Clear toy candies are a centuries-old local tradition. With the Democratic convention in town, an old-school candy maker is peddling some with a political bent. Think lollipop meets Mount Rushmore.
Megan Abbott's novel about a talented young gymnast and her mother starts with a mysterious death, but the real mysteries are the characters themselves: You never really know the people close to you.
McPherson, the first African-American to win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, has died at 72. His work explored the intersection of white and black lives with deftness, subtlety and wry humor.