This novel blends a deeply emotional story with an environment that is captivating in its danger and complexity. In Camilla Trinchieri’s "Seeking Alice", World War II is a force that makes it difficult for families to stay together.... Read More
A century of civil war has devastated Japan, but Kano Murasaki has grown up far from the conflicts and battles that rage in the nation. Nicknamed “Squirrel,” or Risuko, all the young girl wants to do is climb trees as she grows up in... Read More
This discourse on the United States’ flawed political system is clear, concise, well organized, and engagingly written. In an office of the United States House of Representatives, there was a sign that said: “Law and sausage are... Read More
Alongside a portrayal of mobsters clinging desperately to their masculinity, Yates reveals the nonsense of violence and revenge. The assassins: two hit men from North Carolina. The target: a Hoosier farmer named Yorkie Goodman. The... Read More
Evocative, metaphorical prose delivers this story of a writer’s suicidal depression interrupted by a child and the haunting voice of ancient fables. In a single summer day in Sycamore, Iowa (pop. 897), Cole Seatstone, writer, father,... Read More
Among his adventuresome friends, Minnow is perhaps the only boy who does not need to ask “Is it true?” of magical tales. He’s seen enough in his young life to be able to separate out the literary chaff from the truly wondrous. When... Read More
In one of Elizabeth Bishop’s poems, which Bill Belleville quotes, she wrote that Florida is “the state that floats in brackish water / held together by mangrove roots.” That sentiment serves to bolster one of his main points: that... Read More
The Lord is my muse, I shall not want. Green pastures, still waters, paths of righteousness, walks through the valley of the shadow of death—Thou anointest my head with poetry; my pen runneth over. The biblical Psalms, in all their... Read More