Brattleboro resident Karen Hesse is one of this year's winners of a Macarthur Fellowship- the so called "genius grant." She's written picture books for young children and serious novels for teenagers. In may of her books, Karen explores some of the toughest issues we face- 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.
