BookDragon Family Tag

Mali Under the Night Sky: A Lao Story of Home by Youme

07 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Biography, Children/Picture Books, Laotian, Nonfiction, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

As thin as this title might seem, it actually embodies three important sections. The main focus is clearly the story of young Mali, which begins with her carefree life in her native Laos...

Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

06 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese American, Fiction, Hong Kongese

I didn't actually read most of Jean Kwok's debut novel, but Grayce Wey who read it to me made it un-put-downable. Wey's gentle, lilting accent which fades in and out depending on...

Buddha’s Orphans by Samrat Upadhyay

05 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Nepali, Nepali American

First off, Samrat Upadhyay is one of my favorite short story-tellers. His debut Arresting God in Kathmandu remains one of the most memorable collections I've ever read, and a quote from the review I...

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne

02 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction, Jewish, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Given the somber subject matter of this title, I realize this probably verges on sacrilegious, but no disrespect is intended in any way ...

The Year of the Rabbit: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac by Oliver Chin, illustrated by Justin Roth

01 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Fiction

How did 2010 whoosh by so quickly? Is it really December already? Since 'next year' is just a month away, take a sneak peek at 2011 with baby Rosie! With her especially huge...

Sweet Moon Baby: An Adoption Tale by Karen Henry Clark, illustrated by Patrice Barton

30 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Fiction

Oh my, oh my ...

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford

29 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Biography, Mongolian, Nonfiction

Hurray (itself a word of Mongol origin) for cultural anthropologist and Macalester College professor Jack Weatherford who reclaims Genghis Khan from a much maligned history that defines him as "the quintessential barbarian," leading an...

The Playwright by Daren White, art by Eddie Campbell

28 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Australian, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha

The unnamed playwright here is one lonely man. He "lodges" in Uncle Ernie's spare room as his own family stopped talking to him in 1978 when his screenplay "based upon his older, retarded brother" aired...

Out of Iraq: Refugees’ Stories in Words, Paintings and Music by Sybella Wilkes, foreword by Angelina Jolie, in association with UNHCR

27 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, Children/Picture Books, Iraqi, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction

Alas, tragic headlines continue to repeat over and over: The front page of today's New York Times reports, "Iraq's Ills Lead Former Exiles to Flee Again." [An online version of the article is available...

MAOH: Juvenile Remix (vol. 1) original story by Kotaro Isaka, story and art by Megumi Osuga, translated by Stephen Paul

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

Ando, now in 11th grade, is more or less going through the motions of fitting in: "If I said I didn't feel empty inside for putting up an act ...

Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

22 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

I fully admit that had Mockingbird not won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature last week, I probably wouldn't have read it. I'll also tell you that by page 9, I...

Country Road ABC: An Illustrated Journey Through America’s Farmland by Arthur Geisert

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

While today's country roads might seem to resemble life from centuries past, subtle contemporary reminders are unmistakable ...

Kubla Khan: The Emperor of Everything by Kathleen Krull, illustrated by Robert Byrd

19 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Biography, Children/Picture Books, Mongolian, Nonfiction

Let's start with the last pages first: Kathleen Krull notes in her "Author's Note" that "[i]nformation about Kubla Khan is sketchy." Her illustrator Robert Byrd adds that "[p]ictoral references dealing with the...

How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden

16 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Israeli, Jewish, Memoir, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Having grown up Catholic (I'm still in recovery), nothing works better than leftover Catholic guilt to get me to do something I'm whinge-ing about. The supreme irony about my former Catholicism is...

Willow Run by Patricia Reilly Giff

14 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers

Whether a soldier or a civilian, no one ever escapes the consequences of war. While those on the fighting front face the greatest risks, those left behind have excruciating challenges, as well. Two-time Newbery...

Mirror by Jeannie Baker

12 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Australian, Bilingual, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Moroccan, Young Adult Readers

The simplicity of Australian author/artist Jeannie Baker's latest title makes it simply stupendous. Open the book and you have two halves on either side, the left which begins in English, and right which...

Dengeki Daisy (vol. 1) by Kyousuke Motomi, translated by JN Productions

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

Teru Kurebayashi is pretty much all alone in the world. Her parents are gone, and her beloved older brother is dead … but before his tragic too-early passing, he left her with a...

Bamboo People by Mitali Perkins

09 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Indian American, Middle Grade Readers, Myanmarese (Burmese), Southeast Asian, Young Adult Readers

Inspired by three years of living in Thailand with her family and visiting refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, Mitali Perkins’ latest novel follows the lives of two boys on...

Tears in the Darkness: The Story of the Bataan Death March and Its Aftermath by Michael Norman and Elizabeth Norman

08 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Filipina/o, Japanese, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, Southeast Asian

In the book’s opening pages, the “Authors’ Note,” explains the title – ‘tears in the darkness’ is a literal translation of the Japanese kanji for anrui, “the kind of pain and sorrow...

What Janie Found by Caroline B. Cooney

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

The final title of Caroline B. Cooney's award-winning Janie Johnson quartet begins with a newspaper article that marks the anniversary of the "Missing Child Milk Carton Campaign" that – for better...