Young Marissa wakes one morning with a toothache – too much candy does have painful consequences! So it's off to the dentist instead of school. She experiences the morning hustle bustle of a busy city, careful to hold her mother's hand tightly. The most "unusual"...
I really should have taken a picture: my too-fast growing tween son, cuddled in bed reading to his little cousin (my not-quite-5-year-old nephew with the most amazing eyes you’ll ever gaze into), hearing the very familiar words of Grace Lin’s delicious Dim Sum for Everyone. “Do...
If you're a parent, go get this book and start reading NOW. Even if you don't have a son. While you're ordering, make sure to also include Leonard Sax's latest, Girls on the Edge, another life-changing read. If you're a parent, truly, you owe it...
Mimi's independent ways continue ...
The adorable Mimi is a typical toddler just on the edge of finding her independence, but still needing a bit of assistance now and then from Mommy and Daddy, even Grandma and Grandpa. She's good at throwing her toys in the trash can, but hasn't...
Jane Jeong Trenka's follow-up to her phenomenal debut memoir, The Language of Blood, is a searing, disturbing account of why transracial adoption does not work. Newly divorced, having severed her relationship with her adoptive parents, escaping from a violent stalker now in jail, Trenka arrives in Korea having...
"A is for abuela. And abandoned car," begins an adventurous afternoon for two friends – one Latina, the other Asian Pacific American – as they explore the familiar yet unique streets and corners of the little girl's neighborhood. From the Chino-Latino corner store to the fire hydrant...
Here's another adorable chunky book for the youngest chubby little hands to hold ...
The first reaction to finishing Lucky Girl is 'lucky readers.' Definitely of the 'you can't make this stuff up'-genre, journalist Mei-Ling Hopgood's debut memoir is one lucky surprise after another. Paced just right to keep you reading, the Taiwanese-born Hopgood reveals a remarkable story of her Midwest...
Too often, media headlines are filled with Arab/Palestinian and Jewish/Israeli conflict and tragedy. Here's a resonating anecdote filled with images of real-life kids from both sides of the religious/political/historical borders, enjoying a real-life camp where "...
As the new boy in town, living in a motel with his near-silent father, young Rob Horton literally hasn't unpacked. He keeps a virtual suitcase tightly locked with his deepest feelings and thoughts, most notably memories about his mother who passed away six months ago...
After reading (and being bothered, aggravated, and ultimately haunted by the unlikely-to-ever-be-forgotten Nomad by Ayaan Hirsi Ali), I seem to be in search of sweeter literary anecdotes about the Muslim experience. As she did in her debut, The White Nights of Ramadan, Kuwaiti-born author Maha Addasi lovingly...
With the publication of her first memoir, Infidel (2007), Ayaan Hirsi Ali spent the better part of a year seeing her debut on the New York Times bestseller list. Born in Somalia, at times neglected, abandoned, or abused by her parents, the strictly-raised Muslim child that...
Outside the temple gates, young Mai feeds the caged sparrows ...
For the last two months or so, Karen Tei Yamashita will not get out of my life. And I say that with a goofy-grinned "wahhh" of delighted surprise. While I’ve been an ardent admirer of Yamashita’s books for some 20 years (yup, I have all...
If you're a parent (or a parental figure) to a girl (even if that girl is still an infant!), you MUST read this book. Which means you can stop reading this post here. Go get the book already ...
While I have to confess Cherry Cheva's sophomore novel is not quite the fabulous fun of her 2008 debut, She's So Money, I'll also insist that DupliKate (with the oh so perfect title!) is undoubtedly an entertaining read that will keep you quickly turning the pages. My teenage daughter chose...
Six months after Nitish Roy’s death, his wife and two daughters gather in Calcutta, India where Bijou Roy as the oldest must send her father’s ashes down the holy river to eternal rest. The haphazard ceremony – made even more so because she is not...
Tracy White’s graphic sort-of-autobiography is “only mostly true because I skipped over things, moved events around, embellished, and occasionally just plain made things up,” she explains on the first page. “The technical term for this is dramatic license. I used it,” she adds in the...
Sylvia Ross, LA-born and “raised … apart from her family Chukchansi culture,” as stated in her bio, has focused her writerly life on her Native American culture. Her latest title captures an inspiring ‘girl power’ story of long ago … about a “medium-sized” Yaudanchi child...
