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Nevada has the lowest high school graduation rate in the country. But now a multi-million dollar federal grant is helping one district turn its schools around. Host Michel Martin speaks with a principal who spent last Saturday knocking on the doors of students who dropped out, encouraging them to come back to school.

Breaches in three levees and retaining walls caused most of the flooding in New Orleans. At the 17th Street Canal, flood waters are finally under control and pumps are channeling water out of the city.

Julie Andrews has spent her life in the public eye, but she's never had much to say about her life before stardom — until now. The Sound of Music star joins Terry Gross to discuss her new memoir.

Two American journalists who were pardoned by North Korea have been reunited with their families. Former President Bill Clinton helped gain their release. Now analysts speculate if Clinton's visit created a new opening for North Korea to return to negotiating talks over its nuclear program.

Bestsellerdom doesn't necessarily bring with it a promise of quality, so we've hand-selected five titles from the NPR Bestseller List: an acutely observed first novel with satiric punch, three works of fiction from established authors at the top of their game, and a startlingly powerful science thriller from a nonfiction newcomer.

If there are ghosts in the music, Ran Blake finds them and stretches their abstract melodies into an unknown ether. The 74-year-old pianist crosses streams of music, film and life in what he calls "recompositions," which amount to long strands of improvisation from multiple, original compositions. In his only concert of 2009, a small audience witnessed his recompositions unfold.

Jazz has no shortage of celebrated masters. Every year brings an abundance of new milestones for record labels to celebrate. With that in mind, we present songs by six American jazz musicians who would have become centenarians in 2009, including Lester Young.

Writer-director Kevin Smith returns with a sequel to the indie flick Clerks, the movie that put him on the map. Clerks II once again brings Dante, Randall, and even Jay and Silent Bob, to the big screen. Steve Inskeep talks with Smith about his characters and his career.

This year marks the centennial of the birth of composer Richard Rodgers. He was born on June 28, 1902. We'll hear a concert of Rodgers' songs performed by singer Rebecca Kilgore and pianist Dave Frishberg. Rodgers was one of America's most prolific and best-loved composers. He collaborated with Lorenz Hart on the songs "My Funny Valentine," "The Lady is a Tramp," "Blue Moon" and "Bewitched." Later he went on to collaborate with Oscar Hammerstein on the musicals Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I and The Sound of Music. This performance first aired May 13, 2002.

To honor the voices stilled when the Twin Towers were destroyed Sept. 11, a team of independent radio producers set out to compile a "sonic memorial" -- an audio project commemorating the life and history of the World Trade Center. This story introduces that project.

Fred Thompson's withdrawal from the Republican presidential race ends a White House bid that never really took off. The former Tennessee senator's relaxed leadership style failed to ignite meaningful support from voters.

More bodice unbuttoner than bodice ripper, The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, by Anton DiSclafani, is nonetheless an ode to a young girl's sexual awakening. The novel follows Thea, a 1930s teen whose family banishes her to an equestrian boarding school after a mysterious transgression.