BookDragon

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 SIBookDragon 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 SIBookDragon 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 SIBookDragon 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 SIBookDragon 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 SIBookDragon 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 SIBookDragon 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 SIBookDragon 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 SIBookDragon 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 SIBookDragon 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 SIBookDragon 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 SIBookDragon 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 SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation

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

The Caretaker by A.X. Ahmad

05 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, South Asian, South Asian American

For you DC-area-locals who were wondering, debut novelist A.X. Ahmad is one of us ...

The Slave Poet of Cuba: A Biography of Juan Francisco Manzano by Margarita Engle, illustrated by Sean Qualls

04 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Biography, Caribbean, Cuban, Cuban American, Latina/o/x, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Poetry, Verse Novel/Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Awarded the 2008 Pura Belpré Medal, "presented to a Latino/Latina writer and illustrator whose work best portrays, affirms, and celebrates the Latino cultural experience in an outstanding work of literature for children and youth," Margarita Engle’s biography-in-verse introduces Cuban poet Juan Francisco Manzano to younger readers. Born into...

Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him by David Henry and Joe Henry [in Library Journal]

03 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Biography, Black/African American, Nonfiction, Repost

The latest biography of "the world's most brilliant stand-up comedian" is the culmination of a project that took more than a decade (originally intended as a three-act screenplay) by screenwriter David Henry and his brother, musician Joe Henry. Born in 1940 in Peoria, IL, Richard...

A True Novel by Minae Mizumura, translated by Juliet Winters Carpenter and Ann Sherif [in Library Journal]

01 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Japanese, Repost, Translation

A Japanese writer, also named Minae Mizumura, recalls her privileged expatriate New York childhood, then witnesses her family devolve in adulthood. A Tokyo-based editor takes a countryside vacation and meets an older woman who shares fantastical memories of some of the inhabitants. A village girl...

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

28 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction

"We are on our way to Budapest," 10-year-old Darling announces as NoViolet Bulawayo’s 2013 Booker longlisted debut novel opens. 'We' includes "Bastard and Chipo and Godknows and Sbho and Stina," banded together with plans to steal guavas as they sneak out of Paradise, the ironically named...

The Children Who Loved Books by Peter Carnavas

26 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Australian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction

Check out the fabulous cover ...

I See the Sun in Russia by Dedie King, illustrated by Judith Inglese, translation by Irina Ossapova

24 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Bilingual, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Russian

Young Anton of Saint Petersburg, Russia begins and ends his day with music ...

Avatar: The Last Airbender | The Search (Parts Two and Three) created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, script by Gene Luen Yang, art by Gurihiru, lettering by Michael Heisler

23 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Pan-Asian Pacific American, Young Adult Readers

Okay, for the latest full Avatar experience, might I suggest you do a bit of catch-up homework first: To find out what prompts this eponymous ‘search,’ you’ll need to read the three-part Promise which reveals why family relationships matters so much, especially to Aang and Zuko; then...

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