BookDragon Audience

Across the Wire: Life and Hard Times on the Mexican Border by Luis Alberto Urrea, photographs by John Lueders-Booth

27 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Hapa/Mixed-race, Latina/o/x, Memoir, Mexican, Mexican American, Nonfiction

Thanks to a sudden snowstorm and ensuing power outage, I had every excuse to strap on my headband flashlight and read the first of Luis Alberto Urrea's Border Trilogy without pause. Given the sheer gawk-factor of these pages, any excuses were negligible: This is definitely...

A House of Tailors by Patricia Reilly Giff

26 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, European, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers

In spite of the "Afterword" being at book's end, I feel like I need to begin this post with the final line: "I write this especially so that the story of Dina and her beloved, Johann, will be remembered by our family," explains two-time Newbery...

Saturn Apartments (vol. 2) by Hisae Iwaoka, translated by Matt Thorn and Tomo Kimura

24 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Wherever the ALA – the American Library Association, the mother of all library associations in the world! – leaves its stamp of approval, you're guaranteed some great reads. In 2007, the ALA even hopped on the manga bandwagon when their young adult division, YALSA (Young Adult...

Pretty Delicious by Candice Kumai, photographs by Quentin Bacon

22 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese American, Nonfiction

Forget pillow talk; get in the kitchen with your favorite FWBs – that's Foods With Benefits, according to Candice Kumai, also known as the Stiletto Chef and co-host of Lifetime's Cook Yourself Thin. Thanks to her FWBs, Kumai's first cookbook is all about "eating well that's healthy,...

Bakuman 2 by Tsugumi Ohba, art by Takeshi Obata, translated by Tetsuichiro Miyaki

20 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Translation, Young Adult Readers

The Three (teenage) Musketeers from Bakuman 1 are back: writer Takagi, artist Mashiro, and voice actress Azuki. They're even more determined that they become a successful manga team (Takagi and Mashiro), with characters that Azuki can someday (soon!) bring to life with her voiceovers. As young...

Becoming Naomi León by Pam Muñoz Ryan

19 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Latina/o/x, Middle Grade Readers

"I always thought the biggest problem in my life was my name, Naomi Soledad León Outlaw, but little did I know that it was the least of my troubles, or that someday I would live up to it." So opens Pam Muñoz Ryan’s swiftly moving coming-of-age...

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot

17 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Nonfiction

From the age of 16 when she took a biology class at a community college (making up for a failed high school freshman year because "she never showed up"), award-winning science writer Rebecca Skloot has seemingly spent the majority of her life preparing to write...

Real (vol. 1) by Takehiko Inoue, translated by IT Planning, Inc.

16 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Let the weekend games continue: if yesterday's basketball story was a (mostly) feel-good, rah-rah fest, today's post is definitely more somber. The kids in this game are older, harder, more cynical ...

Travel Team by Mike Lupica

15 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific

If it's Saturday, it must be time to head to a court, field, gym, pool, or some sort of athletic facility ...

Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream by Jenny Han, illustrated by Julia Kuo

14 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Korean American, Middle Grade Readers

Her name is Clara Lee .. "first and last. It just sounds better that way. Like peanut butter and jelly, like trick-or-treat, or fairy and princess, those words just go together. Just like me, Clara Lee." She's the newest – and first Korean American! – heroine from...

Haunting Jasmine by Anjali Banerjee

12 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Indian American, South Asian American

What better way to get over a broken heart than moving into a unique, welcoming bookstore, filled not only with fabulous books but a few wise (less than living) writers, too? As long as they can spin a convincing yarn, why quibble with such minor...

March Story (vol. 1) by Hyung Min Kim, art by Kyung Il Yang, translated by Camellia Nieh

11 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Korean, Translation

I admit it: Reading this put me in freak-out mode. Do NOT leave it lying around for your young kiddies to find ...

Wanting Mor by Rukhsana Khan

10 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Afghan, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Pakistani American, Young Adult Readers

Sometimes even the saddest tragedies can eventually lead to happy new beginnings ...

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua [in San Francisco Chronicle]

08 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese American, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost

Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother did more than speak to me. It screamed, shouted and lectured me. It made me simultaneously laugh with empathy and cringe with embarrassment and exasperation. "This is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs," the...

The Story of Saiunkoku (vol. 1) by Sai Yukino, art by Kairi Yura, translated by Sun Mon Han

07 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Long, long ago, the Eight Noble Sages helped a noble warrior found the ancient great nation of Saiunkoku, "the country of the coloured clouds," and eventually "brought about the dawning of the Age of Man." Therein lies the problem, of course ...

Some Sing, Some Cry by Ntozake Shange and Ifa Bayeza

04 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction

Sometimes my inability to process dialects actually has an upside ...

501 Must-Visit Destinations by Jackum Brown, David Brown, Rebecca Walder, with contributions from Kieran Fogarty

03 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

It's back-to-reality day for most of us ...

The 14th Dalai Lama: A Manga Biography by Tetsu Saiwai

01 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Biography, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Tibetan, Young Adult Readers

Every new year seems to begin with a fervent prayer/wish/hope for true PEACE. So far in my own lifetime, worldwide peace hasn't been achieved. Still, I have a few more years left in me and surely enough stubbornness to believe peace can truly happen before...

20th Century Boys (vol. 12) by Naoki Urasawa, with the cooperation of Takashi Nagasaki, English adaptation by Akemi Wegmüller

31 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

It's New Year's Eve 2014 ...

The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier

30 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Talk about testosterone gone awry: The Chocolate War is a disturbing look at how boys – and the men from whom they are supposed to learn – mistreat, outmaneuver, and abuse one another. Jerry...