Nell Lake

Marilynn Rosenthal is on an obsessive quest for the truth. Trying to understand her son’s death, she even travels to the United Arab Emirates in search of the mother of…

Trost’s own daughter is doing well, she reports, after years of innovative and experimental treatments for her combination of learning and behavioral problems. In this piece Trost returns to that…

A woman on the verge of death is saved by a bone marrow transplant. She seeks out her donor after her recovery. They fall in love, and the rest is……

As we read this series, we thought of Chip Scanlan’s discussion of using private records for insights into characters. This entire series is, in a sense, based on the private…

Hiba Hariri is 14. She’s acting in a play, along with her boyfriend. They have a fight, and then the trouble begins. This piece is a good model for the…

This piece depends on its strong, admirable protagonist, Artie Folse, who refuses to say die. As other homes fester and are torn down around his, he gets to work and,…

We love the humor in this piece, the light touch, the human, almost self-deprecating voice. It’s folksy and sophisticated at once—a lovely, complete little memoir.Read “A Life Without Left Turns,”…

Betsy Perez wants to go away to college. She overcomes obstacles and does. We admired this piece in part because it portrays character so effectively and efficiently. It’s also a…

In her comments on this story on the Journal Star’s Web site, Lange-Kubick writes, "We hoped that one family’s journey might illuminate a larger truth: How difficult it is to…

This piece includes an excellent focus on one thoughtful, smart, sympathetic character. His character arc is strong. We liked the beginning of the piece: It establishes conflict right away, gets…