NPR's Book of the Day Folgen

You've probably seen it: Reese Witherspoon playing ambitious, throat-cutting Tracy Flick in the 1999 movie Election. It's the film adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel of the same name. Now, Perrotta has written a sequel called Tracy Flick Can't Win. In it, we meet Tracy Flick in middle age and just a tad bit away from accomplishing her high school dreams of becoming president of the United States. In an interview with All Things Considered, Perrotta told Sascha Pfiffer that he wanted to revisit this character's story to reflect on ambition, success, and the softening that happens in middle age.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Keri Blakinger says there are no rules behind bars. In 2010, she was arrested on a drug charge and spent two years in prison. And although that statement might sound counterintuitive, Blakinger says that inside the prison, no one is watching when it matters. In her memoir Corrections in Ink, she writes about her path from high-achieving teenager to incarcerated woman to reporter and writer. In an interview with Ailsa Chang on All Things Considered, she says reporting on the prison system has been meaningful because she gets to amplify the stories of those who are just where she used to be.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Inspired by a true story from Oakland, California, Leila Mottley's first novel follows a young Black girl who is sexually abused by a group of police officers. Kiara is a 17-year-old girl who comes from a fractured, poor family, and the novel follows her story as she attempts to survive and thrive navigating so much with so little protection. In an interview with Ayesha Roscoe on Weekend Edition Sunday, Mottley talked about the rich internal world she created for her main character, adding nuance to the storylines of poor characters, and the media coverage of the case that inspired her book.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy