Books

Books

Gabriela Garcia's 'Of Women And Salt' Connects Two Mother-Daughter Stories

7:56am March 28, 2021

NPR's Sarah McCammon talks with Gabriela Garcia about her debut novel, Of Women and Salt, which tells the story of generations of women from Cuban and Salvadoran families.

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'The Tree In Me' Is A Blooming Good Spring Read

7:00am March 28, 2021

by Juanita Giles

As spring finally gets springing, our kids' books columnist Juanita Giles recommends The Tree in Me, a pink-splashed, exuberant celebration of kids enjoying nature.

Satchel Paige is shown during a World Series game against the Boston Braves in Boston on Oct. 6, 1948. Paige and Larry Doby were two Black players who helped Cleveland's baseball team win the World Series.

How Black Players Propelled Cleveland's Baseball Team To Win The 1948 World Series

7:59am March 27, 2021

by Scott Simon

In 1948, Cleveland's baseball team won the World Series. It wouldn't have made it without the team's first two Black players, and the team owner's willingness to hire them, says author Luke Epplin.

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Larry McMurtry, Pulitzer Prize-Winning American West Author, Dies At 84

7:59am March 27, 2021

Larry McMurtry, novelist who chronicled the American West, died this week at the age of 84.

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Dawnie Walton's 'Opal And Nev' Are So Compelling You Might Forget They're Not Real

7:59am March 27, 2021

Dawnie Walton talks with NPR's Scott Simon about her debut novel, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev, an oral history of a 20th century rock duo so detailed, you might forget it's fiction.

The cover of Paula Yoo's forthcoming book From A Whisper To A Rallying Cry

Books

How Vincent Chin's Death Gave Others A Voice

7:00am March 27, 2021

by Karen Grigsby Bates

Paula Yoo discusses her new book From A Whisper to A Rallying Cry and how the 1982 death of Chin, a Chinese American man in Detroit, led a new generation of Asian Americans into political action.

Beverly Cleary was the author behind many beloved characters, including Henry Huggins, Ellen Tebbits, Otis Spofford, and Beezus and Ramona Quimby (as well as Ribsy, Socks and Ralph S. Mouse).

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Children's Author Beverly Cleary, Creator Of Ramona Quimby, Dies At 104

8:47pm March 26, 2021

by Zoe Chace

"I think children want to read about normal, everyday kids," Cleary told NPR in 1999. "... I think children like to find themselves in books."

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President Barack Obama presents novelist, essayist and screenwriter Larry McMurtry with the National Humanities Medal in September 2015.

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Larry McMurtry, Novelist And Screenwriter Of The West, Has Died At Age 84

4:39pm March 26, 2021

by Anastasia Tsioulcas

In over 30 novels and across dozens of screenplays, nonfiction works and memoirs, McMurtry became a beloved yet unsentimental chronicler of the American West.

Young Mark Grayson (voiced by Steven Yeun) follows in his father's footsteps and adopts the heroic identity of Invincible in the Amazon Prime animated series.

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Arts

'Invincible' Is Packed With Pulpy, Visceral Thrills — And Lots Of Pulpy Viscera

9:11am March 26, 2021

by Glen Weldon

A stellar voice cast helps ground this fantastical tale of a fledgling superhero's first forays into a job where the stakes — and the violence — are all too real.

There's No Such Thing as an Easy Job, by Kikuko Tsumura

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'There's No Such Thing As An Easy Job' Takes Gentle Aim At Japan's Work Culture

7:00am March 25, 2021

by Thúy Đinh

Kikuko Tsumura's new novel follows an unnamed protagonist who embarks on a series of odd temp jobs — and discovers that as the jobs get duller, the demands of her male supervisors get more intense.