Teacher and Author
Uprooted by Albert Marrin breaks many of the “rules” that I have, correctly or not, picked up from other nonfiction writers–or perhaps mostly from my critique group. I have been discouraged from shifting out of the historical narrative to refer … Continued
I read John Rocco’s How We Got to the Moon this summer, 10-12 pages a day until I had read all 250. David McCauley calls it “Nothing short of stunning!” on the cover. He’s right. The book has a lot … Continued
I picked up The Swerve to get closer to the Epicurean ideas of Lucretius. I expected an intellectual history. But Stephen Greenblatt’s book is not that. Or, it is not only that. It tells a very earthy story of how … Continued
Rip Van Winkles from our remembered past, link to an unsure future; prime number of years separating us from what has been and will be. Predictable: no arcane algorithm, just layman’s addition. A city composed of those … Continued
CICADAS Ceding seclusion, They escape their dank caves of seventeen years, Scrape and dig unaided skyward, Seek the shady side of leaf or stick, Stick there upside-down all day, Squeeze achingly, red eyes wide, Discarding nymph’s husk: A sacred … Continued
THIS IS NOT A HISTORY BOOK. THIS IS A BOOK ABOUT THE HERE AND NOW. A BOOK ABOUT RACE. So the publisher announces on the back of Jason Reynolds‘ and Ibram X. Kendi’s Stamped. Jacqueline Woodson blurbs: “Stamped is the … Continued