“E. B. White created some of the most endearing and lovable characters in children’s literature. His stories of Stuart Little and Charlotte’s Web resonate and will endure over decades. This carefully researched and delicately written biography by Michael Sims reverently documents White’s life from his adventurous childhood loving farm animals, to being one of the …
“If you’re craving something amazing to read after the Hunger Games, here is your book. The main character stole my heart and pulled me through her story with beauty and fierceness. It was a joy to watch the story unfold so I hesitate to say too much. This smart and powerful book will leave you …
“I’m very interested in languages, although I’ve only studied four of them (other than my native tongue) and only a little of each of those. Despite this, it seems that I have somewhat of a facility for languages, and it seemed clear in my language classes that learning languages was easier for some people than …
This novel is perfectly timed to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Seattle World’s Fair, and in an election year to boot.
“For decades I’ve been following the travails of Anne Lamott, starting in 1993 with her memoir Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year. It’s here that we meet son Sam, and the slightly neurotic and crazed mom, Anne. Since then she’s published in more genres than imaginable: fiction, biography, writing, and faith/religion. And …
“I don’t read many children’s books but this one really blew me away. It’s the story of a ten-year-old boy who is starting school for the first time, of the trials he faces, and his ultimate triumph. This would be difficult for any home-schooled child, but Auggie was born with facial abnormalities that are pretty …
“What begin as inconveniences—the minor hazards of getting her electricity turned on, acquiring furniture, of riding in a taxi, of getting food from the market—progressively become indications of a society in perpetual collapse. The Last Woro Woro to Treichville, a memoir of Sibyl James’ year in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire as a Fulbright scholar, reveals a …
“As Welcome to Paradise begins, Aziz and his shivering cousin are seated in a café waiting to cross the Strait of Gibraltar. The cousin, suffering from a dreadful stomachache, has soiled himself in a fit of nerves, and the outraged waiter has just thrown them out. They join other would-be illegal immigrants gathered in Tangier, …
“Ted Kooser is an award-winning poet and former US Poet Laureate. I had previously read some of his prose (and quite liked it) so I was eager to read this, his first children’s book. And he does not disappoint! With muted watercolor illustrations to accompany the story, Kooser tells the tale of a family who …
