By Caroline Kennedy
352 pages; Hyperion

Caroline Kennedy could arguably have found a more original title for her new anthology of seasonal stories and essays, A Family Christmas (Hyperion). Then again, her idea of family goes beyond the obvious—even as far as the halls of government. So this rich and inclusive book has such unexpected entries as "Lynch v. Donnelly, 465 U.S. 668 (1984)," a ruling on a religious display in a park owned by a nonprofit organization; Harriet A. Jacobs' devastating "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl" and the peerless Grace Paley's Yiddish-inflected Christmas pageant, "The Loudest Voice."

— Cathleen Medwick