Books

Author Alex Gino hopes George will help transgender kids feel less alone.

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Arts

'George' Wants You To Know: She's Really Melissa

12:30pm August 28, 2015

by Neda Ulaby

One of this fall's most anticipated books is about a transgender fourth-grader. Publisher Scholastic is employing some of the same marketing techniques it used for megahits like The Hunger Games.

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Stieg Larsson died in 2004, never knowing how popular his Millennium books would become.

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The Girl Who Outlived Her Creator: Salander Returns In 'Spider's Web'

3:52pm August 27, 2015

by Lynn Neary

The fourth book in Stieg Larsson's best-selling Millennium series comes out internationally today — but Larsson died in 2004, so his father and brother hired a new writer to continue the series.

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You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman

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Cults, Foam Heads And Other Weird Things Thrive In 'Body Like Mine'

3:12pm August 27, 2015

by Jason Sheehan

Alexandra Kleeman's novel, populated by TV-obsessed characters on a steady diet of Popsicles and oranges, is a controlled exercise in what critic Jason Sheehan calls "terrifying banality."

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Chris Offutt Reveals A Family Secret In 'My Father, The Pornographer'

1:45pm August 27, 2015

Offutt's late father went from running a small insurance agency to writing more than 400 books, mostly pornography. Originally broadcast March 2, 2015.

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How The Sad Puppies Won — By Losing

9:54am August 27, 2015

by Tasha Robinson

A group of conservative sci-fi fans and writers took over the Hugo Award nominations this year, then lost big when the actual awards were given out. But they still dominated the conversation.

Interior illustration from The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep by Carl- Johan Forssen Ehrlin.

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Mom And Toddler Put Sleep-Inducing 'Rabbit' Book To The Test

6:44pm August 26, 2015

by Lynn Neary

Psychologist Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin designed his best-selling (and self-published) story The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep to help kids doze off. We visited a local naptime to see if it works.

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'Latest Readings' Offers Buoyant Musings On A Lifetime Of Literature

11:05am August 26, 2015

by Craig Morgan Teicher

Literary critic Clive James revisits the work of great writers such as Joseph Conrad, Ernest Hemingway, Shakespeare and others, subjecting each to the "finicky test of delight."

Authors' Garden Clippings Grow Students' Love Of Literature

8:47am August 26, 2015

by Rebecca Kruth

High school English teacher Jennifer McQuillan spent the summer collecting clippings from the gardens of American authors. She's using them to plant a "literary garden" in her school's courtyard.

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Exclusive First Read: 'The Shepherd's Crown' By Terry Pratchett

8:33am August 26, 2015

by NPR Staff

Return to the Discworld one more time in the late author's last novel, about young witch Tiffany Aching. Tiffany faced down the Queen of the Elves in her first adventure — but now the queen is back.

U.S. Air Force F-22 Raptors are seen parked at Kadena Air Base on the island of Okinawa in Japan. The U.S. military established a presence on Okinawa during World War II.

Do America's Military Bases Abroad Help Or Hinder Global Security?

9:50pm August 25, 2015

by NPR Staff

David Vine's new book argues that the hundreds of U.S. bases in other countries come at a high cost, both at home and abroad. He suggests reducing such bases and increasing diplomatic engagement.

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