Books by Alums

Two Minutes Before

Julia Maclean — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 19:30:53 +0000

Two Minutes Before Julia Maclean Wed, 01/07/2026 - 12:30

By Sarah Kanter (Psych'88)

(Independently published; 223 pages; 2025)

What do you do when everything you believed is shattered by a truth you never saw coming? Theresa's life is built on routines that help her navigate uncertainties. But everything changes when a stranger appears at her office carrying a box of some of her husband's belongings left behind at a former job. Theresa embraces the future, unexpected connections emerge. The past she thought she understood shifts, revealing truths that challenge her understanding and help her find new meaning in life. Poignant, heartfelt, and beautifully written, Two Minutes Before is a deeply human story about the power of memory, the mystery of connection, and the quiet courage it takes to let go-and begin again.

What do you do when everything you believed is shattered by a truth you never saw coming? Theresa's life is built on routines that help her navigate uncertainties.

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Beyond the Bataan Death March: The Life and Times of K. L. Berry

Julia Maclean — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 19:26:12 +0000

Beyond the Bataan Death March: The Life and Times of K. L. Berry Julia Maclean Wed, 01/07/2026 - 12:26

By Dana Berry Frazee (Ger'69)

(Texas A&M University Press; 352 pages; 2025)

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K. L. (Kearie Lee) Berry was a star athlete at the University of Texas at Austin from 1912 to 1916, playing on the undefeated national championship football team of 1914. He began his military career with postings along the Mexican border. Berry served as an officer and advisor overseas, including an assignment in Siberia just after the Bolshevik Revolution, where he was a member of the 27th Infantry “Wolfhounds” of the American Expeditionary Force. Prior to and during World War II, he was stationed in China and the Philippines, where he was captured by the Japanese army on Bataan in 1942. He survived the infamous Bataan Death March and was incarcerated in various POW camps over a period of forty months until his liberation in August 1945.

Upon returning to his home state, Berry was promoted to brigadier general, serving one more year as an active-duty officer before retiring in 1947. He didn’t stay retired for long; he was appointed as Adjutant General of the Texas Military Department just five days after leaving the military, and it was a post he went on to hold for fourteen years. Upon his “second retirement” in 1961, he served as president of the University of Texas’s Forty Acres Club (now Forty Acres Society). He remained active with various alumni activities of the University of Texas until his death in 1965.

Dana Berry Frazee, granddaughter of K. L. Berry, has prepared this biography with the aid of her grandfather’s POW journal and considerable outside research. What unfolds in the pages of Beyond the Bataan Death March: The Life and Times of K. L. Berry is a story of honor, courage, and dedicated service over a lifetime and often under the most difficult of conditions.

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Notions of Grace: A Memoir of Climbing, Cancer and Family

Julia Maclean — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 19:18:32 +0000

Notions of Grace: A Memoir of Climbing, Cancer and Family Julia Maclean Wed, 01/07/2026 - 12:18

By Jason Kolaczkowski (PolSci'99)

(Di Angelo Publications; 2026)

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If you were to leave the story of your life behind for those you love the most, what would you say? What lessons would you learn in the telling?

On a train ride towards a downtown job, Jason Kolaczkowski was staring at a screen, his computer folded open in his lap while the cursor blinked at him, pleading for him to type just a few honest words. He was still shaken to his core. He had recently returned from leading an attempt at an unclimbed peak in the Himalaya, a climb that was supposed to be to be his magnum opus - the ultimate object lesson for his young, twin sons on the power and necessity of dreams, even when dreamt in the face of the uncertainty and fear and heartbreak of his recent leukemia diagnosis. But it turns out that is not what the climb had delivered. It brought more questions than answers.

A life of youthful possibility and the inevitable traumas and triumphs of an imperfect reality, a life balancing climbing and responsibilities, a life of personal goals and intertwined relationships was too complicated to be summed up so neatly. What did he want to tell his sons, now too young to understand but who someday would not be? What did he want to tell his wife, his brother, his parents, and his friends?

If you were to leave the story of your life behind for those you love the most, what would you say? What lessons would you learn in the telling?

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Burn: From Struggle to Strength, A Woman’s Guide to Reclaiming Herself

Julia Maclean — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 19:12:50 +0000

Burn: From Struggle to Strength, A Woman’s Guide to Reclaiming Herself Julia Maclean Wed, 01/07/2026 - 12:12

By Michelle Kooi (Jour'88)

(Next Page Publishing Inc; 221 pages; 2025)

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Dive into the pages of Burn and embark on a soul-stirring journey through the fires of life. In this gripping memoir, Michelle Kooi bares her heart and soul, recounting a life shaped by the relentless flames of adversity and the beauty of life, and the profound metamorphosis that ensued. From the scorching depths of despair to the radiant heights of self-discovery, each chapter illuminates the transformative power of embracing life's trials.

