Quick: Growing up, how many kids did you know who carried epi-pens? I can't think of a single child (I'm dating myself, I'm sure), except for silly me, but mine were for bee stings. That certainly is not the case now! Our daughter was always...
I swear this it not a spoiler because it's on the dedication page: Dwayne dies. His dates are right there before the book even starts: "1968-2009." Which is really quite sad, because inherited employee Dwayne Wright is one of the two most colorful Characters (capital...
Life just seems better with a Haruki Murakami story stuck in my ears ...
Four women, living together in a house in Antwerp, Belgium, are "[t]hrown together by a conspiracy of fate and a loud man called Dele." They have escaped their lives in Africa, but only at the cost of their freedom; Dele, who orchestrated their immigration, now...
What formative experiences make a great children’s book illustrator? In the case of Allen Say and Ed Young, both Caldecott medalists, the journey begins with unusual childhoods in wartime Asia. Connecting the dots from those beginnings to what would become long and successful careers, Drawing...
Almost 10 years after Julie Otsuka made her spectacular literary debut with When the Emperor Was Divine, I remain even more convinced that Emperor is the best book I've ever read about the Japanese American imprisonment during World War II. Truth be told, Emperor ranks so high on...
Timing is everything: I'm convinced my just-got-back trip from Korea gave me an especially empathetic appreciation for poetry slam artist/writer/playwright Ed Bok Lee's latest collection. I just wandered some of those same streets! And I definitely had to read it at 38,000-feet cruising altitude between there...
With the debut volume receiving major approval by the American Library Association earlier this year by making YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association)'s list of 2011 Top Ten Great Graphic Novels for Teens, the rest of the Saturn series certainly has quite a bright future on translated shores. Kind and gentle Mitsu...
Yu Hua's unforgettable tome requires a solid commitment in time and patience, yet your reward for finishing the final page will make your investment amply worthwhile. The opening paragraph begins with the end: "Baldy Li, our Liu Town's premier tycoon," sits contemplating his life on his...
Tashi’s beloved grandfather – her Popola – has been sick in bed for two weeks. “’The doctor’s doing all she can,’” her mother assures Tashi. But Tashi soon realizes that what will help Popola most may not be medical at all. Tashi asks Popola about how...
On a long flight to Korea, I took the Park Sisters along to sweeten the tedious ride. I was barreling my way toward an international children’s literature festival where I was scheduled to talk about Korean American literature and, of course, the sisters and their...
In anticipation of tomorrow's frightfest, thought I should share some deathly dystopian manga – ikigami literally translating to 'death paper.' While each volume could potentially stand alone as a series of individual episodes that detail how the chosen spend their predetermined final 24 hours, you'll need to start from...
Check out the earnest determination on an oh-so-young Kenji's face as he announces, "Justice never dies." Four decades later, his surviving renegade friends are desperately trying to keep his prophetic, childhood words alive: "I'm saving this world from evil, no matter what happens!!" Two of the...
* STARRED REVIEW Krys Lee, whose peregrinations originated and are currently paused in Korea with formative stopovers in the U.S. and England, infuses the nine stories of her breathtaking debut with the consequences of dislocation – whether forced because of war, or chosen by virtue of...
Today's theme, I've decided, is families that come together in unexpected ways. I have good reason – I'm moderating an event at the Library of Congress on transracial adoption at noon (eek!) – and I have a gorgeous debut novel I must share (it's always about a...
Before I let myself even open Michael Ondaatje's newest title, The Cat's Table, which hit shelves earlier this month, I was determined to read his previous novels that I had somehow missed. The realization that I have now earned access to Table is rather bittersweet as...
Half-way through reading this debut autobiographical novel-in-verse, I had a lively conversation about the cover with a delightful new friend who happens to be a bonafide kiddie-book expert. We had just finished sharing our shock over the recent fiasco surrounding the one-too-many finalists for the 2011 National Book...
In less than a week, you can be holding 1Q84, Haruki Murakami's long-awaited spectacular title finally available in English, which hits shelves on October 25. You might choose to hold out until November 8 when the audible version is scheduled for release. All 944 pages (on paper...
Oh, those complicated but charming men who wander in and out of the kitchen, creating and serving the most toothsome fare at the Casetta dell'Orso ...
For those who missed the perennial chart-topper on the list of “Top ten most frequently challenged books of 2010” during the recent Banned Books Week 2011, feel free to click here. That's your eyebrow-raised warning right up front that even though these two delightful protagonists both have families, one...
