Did the economic stimulus program amount to a costly failure, or save the U.S. from a depression? ProPublica investigative reporter Michael Grabell's new book explains how the 2009 stimulus package was passed and what happened to taxpayers' money.

The American Library Association granted its 2012 Coretta Scott King Author Award to Kadir Nelson for his children's book Heart and Soul: The Story of America and African Americans. The award goes to authors who promote an appreciation of all cultures. Host Michel Martin speaks with Nelson, plus Chrystal Carr Jeter of the award committee.

In his book Glock: The Rise of America's Gun, Paul Barrett traces how the sleek, high-capacity Austrian weapon found its way into Hollywood films and rap lyrics, not to mention two-thirds of all U.S. police departments.

Theodor Geisel's first book for kids was rejected 27 times before it was finally published in 1937. And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street was inspired by a very ordinary street in Geisel's Massachusetts hometown.

A new survey indicates that 29 percent of American adults now own a tablet computer and/or an e-reader. That number went up 11 percent in just a few weeks, a sure sign that the gadgets were given as holiday gifts and have reached the point of mass acceptance.

A Ball for Daisy is a story of loss — a little dog loses her favorite red ball to a much larger dog — but now it's also a story about winning: On Monday, Chris Raschka's book won the American Library Association's Randolph Caldecott Medal for best illustrated story.

The Inquisition revolutionized record-keeping and surveillance techniques that are still used today, says Cullen Murphy. His new book God's Jury draws parallels between some of the interrogation techniques used in previous centuries with the ones used today.