In Burn, Michelle Kooi invites you on an intimate journey through the transformative power of fire. This memoir chronicles her personal odyssey from darkness to light, tracing a path illuminated by the embers of adversity and resilience. Through vivid prose and poignant reflections, in this debut, Kooi explores how confronting life's infernos can forge strength, wisdom, and profound personal growth.

From childhood trials to adult challenges, Kooi candidly shares pivotal moments where fire—both literal and metaphorical—shaped her identity and destiny. Whether facing the blaze of loss, the crucible of self-discovery, or the warmth of newfound love, each chapter reveals a new facet of the power of fire as a tool for metamorphosis. Through it all, fire emerges not just as a destructive force, but as a catalyst for renewal and rebirth.

Burn is more than a memoir; it is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit. With each turn of the page, readers will find themselves drawn into a narrative that transcends individual experience to resonate with universal truths about courage, hope, and the enduring power of transformation.

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Everybody Needs Something

Julia Maclean — Wed, 07 Jan 2026 19:05:25 +0000

Everybody Needs Something Julia Maclean Wed, 01/07/2026 - 12:05

By Melanie Pappadis Faranello (Engl'95)

(University of Georgia Press; 189 pages; 2026)

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Melanie Faranello’s debut collection, Everybody Needs Something, delves into the interior lives of characters longing for connection, revealing the deep human desire to reach one another. A poignant exploration of the complexities of love, loss, and what is often left unsaid, the stories center on the space between us—couples, families, aging parents, children, and evolving selves that are shaped over time.

A newly widowed construction worker travels to a debris-filled healing pool to ease his grief; a retired couple relocates across the globe hoping to escape their troubles only to discover a new problematic infestation; a father places an ad inviting strangers to his first solo Thanksgiving dinner; a couple on the brink endures a wildlife lecture at the elementary school between hospital visiting hours for their daughter; a young divorcee has an unexpected encounter with her long-dead father during a Latin Ballroom dance class.

Quietly powerful and carefully observed, these fourteen stories resonate with emotional landscapes and hidden heartbreaks as characters meet their breaking points before somehow finding the courage to keep going.

Melanie Faranello’s debut collection, Everybody Needs Something, delves into the interior lives of characters longing for connection, revealing the deep human desire to reach one another.

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Finding Amal

Julia Maclean — Mon, 03 Nov 2025 17:42:48 +0000

Finding Amal Julia Maclean Mon, 11/03/2025 - 10:42

By Firyal Alshalabi (MEdu'77; PhDEdu'82)

(Green Place Books; 340 pages; 2025)

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Finding Amal is a literary novel that seeks to empower young Muslim women grappling with societal conventions to a new stimulating intellectual level. It is a unique coming-of-age story that reveals the relationship between Islam and the West throughout the last few centuries in an entertaining, yet thought-provoking way. Hadeel, a young devout Muslim woman from Kuwait, embarks on a secret journey to America to save her Aunt Amal’s soul from Hell. In Boulder, Colorado, she meets Jonathan, her aunt’s grieving husband for the first time. Jonathan, who asked Hadeel to visit, is hoping she’d clear her aunt’s name from defamation, and reclaim the copyright to a literary discovery related to Washington Irving, Percy Shelley, and the nineteenth-century British Poet Laureate Robert Southey.

Finding Amal is a literary novel that seeks to empower young Muslim women grappling with societal conventions to a new stimulating intellectual level.

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All the Wisdom and None of the Junk: Secrets of Applying for College Admission and Scholarships

Julia Maclean — Thu, 30 Oct 2025 18:53:15 +0000

All the Wisdom and None of the Junk: Secrets of Applying for College Admission and Scholarships Julia Maclean Thu, 10/30/2025 - 12:53

Contributions by Maria Alsubhi (Bio'22; MEdu'23), Tiffany Anderson (Psych'02), Curtis Esquibel (Jour'99; MPubAd'16), Katie Kramer (Mgmt'97), Holly McCollough (Mktg'24) and Vanessa Roman (Psych'07; MEdu'10)

(Boettcher Foundation; 86 pages; 2025)

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Applying to college and scholarships can feel overwhelming, for students and their families. That’s why the Boettcher Foundation created this no-nonsense playbook to help cut through the chaos and bring some clarity (and even a little humor) to the journey.

For students, this book is:

A writing coach, mentor, and cheerleader in one.
Packed with practical tools, real examples, and bite-sized advice.
Designed to help young people shine authentically, not artificially.

For parents, this book is:

A trusted roadmap to support your student through every phase of the process.
A guide to knowing when to step in and when to step back.
Reassurance that you don’t have to have all the answers—just the right questions.

