Author: Francisco Cantu
Nonfiction; immigration and the US Southern Border

Francisco Cantu grew up in the Southwest, his mother the daughter of Mexican immigrants. After graduating from college with a degree in political science he joins the border patrol. They track humans in blistering sun and frigid nights, finding the dead or barely living. This is the personal story of agents and their experience, and of those trying to cross and their plight.

Cantu's description of this dehumanizing operation takes you into the world of the southern border like no news outlet, journalist, or politician can.  His writing is deep, almost lyrical, and often emotional. Read this one because you should.

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Author:  Ben Sass
Nonfiction. "Why we hate each other and how to heal." Conservative perspective on what our nation needs.

Ben Sass, currently US Senator for Nebraska, is also an academic-- government degree from Harvard, a year at Oxford, and US History and philosophy PhD from Yale, college president, author. His writing tracks as that of a college professor-- laying out historical data, perspectives, explaining how different segments of society evolved in their thinking. 

Conservatives will read this book and say "yes, you get me!"  Progressives will have a better understanding how and why people think differently from them.  Very readable and worth your time, even if if doesn't change any beliefs.  

To have a full picture of how this cultural divide happened, read Them with Why We're Polarized, by Ezra Klien, journalist. political analyst, co-founder of Vox.

Women are taught from an early age to play it safe, urged to be careful, complimented for being nice and pretty, steered away from activities where we might fail.  Meanwhile, boys are encouraged to speak up, get dirty, take risks, and get up and try again if they fall down.  What happens?  We create girls who can get straight A's in grade school but have a hard time claiming success and happiness in the adult world where being perfect is impossible to claim. 

I was a school counselor for 28 years. Reshma Saujani described almost every girl and boy I worked with. Girls were the valedictorians, they knew how to get a perfect GPA. They were also the most stressed, with highest anxiety, most likely to drop out of college when they failed their first test. Boys, who had experience in failing and falling down, weren't expected to be perfect, often went on to have a better adult life experience. We need to start raising, teaching, and encouraging our girls to be brave and give up the notion that anyone needs to be perfect.  

Read this book for yourself and every girl you can influence to be stronger and happier.