Given the somber subject matter of this title, I realize this probably verges on sacrilegious, but no disrespect is intended in any way ...
How did 2010 whoosh by so quickly? Is it really December already?
Since 'next year' is just a month away, take a sneak peek at 2011 with baby Rosie! With her especially huge...
Oh my, oh my ...
Hurray (itself a word of Mongol origin) for cultural anthropologist and Macalester College professor Jack Weatherford who reclaims Genghis Khan from a much maligned history that defines him as "the quintessential barbarian," leading an...
The unnamed playwright here is one lonely man. He "lodges" in Uncle Ernie's spare room as his own family stopped talking to him in 1978 when his screenplay "based upon his older, retarded brother" aired...
Alas, tragic headlines continue to repeat over and over: The front page of today's New York Times reports, "Iraq's Ills Lead Former Exiles to Flee Again." [An online version of the article is available...
Ando, now in 11th grade, is more or less going through the motions of fitting in: "If I said I didn't feel empty inside for putting up an act ...
Yes, President Obama's first picture book is, of course, a gorgeous gift to his two young daughters. But it's also quite a legacy for every child anywhere as it reminds us that...
A lone little girl looks up to see a reflection of herself on the other page. Surprised, she checks again with just one eye, making sure the reflection is still there. No longer alone,...
I fully admit that had Mockingbird not won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature last week, I probably wouldn't have read it. I'll also tell you that by page 9, I...
We've all heard the stories of palate-adventurers willing to go to extreme lengths to try some of the most ...
While today's country roads might seem to resemble life from centuries past, subtle contemporary reminders are unmistakable ...
Let's start with the last pages first: Kathleen Krull notes in her "Author's Note" that "[i]nformation about Kubla Khan is sketchy." Her illustrator Robert Byrd adds that "[p]ictoral references dealing with the...
At 14, Moritaka Mashiro figures he's "just going to live a normal life." For a teenager, that translates into "getting into a good high school, a good college and a good company to work...
Here's unforgettable testimony to the endless possibilities of childhood imagination, brought to the page by the phenomenally inventive Korean-born, Singapore-based Suzy Lee.
Surrounded by the usual basement detritus, a little girl climbs on top...
Having grown up Catholic (I'm still in recovery), nothing works better than leftover Catholic guilt to get me to do something I'm whinge-ing about. The supreme irony about my former Catholicism is...
What perfect timing! Madhur Jaffrey's newest cookbook makes for a toothsome companion to one of last week's posts, Indivisible, the first anthology that brings together contemporary American poets...
Whether a soldier or a civilian, no one ever escapes the consequences of war. While those on the fighting front face the greatest risks, those left behind have excruciating challenges, as well. Two-time Newbery...
The simplicity of Australian author/artist Jeannie Baker's latest title makes it simply stupendous. Open the book and you have two halves on either side, the left which begins in English, and right which...
The title – Indivisible – the editors explain, is "a word taken from the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance." Through the 49 diverse American voices represented here with roots in Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and...
