Books | Used.org

WITH A BUTTERFLY’S WINGS

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The girl narrates, describing her grandmother’s teachings about the creatures and blossoms they see on their walks. She learns about the colors of swallows and swifts and that hummingbirds build their nests with moss and spiderwebs. Her grandmother teaches her to identify the songs of blue herons and robins. Grandma’s hand-weaving skills are a central motif: As the pair (both White) gaze at finches, the girl exclaims: “Grandma, it looks like you wove them with your red thread!” In Celej’s … Read the rest

WINSLOW HOMER

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Drawing on abundant scholarship and archival sources, Cross chronicles in vibrant detail the career, travels, friendships, and prolific output of Winslow Homer (1836-1910). With no diaries and few letters available to document much of his subject’s life, Cross speculates about what the artist “may have” or “appears to have” done or felt. But the author is so deeply cognizant of 19th-century art, history, and material culture that his inferences are thoroughly persuasive. Growing up in Boston, Homer was encouraged by … Read the rest

BEING YOU

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Bolstered by personal statements and advice from dozens of interviewees in their midteens to mid-20s—including one who discusses his transition, another who is gay and Black, a little person, and a 15-year-old with diabetes—the co-authors, academics from the field of psychology, urge readers to be comfortable in their own skins rather than trying to be like celebrities, influencers, or professional athletes. The approach isn’t so much “anything goes” as common-sensical; aside from occasional strictures against, for instance, nutritional supplements, sexting, … Read the rest

WAYS TO DIE IN TOKYO

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American expatriate Hank Fisher once dreamed about becoming a full-fledged MMA fighter and living a comfortable life with his family in Tokyo, but things have not quite worked out. Two years after his wife, Lisa, took off with their twin sons, Justin and James, following a bitter divorce, Fisher is still struggling to make ends meet, his career all but extinguished. The private investigator he hired to find his family needs more money, but Fisher doesn’t have it. So when … Read the rest

KHABAAR

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“Food comforts a need that connects us across borders,” writes Ghosh in this well-turned collection of essays combining cuisine with social and personal politics. As a child, the author moved with her family from eastern India to Delhi, and the cultural shock—bigger crowds, different flavors than her Bengali upbringing—prompts her fond recall of food-shopping trips with her father and her lifelong efforts to access the foods she loved most growing up. (The book contains a handful of recipes.) But food, … Read the rest

PICTURE BOOK: There’s an N on Your Nose

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When a koala wakes, there’s a letter N balancing on the animal’s nose. A penguin looks down at the T on its toes. As the poem progresses, an elephant, a lion cub, a monkey, a giraffe, some quokkas, and more get ready for school as letters dance across the pages, spelling out whatever part of the body the poem describes. Maris’ illustrations position the first letters of words directly on the animal, with the rest of the word dangling from … Read the rest