Here's proof that your questions really make a difference, at least to the imaginative Lisa Yee: "On one of her many school visits, a reader asked what happened to Marley from Stanford Wong, which inspired her to tell his story here," Yee's "About the Author" end-page...
To reduce this rich, complicated, multi-layered story into a few sentences seems almost disrespectful ...
In densely populated Seoul, a mysterious man makes a lucrative living by helping "clients" commit suicide. He’s not exactly Dr. Death Kevorkian offering physically depleted bodies reprieve; instead he has a special talent for finding lost, disconnected souls ready to leave behind their unfulfilling existence...
Unhappily distracted on her walk home – her immigrant mother's fatty cooking, her growing body, her less-than-ideal only friend, her unrequited love for the school jock, her disdain for that other Russian immigrant with whom she has absolutely nothing in common, no FOB is she! – Anya falls...
A major Japanese prize-winning book (Naoki, 1998) and film (Akame shijūya taki shinjū misui, 2003; in English, Akame 48 Waterfalls), Paradise is an unflinching meditation on late-20th-century disconnection. Middle-aged Ikushima, once again a self-described “corpse” in shoes and suit, recalls his drifting life 12 years ago: after...
Vassar Spore is every Tiger Mother's dream come true. At 16, she's got her entire overachieving life perfectly planned out with the unwavering support of two control-driven-but-nurturing parents. The three seamlessly work together toward Vassar's goals: a 5.3 GPA – the new 4.0; a degree with...
I could cry over The Other. And not tears of the 'I'm so gratefully happy'-variety, alas; I'm talking truly disappointed waterworks. David Guterson writes quietly wrenching novels, including his bestselling Snow Falling on Cedars, and later East of the Mountains, which I actually found more effecting. The Other, too,...
My first reaction a few chapters into Uma Krishnaswami's latest middle-grade romp of a novel was, 'Take me, take me! I wanna move to Swapnagiri, too!' Dini and her family's South Indian adventures hadn't even started yet, and I was ready to pack my bags...
My contrary self is taking me through Jennifer Egan's oeuvre backwards, having started earlier this year with her latest, A Visit from the Goon Squad, just before she deservedly won both the 2011 National Book Critics Circle Award and 2011 Pulitzer for fiction. First things first about Egan's...
National Book Award-finalist Gene Luen Yang's latest title is a collaboration with a fellow high school teacher Thien Pham: their obviously convivial partnership is evident even before their comic begins. "Dedicated to our brothers Jon and Thinh, both of whom work in the medical field,...
Confession: Every once in a while, I do actually read mass-market bestsellers. I'll even admit this is my second Dan Brown – had to see what all the hubbub about The Da Vinci Code was about! Am still rolling my eyes over that one (egads! as if names...
Having read Luis Alberto Urrea's unforgettable Border Trilogy, I began the audible version of this novel that highlights illegal immigration with some trepidation. Alas, Urrea doesn't narrate this title; and although it's read with effective gusto by Susan Ericksen, I've gotten used to Urrea's flow, having...
If, like me, you don't like to know the whole story before you read the book (!!), then skip the family tree in these opening pages. Don't even glance at it. You can always go back to it after. Ahdaf Soueif's 1999 Booker Prize shortlister (J. M. Coetzee took...
Holly Thompson’s novel-in-verse begins with a jarring slam: "One week after / you stuffed a coil of rope / into your backpack / and walked uphill into / Osgoods' orchard / where blooms were still closed fists // my father looked up summer airfares to...
In case you were unsure, that’s Jenny Han as in “Han Solo,” not Han as in “hand.” Befitting of the bestselling young adult author that she is, she can recite all the dialogue from the cult film Clueless, and she gladly admits her adoration for...
Here's an uncommon venue for an East/West cultural exchange: manga across borders! Under the auspices of the French Institutes and Alliances in Japan, 10 French-speaking "comic creators" and seven Japanese manga artists wrote 16 chapters (two French creators worked together) inspired by their experiences visiting...
Leave it to master storyteller Louis Sachar (National Book Award and Newbery Medalist for his phenomenally successful Holes) to make bridge (yes, bridge! – as in the card game!) heart-thumping fun! Listening to Sachar himself read the audible version is definitely an added bonus, not to mention you get to...
Following up two unforgettable novels that earned her a MacArthur Fellows Program "Genius" Award (which comes with a no-strings-attached $500,000 "stipend" over five years!) in 2008 was surely going to be hard work. Last year, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie debuted her first short story collection ...
Room will leave you speechless. Listening to the audible version, pitch-perfectly performed by Michal Friedman, Ellen Archer, Robert Petkoff, and Suzanne Toren, is a chillingly addictive experience; even after you've turned off your device, you won't be able to stop Jack from haunting you. In spite...
The idea is fascinating; so obviously simple yet undeniably clever. Six French graphic book artists were sent to Korea to be "completely immersed." Six Korean manwha artists were also asked to participate. All 12 were given "complete carte blanche" to convey their individual views of...
