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This month, Angola celebrated its first year of relative peace following 27 years of brutal civil war. The impact of that long-lasting conflict on Angola's children is documented in a new book, Free to Play in Peace. Published by the Christian Children's Fund, the book is a collection of drawings, poems and essays that express the children's memories of war and hopes for a future without it. See a gallery of the drawings online.

Gregor Piatigorsky, the Russian cello virtuoso, used to talk about "tasting the blood" of music -- music as destiny. "You are taken by it," he said. Piatigorsky also was taken by the works of art he collected. Samples of his collection -- along with his prized Stradivarius cello -- are on exhibit in Baltimore. NPR's Susan Stamberg reports.

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music opens Friday in Memphis, Tenn., honoring the recording studio that once churned out hundreds of R&B and pop hits. The Stax studio -- built in a movie theater that once stood on the same site as the new museum -- drew music talent from all over the South, including Otis Redding and Isaac Hayes. Stax became known for the trademark rich, gritty soul that defined its sound. NPR's Kathleen Schalch reports.

The new Al Pacino movie People I Know offers an acid portrait of Manhattan politics, and Pacino provides the story with a complex, nuanced anti-hero. NPR's Bob Mondello offers a review.

One of the most enduring fairy tale motifs is that of a beautiful princess confined high up in a tower. In The Red Wolf, a new book by Margaret Shannon, that princess is named Roselupin, and she passes the time by knitting and plotting her escape. Daniel Pinkwater, NPR's ambassador to the world of children's literature, joins NPR's Scott Simon to read from the book.

Mexican tenor Ramon Vargas releases In My Heart, a CD of 17th and 18th century Italian love songs sung in the Bel Canto or "beautiful song" style. It's a type of operatic singing characterized by rich tonal lyricism and brilliant display of technique. NPR's Michele Norris talks with Vargas.

Songwriter Felice Bryant dies at age 77 at home in Gatlinburg, Tenn. She collaborated with her husband to pen some of the best-known tunes in country music and early rock 'n' roll. Her songs Bye Bye Love and Wake Up Little Susie were Everly Brothers standards, just as Rocky Top became a country standard. NPR's Melissa Block offers a remembrance.

Twenty years ago, the British literary magazine Granta published a list of what it considered the best young novelists of Britain. Martin Amis, Salman Rushdie, Julian Barnes, and many more went on to find fame and sometimes fortune. And Granta had found itself a tradition. The March edition features a new group of young authors. NPR's Lynn Neary speaks with Granta editor Ian Jack and two of the writers on the list: Alan Warner and Andrew O'Hagan.

Fifty-five years ago, John Steinbeck's best friend died after being struck by a train near Monterey's Cannery Row. Ricketts, a marine biologist, was cast as the fictional "Doc" in Steinbeck's best-selling novel. In a two-part Morning Edition report, NPR's Renee Montagne looks back at one of American fiction's most famous locales and at Ricketts and his lasting legacy.

Henry Ford's affordable, mass-produced Model T changed the face of America. But the innovative automaker's failure to look beyond the Model T was nearly disastrous for his company, author Douglas Brinkley tells NPR's John Ydstie. At npr.org, Hear Brinkley describe how Ford Motor Co. avoided that fate by adapting.