Ellie Laks started the Gentle Barn after adopting a sick goat from a run-down petting zoo in 1999. Some two hundred animals later, it has become an extraordinary nonprofit that brings together a volunteer staff of community members and at-risk teens to rehabilitate abandoned and/ or abused animals. As Ellie teaches the volunteers to care for the animals, they learn a new language of healing that works wonders on the humans as well.

Presents an anthology of the best literary essays published in the past year, selected from American periodicals.