Random House, 2010 Gripping. Engaging. Rich characterization. Sensory detail. These aren't words commonly associated with reading non-fiction. Every one of them is an accurate description of Isabel Wilkerson's chronicle of "the biggest underreported story of the twentieth century". It's "The Epic Story of America's Great Migration", as the
Balzer & Bray Imprint - HarperCollins, 2011 Heart and Soul is an absolutely gorgeous book. Kadir Nelson's artwork is riveting. And don't ask me where I've been while he was winning Caldecott Honors, or an NAACP Image Award. Or while he received a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award, a
When Scarlett, the sequel to Gone with the Wind that the Margaret Mitchell Estate authorized, was published in 1991, the world of books was abuzz. Nobody had heard of Alexandra Ripley, but everybody wanted to know what happened to Scarlett. Somehow I missed news of the publication of Alice Randall's
1. Remarkable wrangling with world-changing matters: racism. (Most of what I say below is about this: but there are other fine reasons too.) 2. Southern US setting (Many readers know and love Southern fiction, but this isn't Mississippi: it's Arkansas. That's refreshing. Even if Chess does think it's boring!) "I
John Steffler’s The Afterlife of George Cartwright McClelland & Stewart, 1992 When John Steffler’s novel opens, Nottinghamshire is shimmering with the energy of May and George Cartwright describes the familiar route he’s taking on his horse. Doesn't seem that remarkable. Yet. But. It's the “same route he’s taken every day
