The 29 Best and Most Anticipated Nonfiction Books of 2024

Pulitzer-nominated Author Discusses His Book About 14 Mexican Men Who Died Crossing Border

After 20 years, Luis Alberto Urrea's heart sinks a little whenever sales of his most famous work, "Devil's Highway," increase.

When they do, it typically means that something horrific has happened at a border crossing somewhere, and to have his Pulitzer-nominated work tick up in popularity is tough, his wife, Cindy Urrea, said after the author gave a talk Thursday afternoon at Indiana University Northwest during its annual One Book, One Campus, One Community program. The two wish with all their hearts that borders weren't still so topical, she said.

There was a time where they really weren't, but then 9/11 happened, which was shortly after the country's oldest publisher, Little and Brown, contacted Urrea to write a book about the "Yuma 14," a group of Mexican men who died crossing the border into Arizona via a stretch of highway where it can be as hot as 97 degrees after the sun goes down, he told a group of 30 students and faculty.

Luis Urrea, who'd grown up near the U.S.-Mexico border and had written so much about it already, really didn't want to at first, mostly because he feared having to deal with border patrol.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Luis Alberto Urrea reads from his novel, "The Devil's Highway" at Indiana University Northwest in Gary on Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Michael Gard/for the Post-Tribune)

Understanding his reticence, the agent then gambled on the ultimate play: He asked Luis Urrea if he trusted anyone else to write the book.

"I immediately said 'No!' and he said, 'Ok, I'll get the contract over to you!'," Luis Urrea said, laughing. "Professors, remember that trick."

The one real blessing he had going into writing the book was that the event was so heartbreaking, everyone – residents, survivors and border patrol agents – wanted to talk about it, he said. He recalled one evening when he went out to eat with one of the border patrol agents with whom he'd become tight, and the agent mentioned that "they never would've found the baby."

Confused, Luis Urrea asked him to elaborate. The agent told him that a family coming in was walking on some train tracks and got hit by a train; had they not looked up, the baby would've remained in the tree they found them in.

Another time, the agent was joking with two men who were propping up a third man walking along the same tracks. It took the agent a minute to realize the man in the middle had his feet cut off by the train, and he was still trying to walk, Luis Urrea said.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Luis Alberto Urrea speaks at Indiana University Northwest in Gary on Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Michael Gard/for the Post-Tribune)

"Then he said, 'Let's go have a steak,'" Luis Urrea recalled. "Hanging with the border patrol guys haunted me because they would tell me stuff, but that one agent told me this: 'I want you to know something: You know how in life that 80% (of people) is just trying to get through this life, and 10% are angels and 10% are devils? That's the same with border patrol, but God help the bottom 10% if we find them.'"

The Urreas have continued to watch the struggles of immigration and the way countries are learning – or not learning – how to handle what's going to become an even bigger issue as climate change continues to loom. Mexico, for example, has never had a plan for refugees, and people who help them can get in trouble.

"They've installed 'brushes,' these pillars that if your limbs are sticking out of a train car, they will get torn off," Luis Urrea said. "Germany doesn't know what to do with their refugees. It's like a migration of birds, and I don't know what the solution might be."

But unless you live on the border, you can't possibly understand what the issues are, Cindy Urrea said.

Pulitzer Prize-nominated author Luis Alberto Urrea speaks with readers at Indiana University Northwest in Gary on Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Michael Gard/for the Post-Tribune)

"I never saw it as clearly as when we went to Sweden. You go into thinking that Sweden is going to be blonde hair, blue-eyed, but it's very clearly not," she said. "Is Sweden still Sweden if half of it is Ethiopian? In the United States, we've prided ourselves on 'Bring me your tired masses,' so this shouldn't be an issue for us, but in Europe, it's different, and I think everyone's trying to catch their breath and figure out what it's going to look like."

Luis Urrea – who saw "Devil's Highway" be the first book banned in Arizona for being "satanic" and "un-American," and was exposed to death threats against him and his family – often feels like he's in a losing battle. And yet, there's always hope, he said.

"You know that Richard Pryor movie where the bus he's driving breaks down and he goes to look for help after telling the kids he's driving to stay put, and he eventually realizes the Klan is following him? The screen goes dark, and then you see the Klansmen helping him fix the bus – what if we just had a chance to cut the B.S. And just reach a hand out?" Luis Urrea said.

"There is a moment that we're all just people together, and it means a lot to me when we can just be that."

Michelle L. Quinn is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.

Here's Why Lake Travis ISD Is Removing One Book, Keeping Another At High School Library

The Lake Travis school board is ordering the district's high school to remove "The Haters" from its library but keep "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" on its shelves after reviewing a parent complaint that the books contained sexually explicit content.

The board's decisions came after dozens of parents and students made passionate pleas to keep or remove the books during the district's Wednesday night board meeting, which was standing room-only and lasted several hours.

Many of the students who spoke against removing the books insisted that they weren't being treated as critical thinkers and assured the board that they could make their own decisions about what to read. Parents who expressed concern about the content, however, said books with sexual references don't belong in schools.

