BookDragon Books for the Diverse Reader

Jerusalem: A Family Portrait by Boaz Yakin and Nick Bertozzi, based on a story by Boaz Yakin and Moni Yakin, with art director Chris Sinderson

05 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Israeli, Jewish, Memoir, Middle Eastern, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Some years back, during a discussion about what was then the latest tragic news coming out of the Middle East, a friend's mother softly remarked about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, "The absolute worst arguments happen among families." She (the widow of conservative rabbi) was referring specifically...

Where the Streets Had a Name by Randa Abdel-Fattah

04 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Australian, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Palestinian, Young Adult Readers

Here's the seemingly simple story: When her grandmother falls ill, 13-year-old Hayaat decides that a jarful of her ancestral soil – a mere six miles away – will be the very thing that will make her grandmother well, so Hayaat grabs her best friend and goes off...

Somebody, Please Tell Me Who I Am by Harry Mazer and Peter Lerangis

03 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Iraqi, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Ben Bright – popular senior, lead in the school musical opposite both his girlfriend Ariela and best friend Niko, the older son in a warmly bonded family of four – has a secret. Without telling his family and friends, he's bypassed college and chosen the U.S. Army....

Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots by Jessica Soffer + Author Interview [in Bookslut]

01 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Iraqi American, Jewish, Repost

It began with a story. I know, I know, that's what they all say. But Jessica Soffer's debut novel, Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots, really did begin with a short story she wrote in 2009 for a graduate school assignment. In sharp contrast to the novel's...

Bad Girls: Sirens, Jezebels, Murderesses, Thieves, & Other Female Villains by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple, illustrated by Rebecca Guay

29 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Biography, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

If beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, then perhaps bad behavior might be, too. "In this book we are taking a look back through history at all manner of famous female felons," write mother/daughter author-team Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple (who,...

The Wasted Vigil by Nadeem Aslam

27 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Afghan, Audio, British, British Asian, Fiction

In both content and form, The Wasted Vigil is a book of extremes. For readers who have experienced Nadeem Aslam before (and the apt word really is 'experience'), you'll recognize (and be awed by) his mesmerizing prose ...

21st Century Boys (vol. 02) by Naoki Urasawa, with the cooperation of Takashi Nagasaki, English adaptation by Akemi Wegmüller

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

So why is it that all good things are supposed to come to an end? I’d be perfectly happy with another 20 more volumes. Really, is that too much to ask? With an enormously huffy sigh of resignation, I moaningly offer a final post for Naoki...

The Language Inside by Holly Thompson

25 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Cambodian American, Fiction, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Poetry, Southeast Asian American, Verse Novel/Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

This might be a spoiler of sorts: The advance galley is printed with a March 12, 2013 pub date, but when I went searching for an image of the book's cover to load here, online bookstores list a May date. Hmmm ...

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

23 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

I think I was somehow predestined to read Mudbound when I did: just after I finished Barbara Kingsolver's mightily disappointing Flight Behavior, I turned next to Hillary Jordan's 2008 debut novel. While searching for an image of the book cover to load here, I noticed...

The Heart of Thomas by Moto Hagio, translated with an introduction by Matt Thorn

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

"They say a person dies twice. / First comes the death of the self. / Then, later, comes the death of being forgotten by friends. / If that is so, / I shall never know that second death. / ...

Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver

21 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Once upon a time, I loved every book Barbara Kingsolver wrote: The Bean Trees grew into me, then Homeland and Other Stories, Animal Dreams (still my favorite), Pigs in Heaven. Heresy, I know, but Poisonwood Bible was not a favorite, but after surviving Animal, Vegetable,...

Ollie and Claire by Tiffany Strelitz Haber, illustrated by Matthew Cordell

20 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Meet Ollie and Claire: "...

Moth Smoke by Mohsin Hamid

18 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Pakistani

Let's work ourselves from the outside in ...

Lost in the City: Stories by Edward P. Jones

17 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Short Stories

So first off, I read backwards (see yesterday's post) ...

All Aunt Hagar’s Children: Stories by Edward P. Jones

16 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Short Stories

Edward P. Jones takes up little space on library shelves. Over the last 20+ years, he's published three books: two story collections and a single novel. Proving the adage 'quality over quantity,' Jones' awards are considerably more extensive, from the PEN/Hemingway Award for his first...

Thermae Romae I by Mari Yamazaki, translated by Stephen Paul

15 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Rome, 128 AD. Even back then architects had a hard time finding work. Poor, poor Lucius – in spite of his fancy Athens training, his designs are considered "half-baked," and he finds himself "blacklisted out of the industry." Instead of sulking, an old friend convinces him...

How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid

13 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Pakistani

I realize it's only March, but I'm pretty convinced Mohsin Hamid's latest will be one of my top three favorites for 2013. True, such a pronouncement might seem rash in a year that will see new titles from Nadeem Aslam (The Blind Man's Garden next month), Khaled Hosseini...

War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon E. McKay and Daniel Lafrance, illustrated by Daniel Lafrance

11 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Canadian, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

If you look at the bottom of this post at "Filed under," you'll see this title is listed as both "Fiction" and "Nonfiction." That's not a mistake – and the explanation is found in the book's "Postscript": "This is a book of fiction based on...

The Hunger Games Trilogy: The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

09 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

The day I stuck Hunger Games into my ears, Jennifer Lawrence won Best Actress Oscar, albeit for her role in a different film, Silver Livings Playbook. I took that as a sign that I should finish the almost 35 hours (every bit admirably read by...

Limit (vols. 2-3) by Keiko Suenobu, translated by Mari Morimoto

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

First things first: you need to start with Volume 1 – that's where the fear begins. Volumes 2 and 3 won't offer much reprieve, but readers just might find a few life lessons within. Here's the set-up: Five survivors – all girls – of a tragic school bus accident...