Martha Anne Toll

'Forgottenness' wrestles with the meaning of Ukrainian identity — and time

Martha Anne Toll

In writer Tanja Maljartschuk's novel, the narrator's malaise and weakening attachment to time serve as a metaphor for today's Ukraine, as well as for other struggling democracies, including our own.

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'Children of the State' examines the American juvenile justice system

Martha Anne Toll

In a new book, Jeff Hobbs, author of The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace, looks at the evolution of the juvenile justice system in America — primarily through people, not statistics.

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NPR's Nina Totenberg offers a window into her world in 'Dinners with Ruth'

Martha Anne Toll

The reporter's memoir takes readers on a jaunt through her captivating life and career, nose for the jugular, forthrightness about her joys and sorrows — and the history of women in the workplace.

A woman finds as many constraints in America as at home in India in 'Border Less'

Martha Anne Toll

The character in Namrata Poddar's novel works in a call center and dreams of a new life in the U.S. but once there, she and other emigrants feel "othered" at work and in daily life.

<em>Names for Light: A Family History,</em> by Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint

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Immigration And Prejudice, Colonialism And Inheritance At Heart Of 'Names For Light'

Martha Anne Toll

Thirii Myo Kyaw Myint's second book reads like poetry, an embodied experience of exquisite reflections on family and rootedness and deracination and sorrow and love.

I Named My Dog Pushkin (And Other Immigrant Tales): Notes From a Soviet Girl on Becoming an American Woman, by Margarita Gokum Silver

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A Russian Immigrant To The U.S. Humorously Recounts Her Experience, Love For America

Martha Anne Toll

It's a particular pleasure to see our splintered country through the eyes of Margarita Gokun Silver, a determined and appreciative emigree, in 'I Named My Dog Pushkin.'

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These Stories Dance Deftly Between America And Cameroon

Martha Anne Toll

In her debut collection Walking On Cowrie Shells, Nana Nkweti bends language like a master, delivering keenly observed details and wicked humor no matter which side of the Atlantic she's on.