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GEN2050®️ Reads was created to engage youth and their families in reading together. Over the last 6 years, students participating in the GEN2050®️ summer program have read a variety of books.
In addition to providing engaging educational programming, GEN2050®️ is committed to equipping middle and high school students with the resources needed to succeed. The GEN2050 Academic Library offers youth free access to donated academic textbooks used in middle and high school STEM classes. Listed below are some of our GEN2050®️ Reads selections:
GEN2050®️ Reads Book Club BOOKS
GEN2050 students engage in STEAM education through hands-on outdoor educational experiences. Ethnobotany is the study of how people of a particular culture and region make use of indigenous (native) plants.
From the publisher:
“The author has taken a broad approach to his definition of ethnobotany that includes much more than solely the botany of the indigenous Native American peoples. The result is a comprehensive treatment where comparison can be made between the names and uses of plants by the different peoples of Florida and of neighboring countries. This is a most thoroughly researched work, the contents and use of which will extend far beyond the boundaries of Florida.”
GEN2050 students learn American History through hands-on outdoor educational experiences.
“The creation of the United States of America is the greatest of all human adventures,” begins Paul Johnson. “No other national story holds such tremendous lessons, for the American people themselves and for the rest of mankind.”
“#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A chorus of extraordinary voices tells the epic story of the four-hundred-year journey of African Americans from 1619 to the present—edited by Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist, and Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on Fire.”
“The inspirational story of Compass CEO Robert Reffkin, whose mother, mentors, and search for belonging taught him valuable lessons that anyone with a dream can put into action today to improve their own quality of life
No one expected a dreadlocked fifteen-year-old who cared more about his DJ business than his homework to grow up to become one of the youngest-ever White House fellows, create multiple nonprofits, and found a multibillion-dollar company. But Robert Reffkin — raised by an Israeli immigrant single mother, disowned by his maternal grandparents for being Black, and abandoned by his father — has always defied the odds.”
THE CLASSIC NATIONAL BESTSELLER
"A wonderful, splendid book—a book that should be read by every American, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its hope for the future." –Howard Fast
Historian Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States chronicles American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official narrative taught in schools—with its emphasis on great men in high places—to focus on the street, the home, and the workplace.
“Samin Nosrat is a writer, teacher, and chef. Called “a go-to resource for matching the correct techniques with the best ingredients” by The New York Times, and “the next Julia Child” by NPR’s All Things Considered, she’s been cooking professionally since 2000, when she first stumbled into the kitchen at Chez Panisse restaurant. She lives, cooks, surfs, and gardens in Berkeley, California. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat is her first book. Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat has been awarded the New York Times Best Seller, 2018 James Beard General Cookbook of the Year, 2018 Fortnum & Mason Debut Cookbook, 2018 IACP Cookbook of the Year, 2018 IACP Julia Child First Book Award, and Sunday Times Food Book of the Year 2017.
Wendy MacNaughton is a New York Times bestselling illustrator and graphic journalist whose books include Meanwhile in San Francisco (Chronicle), Pen & Ink (Bloomsbury). The Gutsy Girl (Bloomsbury), and The Essential Scratch and Sniff Guide to Becoming a Wine Expert (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Her work appears in publications like The New York Times, Lucky Peach, Bon Appétit, AFAR Magazine, and elsewhere. She is the back page columnist for The California Sunday Magazine.”
“NAMED ONE OF THE BEST COOKBOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • The New Yorker • NPR • Chicago Tribune • The Atlantic • BuzzFeed • Food52
Throughout her career, Toni Tipton-Martin has shed new light on the history, breadth, and depth of African American cuisine. She’s introduced us to black cooks, some long forgotten, who established much of what’s considered to be our national cuisine. After all, if Thomas Jefferson introduced French haute cuisine to this country, who do you think actually cooked it?
In Jubilee, Tipton-Martin brings these masters into our kitchens. Through recipes and stories, we cook along with these pioneering figures, from enslaved chefs to middle- and upper-class writers and entrepreneurs. With more than 100 recipes, from classics such as Sweet Potato Biscuits, Seafood Gumbo, Buttermilk Fried Chicken, and Pecan Pie with Bourbon to lesser-known but even more decadent dishes like Bourbon & Apple Hot Toddies, Spoon Bread, and Baked Ham Glazed with Champagne, Jubilee presents techniques, ingredients, and dishes that show the roots of African American cooking—deeply beautiful, culturally diverse, fit for celebration.”
