Teen ‘Rapture’: An author revisits his strict religious KC upbringing

“Rapture Practice” is not exactly a tribute to Aaron Hartzler’s fundamentalist Christian parents. It’s more along the lines of one of those “I survived my wacky family” tell-alls, although Hartzler takes care not to lampoon his folks. Amazon is featuring the book this month as a “best teen book.”

Walk on the ‘Wild’ side: Backpacking saves writer’s life

How long do you allow your life to spiral lower and lower before you shake and shudder and decide you must make a move? Any move. For writer Cheryl Strayed it was four years, from the death of her 45-year-old mother to her decision to backpack solo across the remote, mountainous terrain of the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995.

‘The Slippage’ finds the cracks and loose ends in suburbia

“The Slippage” opens on the evening of a party in a generic, cookie-cutter suburban neighborhood, laid out like a model train display in a department store window. William and Louisa Day, a financial writer and museum worker, respectively, live on a cul-de-sac where “the houses were all one-story,” a neighbor jokes, “because that’s what they told.”

Caroline Kennedy to discuss poetry’s power Tuesday in KC

Caroline Kennedy, who will be at Unity Temple on the Plaza to discuss her new book, “Poems to Learn by Heart,” has known poetry for its potent and persuasive effects on family and country. Now she sees its power to change the lives of students in the New York City public schools.

An appreciation: Chinua Achebe, the voice of modern Africa

There are many legacies to Chinua Achebe’s remarkable career — as a novelist, as an activist, as a teacher, as a critic — but most important, he offered permission to half a century of writers, Africans and others, declaring forcefully and without apology that literature can encompass any and all stories.