Plants make rain, writes ecologist Gaudet, author of The Pharaoh’s Treasure: The Origin of Paper and the Rise of Western Civilization (2018). Forty percent or more of precipitation over land originates through evaporation from plants and trees. When vegetation is cleared, evaporation plummets, seasons come later, temperatures rise, and rainfall diminishes. Ten thousand years ago, […]
Rachel Del Rio describes herself as “42, childless and single,” and while her comedy career is thriving and her lesbian best friend, Scout McDonough, is supportive, she’s insecure about her personal life. She’s reluctant to attend her 20th college reunion—everyone “who isn’t gay or a crackpot is married with kids.” Rachel finds an unsigned love […]
On a spring day in 2001, a couple brought their 6-year-old granddaughter, Haley, on a hike with friends to Cave Mountain, in Arkansas’ Buffalo National River Wilderness. As author Hale (The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, 2011) relates, this was followed was the largest manhunt in the state’s history. Days after being found by locals, Haley […]
BeBe enjoys her comfortable life as a caterpillar, munching leaves and crawling wherever she pleases. But after waking up with wings and long legs, her world suddenly feels “strange.” She can no longer “crunch on her favorite milkweed or clover” and feels uncomfortable when “her big wings [follow] her everywhere.” The story uses BeBe’s transformation […]
What’s unsaid often leaves the strongest impression, as Tye suggests in this unflinching account of growing up in 1970s Texas. The book’s title nods to the Austin neighborhood where his father moved him and his brother, Kenny, in June 1970. But the author’s hopes for stability there—after attending eight schools and living in 10 different […]
The Waga-Laga Bugs are a family of three beetles: one larger, blue-green, and roach-like; one pinky-orange and antlered; and one yellow and child-sized with glasses. More than anything, the Waga-Laga Bugs love to play. They try to convince the bees to join them, but they’re too busy preparing for a storm, as are the ants, […]
Seventeen-year-old Indigo “Indie” Watson is a star soccer player at her school in Meadow Creek, Pennsylvania, and she’s also the emotional cornerstone of her family. At a Saturday night party, Indie drinks too much with her friend and crush, “Boy X”; the next morning, she doesn’t remember what happened, but she suspects that he raped […]
It may seem an impossible task to convince white Southerners living in poverty—without adequate health care or affordable housing—that they benefit from white privilege, but Howard has spent a lifetime challenging entrenched fallacies and formidable foes. A lifelong activist and professional community organizer, Howard feels a deep connection with the working poor, the chemically addicted, […]
Bigsby met the playwright in the 1960s, founded the Arthur Miller Centre for American Studies at the University of East Anglia in 1989, and has written extensively about his life and work, so his questions throughout the book are knowledgeable, though there’s little new here. The devastating impact of the Great Depression is a constant […]
Orion Casey lives for music, but she won’t sing in public. She developed a phobia after her frenemy, Melissa Rae, and her minions openly mocked Orion’s singing voice. So while Melissa Rae takes the spotlight in their school’s musical production, Orion is just fine working backstage. Her self-esteem gets a welcome boost from an unlikely […]