BookDragon Archives - Page 109 of 230

Gone to the Forest by Katie Kitamura

10 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Japanese American

Spare, lean, restrained, dare I say ...

The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis, Seattle, Washington, 1941 by Kirby Larson

07 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Japanese American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

How’s this for new math: the first 286 pages hold about the same weight as the final 25 pages. The fictional diary expounds and entertains, revealing a 13-year-old’s West Coast experiences during World War II; the ending “Life in America in 1941” section illuminates and...

The City of Death [Ash Mistry Chronicles, Book 2] by Sarwat Chadda

05 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, British Asian, Fiction, Indian, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Okay, so we're skipping ahead here, because I had to read this for a book judging requirement – and, in reading out of order, also confirm that it can narratively stand alone even without its prequel. I can't reveal any trade secrets, but I can...

Recipe by Angela Petrella and Michaelanne Petrella, illustrated by Mike Bertino and Erin Althea

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

In case you weren't already aware, whenever you happen upon a McSweeney's McMullens title, get ready for unpredictable high-jinks and not a little guffawing. Also, always remember to start with the cover: go ahead, it's made to come off ...

The Translator by Nina Schuyler [in Bloom]

02 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Japanese, Nonethnic-specific, Repost

In just her protagonist's name alone, author Nina Schuyler imbues linguistic magic in her latest novel about language, communication, understanding, and ultimately, the bonds of family. Schuyler's leading lady is Hanne Schubert, a 53-year-old woman who speaks seven languages including Japanese, German, along with her...

Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison by Piper Kerman

01 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction

My older teenager tells me the series of the same name is what 'everyone' is watching: "It's the new favorite show," she insists. So when I found the book ("there's a book?" the daughter asks with surprise; there's almost always a book first!) available to...

Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

30 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Even though the Yoko Ono comment made by an angry daughter about her hapless father's extramaritally knocked-up girlfriend gets apologized for some 40 pages later – "'I called her Yoko Ono that night because she was the one who broke up the Beatles. Not because she's...

A User’s Guide to Neglectful Parenting by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Dascher

29 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Canadian, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Memoir, Translation

After traveling and drawing the world – Pyongyang, Shenzhen, Burma, Jerusalem – comic master extraordinaire Guy Delisle turns inward to his own family with a tongue-in-cheek look at the challenges of being a parent trying to keep his kids safe, supported, loved ...

Looks Like Daylight: Voices of Indigenous Kids by Deborah Ellis, foreword by Loriene Roy

28 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian, Memoir, Middle Grade Readers, Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Deborah Ellis has a doubly powerful schtick: first, her nonfiction titles give underrepresented children a highly visible podium for their very own words (Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak, Off to War: Voices of Soldiers’ Children, Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees, Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely through...

David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants by Malcolm Gladwell

27 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction

Malcolm and I started out great here. We usually do. He's judgmental, opinionated, smart, questioning, and downright entertaining. Outliers remains my all-time Gladwell favorite, then Blink, then Tipping Point. I thought he faltered a bit in his last title, What the Dog Saw and Other Adventures, but those contents weren't...

Mi Familia Calaca | My Skeleton Family by Cynthia Weill, illustrated by Jesús Canseco Zárate

26 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Bilingual, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Nonethnic-specific, Translation

Check out this fabulous overview in today's New York Times highlighting what real American families look like these days: "Families." Be sure to scroll through all the imbedded slide shows – you know what they say about pictures and words. Inspired by all different types of family permutations, the...

One Step at a Time : A Vietnamese Child Finds Her Way by Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch

25 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Biography, Canadian, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American, Vietnamese American

Introduced to U.S. readers by award-winning Canadian author Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch in last year's Last Airlift: A Vietnamese Orphan’s Rescue from War, Son Thi Ahn Tuyet's story continues – literally one step at a time. Now that Tuyet has a real home with her own real family – Dad, Mom, sisters Beth and...

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books: The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel’s Game, The Prisoner of Heaven, The Rose of Fire by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, translated by Lucia Graves

24 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction, Translation

Well, crud. In spite of making a list and checking it twice, thrice, and more, I read these in about as 'wrong' order as I possibly could. But before I offer two preventative options, some quick background: the full Cemetery of Forgotten Books by internationally bestselling...

The Burgess Boys by Elizabeth Strout

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

Small-town Maine, where Elizabeth Strout was born and raised, has been home to her four novels. In her first title since she won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for her novel-in-13-stories, Olive Kitteridge, Strout returns to tiny Shirley Falls where she set her acclaimed, chilling debut, Amy and Isabelle. This time, in The Burgess...

Tune | Book 2: Still Life by Derek Kirk Kim and Les McClaine

22 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Korean American, Young Adult Readers

Okay, so both Book 1 and Book 2 of this intergalactically stupendous series start out almost the same (Book 2 has an extra, well-placed, close-up "Gyaaaaah!" thrown in), but don't be misled into thinking you've already read it, done that, check! "What's next for Andy Go?" the...

Smoke & Pickles: Recipes and Stories from a New Southern Kitchen by Edward Lee

21 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Korean American, Memoir, Nonfiction

In case you haven't planned your Turkey Dinner coming up in exactly a week (who, me? menu? what's that?), here's a collection filled with irreverently toothsome suggestions. Having grown up eating kimchi with every chestnut-stuffed bird or surreally spiraled pink ham (or both), I couldn't...

Serafina’s Promise by Ann E. Burg

20 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Caribbean, Fiction, Haitian, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Poetry, Verse Novel/Nonfiction

Serafina, who lives in the outskirts of Haiti's Port-au-Prince, has never had the chance to go to school. With rarely enough to eat, her family has nothing left over to pay the school fees, much less buy the required uniform. While her father works at...

A Teaspoon of Earth and Sea by Dina Nayeri

19 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Iranian, Iranian American

Before she is even a teenager, Saba Hafezi reveals herself to be quite the unreliable narrator. Telling stories, however, is what will save her youthful soul ...

The Wall by William Sutcliffe

18 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, British, Fiction, Middle Eastern, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

In an unnamed conflict zone – not unlike the challenging, changing borders of Israel and Palestine – 13-year-old Joshua lives in a new settlement community, Amarias, surrounded by a guarded, barbed-wired wall. Too soon after his father's violent death, his mother desperately married Joshua's now-stepfather who considers...

Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash | Marisol McDonald y la fiesta sin igual by Monica Brown, illustrated by Sara Palacios, Spanish translation by Adriana Domínguez

16 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Bilingual, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Latina/o/x, South American

In case you need an introduction to the "unique, different, and one of a kind" Marisol McDonald, check out her 2011 debut here: Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match. Now that she's starring in her second book, I hope that means Marisol's got her own series going, so we...

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