"Secret Keeper" is as gorgeously written as Emily’s process to healing is rendered. This is a standout novel. Jane Alvey Harris’s thoroughly immersive young adult fantasy "Secret Keeper" interweaves a teenage girl’s journey through... Read More

A Houston poet’s tool box doesn’t normally include fluency in Arabic and an internal medicine practice—indeed, Dr. Joudah’s scholastic accomplishments and life experience raise our expectations. And, in turn, we find his work on... Read More

Poetry is marvelous transportation. Africa beckons—you want some of me?—and the poet takes pains, takes pens to the stuff of his life, so that we can experience the Zimbabwe in the man. An Oberlin College creative writing assistant... Read More

When cornered, we’ll admit to preferring poetry with rhythm—musicality in the ear surely deepens a poem’s effect. Yes, Jennifer Givhan, we’re awed by your use of pause and pacing, as you lead us to better understanding a... Read More

Poets and words, a relationship built on endless frustration and betrayal. That’s not what I intended to say. Sorry, bard, that’s what you get with me. Certain poets embrace the ambiguity, as if potential misunderstandings raise a... Read More

Just where and how life began on earth is uncertain—deep sea vents, tide pools, and hot springs all provide rational explanations—but water was certainly involved, and as single-cell organisms gave way to more complex forms of life,... Read More

Everywhere we turn, we are called to action. Keep turning, keep acting. In this case, get your hands dirty. Plant something honeybee friendly to help these buzzing benefactors continue to pollinate 30 percent of the food we eat. The bees... Read More

From Montaigne to Auden to Sir Mix-A-Lot, Martinez pulls from a broad swath of influences to tell his story of moving into adulthood and measuring what makes a man. For him, the answer is as varied as his influences, which include... Read More