John Boehner Reflects On Time Spent In 'Crazytown'

Plus: Rock duo Opal & Nev, 'Hear My Voice,' and our Critics' Picks by Petra Mayer [Boehner image]( David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images John Boehner says in his new memoir, On The House, he sometimes went along with things he personally opposed because it was what members of his party wanted. Even still, [he told Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep]( that he couldn't win an election as a Republican these days: "I think I'd have a pretty tough time," he says. "I'm a conservative Republican, but I'm not crazy. And, you know, these days crazy gets elected. On the left and the right." [You can also check out Susan Davis's review here.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Newsletter continues after sponsor message --------------------------------------------------------------- [Making of Biblical Womanhood image]( White evangelical women are often taught that their calling is to be passive in the church, to be submissive to their husbands, and to stay out of the pulpit. Historian Beth Allison Barr [tells Rachel Martin]( host of Morning Edition, history says otherwise. In her new book, The Making of Biblical Womanhood: How the Subjugation of Women Became Gospel Truth, Barr traces how the patriarchy has erased women's historical importance as faith leaders. [Opal and Nev image]( First time novelist Dawnie Walton has created such a realistic account of a rock duo in her novel, The Final Revival of Opal And Nev, that [Fresh Air's Maureen Corrigan]( had to double check this was fiction: "That's how authentic this odd novel feels, composed, as it is, out of a pandemonium of fictional interviews, footnotes, talk-show transcripts, letters and editor's notes." The premise of The Final Revival of Opal & Nev is this: In 2015, a journalist named "Sunny" Curtis becomes the first African American editor-in-chief of a Rolling Stone type magazine. Sunny decides that her first big "get" will be a book-length interview with Opal Jewel and Nev Charles. They're an interracial rock duo who struck it big in the early '70s and were immortalized by a photograph taken of them after a racially fueled riot broke out at one of their performances. [Hear My Voice/Escucha Mi Voz image]( Adriana Campos/Workman Publishing "We entered the United States by crossing the Rio Grande on a raft that started to sink. I got wet up to my waist." Attorney Warren Binford traveled to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility in Clint, Texas in 2019. After that visit, Binford started a nonprofit dedicated to strengthening legal protections for children in custody. On its website, visitors can read sworn testimony from dozens of children and teenagers. But Binford ran into a problem: She says the children's stories were just too harrowing to hold an audience. Her solution: a picture book. Hear My Voice/Escucha Mi Voz, published in both English and Spanish, features excerpts of the testimonies, paired with art by award-winning illustrators who are Latinx. "My little sister and I came from Honduras," reads a page with illustrations of children sleeping in a wire cage. The artist has depicted them with birds' heads. [Read more from Anya Kamenetz.]( [Warren Binford's picture book includes an illustration of detained children depicted as caged birds. (Excerpted from Hear My Voice/Escucha mi voz. Foreword by Michael Garcia Bochenek; Compiled by Warren Binford; Workman Publishing. Copyright 2021.)]( Juan Palomino/Workman Publishing Lastly we have our critics' picks: Jason Heller reviewed I Have Been Buried Under Years of Dust, a memoir co-written by Valerie Gilpeer and Emily Grodin, [which he describes as]( "heartbreaking and uplifting in equal measure." Emily was born with autism, and Valerie — along with her husband Tom — have spent the 25 years of Emily's life bringing her to various therapists, praying for a breakthrough. [Heller McAlpin says]( Elizabeth McCracken's collection of stories, The Souvenir Museum, is never dull. The first story, "The Irish Wedding," found her having to explain to her husband why she was laughing so hard. And, lastly, [Ilana Masad reviewed]( Lauren Houghs first book, a collection of essays titled, Leaving Isn't The Hardest Thing. Masad says "each of [the essays is] more revealing and honest than the next." [Buried image]( [Souvenir image]( [Leaving image]( — Happy reading! --------------------------------------------------------------- Stream your local NPR station. Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream. --------------------------------------------------------------- What do you think of today's email? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions and feedback: [books@npr.org](mailto:books@npr.org?subject=Newsletter%20Feedback) Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can [sign up here](. Looking for more great content? [Check out all of our newsletter offerings]( — including Music, Pop Culture, Code Switch and more! You received this message because you're subscribed to Books emails. 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