Books

Book News: Illinois School Board Restores 'Perks Of Being A Wallflower'

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:10:00 +0000

The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.

A school board in Glen Ellyn, Ill., has voted to restore Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being A Wallflower to shelves, after a parent's complaint led to its removal from Hadley Junior High School earlier this year. The ban prompted a public outcry for the book's return that had the support of Are You There God?

What Kids Are Reading, In School And Out

Lynn Neary — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 21:16:00 +0000
Walk into any bookstore or library, and you'll find shelves and shelves of hugely popular novels and book series for kids. But research shows that as young readers get older, they are not moving to more complex books. High-schoolers are reading books written for younger kids, and teachers aren't assigning difficult classics as much as they once did.
At Woodrow Wilson High School in Washington, D.C., the 11th-grade honors English students are reading The Kite Runner. And students like Megan Bell are reading some heavy-duty books in their spare time.

Book News: Sales Of Orwell's '1984' Spike After NSA Revelations

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 11:16:00 +0000
The daily lowdown on books, publishing, and the occasional author behaving badly.
As of this morning, Amazon sales of George Orwell's dystopian novel 1984 had jumped 6,021 percent in just 24 hours, to No. 213 on Amazon's bestseller list. As NPR's Alan Greenblatt recently pointed out, many people have found uncomfortable resonances between Orwell's "Big Brother" state and the news that broke last week of U.S. government surveillance programs.

Living In A Wildfire Zone? Get Prepared Now

Erin OToole — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 14:42:21 +0000

Sunday marked one year since the start of the High Park Fire, which ultimately destroyed 259 homes northwest of Fort Collins. Hot weather now has many Coloradans thinking about this year’s wildfire season.

In 'Shocked,' Patricia Volk Honors Two Formative Femmes

Susan Stamberg — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 12:09:00 +0000
If you walked into New York's Morgen's Restaurant in the 1950s, you'd be greeted at the door by a perfectly dressed and powdered blonde who'd smilingly show you to your table and hand over a menu. That hostess, Audrey Elaine Morgen Volk, is at the center of her daughter Patricia Volk's new memoir, Shocked: My Mother, Schiaparelli, And Me.