Sometimes the muse makes a big ask. Revisit the death of a brother, for example, and explore how that painful memory gathers momentum as one’s own son comes of age. Muses, Erin Malone knows, are expert button pushers. A Coniston Prize... Read More

We can never be quite sure what powers a poet draws upon, where exactly she gets her mojo. Chelan Harkin discovered it the hard way: at the bottom-most point of mental and emotional suffering she was mystically blessed with creative... Read More

Between. Not here, not there. Not this, or that. Somewhere but not someplace. Not easy to put your, wrap your, place your—but confidence, and masterful touch with language, is what makes Esteban Rodríguez a credible, incredible even,... Read More

Care, from carry: as happens mysteriously in utero; from what was once her single-selfed existence, the poet assumes the burdens of maternity—a carrier‘s nine-month care package that stretches into motherhood and beyond. In "Each... Read More

Joelle the whale shark is teased by her toothier compatriots for her struggles with hunting. She secretly watches Taz, a great white shark, hoping to learn some pointers; she is shocked when she sees Taz fail to catch a fish. After... Read More

In Susan Sullivan’s uplifting chapter book "Bob Tales", a stray feline is rescued, seeks adventures, and learns that he’s capable and loved. At first mangy and unnamed, Bob is a black cat who scavenges on the streets and retreats... Read More

Little Stripe the zebra cannot find his dad. “He has black and white stripes,” Little Stripe says to a monarch caterpillar who offers to help him look. They soon discover that more than just zebras fit that description. Watercolor... Read More

Vaunda Micheaux Nelson’s excellent book "Small Shoes, Great Strides" covers how, in November of 1960, Leona Tate, Gail Etienne, and Tessie Prevost made history by going to first grade—as the first Black students at a public school in... Read More