BookDragon Fiction

A Bride’s Story (vol. 5) by Kaoru Mori, translated by William Flanagan

04 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Central Asian, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Get ready to linger: every panel – and I do mean every! – is a wonder to behold, inducing that slack-jawed 'gawwww, how does she dooooo that?'-sort of reaction! If you've picked up this volume without first reading the previous others, I would definitely recommend going back. Following the...

Together Tea by Marjan Kamali

03 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Iranian, Iranian American

"In the car, Mina turned on the news. 'Iran' was mentioned in the same breath as 'terrorist' and 'rogue.' Just once, Mina wanted to hear the name of her old country mentioned in the same breath as 'joy' or 'freedom' or 'gentle goodness.'" What Mina...

Mira in the Present Tense by Sita Brahmachari

02 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, British Asian, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

On the evening of her 12th birthday, Mira Levenson receives three life-changing (death-defying) gifts: a diary, a charm, and her period. As one-quarter of a school writing class (led by an author named Miss Print!), Mira finds her voice – silently at first through the diary...

FArTHER by Grahame Baker-Smith

28 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, British, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Certain books make me terribly selfish – because once I finish a post, the book gets cleared off my desk and either shelved or shared. British author/artist Grahame Baker-Smith's FArTHER – the many meanings in the title alone, achieved with just the lower-casing of that single 'r' provokes goosebumps...

The Problem with Being Slightly Heroic by Uma Krishnaswami, illustrated by Abigail Halpin

26 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Indian American, Middle Grade Readers, South Asian American

You could just start reading Uma Krishnaswami's recent middle grade cross-cultural adventure and thoroughly enjoy it, but why have only half the fun? To maximize the knowing giggles, make sure to start with Dini's 2011 debut in The Grand Plan to Fix Everything. Then check out...

Black Flower by Young-ha Kim, translated by Charles La Shure

25 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Korean, Latin American, Translation

Earlier this year, I received an email from a Chinese Canadian author, May Q. Wong, inquiring about "a shipload of Koreans who sailed to Mexico to find a better life." Clueless, I forwarded her request to a few of my scholar friends and colleagues ...

Ling & Ting Share a Birthday by Grace Lin

24 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers

The inimitable Grace Lin is at it again ...

The Rent Collector by Camron Wright

23 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Cambodian, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Southeast Asian

Allow me to begin with an intriguing tidbit and a cringe-inducing warning ...

I See the Sun in Myanmar (Burma) by Dedie King, illustrated by Judith Inglese, translation by PawSHtoo B. Jindakajornsri for the University of Massachusetts Translation Center

22 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Bilingual, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Myanmarese (Burmese), Nonethnic-specific, Translation

Welcome to Myanmar, the latest stopover in the bilingual I See the Sun series from internationally-minded boutique press Satya House. This sixth installment again reinforces the series' focus: as diverse as children's lives might be in the details, their basic needs for family, nourishment, health, and...

Boxers & Saints by Gene Luen Yang, color by Lark Pien

20 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Young Adult Readers

In 2006, Gene Luen Yang made major literary headlines when his then-debut, American Born Chinese, became (not without controversy, ahem!) the first-ever graphic novel nominated for a National Book Award. [Click here for my 2007 post-NBA interview with Yang.] Released earlier this month, Yang's two-volume Boxers &...

Author Interview: Kim Thúy [in Bloom]

18 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Memoir, Repost, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American, Translation, Vietnamese, Vietnamese American

Kim Thúy is one tough writer to get to, although she declares in our first email exchange when I finally track her down, “I am not at all the kind who plays hard to get :-) .” Attempts to contact her included pleas to both her...

Wait! Wait! by Hatsue Nakawaki, illustrated by Komako Sakai, translated by Yuki Kaneko

17 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Japanese, Translation

Clearly, my kiddies grew up too quickly. Wasn't it just yesterday when I would hear their plaintive "Waaaaaiiiittttt!" on our regular hikes in random places all over the world? One of us old folks would answer with "ketchup," matched with an indignant "mustard" or – even...

Author Profile: Kim Thúy [in Bloom]

16 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Memoir, Repost, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American, Translation, Vietnamese, Vietnamese American

Kim Thúy’s Ru: An Apple for the Reader Ah, well . . . better start with true confessions: my words appear on the back cover of the U.S. edition (at least the first printing) of Vietnamese Canadian author Kim Thúy’s debut novel, Ru. The blurb is...

Tropic of the Sea by Satoshi Kon, translated by Maya Rosewood

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

The brilliant Satoshi Kon clearly left us too early – he passed away at age 46 of pancreatic cancer in 2010. Surely, his fertile imagination had many, many more stories left to tell. Thankfully, he did leave quite a visual legacy, including such intriguing anime films...

If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan

12 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Iranian, Iranian American, Middle Grade Readers

Let me know if you've heard this one before ...

The Magic Ball of Wool by Susanna Isern, illustrated by Nora Hilb, translated by Jon Brokenbrow

11 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, European, Fiction, Translation

In my crotchety old age, sleep is a major challenge, so I usually end up taking a pile of must-reads to bed. In spite of the lack of zzzzs, my stacks aren't exactly shrinking, but how grateful am I to never be without bookish company...

The Wedding Gift by Marlen Suyapa Bodden

09 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction

Two sisters, born three months apart on the same Alabama plantation, could not have more different lives. As the daughter of a slave, Sarah is Master Allen's property; as the legitimate Mrs. Allen's youngest child, Clarissa is a pampered young lady of means. Playmates as...

One Gorilla: A Counting Book by Anthony Browne

08 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, British, Children/Picture Books, Fiction

Counting books seem to be a dime a dozen, and some you wouldn't even pay that much for! How satisfying, then, to discover this priceless One Gorilla. The concept is simple – it's a counting book, after all: each bold, sensational double-page spread features a numeral and...

My Father’s Arms Are a Boat by Stein Erik Lunde, Illustrated by Øyvind Torseter, translated by Kari Dickson

07 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Children/Picture Books, European, Fiction, Translation

A dear friend lost her mother this week; even if a parent is granted almost a century of life well lived, the surviving child's loss resonates for always. When a parent dies while the child is still very young, to understand and accept such loss...

Helter Skelter: Fashion Unfriendly by Kyoko Okazaki, translated by Vertical, Inc.

06 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation

Meet Liliko, a supermodel of such perfect proportions as can only be ...