Books

Beverly Cleary, shown during a story hour in the park, was a children's librarian before she became an author. "Boys particularly asked: Where were the books about kids like us? And there weren't any at that time," she recalls.

Books
Arts

Beverly Cleary Is Turning 100, But She Has Always Thought Like A Kid

6:36pm April 11, 2016

by Melissa Jaeger-Miller

Before she became an author, Beverly Cleary was a children's librarian. She says young readers often asked for books "about kids like us." There weren't any, so she decided to write them herself.

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Block associations on the South Side have long pushed to make their neighborhoods cleaner and safer, but investment from developers and retailers has been slow to follow.

Talking Housing Segregation And Chicago With WBEZ's Natalie Y. Moore

4:45pm April 11, 2016

by Gene Demby

A longtime Chicago reporter, a native of the black South Side, digs into the ways segregation continues to shape the politics of her hometown, as well as her own life.

Many books are challenged because of "sexually explicit" content or content "unsuited for age group."

'The Holy Bible' Makes Library Association's List Of Most 'Challenged' Books

4:30pm April 11, 2016

by Laura Wagner

The challenges show religion is "on the minds of many people," says Deborah Caldwell Stone of the American Library Association. Another reason people objected to books was explicit sexual content.

Many of Franz Kafka's darkest comedies appear rooted in the cowering relationship he had with his father. Their only true bonding was over beer.

Books
Arts

For Kafka, Even Beer Came With Baggage

4:19pm April 11, 2016

by Nina Martyris

Many of Kafka's darkest comedies appear rooted in the cowering relationship he had with his father. Their only true bonding was over beer.

'Alice & Oliver' Novelist On Marriage, Cancer And The Pain Of Uncertainty

1:20pm April 11, 2016

Charles Bock's wife died from leukemia just before their daughter's 3rd birthday. Bock relived the final years of her life while writing his new novel. "I was just shattered," he says of the loss.

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Want To Teach In Urban Schools? Get To Know The Neighborhood

5:30pm April 10, 2016

by NPR Staff

Many teachers in urban schools don't understand their students or the places they live, says author and educator Christopher Emdin.

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Books
Arts

Frodo, Bilbo, Kullervo: Tolkien's Finnish Adventure

7:00am April 10, 2016

by Elizabeth Graham

While still at university, J.R.R. Tolkein became fascinated by Finnish mythology, abandoning his Classics degree to adapt the epic Story of Kullervo — work that led to the creation of Middle Earth.

Lin-Manuel Miranda appears in Hamilton's opening night at the Richard Rodgers Theatre in New York City, in August 2015.

Lin-Manuel Miranda Talks 'Hamilton': Once A 'Ridiculous' Pitch, Now A Revolution

11:28am April 09, 2016

by NPR Staff

When the Broadway musical's creator said the life of Alexander Hamilton embodied hip-hop, people laughed. Now, he's written a book about the national phenomenon with former critic Jeremy McCarter.

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Japanese food was once derided, but it's now in the canon of haute cuisine, says author Krishnendu Ray. How we value a culture's cuisine in our society, he says, often reflects the status of those who cook it.

Why Hunting Down 'Authentic Ethnic Food' Is A Loaded Proposition

11:26am April 09, 2016

by Maria Godoy

In a new book, an NYU scholar explores how immigrants shape the American palate. He says it's time to ditch the phrase "ethnic food" — which lumps all nonwhite people and their cuisines together.

Books
Arts

Charlie And Lola Are Back In 'Absolutely One Thing'

11:13am April 09, 2016

Lauren Child has a new "Charlie and Lola" book after a long hiatus. She tells NPR's Scott Simon that she needed a break, but then she missed her popular characters.

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