Chapter 16 - Part 383

Fun and Games and … Physics?

John Scieszka talks with Chapter 16 about his seriously entertaining new tale for young readers

By Tracy Barrett | August 13, 2014

August 13, 2014 Jon Scieszka, the author of more than fifty books for young readers, served as the first U.S. National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Frank Einstein and the Antimatter Motor is the first book in a new series focused on science whiz-kid Frank Einstein and his Grampa Al. Scieszka will appear at the Nashville Public Library on August 18, 2014; at Barnes & Noble Booksellers in Brentwood on August 19, 2014; and at The Booksellers at Laurelwood in Memphis on August 20, 2014.

With Every Shining Wish

Remembering poet Diann Blakely

By Mark Jarman | August 11, 2014

August 11, 2014 Diann struggled with the legacy of being a Southern woman and poet, and I think she would have preferred to have been otherwise, perhaps a Boston Mandarin like her mentor, Helen Vendler. Confronting her heritage and making a conscious effort to be the poet she felt she ought to be are, I think, her most important achievements.

Diann Blakely, 1957-2014

Poet Diann Blakely has died after a long illness

By Margaret Renkl | August 11, 2014

August 11, 2014 “I should note that I don’t consider myself a literary critic,” Diann Blakely once wrote. “Rather, I am a passionate, studious, unfashionably earnest reader and an advocate for the books—especially books of poetry—I care deeply about.” These words could serve almost as a mission statement for Blakely’s entire life, which ended on August 5.

Perpetually on the Lam

In On the Run, sociologist Alice Goffman examines the effect of zealous policing on one inner-city neighborhood

By Maria Browning | August 11, 2014

August 11, 2014 There is endless debate about whether zealous policing and harsh sentences are effective in reducing crime, but according to sociologist Alice Goffman they have a profoundly damaging effect on troubled, low-income communities. In On the Run: Fugitive Life in an American City, Goffman reports her observations from six years spent in a tough Philadelphia neighborhood, where she found that aggressive law enforcement cripples lives, ruins relationships, and creates a major barrier to escaping crime and poverty. Goffman will appear at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 10-12, 2014.

Unpacking the Past

Christina Baker Kline binds youth and age in a story of survival

By Lyda Phillips | August 8, 2014

August 8, 2014 After five novels, Christina Baker Kline has her first bestseller with Orphan Train, which has sold more than one million copies thanks to community-reading projects and book clubs. This quiet novel dissects not only a remarkable historical phenomenon but also the enduring emotional scars left by family tragedy. Kline will discuss Orphan Train at the Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 10-12, 2014.

A Love Letter to Books

In The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin pays homage to readers

By Faye Jones | August 7, 2014

August 7, 2014 In her new novel, The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, Gabrielle Zevin celebrates books and those who read them. Based loosely on the hero of George Eliot’s Silas Marner, that high-school standard, A.J. Fikry is a sad man whose life is changed when a baby is left in his store. Gabrielle Zevin will discuss the novel at the Southern Festival of Books, held in Nashville October 10-12, 2014.

Tias and Primas: On Knowing and Loving the Women Who Raise Us

By Prisca Dorcas Mojica Rodríguez, illustrated by Josie Del Castillo
Seal Press
304 pages
$30

“Within these pages, I found my abuela, my tías and my primas — laughing, crying, and nodding alongside me. This book is a gift of understanding, and loving one’s family, even when our families are complicated and painful. It’s a beautiful reminder of the power of storytelling and the profound connection of kinship.”

~ Paola Mendoza, author, organizer and filmmaker