Florida native Zora Neale Hurston's early twentieth-century ethnographic research and writing emphasizes the essentials of food in Florida through simple dishes and recipes.
It considers foods prepared for everyday meals as well as special occasions and looks at what shaped people's eating traditions in early twentieth-century Florida. Hurston did for Florida what William Faulkner did for Mississippi - provided insight into a state's history and culture through various styles of writing. Her collected food stories, folklore and remedies, and the related recipes food professor Fred Opie pairs with them, are essential reading for those who love to cook and eat.
New York Times bestseller
Now a Netflix Original Series
The grande dame of African American cookbooks and winner of the James Beard Lifetime Achievement Award stakes her claim as a culinary historian with a narrative history of African American cuisine.
Acclaimed cookbook author Jessica B. Harris has spent much of her life researching the food and foodways of the African Diaspora. High on the Hog is the culmination of years of her work, and the result is a most engaging history of African American cuisine. Harris takes the reader on a harrowing journey from Africa across the Atlantic to America, tracking the trials that the people and the food have undergone along the way.
GEN2050 students learn basic economics through NFTE business classes and hands-on outdoor educational experiences.
From the publisher:
“Basic Economics is a citizen’s guide to economics, written for those who want to understand how the economy works but have no interest in jargon or equations. Bestselling economist Thomas Sowell explains the general principles underlying different economic systems: capitalist, socialist, feudal, and so on.”
In 2018, GEN2050 students read the national bestseller, “Lab Girl”, written by Hope Jahren. This autobiography follows Jahren’s journey from a childhood love of plants to a Geobiologist.
This book is available for purchase through the following link: https://www.amazon.com/Lab-Girl-Hope-Jahren-ebook/dp/B00Z3FYQS4.
In the summer of 2019, GEN2050 students read the #1 New York Times Bestselling memoir, ‘Becoming’ written by Michelle Obama. This inspiring book told the “experiences that have shaped her—from her childhood on the South Side of Chicago to her years as an executive balancing the demands of motherhood and work, to her time spent at the world’s most famous address. “
The GEN2050 Program highly recommends this book. Available for purchase at the following link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1524763136?tag=randohouseinc13424-20.
During the summer of 2019, GEN2050 youth read this powerful exploration on “God, self-love, partners, children, family, and community.” Common is a Grammy Award, Academy Award, and Golden Globe-winning musician, actor, and activist. This book connects mindfulness and personal leadership practices GEN2050 students engage in.
If you are interested in purchasing this book, it is available for purchase here: https://www.amazon.com/Let-Love-Have-Last-Word/dp/1501133152.
GEN2050 students who participate in the Bats, Bees, and Butterflies project help document Atala butterflies, Mexican Freetail Bats, and Florida Bonneted Bats observed at Patch of Heaven Sanctuary. This book provides insight into the life long research conducted by Tuttle and what he has discovered.
If you are interested in reading this book, it is available for purchase using the following link: https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Lives-Bats-Adventures-Misunderstood/dp/0544382277.
GEN2050 students who participate in the Bats, Bees, and Butterflies project help document Atala butterflies, Mexican Freetail Bats, and Florida Bonneted Bats observed at Patch of Heaven Sanctuary. This book is a vital part of GEN2050 students’ understanding of the life cycle of many backyard butterflies from caterpillar to mature butterfly.
If you are interested in learning more about the life cycle of butterflies, this book is available for purchase using the following link: https://www.amazon.com/Life-Cycles-Butterflies-Maturity-Visual/dp/1580176178.
Since 2017, GEN2050 students have received STEM education through learning Beekeeping. ‘Beekeeping for Dummies’ is a great resource for hobbyists, enthusiasts, and beekeepers alike, providing accurate and detailed information on the Western Honey Bee.
If you are interested in learning more about the Western Honey, this book is available for purchase using the following link: https://www.amazon.com/Beekeeping-Dummies-Howland-Blackiston/dp/0470430656.