From stars like Britney Spears and Mariah Carey to classic icons like Yoko Ono, female musicians have long been the target of double standards and toxic labels in the media and pop culture: liar, crazy, snake, diva, slut, b*tch. These words can hurt all of us. The popular expression "sticks and stones" is wildly wrong. And the wounds are everywhere. Lily Hirsch confronts the full range of this sexist labeling as well as the repercussions, concentrating on the experiences of Yoko Ono, Courtney Love, Britney Spears, FKA twigs, Taylor Swift, Kesha, Mariah Carey, and Ariana Grande, among many others. While men can make outrageous backstage demands, women like Carey are punished as "divas." A sign of supposed genius for men, "crazy" is a word of condemnation for many women-with legal ramifications in Spears' case. Hirsch dives into the world of these women, looking at their personal lives, relationships and breakups, music, media coverage, public reception, as well as the origins of these toxic labels and how they have caused serious damage. With this focus, the book reveals the inner workings of misogyny and invites us to think about these remarkable women on their own terms-showing us how women have fought back too, sometimes reclaiming these words and their own story through music.

Have you ever had to plant explosives to mine your own coal to heat your house? Climb up some posts to keep your neighborhood's phone lines up and running? How about dig your own well or cut ice out of a river to cool your food? Kill, skin, dry, and can animals to feed your family? You never know. In a post-apocalyptic world like the one in the HUNGER GAMES (or the one we may face in the future) this is information you might want to know. Believe it or not, there are people living in the modern world today who do know how to do these things. Ray Schmidt is one of them. While growing up on a farm in western North Dakota, Schmidt experienced the hardships of the Great Depression firsthand. Like his parents, he became a farmer. Then in the 1960s, he took a chance on the next big thing: fast food. FROM THE FARM TO FAST FOOD: MY ADVENTURES DURING THE GREAT DEPRESSION AND BEYOND is a compilation of stories about the funny and fascinating events Schmidt experienced. Like no history book could do, it explains in a humorous and lively way how people really lived. The following are what readers' are saying about the book: "From the Farm to Fast Food is one of a kind."- Debbie S. "This book should be required reading in every school." - Robert M. "Ray Schmidt really knows how to tell a good story. That's a lost art." -Kathi D.