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May 1, 2013 Dr. Gregory McGriff, a black doctor in a largely white community, says gaining his patients' trust requires him to spend more time and "communicate a little bit more" than his white colleagues. He says that disparity, while seeming unfair, has helped to make him a better doctor.

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On Morning EditionPlaylist

March 13, 2013 Back behind the mic in her new role as NPR Host & Special Correspondent, Michele Norris has set her heart (and ear) on the powerful collection of six-word essays submitted by NPR listeners for The Race Card Project. Read on for more about the project and other insights from the familiar NPR voice.

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February 28, 2013 Long before James Prosek became a world-famous artist and naturalist, he was a kid who used art as a way to work through the ups and downs of childhood. "When I went into the woods, it was the first time that I felt like something was mine," he says.

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February 1, 2013 NPR's Backseat Book Club takes the yellow brick road back to its origins with L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900.

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December 10, 2012 NPR's Backseat Book Club polled children's booksellers and librarians to find 2012's best books for middle-graders. The winners are a heartwarming city kid's tale, a Chinese folklore-inspired adventure, and an encounter with a 10-year-old you'll never forget.

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November 2, 2012 In 1877, Anna Sewell wrote a novel about human kindness and cruelty — all from the point of view of a horse. In the decades since, Black Beauty has been embraced by generations of children, and has helped change the way we treat and think about horses.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist

November 1, 2012 Former schoolteacher Rick Riordan delivers a lesson in ancient Egyptian history cleverly disguised as a hair-raising kids adventure. Carter and Sadie Kane have no idea they are descended from age-old sorcerers until their archaeologist father accidentally unleashes ancient gods into modern society.

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May 31, 2012 Back in 2009, our interview with author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney sparked the idea for a special NPR book club for kids. So it's only fitting that NPR's Backseat Book Club will read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Kinney's beloved cartoon staring Greg Heffley, a beleaguered middle-schooler.

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April 24, 2012 Margi Preus' Heart of a Samurai tells the story of Manjiro, a fisherman's son who dreams of becoming a samurai. When his boat is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan, he embarks on a series of adventures that turn his dreams into reality.

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March 26, 2012 Seedfolks follows the interconnected stories of 13 people whose lives are changed when they begin to care for a neglected community garden. Author Paul Fleischman said he found inspiration for Seedfolks close to home; at his childhood home in Los Angeles, his parents were dedicated urban farmers.

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February 29, 2012 In March, we turn to swashbuckling adventure and head-scratching conundrums in The Mysterious Benedict Society. Trenton Lee Stewart tells the story of four genius kids on a secret mission to save the world. Don't be surprised when young readers grab pen and paper to work out the puzzles and riddles by hand.

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January 26, 2012 This month, NPR's Backseat Book Club will read two books that explore what it's like to try to create a new home while still missing the one you've left behind. Join us as we read Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai and The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes.

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December 20, 2011 Christopher Paul Curtis tells the story of a Michigan family traveling south to Alabama during the height of the civil rights movement. Curtis composed the novel in his head while working on automobile assembly lines in Flint, Mich.

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December 8, 2011 Since starting NPR's Backseat Book Club, Michele Norris has been swimming in "kid lit." The five stories on her year-end list will seep into your heart and leave you thinking about the characters long after you've turned the final pages.

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December 7, 2011 In 1857, a group of American intellectuals founded The Atlantic and used it to challenge the institution of slavery. Now, on the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's beginning, a new issue of the magazine reaches back to a time when slavery — and the future of the United States — was still an open question.

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On All Things ConsideredPlaylist