Miramar, FL. — Agent Sasco is known to reach his audience through his music. As a dancehall artist and entertainer of many years, fans have listened to his words over a beat, now the 38-year-old native of Jamaica will be speaking to an audience through words in a keynote speech at the launch of Pete Kennedy’s bestselling book “When a Man Loves – A Lifestyle & Leadership Most Men Will Never Experience”.

In the grocery store a few days ago, I inadvertently climbed aboard the following train of thought:

Living through a pandemic, with movement restricted, we all yearn for places and people who are out of reach. This feeling has long been familiar to me. As a child of immigrants from Pakistan, I felt my parents' ache for their homeland, although they had settled happily into life in the U.S.

When I was a writing student in undergrad, my fiction professor's maxim was, "Tweak up the tension." It's taken me years to figure that out, and what I think it means is best exemplified in a few of my favorite books of late.

It would be only a slight exaggeration to say that I read my very first poem five months ago, on October 3, 2020--a poem from Marosa di Giorgio's scalp-tingling collection about loss, I Remember Nightfall (Ugly Duckling Presse, $20). I recall a seventh-grade textbook that featured a poem by Edna St. Vincent Millay and, later, because of the person I was dating, perhaps something by Sharon Olds. It wasn't until completing in one long go Proust's In Search of Lost Time and I asked, what could I possibly read next? that I realized what the gift of this bizarre life-long desire to resist poetry has left me with in middle age: wide-open reading country.

It's been little more than a decade since Leslie Jamison's work began to attract attention, but in that time, she's established her preeminence in the field of creative nonfiction, as exemplified by these three books. 

The Florentine Renaissance is best known for its magnificent art and buildings, which include works by Michelangelo and da Vinci and structures like the Dome cathedral and the Basilica of San Lorenzo. But at the time, Florence flourished in other ways not as well known.

When you think of National Poetry Month, you probably think of folks like Robert Frost, Edgar Allan Poe and William Shakespeare. As a teacher, you probably think of having your scholars make acrostic poems or try their hand at the dreaded sonnet. But I believe poetry can be so much more than the "classics" we've taught year after year--especially as we celebrate the 25th anniversary of National Poetry Month. With new influencers like Amanda Gorman and Rupi Kaur coming onto the scene in the last few years, the idea of what is poetry and who is considered a poet is evolving.

I declare 2021 the year of the houseplant. There is a longing for the calming influence of greenery in my indoor spaces. A charming fiddle leaf fig tree for the living room, the whispery abundance of ferns overflowing in the study and a miniature lemon tree to cheer up the kitchen. Maybe even a tropical-leaved money tree, officially known as pachira aquatica, for the entrance hall, why not!

As Earth Day approaches and the soil begins to bring forth its riches, Natalie Baszile's We Are Each Other's Harvest: Celebrating African American Farmers, Land, and Legacy (Amistad, $29.99) calls to mind the complex relationship humans--especially African Americans--have with the land.

Independent booksellers across the country have chosen Libertie: A Novel by Kaitlyn Greenidge (Algonquin Books) as their top pick for the April 2021 Indie Next List.

Though the 2021 Youth Media Awards are behind us, I'd like to highlight some wonderful board books by past Caldecott medalists and honorees. Let's celebrate awards season for just a bit longer!