This column was submitted by Evangeline Cessna, Local History Librarian at the Warren County-Vicksburg Public Library. 

This week the library is featuring New Nonfiction titles in women’s and children’s health.

“In Back on Track,” Dr. Rebecca Jackson offers practical steps for parents to help their children thrive. Attention, mood, emotions, behaviors, organization, communication, social interactions, learning and confidence are all controlled by the brain. Your child’s brain determines how they take in, process and react to the world around them. It also influences everything from their thoughts and feelings to their actions and interactions. Brain development is an active and ongoing process and the brain continues to evolve and improve over a person’s lifetime. Usually, parents and educators take a passive role in that process, but this book offers parents an action plan to help their child thrive at school, at home and at play. This is a comprehensive and accessible guide for showing how parents can add purposeful activities to their daily lives to positively impact brain development.

“I Can Fix This,” is an emotional and eye-opening account of how Kristina Kuzmic navigates the plethora of best practices and advice from leading parenting authorities in a search for a way to help her teen son with his mental health. When Kristina began to see signs her bubbly, resilient teen son was struggling, she was sure that a few simple fixes could help him get back on track. Over the following months, however, the issues became more nuanced, complicated and pervasive. Soon, her straightforward to-do list devolved into a constant and emotionally fraught push and pull of progress and fear. Kuzmic began to realize that the obligations, ideas and unrealistic standards she had internalized from parenting culture and social media had left her grossly unprepared to guide her child when he needed her most. She discusses and debunks the “truths” that kept her in crisis and lays bare the insecurities and mistakes that she made to help other parents avoid them. Now, her family is stronger and better able to enact change in the lives of their children.

Jessica Waite’s life is turned upside down when she uncovers the truth about her late husband in her book, “A Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards.” In the middle of mourning the sudden death of her husband, Jessica discovers shocking secrets that undermine everything she thought she knew about the man she loved and trusted. She uncovered affairs, drug abuse and even a pornography addiction. This information overwhelmed the newly widowed single mom and called into question her ability to make judgments about her relationships. Jessica explores grief, mental health, single parenthood and betrayal. What she discovers is that love stories aren’t perfect—they can be flawed and heartbreakingly real.

Feminist writer and mother of three boys, Ruth Whippman has penned, “Boy Mom” as a way to allay her fears over raising her boys to be kind, well-rounded men. Whippman believes that the right side of the political spectrum pushes a dangerous vision of fantasy manhood, yet, she has also seen firsthand how the left side of the aisle dismiss boys as little more than entitled predators-in-waiting. In her own home, it feels as each day is a confrontation with the triumph of nature over nurture. Whippman is all too aware of the loneliness epidemic among young men as well at a suicide rate that is nearly four times as high as their female peers. How do you raise sons to have a healthy sense of self without them turning into entitled jerks? How can feminism hold boys to a higher standard but also treat them with empathy? Finally, what do parents do when boys won’t cooperate with our plans? For months, Whippman researched these questions by interviewing incels, reports from a conference for boys accused of sexual assault and interviewing a wide range of psychologists and experts as well as boys of all ages and backgrounds. Along the way, she finds that her simple certainties about male privilege are seriously challenged.

Did you know that up to 90% of women experience menstrual abnormalities or pelvic issues in their lifetime? Women’s reproductive health advocate Dr. Karen Tang has written, “It’s Not Hysteria” to help women and healthcare providers. The root causes for these issues such as PCOS, endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts, PMDD, or pelvic floor dysfunction don’t receive the stream of funding for research and new treatments that other conditions do—even though they affect have the population. Dr. Tang is on a mission to transform how we engage with our bodies and our healthcare. This comprehensive guide discusses common conditions and potential treatment options and offers practical tools such as symptom prompts and sample questions for your provider. It is unfortunate that the onus continues to fall on patients to find and advocate for the care they need, but perhaps this book will help women be better at speaking up and speaking out about their healthcare.

“Ageless Aging,” is by Maddy Dychtwald with Kate Hanley. This is a holistic plan based on cutting-edge science designed to help women take advantage of medical, psychological and spiritual tools to feel younger for longer. Statistically, women can expect to life five hears longer than men. A 50-year-old woman can expect to live another 35 years on average. Women make up 80% of centenarians, the fastest growing segment of the world’s population. In spite of these statistics, women aren’t living well. Though the majority of your health and longevity is under your control, the reality is that most women are not taking advantage of the measures that could lead to a longer and happier life. The holistic and actionable plan detailed in this book can help women feel more youthful and vital while gaining wisdom, resilience and experience. This is meant to be a trusted resource for women to thrive even as they age.