Brattleboro resident Karen Hesse won a Macarthur Fellowship, the so called "genius grant," last year. She's written picture books for young children and serious novels for teenagers. In many of her books, Karen explores some of the toughest issues society faces- racism, nuclear accidents, poverty -in ways children can understand. Her 1998 book, Out of the Dust, about the dust bowl of the 1930's won the Newbury award.
Rebroadcast from October 2002.
