Hope can be cultivated in difficult times, and this week, we feature several books that highlight that truth. In The Backyard Bird Chronicles, Amy Tan's years-long birdwatching practice became a "balm" amid the "countless uncertainties" of the Covid-19 pandemic. And in Brother. Do. You. Love Me., a "life-affirming memoir" by Manni Coe and illustrated by Reuben Coe, two brothers reconnected and renewed their loving bond in response to the lockdowns. Meanwhile, for kids, Being Home by Traci Sorell is a "poetic" picture book about "family and finding one's own rhythms," illustrated with "delicate and strong" mixed-media art by Michaela Goade that has "spirited, sparkling colors and a keen sense of motion."
In The Writer's Life, YA authors E.K. Johnston and Meredith Adamo unpack some of the unrealistic expectations imposed on girls in their youth and how they gave their teen characters room to grow.