Fiction Archives - Page 47 of 172

Small Country by Gaël Faye, translated by Sarah Ardizzone [in Library Journal]

24 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Audio, European, Fiction, French, Hapa/Mixed-race, Memoir, Repost, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW French singer/rapper Gaël Faye transforms his own background into an impressive, searing coming-of-age first novel about a Burundian family's implosion during the 1990s. What seemed like an idyllic, privileged childhood for 10-year-old Gabriel – made memorable by mischievous adventures with close friends – begins...

Option Now, Film Soon! [in East Wind ezine]

20 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Indian, Indian American, Korean, Korean American, North Korean, South Asian American, Taiwanese, Taiwanese American, Young Adult Readers

While texting with a (much younger) Korean American friend the other day about meeting at the movies, I gave her two choices: CRA or Searching. I was all giddy on my end, thinking how phenomenally lucky we were to have TWO APA choices, but my...

Undocumented: A Worker’s Fight by Duncan Tonatiuh [in Booklist]

19 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Latin American, Latina/o/x, Mexican, Mexican American, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW Surviving a life-threatening journey from Mexico to a “strange city” in the U.S., Juan joins his uncle and three cousins. He owes his low-wage, 12-hours-a-day, 7-days-a-week restaurant job to a boss who insists he’s “doing [Juan] a favor because [he] had no papers.” Although he’s...

Kafkaesque: Fourteen Stories by Peter Kuper [in Booklist]

18 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Short Stories, Young Adult Readers

Eisner-winning Peter Kuper’s career of “translating Kafka into comics” began in 1995, when his initial collection of nine shorts hit shelves, with Give It Up! He adds another five here, scrambles the previous order, and includes his “Kuperesque” foreword, emphasizing how, since Kafka’s death at...

Famous Adopted People by Alice Stephens [in Booklist]

17 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Korean American, North Korean, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW “Everyone, it seems, is telling our story but us,” observes Lisa Pearl, the Korean-born, Bethesda, Maryland-raised transracial adoptee protagonist in Alice Stephens’ debut novel. The author, who describes herself as being “among the first generation of transnational, interracial adoptees,” takes charge with a tale...

Us Against You by Fredrik Backman, translated by Neil Smith [Beartown 2] [in Library Journal]

12 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost, Swedish

*STARRED REVIEW Everything that happens in this resonating sequel to Beartown is revealed in the first two pages. But listeners will want to hear every word to discover how the events play out – better yet, they'll want to absorb every echoing nuance brilliantly embodied by...

Friday Black: Stories by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah [in Booklist]

11 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Black/African American, Fiction, Repost, Short Stories

*STARRED REVIEW Adjei-Brenyah’s dozen stories are disturbingly spectacular, made even more so for what he does with magnifying and exposing the truth. At first read, the collection might register as speculative fiction, but current headlines unmasking racism, injustice, consumerism, and senseless violence prove to be clear...

The Map of Salt and Stars by Jennifer Zeynab Joukhadar [in Library Journal]

10 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Arab, Arab American, Audio, Fiction, Repost, Syrian, Syrian American

Two interwoven stories illuminate and haunt here, both about fatherless girls attached to mapmakers, each blurring gender lines, both enduring peripatetic, precarious journeys to reach family and safety. Twelve-year-old Nour commands her contemporary story – Manhattan-born, father lost to cancer, taken to Syria with two sisters...

The Pisces by Melissa Broder [in Library Journal]

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

Essayist/poet Melissa Broder voiced her previous audiobooks So Sad Today and Last Sext, and she's the natural choice to narrate her first novel. She reads here with firm, measured precision, determined to keep moving forward steadily, as if she knows she's got a page-turner listeners...

Thank You, Omu! by Oge Mora [in Shelf Awareness]

06 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Black/African American, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Repost

From an open window of a top-floor apartment on "the corner of First Street and Long Street" comes a most delicious smell. Omu (pronounced AH-moo) is preparing "a thick red stew in a big fat pot for a nice evening meal." Certain that "[t]onight's dinner...

Harbor Me by Jacqueline Woodson [in Shelf Awareness]

04 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Black/African American, Caribbean, Caribbean American, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Young Adult Readers

*STARRED REVIEW "[T]he school wanted to try something new: Could they put [six] kids together in a room with one teacher and make something amazing?" For Ms. Laverne's fifth/sixth grade Brooklyn, N.Y., class, the answer is a resounding yes. Deemed "special kids," Haley, Holly, Ashton, Amari,...

Time Traveling Audiobooks for Youth [in The Booklist Reader]

03 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Black/African American, European, Fiction, Jewish, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Pacific Islander, Repost, Young Adult Readers

Time travel, time paradoxes, time shells, time hollows – are they fantasy? Reality? The following titles are billed as fiction, but they're also a look into endless possibilities. Last week, we brought you audiobooks about time travel for adults, but it's time (sorry) younger readers got...

Five More to Go: Crystal Hana Kim’s If You Leave Me [in The Booklist Reader]

30 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Korean American, Lists, Repost, Translation

I got to get this started for The Booklist Reader ...

A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin [in Shelf Awareness]

24 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Fiction, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW Little Star and her Mama are such good bakers that Mama must remind Little Star once more to curb her appetite: "Can you remember not to touch this Big Mooncake until I tell you to?" Little Star's immediate agreement lasts through teeth brushing, face...

Time Traveling Audiobooks [in The Booklist Reader]

23 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Lists, Repost

Time manipulation – obsession with, desire for, and attempts at – is a timeless conundrum and, thus far, an elusive temptation. Our ever-waxing fascination is evident in classic stories and sci-fi favorites. Contemporary pop culture continues to feed the frenzy, from Harry Potter and the Prisoner...

White Houses by Amy Bloom [in Library Journal]

17 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

“I sound like the hayseed I am and the smoker I was and the drinker that I expect I’ll continue to be,” Lorena Hickok describes herself. With her raspy, no-nonsense delivery, Tonya Cornelisse embodies “Hick,” the real-life lover, confidante, and intimate friend of Eleanor Roosevelt....

The Caregiver by Samuel Park [in Booklist]

13 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean American, Latin American, Repost

At 26, Mara is the titular caregiver for a lonely woman in her early 40s with stomach cancer, who insists she’ll bequeath Mara her exclusive Bel Air home upon her impending death. Mara is already too familiar with loss, having grown up in Rio de...

There There by Tommy Orange [in Library Journal]

06 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW “[B]eing able to understand where we came from, what happened to our people, and how to honor them by living right, by telling our stories” could be goals for any community – but the words are especially resonant for debut novelist Tommy Orange’s sprawling Native American cast: “the world is...

The House of Broken Angels by Luis Alberto Urrea [in Library Journal]

30 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Repost

*STARRED REVIEW Despite the title, the Angels here are more damaged than broken, with even a promise of salvation – more than less – by title's end. Narrated by Luis Alberto Urrea (The Water Museum), who has magnificently recorded most of his audio adaptations, this House...

Onibi: Diary of a Yokai Ghost Hunter by Cécile Brun and Olivier Pichard, iIllustrated by Cécile Brun, translated by Marie S. Velde [in Booklist]

27 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in European, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Translation, Young Adult Readers

In fall 2014, Cécile Brun and Olivier Pichard (fictional versions of the artists who comprise Atelier Sentō) traveled to Niigata Prefecture on Japan’s west coast. To escape the rain, they duck into a dimly lit shop, where they discover a camera that can allegedly “shoot...

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