For high school counselors and college access advisors, this book is:

A ready-to-go resource you can hand to students with total confidence.
A practical tool to reinforce what you're already teaching, without repeating yourself.
A flexible guide you can use in classrooms, workshops, or one-on-one meetings.

Written by two seasoned experts and updated by the Boettcher Foundation, this guide has helped thousands of students win scholarships and enroll at their first-choice colleges nationally.

Applying to college and scholarships can feel overwhelming, for students and their families.

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Justice Required: Police Shootings as Legalized Violence

Julia Maclean — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 16:37:57 +0000

Justice Required: Police Shootings as Legalized Violence Julia Maclean Mon, 10/27/2025 - 10:37

By Robert J. Durán (PhDSoc'06)

(Columbia University Press; 368 pages; 2025)

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Police have remarkably broad discretion to use deadly force. Evidence shows that more than 1,000 shooting deaths occur each year at the hands of the police in the United States, disproportionately in minority communities and often under questionable circumstances. Despite public outrage, there continue to be obstacles to assessing the extent of bias and addressing the harms of police violence, including a lack of transparency and limitations on access to data.

Justice Required is a groundbreaking quantitative and qualitative investigation of police violence. Robert J. Durán and Oralia Loza provide a comprehensive data analysis of all police shootings in Denver, Colorado, over nearly forty years, highlighting persistent patterns of racial and ethnic inequality. They examine the institutional and political dynamics that thwart efforts to hold police officers accountable after controversial incidents. Durán and Loza contextualize the data with regional comparisons and enliven the analysis with vivid storytelling. Justice Required argues that while police shootings are typically treated as a criminal justice issue, they should be understood as a public health problem. Rigorous and urgent, this book provides evidence-based, data-driven solutions to prevent further loss of life and promote accountability.

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If You Lived in the Sea, Who Would You Be?

Julia Maclean — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 16:31:21 +0000

If You Lived in the Sea, Who Would You Be? Julia Maclean Mon, 10/27/2025 - 10:31

By Julie Honan Johnston (Engl'96)

(Web of Life Children's Books; 32 pages; 2025)

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If you lived in the sea, would you dive to the depths of cold, murky water or fly high above warm coastal waves? With animals grouped according to opposite traits and shared characteristics, this rhyming adventure inspires readers to imagine what it would be like to live in the sea. From a grazing dugong rooting about to an elephant seal with an inflatable snout, children will learn about a wide variety of beloved and obscure sea creatures that live in our world's oceans and seas. Curious minds can delve deeper into the extensive back matter.

The Who Would You Be? series invites readers to embark on rhyming adventures throughout different habitats around the world, while imagining what it might be like to live in those places as different types of creatures. Sparking joy and curiosity for ecosystems and the species who inhabit them, readers will discover that all creatures play important roles in their ecosystems, regardless of their size, shape, appearance, or lifestyle.

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Heart of the Jaguar: The Extraordinary Conservation Effort to Save the America's Legendary Cat

Julia Maclean — Mon, 22 Sep 2025 17:17:53 +0000

Heart of the Jaguar: The Extraordinary Conservation Effort to Save the America's Legendary Cat Julia Maclean Mon, 09/22/2025 - 11:17

By James Campbell (MAeroEngr'94)

(W. W. Norton & Company; 336 pages; 2025)

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A fascinating story of the movement to protect the jaguar, and the man who devoted his life to saving the species.

Once indigenous to North America, the jaguar is one of the wildest creatures left on the planet, a resilient and efficient predator, with a natural habitat that extends throughout Mexico and Central and South America. But today, one million years after it appeared in the New World, the jaguar is struggling to survive. It has disappeared entirely from Uruguay and El Salvador, and is critically endangered across much of its range.

Heart of the Jaguar tells the story of the extraordinary undertaking to save the jaguar, as well as the impassioned conservationist who dedicated his life to the species. James Campbell tracks the legacy of Alan Rabinowitz, a complex personality and a formidable scientist whom Time magazine called “the Indiana Jones of wildlife protection.” Rabinowitz first studied jaguars in the jungles of Belize and the Brazilian Pantanal in the 1980s, and later led the charge for the Jaguar Corridor Initiative, making it his dying mission to protect the big cat’s historic habitat.

Campbell journeys across two continents in search of the species’ past, present, and future, taking readers from the Bering Land Bridge to pre-Columbian jungle temples and modern-day jaguar preserves. Despite the thriving trade in jaguar parts and the ravages of industrial agriculture and climate change, Campbell finds sources of hope: wildlife biologists, Indigenous organizers, ranchers, and park administrators who carry on Rabinowitz’s legacy. Compelling and clear-eyed, Heart of the Jaguar celebrates these protectors, who continue to make enormous personal sacrifices to ensure that jaguars, the most charismatic of all the big cats, always have a home on this planet.

A fascinating story of the movement to protect the jaguar, and the man who devoted his life to saving the species.

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