BookDragon Audio

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

29 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Biography, Mongolian, Nonfiction

Hurray (itself a word of Mongol origin) for cultural anthropologist and Macalester College professor Jack Weatherford who reclaims Genghis Khan from a much maligned history that defines him as "the quintessential barbarian," leading an...

Willow Run by Patricia Reilly Giff

14 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers

Whether a soldier or a civilian, no one ever escapes the consequences of war. While those on the fighting front face the greatest risks, those left behind have excruciating challenges, as well. Two-time Newbery...

Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath by Michael Norman and Elizabeth Norman

08 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Filipina/o, Japanese, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Southeast Asian

In the book’s opening pages, the “Authors’ Note,” explains the title – ‘tears in the darkness’ is a literal translation of the Japanese kanji for anrui, “the kind of pain and sorrow...

Whatever Happened to Janie? by Caroline B. Cooney

06 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Award-winning author Caroline Cooney never intended to write a sequel to The Face on the Milk Carton, which she ends with an uncertain telephone call: "I wanted you...

The Face on the Milk Carton by Caroline B. Cooney

31 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

As today is Halloween, here's a story that promises to scare, chill, and thrill you ...

Eggs by Jerry Spinelli

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

David, age 9, and Primrose, age 13, make for strange friends, especially with the rate at which they seem to enjoy exchanging "I hate you!"-moments! But David is new to own, living with his grandmother since his mother suddenly died last year from a freak...

Locomotion by Jacqueline Woodson

27 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Black/African American, Middle Grade Readers, Poetry, Verse Novel/Nonfiction

Heads up for DC-area locals … mark your calendars: you can meet Jacqueline Woodson on November 9, 2010 at Fairfax County Government Center, Fairfax, Virginia! Click here for details! And now through October 31, 2010, a play version of Locomotion is up at the Kennedy Center...

Pop by Gordon Korman

24 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Parents, don't let your kids grow up to be football players! If ever you needed convincing, read this book ...

The Help by Kathryn Stockett

22 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction

I admit that when one of my favorite friends told me she voluntarily gave up enjoying the blooming delights on a family trip through Death Valley in order to finish The Help, I picked up the book for a second time, determined to find out...

Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson

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

If you had any doubts before, pick up some of Laurie Halse Anderson's titles – her now-classic Speak and Wintergirls, to start – and you can't help but realize that today's high schools can be utter hell. [You could also go check out the new...

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, art by Ellen Forney

11 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples, Young Adult Readers

I'm not so sure about my tween son reading this sooner than later (it's part of his English curriculum this school year) ...

Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger

07 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, British, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Audrey Niffenegger's second novel begins with "The End" – the title of the book's opening chapter – and the words "Elspeth died ...

Strength in What Remains: A Journey of Remembrance and Forgiveness by Tracy Kidder

06 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Nonfiction

Words of warning ...

Parrotfish by Ellen Wittlinger

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

Two things are keeping me up at nights ...

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

02 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Tending toward contrary (ahem!) means I can't seem to read ubiquitous bestsellers when everyone else does. Nope, haven't read a single Stieg Larsson (one the last hold-outs, I'm sure) or Evanovich or Cussler or Patterson. I know, like an ostrich am I. So while Time Traveler's Wife was...

The Things They Carried (20th Anniversary Edition) by Tim O’Brien

01 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Southeast Asian, Vietnamese, Young Adult Readers

In spite of the "A Work of Fiction" disclaimer on one of the front pages of Tim O'Brien's Vietnam War classic, you'll probably close the book believing every word contained between the covers to be true. That O'Brien the author names his narrator Tim O'Brien...

The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis

29 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Biography, Black/African American, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

I rarely ever say this: skip the book, and go see the film version of The Blind Side (which got Sandra Bullock her much-deserved Oscar win). The story of Michael Oher – a massive young man estranged from his addict mother, his dysfunctional siblings, and lost to...

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson

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

What timing ...

Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin

24 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction

Seth Godin has written a dozen worldwide bestsellers. I admit I'm late in discovering him; this is my first Godin title, which Godin himself read to me (it's loaded on my iPod so I can take it on my training runs – Leadville 100 in...

Marcelo in the Real World by Francisco X. Stork

18 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Marcelo marks quite a memorable moment in our family's dynamics: For the first time ever, our daughter actually shut us out with her headphones (I realize it's coming relatively late in modern teenage life), demanding that she be able to finish this book right now (it was...