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A refugee at 4, he felt like a lost star. Now his voice shines in a graphic memoir

Omar Mohamed, left, and his brother, Hassan. In the graphic memoir he coauthored, When Stars Are Scattered, Mohamed shares what their life was like in the refugee camps in Kenya — and their journey to resettlement in the U.S. Omar Mohamed hide caption

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Omar Mohamed

Goats and Soda

A refugee at 4, he felt like a lost star. Now his voice shines in a graphic memoir

When Stars Are Scattered is the story of Omar Mohamed's years at a refugee camp in Kenya. He cared for his brother and found the courage to dream big. The book was a National Book Awards finalist.

Nicole Byer's '#VeryFat #VeryBrave' guide to bikini confidence

Comedian Nicole Byer performs onstage. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Turner hide caption

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Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for Turner

It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders

Nicole Byer's '#VeryFat #VeryBrave' guide to bikini confidence

Sam revisits his 2020 conversation with comedian and Nailed It! host Nicole Byer on her coffee table book: #VeryFat #VeryBrave: The Fat Girl's Guide to Being #Brave and Not a Dejected, Melancholy, Down-in-the-Dumps Weeping Fat Girl in a Bikini. They talk about home goods, drunken bravery, and learning to love yourself.

Nicole Byer's '#VeryFat #VeryBrave' guide to bikini confidence

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In song and poetry, 'Nina' and 'Just Us' offer ways to start a conversation on race
NPR

NPR's Book of the Day

In song and poetry, 'Nina' and 'Just Us' offer ways to start a conversation on race

After the protests last year, we heard the phrase "racial reckoning" a lot, as some groups of people struggled to catch up with what's just been reality for many others. This week we've got two books that might help you reckon with that reckoning, in two different ways: Traci Todd and illustrator Christian Robinson's bright and powerful picture book biography Nina: A Story of Nina Simone and poet Claudia Rankine's Just Us: An American Conversation, in which she puts together poetry, essays and images to bring readers into an uncomfortable but necessary conversation about race.

In song and poetry, 'Nina' and 'Just Us' offer ways to start a conversation on race

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Beloved children's author and wilderness enthusiast Gary Paulsen has died at 82

Gary Paulsen Brian Adams/Getty Images hide caption

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Brian Adams/Getty Images

Obituaries

Beloved children's author and wilderness enthusiast Gary Paulsen has died at 82

Gary Paulsen — whose wilderness adventure Hatchet taught generations of kids to survive in the forest — worked as a farmhand, truck driver and satellite technician before turning to writing.

Beloved children's author and wilderness enthusiast Gary Paulsen has died at 82

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Fiona Hill's new Trump-era memoir is less about Trump than it is about us
Mariner Books

NPR's Book of the Day

Fiona Hill's new Trump-era memoir is less about Trump than it is about us

In her memoir, Fiona Hill extends her riveting testimony from Donald Trump's first impeachment trial. And while she might not dish as much dirt as other Trump-era memoirists, the former senior National Security official writes movingly about Trump and about polarization and other threats to American democracy. She points to Russian history to suggest that distrust in government and political systems can lead to collapse. And while she describes Trump as the symptom of that division and distrust, she also says he put a spotlight on what needs fixing.

Fiona Hill's new Trump-era memoir is less about Trump than it is about us

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Why a literary magazine at the nation's oldest public hospital matters more than ever

A laboratory in New York City's Bellevue Medical Center on May 17, 1949. Gottscho-Schleisner Collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division hide caption

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Gottscho-Schleisner Collection, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division

Why a literary magazine at the nation's oldest public hospital matters more than ever

One of the world's most famous hospitals also houses a respected literary magazine focused on health and healing. The Bellevue Literary Review has seen an uptick of submissions during the pandemic.

Why a literary magazine at the nation's oldest public hospital matters more than ever

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Humor, horror and social commentary blend in Percival Everett's detective novel
Graywolf Press

NPR's Book of the Day

Humor, horror and social commentary blend in Percival Everett's detective novel

Percival Everett's page-turning new detective novel The Trees is at once gruesome and screamingly funny. A racial allegory rooted in southern history, the book features two big-city special detectives with the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation who are sent to investigate a small-town crime. The murders are hideous in detail, the language is rough, there are racial epithets of all kinds, and somehow the politically incendiary humor is real. Everett talks with NPR's Scott Simon about how — and why — he blended these styles.

Humor, horror and social commentary blend in Percival Everett's detective novel

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'Dear Memory' digs into the shame accompanying immigrant silence
Milkweed

Author Interviews

'Dear Memory' digs into the shame accompanying immigrant silence

Victoria Chang traces her family history through letter writing in her book, Dear Memory. In an NPR interview, she talks facing micro and macro aggressions and staying silent, just like her parents.

'Dear Memory' digs into the shame accompanying immigrant silence

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Superman's son comes out as bisexual in a new comic. It's a big deal — sort of

In November's Superman: Son of Kal-El #5, (written by Tom Taylor, art by John Timms), Jonathan Kent, son of Clark, will get a boyfriend. DC Comics hide caption

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DC Comics

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Superman's son comes out as bisexual in a new comic. It's a big deal — sort of

DC Comics announced that Superman's teenage son will be romantically involved with a male friend in a comic to be published in November. It's a growing trend.

Superman's son comes out as bisexual in a new comic. It's a big deal — sort of

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Myriam J.A. Chancy's historical novel about a Haitian earthquake hits on human truths
Tin House Books

NPR's Book of the Day

Myriam J.A. Chancy's historical novel about a Haitian earthquake hits on human truths

Back in August, Myriam J.A. Chancy was preparing for the release of her novel What Storm, What Thunder when the news broke: a magnitude 7.2 earthquake had hit Haiti. It was a "chilling and bittersweet" moment, she says; her soon-to-be-published book revolved around the 2010 earthquake that devastated the country, and its aftermath. In this episode, she talks to NPR's Scott Simon about the eerie similarities between the two quakes, how her characters speak to how international relief efforts have historically failed Haiti, and what the world can learn from the country's rebuilding efforts.

Myriam J.A. Chancy's historical novel about a Haitian earthquake hits on human truths

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Rep. Schiff reveals impeachment regrets, tensions on Capitol Hill after insurrection

Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., speaks during the House select committee hearing in July on the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill in Washington. Jim Lo Scalzo/AP hide caption

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Jim Lo Scalzo/AP

Author Interviews

Rep. Schiff reveals impeachment regrets, tensions on Capitol Hill after insurrection

In a wide-ranging interview with NPR's Michel Martin, Rep. Adam Schiff discusses his regrets from President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial and his relationship with his GOP colleagues.

Rep. Schiff reveals impeachment regrets, tensions on Capitol Hill after insurrection

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