*STARRED REVIEW Jonas and Wyatt entered the world as identical twin boys, adopted by Kelly and Wayne Maines after being born to Kelly's teenage cousin who wasn't ready to be a mother. By toddlerhood, Wyatt vocalized that she was a girl; Jonas always recognized he had...
Thank the stars for all the women who never succumbed to 'you can't' and 'you're not allowed,' and the constant cacophony of insistent 'no's. Meet another such hero: drum dream girl. In spite of her strikingly diverse heritage – Chinese, African, and Cuban! – all her elders agree...
"I believe that art is an essential element of revolution," Leila Abdelrazaq begins her "Artist Statement" on her website. She's half Palestinian and half American activist based in Chicago with a 2015 DePaul University degree who has generations of stories to share. Her Baddawi began as a webcomic "...
Exactly a year ago today, POTUS and Cuba's President Raúl Castro announced a joint agreement reestablishing relations between two countries that have maintained a complicated half-century plus of separation. Released December 17, 2014, the official Cuba Policy Changes have made the island nation quite the destination of...
Today is the third title by Canadians Eric Walters and Eugenie Fernandes that captures real-life events from Walters' The Creation of Hope complex in Kenya. Together, Walters and Fernandes have become quite the dynamic duo in developing an effective series showcasing the inspiring, courageous stories of resilient, caring children...
Within mere months, four memoirs – including Stars – by North Korean women hit U.S. shelves: Hyeonseo Lee’s The Girl with Seven Names and Eunsun Kim’s A Thousand Miles to Freedom debuted in July; Yeonmi Park’s In Order to Live hit in September; and Stars...
New Yorker-by-way-of-Texas Kate Gavino goes to a lot of book readings in and around NYC's boroughs, "and even [in] New Jersey." While some might go seeking "an autograph ...
Google "meditation health benefits" pretty much any time and you'll always get news articles just a few hours old touting improved mind/body results. We've all seen the headlines, heard about the latest reports, and yet SOME of us remain stubbornly resistant, especially those concerned about...
By 2, he knew he was "perfect." The toddler Riad with his "[l]ong, thick, silky, platinum-blonde hair," might have been "awake for only a few hours a day, but it was enough: when it came to living, [he] was a natural." And so begins the first...
Married at 14 to a much older man, Sonabai spent the first decade of wifehood cooking and cleaning for her demanding in-laws. When the couple moved to a tiny village to be on their own, Sonabai had far less to do, but she became a prisoner in her...
Her name alone is imbued with such meaningful history. She was called Arnaktauyok by her mother, in accordance with a request made by a blind woman who took care of her motherless mother, who insisted a baby with such a name "would have very good eyes." That...
When their own country wouldn't allow American artists of color the freedom of expression, many found stupendously appreciative audiences on distant shores, including such entertainment legends as dancer/singer Josephine Baker and actor Anna May Wong. Europe, and parts of Africa and Asia, welcomed expatriates-of-color throughout the...
When Pulitzer-ed MacArthur 'Genius' Katherine Boo's first (and thus far only) book debuted in January 2012, I predicted it would be found alongside the nominees/finalists for all the Very Important Literary Prizes that year – indeed, among many, many honors, Boo won the 2012 National Book Award for Nonfiction. What...
As deemed in 2011 by the United Nations, October 11 is the International Day of the Girl. BookDragon is officially whoo-hooo-ing a day later (although I'm all for every day being IDG anyway!). Perhaps the world's most recognized 'girl' is Malala Yousafzai who, at 15, was shot three times...
At 17, Maggie Thrash and her mother are visiting her brother in New Mexico where he's attending college. "I don't approve of your running off with this person you haven't seen in two years," her mother admonishes her, while her brother deadpans a "I'm bitterly...
So you know how the book ends by the second paragraph in the "Prologue." But holy moly, once you start, you'll want to experience every detail of how the eponymous boys in the boat – "nine young men from the state of Washington – farm boys, fisherman, and...
Caldecott Medalist author/illustrator Allen Say introduced his personal portrait-of-an-artist-as-a-young-man in the one title he didn't illustrate, the autobiographical middle-grade novel, The Ink-Keeper's Apprentice, originally published in 1979. More than three decades later, in 2011, Say returned to his early artistic journey, reworking his Apprentice into a...
One unintentionally wrong word uttered in a children's cartoon lost Mana Neyestani his job, his freedom, and nearly his life. As editor of the children's pages for Iran's Iran-Jomeh, Neyestani drew his recurring 10-year-old character confronting a cockroach that replies with a single Azeri word: "Namana." As Neyestani...
Labor Day already? How about some working fun – literally??!! The directions are right on the cover: pop out, fold, glue. It really is that straight-forward to create these "10 giants models that move!" They're not exaggerating on size: the book alone is a few pounds of heavy...
Dasha is 12. She lives in a four-room apartment in Moscow with her mother and her grandparents. Her father lives in Los Angeles. She would like a cat, but she's too allergic. One night, she overhears her grandmother assuring her mother: "She will be fine. We...
