum wage, and learned that those in power don't give it up without a fight. Now, after years of advocacy, resistance, and progressive leadership, she shares her story for the first time--from the joy and heartbreak of activism to the challenges of raising kids, having a life, and making change, all at the same time. She shines a light on the people and lessons that have gotten her through good times and bad, and encourages readers to take risks, make mistakes, and make trouble along the way. Richards has dedicated her life to taking on injustice, and her memoir will inspire readers to hope and action.

Rosenthal, Elizabeth. An American Sickness: How Health Care Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back. Penguin Press, 2017.
At a moment of drastic political upheaval, a shocking investigation into the dangerous, expensive, and dysfunctional American healthcare system, as well as solutions to its myriad of problems. In these troubled times, perhaps no institution has unraveled more quickly and more completely than American medicine. In only a few decades, the medical system has been overrun by organizations seeking to exploit for profit the trust that vulnerable and sick Americans place in their healthcare. Our politicians have proven themselves either unwilling or incapable of reining in the increasingly outrageous costs faced by patients, and market-based solutions only seem to funnel larger and larger sums of our money into the hands of corporations. Impossibly high insurance premiums and inexplicably large bills have become facts of life; fatalism has set in. Very quickly Americans have been made to accept paying more for less. How did things get so bad so fast?

Wen, Leanna. Lifelines: A Doctor’s Journey in the Fight for Public Health. Henry Holt, 2021.
Lifelines is an insider's account of public health and its crucial role--from opioid addiction to global pandemic--and an inspiring story of Wen’s journey from struggling immigrant to being one of Time's 100 Most Influential People. "Public health saved your life today--you just don't know it," is a phrase that Dr. Leana Wen likes to use. You don't know it because good public health is invisible. It becomes visible only in its absence, when it is underfunded and ignored, a bitter truth laid bare as never before by the devastation of COVID-19.Leana Wen--emergency physician, former Baltimore health commissioner, CNN medical analyst, and Washington Post contributing columnist--has lived on the front lines of public health, leading the fight against the opioid epidemic, outbreaks of infectious disease, maternal and infant mortality, and COVID-19 disinformation. Here, in gripping detail, Wen lays bare the lifesaving work of public health and its innovative approach to social ills, treating gun violence as a contagious disease, for example, and racism as a threat to health.