When we talk today about receptiveness to stories, we tend to contrast that attitude to one governed by reason – we talk about freeing ourselves from the shackles of the rational mind and that sort...

magic” of friendship, art, community, and social activism. Although most of his books have not been published specifically for adolescents and young adults, nonetheless young readers find them and embrace them with particular passion. I’ve...

If I can get them to read, they do. I tell them: Stories are important.” And then he looked at me and smiled.

We rely upon the poets, the philosophers, and the playwrights to articulate what most of us can only feel, in joy or sorrow. They illuminate the thoughts for which we only grope; they give us...