When Gaspar Ruiz, a widowed nobleman from neighboring Domingo, comes to Kindred Orphanage and offers to adopt 17-year-old Cataleya Donant, she’s hesitant—until he says the magic word: revenge. Witches killed many people, including Ruiz’s family, before being exiled from Domingo. And Cata wants to exact justice against the longtime friend who betrayed her; Sebastjan Arroyo […]
A redheaded child describes his “busy body,” including his green eyes that help him see, his nose that helps him smell warm, fresh-baked cookies, and his mouth, with which he laughs, yawns, and enjoys eating his favorite treats. He counts the hairs on his baby brother Paul’s head, swims, jumps, and plays sports, and he […]
The author immigrated from Romania to the United States in 1902, when he was 8 years old. In this work, he looks back at growing up in New York City’s Lower East Side in an Orthodox Jewish family. Following Parker from his arrival at Ellis Island to his family’s struggles running a grocery store, readers […]
After teacher Vasant Dashpande published a “revolutionary newsletter that railed against the injustices of the British occupiers,” he was nearly beaten to death by soldiers in British India. He heads to Bellingham, Washington, to escape the authorities and earn money working in a lumber mill. Upon arrival, he and his younger sister, Vinita (who joined […]
Worsley was the chief curator of Britain’s Historic Royal Palaces for more than two decades and thus has a unique frame of reference on her subject. A political, social, and royal history, her book is braided with personal anecdotes. She recounts stories of the palaces’ “human inhabitants, all of them, high and low,” and she […]
The book’s opening essay, “Breakfast for Dinner,” sets the tone for the rest of the work with its blend of childhood trauma, comedic storytelling, and poignant reflections. The essay opens with the inaugural family dinner in Staples’ new home. In attendance with his wife and in-laws was the author’s mother, who (with “the calm of […]
Having recovered from adventures related to a prankster co-worker, Marty Moose (so named because of an unfortunate ink blot on his birth certificate) is ready to enjoy his day off. And what better way to relax than to attend the Annual Little Ditch Fastest Feathers Race, where birds compete for a solid gold egg? But […]
After Jules’ dad gets a job in Texas, she’s uprooted from everything and everyone she loves in Chicago. Then she discovers that Dad has decided to foster a “miniature moose” of a dog, Sparky, who’s soon taking up her bed—and Jules doesn’t even like dogs. On top of that, her mercurial schoolmate and next-door neighbor, […]
The 10-year-old fraternal twins face yet another fractured holiday with not even a Christmas tree in sight. Their parents, born Billy Clement and Sam Valentine, dated briefly but never married and, as friends, have raised the girls, even taking on their melded last name. The sisters dream of a Christmas with all four Clementines together, […]
The story begins with Wifredo Lam’s childhood in a small Cuban village, where he shared a home with seven older siblings, his Chinese Cuban papá, and his African-Taíno-Spanish-Cuban mamá. His papá’s calligraphy work and his godmother’s Santería ceremonies formed the first major influences on the budding artist, whose predilection for sketching and drawing arose at […]