BookDragon Betrayal Tag

The Blind Boy & the Loon retold by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, illustrated by Alethea Arnaquq-Baril and Daniel Gies

28 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples

"This is the story of a cruel mother, her daughter, and her blind son." That 'cruel' is fair warning that this is not a happily-ever-after fairy tale. It is, however, "one of the most ancient and commonly told [stories] in Inuit history," filmmaker/creator Alethea Arnaquq-Baril writes in...

I Love You More by Jennifer Murphy

27 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

What are the chances: I seem to be island-hopping this week ...

Burn for Burn [Burn for Burn Trilogy 1] by Jenny Han and Siobhan Vivian

26 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Fiction, Korean American, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

The first of a trilogy (#3 debuts next month; I'm arriving on Jar Island a little late), Burn is inarguably shocking, but it definitely sets the stage for more chills to come. Mary, who left Jar Island in 7th grade, is back in 11th completely transformed. Lillia, once...

The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob

21 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, South Asian, South Asian American

Probably my brain is showing its advancing age, but I can't remember the last time I stayed up half the night to finish a book unless I had an impending deadline (procrastinate? me?!). While I started Sleepwalk-ing in daylight stuck in the ears (debut novelist Mira Jacob...

I Am China by Xiaolu Guo [in Library Journal]

18 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, British, British Asian, Chinese, Fiction, Repost

London-based Xiaolu Guo’s third novel in English (she published six prior in China) opens with a desperate love letter-in-transit "from a place I cannot tell you about yet…when I am safe I will be able to let you know where I am." Over almost 400...

And the Dark Sacred Night by Julia Glass

16 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

If you've never read a Julia Glass novel (2002 National Book Award winner that she is, chances are slim, I suppose), just don't until after you've finished this one. If you have, forget you ever did. Only after the final Dark Sacred page (or last track; if you choose to...

Amulet | Book Six: Escape from Lucien by Kazu Kibuishi

15 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific

The wait is just about over: Book Six hits shelves in just 11 days. Yes, almost two years have passed since Book Five pubbed, but creator Kazu Kibuishi has hardly been resting on his mega-bestseller laurels: that he was the artist chosen to give the legendary...

In Clothes Called Fat by Moyoco Anno, translation by Vertical, Inc.

08 Aug, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Holy moly, what a difference a book makes ...

Hattie Ever After by Kirby Larson

20 Jul, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Readers with groupie-tendencies (like me), take careful note: Hattie Ever After is positive proof that if you ask an author enough times for more, you just might receive. "When I left Hattie at the end of Hattie Big Sky," confesses Kirby Larson in her ending "Author's...

GTO: 14 Days in Shonan (vols. 1-2) by Tohru Fujisawa, translated by Ko Ransom

11 Jul, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Apparently, I've jumped way ahead and will need to go backwards sooner than later: GTO: 14 Days in Shonan is the sequel to the wildly successful original GTO which debuted in 1997 and quickly thereafter became a TV drama, live-action film, anime, and more. And the...

Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colón

20 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Biography, European, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Jewish, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Some time in the recent past, a video link came through that began with birthday wishes for Anne Frank, as if she had miraculously survived the Holocaust and lived many fulfilling decades. [I can't seem to find the link again, so if anyone recognizes the description...

Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian

01 Jun, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Armenian American, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

As epigraphs go, Chris Bohjalian couldn't have chosen better (as if we would expect any less), not only for the words, but for the poet who originated the verses: "Before you know what kindness really is / you must lose things, / feel the future...

The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani

29 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Iranian, Iranian American

When her father dies, a girl and her mother's futures are forever altered. As a 14-year-old living in a 17th-century Persian village, she expected to be contentedly married, looking forward to starting her own family, not unlike her best friend who is already heavy with...

How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway

26 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese, Japanese American

Okay, I confess the cover put me off from opening the book for months (well, actually, years); I recently compromised by choosing to go aural and was surprisingly delighted to spend almost eight hours with narrators Laural Merlington and Emily Durante (who take turns reading as mother and...

Frog Music by Emma Donoghue

20 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Canadian, Fiction

So much happens in the first few pages, you might need to re-read them a few times before moving on. Blanche is covered in blood, while Jenny lies dead. "Not quite a month ago," Blanche was again screaming because of Jenny, this time having just been thrown to the...

Summer Wars (vols. 1-2) by Mamoru Hosoda, illustrated by Iqura Sugimoto, character design by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

16 May, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Translation, Young Adult Readers

"2010 late July. A record of the biggest, hottest summer of my life." High school student Kenji is 17, and mourning the fact that he "failed to become Japan's rep in the Math Olympics." At the suggestion of his best friend Sakuma, he's agreed to...

The Tyrant’s Daughter by J.C. Carleson

14 May, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Middle Eastern, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Laila, 15, is newly arrived from an unnamed Middle East country. She's living in a modest apartment in the suburbs of Washington, DC, with her mother and younger brother. She's at a new school with new friends, and she's doing her best to adjust to her...

Legend Trilogy: Legend, Prodigy, and Champion by Marie Lu

13 May, by SIBookDragon in Audio, Chinese American, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

While production doesn't seem to have started just yet, news that Marie Lu's bestselling dystopic trilogy is coming to a theater near you keeps resurfacing since CBS Films bought rights to Legend in 2011. That Lu has a much-hyped new series, The Young Elites, hitting shelves this fall, will surely add pressure to...

The Execution of Noa P. Singleton by Elizabeth L. Silver

30 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

The timing is horrifyingly surreal: capital punishment emerged as a major topic this week, from the tragically innocent, to the mistreated guilty – and somehow, unrelatedly, I managed to choose this title. Once begun, I couldn't stop until the final page. "In this world, you are either good...

Crazy Rich Asians [Crazy Rich Asians 1] by Kevin Kwan

29 Apr, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hong Kongese, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

You might consider duct-taping your jaw shut because Manhattan-based Singaporean author Kevin Kwan insists on the veracity of the excesses in his outrageous, hilarious, train-wreck tragic debut novel: "So many aspects of and stories in the book I actually had to tone down!" he told...