Terry Gross

Clinical psychologist Aaron Kipnis works with at-risk young men. He's the author of the book "Angry Young Men: How Parents, Teachers, and Counselors Can Help 'Bad Boys' Become Good Men." (Newman Communications). Kipnis was also an at-risk young man. He was a foster child, and ran away from home when his stepfather beat him. This led to his involvement In the juvenile justice system. A sympathetic counselor helped him find his way to a halfway house, then to an education, and a way out of the life he led.

Loung Ung is the author of the memoir, “First They Killed My Father: a daughter of Cambodia remembers” (HarperCollins). UNG’s father had been a high-ranking government official, but in 1975 when Pol Pot’s Khmer Rouge invaded Phnom Pen, her family fled, hiding in villages as peasants. But eventually her father was taken away and killed, and the family disperses to survive. Ung was seven years old and sent to a work camp, trained as a child soldier. Now UNG is National Spokesperson for the “Campaign for a Landmine Free World.”

Children’s book writer Christopher Curtis has become the first writer to receive the prestigious Newberry Medal and the Coretta Scott King Author award for his book, “Bud, Not Buddy.” (Delacorte press). The story, set in the Depression Era, is about an orphan boy and his search for a home. Curtis is also the first African-American to win the Newbery Medal in 22 years. And he’s also author of “The Watsons Go to Birmingham” which was singled out for many awards. Before becoming a writer, CURTIS worked on an automobile assembly line in Flint, Michigan.