Michele Norris
Person Page
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Elysha O'Brien calls herself a "Mexican white girl." Not just because of her ethnically ambiguous appearance, she says, but also because she can't speak Spanish. Fearing their children would experience discrimination if they spoke Spanish, her parents chose not to teach them their native tongue.
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Dr. Gregory McGriff, a black doctor in a largely white community, says gaining his patients' trust requires him to spend more time and "communicate a little bit more" than his white colleagues. He says that disparity, while seeming unfair, has helped to make him a better doctor.
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NPR's Backseat Book Club takes the yellow brick road back to its origins with L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, published in 1900.
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NPR's Backseat Book Club polled children's booksellers and librarians to find 2012's best books for middle-graders. The winners are a heartwarming city kid's tale, a Chinese folklore-inspired adventure, and an encounter with a 10-year-old you'll never forget.
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In 1877, Anna Sewell wrote a novel about human kindness and cruelty — all from the point of view of a horse. In the decades since, Black Beauty has been embraced by generations of children, and has helped change the way we treat and think about horses.
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Former schoolteacher Rick Riordan delivers a lesson in ancient Egyptian history cleverly disguised as a hair-raising kids adventure. Carter and Sadie Kane have no idea they are descended from age-old sorcerers until their archaeologist father accidentally unleashes ancient gods into modern society.
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Back in 2009, our interview with author and cartoonist Jeff Kinney sparked the idea for a special NPR book club for kids. So it's only fitting that NPR's Backseat Book Club will read Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Kinney's beloved cartoon staring Greg Heffley, a beleaguered middle-schooler.
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Margi Preus' Heart of a Samurai tells the story of Manjiro, a fisherman's son who dreams of becoming a samurai. When his boat is shipwrecked off the coast of Japan, he embarks on a series of adventures that turn his dreams into reality.
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In March, we turn to swashbuckling adventure and head-scratching conundrums in The Mysterious Benedict Society. Trenton Lee Stewart tells the story of four genius kids on a secret mission to save the world. Don't be surprised when young readers grab pen and paper to work out the puzzles and riddles by hand.
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This month, NPR's Backseat Book Club will read two books that explore what it's like to try to create a new home while still missing the one you've left behind. Join us as we read Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai and The Hundred Dresses by Eleanor Estes.
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Christopher Paul Curtis tells the story of a Michigan family traveling south to Alabama during the height of the civil rights movement. Curtis composed the novel in his head while working on automobile assembly lines in Flint, Mich.
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Since starting NPR's Backseat Book Club, Michele Norris has been swimming in "kid lit." The five stories on her year-end list will seep into your heart and leave you thinking about the characters long after you've turned the final pages.