Rather than spin this memoir out in a single chronological thread, the co-authors (who are not related) open with the good stuff—the recruitment of “Charlie B.” into NASA in 1979 as the fourth Black astronaut and his four space flights between 1986 and 1994. They follow with information about his childhood, his early career as […]
Growing up a Catholic schoolgirl in 1970s Ontario, the nameless protagonist of Bondy’s debut novel does just about everything that’s expected of her, from joining the choir to helping out the priest at the rectory with various tasks. The narrator knows she’s no standout, and she likes it that way: “I’d always been quiet…I wore […]
The author has spent over a decade teaching her writing method to a variety of audiences, helping to prompt procrastinators or aspiring writers who don’t know how to get started. The steps cover topics including generating ideas; developing characters, settings, and plots; and drafting and revision. Each day’s agenda begins with “warmups,” moves on to […]
At one point, the speaker offers readers a quick framework for his musings, saying that this “story is a memoir in the form of a novel pretending to be a memoir.” After a life spent in Manhattan, where he faced the deaths of many friends from complications from AIDS, the gay storyteller and wanderer moves […]
The author has spent over a decade teaching her writing method to a variety of audiences, helping to prompt procrastinators or aspiring writers who don’t know how to get started. The steps cover topics including generating ideas; developing characters, settings, and plots; and drafting and revision. Each day’s agenda begins with “warmups,” moves on to […]
Sometime after the 2030s, in an age of widespread economic and social global turmoil, Earth’s commercial exploitation of space becomes the “Next Big Thing” and hope for a bright tomorrow. Charles Sorrel, an erstwhile astronaut who “washed out” of the program, is eking out a living (and paying alimony) by putting together shady deals for […]
From author and comedian Raskin comes a sincere examination of the laws, history, and social norms surrounding Western society’s expectations for a successful relationship and marriage. Drawing on personal experience as well as interviews and first-person stories from American couples, she explores the cultural effects of marriage and how modern-day relationships continually change and evolve. […]
Newly 15-year-old Cat really wants her new girlfriend, Morgan, to get along with her friends, but they’re just not gelling. English Cat is part of the fashion-conscious, makeup-wearing group surrounding her school’s queen bee, Siobhan, while Irish Morgan hangs with an edgier, goth-leaning cohort. To make matters worse, Morgan and Siobhan are both running for […]
In each of these 40 stories, family pulls at the characters in different ways. In “Mother, False,” it’s in a fantastical way, extra hands growing out of her body after her mother dies and she must take over that role in the household. In “There Are Places That Will Fill You Up,” a girl leaves […]
Rebecca Lee Crumpler was born in 1831 to free parents in Delaware. Little is known about her childhood except that, early on, she went to live with an aunt in Philadelphia who raised her. When Rebecca was 17, she enrolled in the West Newton English and Classical School in Massachusetts. In Boston, she worked as […]