I have a tremendous aversion to reading about torture. I can’t stand slasher flicks or brutality in movies either, particularly if it’s detailed. So I sweated and squirmed through the beginning of Colson Whitehead’s incredible new novel, The Underground Railroad, in which runaway slaves from an 1820s Georgia plantation are recaptured and subjected to unfathomably brutal, disgusting punishments. While I’d love to believe not every pre-civil-war plantation owner was a full-on s

In honor of the first day of school, I'm including a snippet from my upcoming novel, which I'm hoping will resonate with anyone who has ever suffered a dysfunctional morning with their school-aged children. (That's everyone, right? Right??) This excerpt may or may not make it into the final version of the book, but I read it to my own children, and--not having mastered the concept of irony--they found it hilarious. Hope you enjoy. Disclaimer: This certainly would never occur

Note from Kimmery: All middle-grade books with boy protagonists are reviewed by my 10 year-old son, Alex. This book is about a boy named Cheesie Mack, and he and his sister are having a contest to see who has the most points by the end of the summer. Cheese’s sister’s name is June but Cheesie calls her Goon. To get points you have to make an embarrassing moment happen to your sister/brother. In camp, a border separates the boys side from the girls side. Cheesie and his best f

Today, I'd like to introduce you to Nadia Hashimi, and her brilliant book, A House without Windows, which is the story of a woman accused of murder in Afghanistan. So let’s begin with a brief, brief, brief history of Afghanistan. Okay, I can see you convulsing in the grip of a torturous flashback to 9th grade World Civ, but hold up. Don't click away. I promise this is relevant; it will take 45 seconds to read and then you’ll be able to contribute semi-knowledgeably at dinner

Last week was the most exciting week of my life. At noon, I slipped out of the conference I was attending in Midtown Manhattan and walked to 5th Avenue to catch a cab. (Well, to be precise, I walked to 7th Avenue, because I am afflicted with Geographic Opposite Syndrome and generally go 180 degrees in the wrong direction when navigating anywhere.) I managed to hail a cab with broken air conditioning—in near-100 degree heat—for the half hour ride to the West Village, but whate

Bear with me, because at first this is going to sound like a hard sell. I want you to read about the torture of twins at Auschwitz, the suppression of women in Afghanistan, and the straight-up nerdy field of geobiology. I know about half of you stopped reading after that last sentence, and ran shrieking to your computer to click on 10 Celebrities Who Look Like Crap or whatever, but I’m hoping I can convince the rest of you to hear me out. I’ve just read these three exquisite,

The Gilded Age of New York. Suburban secrets among the picket-fence set. An 1800’s shipwreck in the Carolinas carrying a famous daughter. Elvis. What do these topics have in common? They’re all subjects of new novels by Charlotte authors: the irrepressible, incredibly talented members of Authors out of Carolina, a local writer’s group. Imagine for a moment that you had to take these topics and spin them into hundreds of thousands of words in a way that manages not just to be