Good biographies can serve as inspiration, giving readers a front-row seat on another person鈥檚 struggles.
鈥淓veryone is worthy of remembrance and ... every life is a gift,鈥� says biographer Megan Marshall, winner of this year鈥檚 Biography International Organization Award. 鈥淎nd what you do with that gift is up to you.鈥�
For Maria Deskur, CEO of Poland鈥檚 Universal Reading Foundation, giving books to Ukrainian refugee children an urgent priority.
Books can play a role in helping Ukrainian refugee children find a brief window of respite. A Polish literacy foundation is working to supply them.
"People don鈥檛 just walk out of a concentration camp and go back to living their lives,鈥� says Heather Green. "Maus" explains that lingering trauma.
By banning the Pulitzer Prize-winning 鈥淢aus,鈥� a Tennessee school district is removing an 鈥渁ccessible Holocaust story,鈥� says English teacher Heather Green.
As a textile artisan, tastemaker, and social reformer, William Morris wove his values into his work.
Our year鈥檚 best list draws on 12 months of reviews, author Q&As, and insights, which, this year, involved 36 reviewers assessing almost 250 books.
Literature creates opportunities for readers to discover commonalities with people who might seem quite different. Here鈥檚 how the Monitor selects what to recommend to readers.
鈥淣ew Kid鈥� author Jerry Craft, winner of the 2020 Newbery Medal, has said Texas challenges to his books have caused more people to pick them up.
In her coverage of Afghan refugees at a U.S. military base in Germany, Monitor reporter Anna Mulrine Grobe keeps an eye toward women鈥檚 perspectives.
In the book 鈥淪eeing Silicon Valley: Life Inside a Fraying America,鈥� Mary Beth Meehan鈥檚 photographs cross divides 鈥� of haves and have-nots.
Campus chaplains from across the religious spectrum chose a humanist and atheist to represent their group's interests to Harvard.
Author Amanda Ripley鈥檚 suggestions for 鈥渃omplicating the narrative鈥� help opposing sides let go of generalizations and actually hear each other.
Recent restoration of the Coca-Cola bottling plant in Indianapolis honors the original builders鈥� recognition of the utility of beauty.
Minneapolis teenager Darnella Frazier receives a special Pulitzer Prize for her courage and determination to record George Floyd鈥檚 killing on video.
Louisville鈥檚 Speed Art Museum brought together family members, Black artists, and activists in an exhibition to honor Breonna Taylor鈥檚 memory.
Ramadan brings Muslims together to pray and fast. Author Mustafa Akyol hopes to encourage greater openness to questioning among the faithful.
Dvo艡谩k鈥檚 lifting of melodic ideas from African American songs created expectations that limited the scope of Black classical music.
For the master artisans on 鈥淭he Repair Shop,鈥� pride of workmanship is in service to making something 鈥� and someone 鈥� whole.
