The author of the popular Lemony Snicket books discusses his love of strange literature and reflects on his life experiences in an entertaining memoir that also serves as inspiration for aspiring writers.

Empowering and educational, this nonfiction picture book about James Weldon Johnson, an NAACP leader who wrote the uplifting poem "Lift Every Voice and Sing," shows how he led thousands of Black people in the Silent Protest Parade for civil rights down New York's Fifth Avenue.

Offers an intimate and expansive look at Judy Blume's life, work and cultural impact, focusing on her most iconic--and controversial--young adult novels, from Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret to Blubber.

"Sara Mayfield was born into Alabama's governing elite in 1905 and grew up in a social circle that included Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald, Sara Haardt Mencken, and Tallulah and Eugenia Bankhead. A precocious child, Mayfield befriended H. L. Mencken in college, then visited with the Fitzgeralds and hobnobbed with the literati while traveling in Europe after a failed marriage in the 1920s. Returning to Alabama during the Depression, she briefly ran the family...

"A nonfiction picture book on the life of August Wilson"--

"In certain circles, her name inspires immediate recognition and pronouncements of a committed admiration that has likely spanned decades. As an author, Marguerite Henry was indeed remarkably prolific, with 59 books published, millions of copies sold, and nearly 80 years of her life spent writing them-or responding personally to the stacks of fan mail she received-at her typewriter. Her books, most meticulously researched historical fiction about...

"Legendary picture book creator Barbara Cooney once noticed that the library in her little town by the sea needed attention. A library, she knew, should be a kind of paradise. And because Barbara did whatever she set her mind to, she made it one. Barbara Cooney set her mind to lots of things--none so dear as capturing the beauty of the world in her paintings. These paintings would form the setting for her award-winning picture books, including Chanticleer...

"A nuanced, passionate exploration of the life and work of one of the most misunderstood writers of the twentieth century. Sylvia Plath is an object of enduring cultural fascination--the troubled patron saint of confessional poetry, a writer whose genius is buried under the weight of her status as the quintessential literary sad girl. Emily Van Duyne--a superfan and scholar--radically reimagines the last years of Plath's life, confronts her suicide...

The first section, "Portrait of an Invisible Man," reveals Auster's memories and feelings after the death of his father, a distant, undemonstrative, almost cold man. As he attends to his father's business affairs and sifts through his effects, Auster uncovers a sixty-year-old family murder mystery that sheds light on his father's elusive character. In "The Book of Memory," the perspective shifts from Auster's identity as son to his role as father....