BookDragon Father/son relationship Tag

Ultraman (vol. 1) by Eiichi Shimizu, illustrated by Tomohiro Shimoguchi, translated by Joe Yamazaki

31 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Translation, Young Adult Readers

In case you initially peruse this manga the Western way (flip pages from the right side to left), here's what you'll see a few pages in: "We used to fanatically watch reruns of Ultraman as kids," the creators Eiichi Shimizu and Tomohiro Shimoguchi confess. "We never dreamed...

Ghetto Brother: Warrior to Peacemaker by Julian Voloj, illustrated by Claudia Ahlering, introduction by Jeff Chang

24 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Black/African American, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Latina/o/x, Nonfiction, Puerto Rican, Young Adult Readers

Given that gang violence, unfortunately, makes for all-too-familiar headlines, the story of a gang truce is truly noteworthy news to be lauded and emulated. Back in the 1960s and 1970s, New York's Bronx was both a haven for poor ethnic communities pushed out of Manhattan, and...

Fake ID by Lamar Giles

12 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Young Adult Readers

Being the new kid (again) in high school is hard enough, but for Nick Pearson, he also has to get used to a new name and a whole new identity that comes with his latest 'fake ID.' Every time Nick (nope, not his real name) and...

Discover WeNeedDiverseBooks with Ellen Wittlinger’s Hard Love

07 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Latina/o/x, Middle Grade Readers, Puerto Rican, WeNeedDiverseBooks, WNDB.SummerReadingSeries2015, Young Adult Readers

The Ever After of Ashwin Rao by Padma Viswanathan [in Christian Science Monitor]

15 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Canadian, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian American

The Ever After of Ashwin Rao explores grief that lingers long after the bombing of an airliner Two weeks short of the 19th anniversary of the bombing of Air India Flight 182 – which disintegrated off the Irish coast on June 23,1985 – psychologist Ashwin Rao...

The Way Things Were by Aatish Taseer [in Library Journal]

01 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Repost, South Asian, South Asian American

Aatish Taseer's latest opens with a mother's call to her Manhattan-based son, asking him to ferry his just-deceased father's body from Geneva back to Delhi. Though a minor Indian prince, "Toby" G.M.P.R. Kalasuryaketu – half-actually Scottish, half-Indian – was more a foreign "novelty" in his...

Papa Gave Me a Stick by Janice Levy, illustrated by Simone Shin

11 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Korean American, Latina/o/x

When Antonio goes to hear a mariachi band with his family, he can hardly take his eyes off the guitars. But his request for a guitarra is met with a frown as his Papa explains that he has "no money for such things." All he...

Orhan’s Inheritance by Aline Ohanesian [in Christian Science Monitor]

09 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Armenian American, Fiction, Repost, Turkish

Orhan's Inheritance cleverly intertwines first love, ancient betrayal, secrets, and war crimes At age 8, Aline Ohanesian’s great-grandmother interrupted her seventh viewing of The Sound of Music with a promise: “I have a story, too.” That was the first and last time Ohanesian heard about her Nene’s...

Take This Man: A Memoir by Brando Skyhorse

09 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Latina/o/x, Memoir, Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples, Nonfiction

Well, of course, the year I'm mostly out of DC, Brando Skyhorse is the Jenny McKean Moore Writer-in-Residence at George Washington University. Not that I have any affiliation there now (only a leftover GWU ID from when I took a couple of classes 3.5 decades...

Hard Love by Ellen Wittlinger

01 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Latina/o/x, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

These days, too many young folks know little of life before smart phones enabled virtual instant access. Last century – in the 1990s, that is – something called 'zines' gave voice to angry young voices ...

Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma (vols. 1-2) by Yuto Tsukuda, illustrated by Shun Saeki

30 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Translation, Young Adult Readers

So I confess I haven't seen a single episode, but the hubby seems addicted to the TV series, Masterchef Junior. Time magazine recently declared it "the Best Cooking Show on TV," especially noting that "here are some other things you don’t have on MasterChef Jr....

Wall by Tom Clohosy Cole

14 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, Children/Picture Books, European, Fiction

"My mom said that while the wall was being made, our dad got stuck on the other side." The story is specific to Germany where the Berlin Wall went up in 1961, dividing a single city into two, cleaving family members from one another –...

Attack on Titan (vols. 11-14) by Hajime Isayama, translated by Ko Ransom

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

If this is the first time you're hearing about this worldwide phenomenon that is Attack on Titan, please pause and take the time to catch up. Trust me when I warn you that this is not a series that you can pick up midway; you’ll need and want to follow...

Attack on Titan (vols. 5-10) by Hajime Isayama, translated by Sheldon Drzka (vols. 5-8) and Ko Ransom (vols. 9-10)

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

Publishers Weekly credits Attack on Titan with the recent manga rebound in the publishing industry. PW calls it "one of the best selling comics series in North America – yes, not just bestselling manga, best selling comic series, period." School Library Journal says Titan has "become one of the most...

Attack on Titan (vols. 1-4) by Hajime Isayama, translated by Sheldon Drzka

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

Check out this headline from last week: "'Attack on Titan' Drives Manga Rebound at New York Comic Con." With over 1.5 million copies in print in the U.S. (which actually seems a bit paltry compared to the 40 – not a typo! – million worldwide as of...

I Called Him Necktie by Milena Michiko Flašar, translated by Sheila Dickie

18 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese, Translation

To better understand this elliptical, exceptional novel, allow me to elucidate a growing cultural phenomena trapping Japanese young people. According to a glossary entry at novel's end, some 100,000 to 320,000 hikikomori exist in Japan. They are self-made prisoners in their parents' home, usually hidden...

The Land of Steady Habits by Ted Thompson

24 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

As a young man, Anders Hill was rather a rebel, abandoning his stifling southern roots, estranging himself from his acerbic father by forsaking Duke University for an exclusive New England college. There he fell in love with his roommate's girlfriend who would become his wife. Becoming a husband, then...

And the Dark Sacred Night by Julia Glass

16 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center 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...

The Hunt Series: The Hunt, The Prey, The Trap by Andrew Fukuda

06 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Chinese American, Fiction, Japanese American, Young Adult Readers

So maybe I'm getting older faster, but oh my goodness, I'm surprised this trilogy is rated for kids – ages 12+ and grade 7+! Fair warning from this parent: the violence is graphic, the body count immeasurable, and by the end, most of the main characters...

Split by Swati Avasthi

28 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Indian American, Nonethnic-specific, South Asian American, Young Adult Readers

When Jace Witherspoon arrives at Christian Marshall's address after 19 hours of driving straight from Chicago to Albuquerque, he's not quite sure what he's going to say. "'I was in the neighborhood,' ...