So here I find myself facing a bit of a conundrum: how best to tell you about this whimsical delight without spoiling that giddy sense of discovery ...
Although I can't recommend this book, I sure would like to find some readers who might want to discuss it. As it's apparently a "national bestseller" – so touts the cover of the paperback edition – perhaps a few of you who have already read it might...
I haven't seen Patti Kim’s name on a book cover in quite a while ...
With the impending release of the book-to-screen adaptation of Catching Fire on November 22, Suzanne Collins will again be back in the headlines sooner than later. Although The Hunger Games trilogy is what made her a household name, Collins does have other (dare I say ...
Cath and Wren are twins – how they got their name is just too entertainingly clever. They've been each other's best friend their whole lives, sharing the same room which also serves as a near-shrine to Simon Snow (à la Harry Potter, who does get a...
As gorgeous as the large snowflakes are where I am, just to be contrary, I'm wishing for sun and surf! I can't remember the last time I went splish-splashing, so clearly I'm overdue! For now, I'll just have to join Anna Hibiscus on her beckoning...
If you don't like spoilers, might I suggest you click here to catch up. This series is so uniquely delightful, you really shouldn't miss a volume; trust me, they do need to be read in order. This latest installment officially hits shelves tomorrow. Welcome to junior high school...
Since I temporarily seem to find myself in Utah – although I admit it's not quite as frightening here as I thought it might be, ahem! – I figured this spookfest would not be complete without a Utahn Halloween manga, right? Jess Smart Smiley, who "lives in the bewitching mountains of Utah,"...
At 22, Julie Wu had a “vision” about a sad young boy that she immediately rushed to capture in words. From those initial notes, she would take almost a quarter century to bring him to the page: at age 46, she “bloomed” as a first-time novelist....
Mysteries don't get any more substantially delicious than this: Vish Puri voiced by Sam Dastor as written by Tarquin Hall, with just the right balance of page-turning entertainment and sociopolitical insight. Before you partake, however, you should know that this is #4 in a series;...
Vision and Reinvention: Julie Wu’s The Third Son So how many detours can a writer make before becoming that writer? If you’re newbie novelist Julie Wu – who knew as a Harvard undergraduate in the 1980s that writing was what she wanted to do – the answer might include a Master’s program...
When Dani can't sleep, she doesn't count sheep, she "counted all the times she'd been happy." Now she's also excited, as well as happy: "She'd waited her whole life to start school." Her first day is "'[m]aybe a little bit scary, but lots of fun,'"...
What writer and musician James McBride initially thought might take just six months to write required 14 long years to produce his now-almost-20-year-old debut title, The Color of Water. "Mommy" – McBride never calls her anything else – was never a cooperative subject: she shared her memories in her...
First, to catch up: click here for previous volumes (all of which, of course, you need to read for yourself). If these covers placed next to each other above are a bit jarring, I think I might have unintentionally, wrongly grouped the latest volumes together. Let me...
After 10 installments of her award-winning Rei Shimura mysteries, DC-area-based Sujata Massey goes historical with her latest Dictionary, published this summer after six years in the making. Dictionary marks the debut of a new series Massey intends, The Daughters of Bengal, each set in India. Given a choice...
Let's start with this fascinating article: "The One Thing White Writers Get Away With, But Authors of Color Don't" by PolicyMic’s Gracie Jin – go ahead, take a few minutes to read it. You'll see from that giant close-up photo that author Bill Cheng is indeed of...
I admit I had a few false starts before I finally settled into Patricia McCormick's latest, which was a 2012 National Book Award finalist for Young People's Literature. Based on the horrifying experiences of Cambodian activist/humanitarian Arn Chorn-Pond’s childhood survival during the brutal Khmer Rouge control...
Here's the perfect companion to Mar Pavón and Nívola Uyá's A Very, Very Noisy Tractor which posted Saturday. Young Nasreddine's answers his father Mustafa's request to ready the donkey for their journey to the market. Mustafa and their large sack of dates sit atop the donkey, while a...
An unnamed lady with "an enormous beehive hairdo" – in glorious auburn, no less! – chugs down the road ...