Both books by Jesse Andrews are young adult coming-of-age novels.

The board voted 4-2 to keep "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" in the library and voted 4-2 to remove "The Haters." School board member Robert Aird was absent.

"Fear, I think, is driving this issue on both sides," member Erin Archer said. "Fear that we have turned into book banners and we're going to be removing stuff from the library without consent and transparency, and fear that our dedicated staff is groomers and other things."

Archer voted against removing "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl" because the book is mostly just vulgar rather than obscene, she said, but voted to remove "The Haters."

While the books aren't for everyone, they have literary value, said member Phillip Davis. The books have vulgar language, but accurately reflect the dialect of teenage boys, he said.

"The dominant theme of the book is not that," Davis said. "While there is some discussion — there is descriptions of sexually explicit scenes in the book — that's not what the book is about."

Member Keely Cano favored removing the books from the library because of their gratuitous vulgarity, she said. She pointed out 97 uses of the F-word in "Me and Earl and the Dying Girl."

"'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl' does not belong in any school library because of the extensive vulgarity and incredibly crude sexual material that is gratuitous and not integral to the story," Cano said.

Lake Travis High School students hold posters opposing the removal of two books from the school library at the Lake Travis school board's meeting Wednesday.

Parent complaint

The two books landed on the school board's agenda Wednesday night after Jodie Dover, a parent of two elementary school-age children in the district, raised concerns about their content and appealed a parent and staff review committee's decision to keep the material in the high school's library.

She told the board Wednesday that the books contain graphic content and should not be available to students.

"It's not removing them from circulation," Dover said. "It's not book banning. It's not book burning. It's doing what adults do and determining what is right for children."

Student concern

More than 30 students and parents came to the board meeting Wednesday night to speak about the two novels under consideration for removal and about book challenges in general.

A group of about a dozen students sat in the front two rows, holding signs that read, "Freedom" or "Wanted," picturing the covers of the two books.

Most of the students insisted that they could make their own choices about what content to consume and that the books gave them access to a broad spectrum of perspectives.

High school freshman Aahana Shukla said she wanted to speak to the board because she disagrees with removing books from the high school.

"Reading books is a good way of getting, a really good way of getting, a sense of perspective on life," Shukla said. "I've always loved reading. For me, reading was a way to understand people and actually, literally see through their view and be able to relate to them."

Shukla hadn't read the two books discussed Wednesday night, but she has read "Speak," which the board last year relocated from the middle school collection to the high school. The book's topic about a teenage victim of rape was challenging to read, Shukla said, but it helped her understand a different perspective.

Several parents, who were concerned about the books' content, also attended the board meeting Wednesday to plea for their removal.

Even if a story is good, it doesn't need to include sexual content if it's for children, said Cindy Najera, a parent of four Lake Travis students, including two in high school. "Why did they have to put that in there?" Najera asked.

Broader issue

Under the Lake Travis district's book challenge policy, a parent must first raise their concerns to campus staff. If the parent doesn't agree with the staff's decision, they can appeal to a committee made up of district parents and staff members who then read and review the book.

The parent who brought the book challenge can appeal a committee decision to the school board. The district is in the process of revising the review process to make it more transparent.

In November, the school board moved or removed three books in district schools. The board moved "Bodies Are Cool," a picture book, from the elementary school collection to the teacher and staff collection. The board also moved "Speak" from the middle to high school and removed "I Never," a young adult romance, from the high school.

Nationwide, book challenges have become much more prevalent since 2021.

Those pushing book challenges worried that students were reading inappropriate content in school libraries. People against book bans have said removing materials marginalizes minority and underrepresented groups and robs students — especially those who come from low-income backgrounds — of access.

Concerns about content in books in schools sparked the Legislature last year to pass the READER Act, or House Bill 900. The law requires book vendors to rate materials they sell to schools for sexual explicitness and prohibits schools from buying explicit books.

The law, which has been temporarily blocked from going into effect, has been tied up in an appeals court for months after several Texas booksellers and library associations filed a suit in July, alleging it's overly burdensome and costly to businesses. A U.S. District Court judge in September temporarily halted the law, but the state has appealed that decision.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas book ban: Lake Travis ISD removes novel from high school library

One Book One Broomfield Committee Applications Open

Broomfield book enthusiasts can apply for seats on the One Book One Broomfield selection committee, which helps shape the literary landscape of the city and county every year.

Members of the One Book One Broomfield committee choose several books each year as possibilities for residents to read together, then vote on the winning book. The group then hosts discussions, author talks and other events to unite the community under a common story. Last year's book was "Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI," by David Grann, which also was made into a movie starring Leonardo di Caprio.

The One Book One Broomfield committee has three open seats and is accepting applications until Sunday. Committee members are expected to suggest potential books, attend monthly meetings from August to May and serve a four-year term. Applicants must be over 18 and Broomfield residents. For more information and to submit an application, visit broomfield.Org/2633/One-Book-One-Broomfield

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