"MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan isn't one to avoid arguments. He relishes them, as the lifeblood of democracy and the only surefire way to establish the truth. Arguments help us solve problems, uncover new ideas we might not have considered, and nudge our disagreements toward mutual understanding. A good argument, made in good faith, has intrinsic value-and can also simply be fun. Arguments are everywhere-and especially given the fierce debates we're all embroiled...

Seventh-grader Zoey Albro focuses on caring for three younger siblings and avoiding rich classmates at school until her fascination with octopuses gets her on the debate team and she begins to speak out.

"A life-long speech competitor, Leela loves nothing more than crushing the competition...But when she meets the incorrigible Firoze Darcy, a debater from an elitist private school, Leela can't stand him. Unfortunately, he'll be competing in the state league...But why attempt to tolerate Firoze when Leela can one-up him? The situation is more complicated than Leela anticipated...and her participation in the tournament reveals that she might have tragically...

"Ali Cross and his friends chase police cases while Ali is caught up in a debate about policing"--

They're called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the US while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she'd be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California. Suddenly she finds herself living in a stranger's house, with no one to tell her what to do for the first time in her life. She soon embraces her newfound...

-- Real Change   The most pressing problem we face today is not climate change. It is pollution in the public square, where a toxic smog of adversarial rhetoric, propaganda, and polarization stifles discussion and debate, creating resistance to change and thwarting our ability to solve our collective problems.   In this second edition of -- I’m Right and You’re an Idiot   “This is a must-read for anyone tired of the bullying, the propagandizing,...