The Running Dream by Wendelin Van Draanen
09 Jun, by in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
Well, of course, Wendelin Van Draanen is a runner ...
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Taste of Salt: A Story of Modern Haiti by Frances Temple
07 Jun, by in Caribbean, Fiction, Haitian, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers
If Youme's Sélavi, That is Life: A Haitian Story of Hope is a picture book for the youngest readers, then Taste of Salt is surely its companion title for older children and parents alike. The real-life Lanfami Sélavi – Jean-Bertrand Aristide's refuge for homeless children founded in 1986 – is...
The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey
03 Jun, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
For a couple of days, I went back and forth with The Snow Child stuck in my ears (which the inimitable Debra Monk – one of my favorite stage actors ever! – happens to narrate, oh wow!) and reading Ruta Sepetys' between shades of gray on the page...
Avatar: The Last Airbender | The Promise (Parts One and Two) created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, script by Gene Luen Yang, art by Gurihiru, lettering by Michael Heisler
01 Jun, by in Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Pan-Asian Pacific American, Young Adult Readers
Reacting to the final page with 'oh, crud' is actually a good thing, especially if it's something like 'OH, CRUD ...
River Town: Two Years on the Yangtze by Peter Hessler
31 May, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Memoir, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction
Peter Hessler and I started out in the wrong voice – literally. I stuck River Town (the first of Hessler's "China Trilogy," made up of River Town, Oracle Bones, and Country Driving) in my ears and nearly threw the iPod off the cliffs in the first half...
Sélavi, That is Life: A Haitian Story of Hope by Youme, with an essay by Edwidge Danticat
29 May, by in Caribbean, Caribbean American, Children/Picture Books, Haitian, Haitian American, Nonfiction
The first thing you need to know is that this story is real. And although it was first published eight years ago – and six years before the tragic January 12, 2010 Haitian earthquake – Sélavi is an even more urgent call for help for Haiti's children. A...
Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Dascher
22 May, by in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Arab, Canadian, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Israeli, Memoir, Nonfiction, Palestinian, Translation, Young Adult Readers
Guy Delisle is a graphic genius who draws what he sees – simply and unadornedly – with droll, minimal commentary, and creates some of the most poignant, effective, resonating memoirs ever. French Canadian Delisle has undoubtedly found international fame as a traveling artist: he recreated his temporary assignments...
One Red Bastard by Ed Lin + Author Interview [in Bookslut]
07 May, by in Adult Readers, Author Interview/Profile, Chinese American, Fiction, Repost
Ed Lin is not Robert Chow, his fictional alter ego who has starred in three of Lin's four books. If nothing else, Lin is just too young, too happy, and too funny to resemble the Vietnam War veteran-turned Chinatown, New York City cop. The other...
All Woman and Springtime by Brandon W. Jones [in Christian Science Monitor]
04 May, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean, Nonethnic-specific, North Korean, Repost
Just as North Korea’s presence in news headlines has proliferated of late – thanks to the installation of the third-generation round-faced despot; nuclear tests; failed missiles; blatant threats – book shelves, too, have seen an increase in North Korea-themed titles, predominantly written by non-Korean authors. In...
Peiling and the Chicken-Fried Christmas by Pauline Chen
03 May, by in Chinese American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Taiwanese American
Don't let the seasonal title fool you ...
Monstress: Stories by Lysley Tenorio
01 May, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Filipina/o American, Short Stories
Sometimes I need three major reminders to get me to open a book I've been anxiously waiting to read. Who knows why, but I admit to being lost and misdirected often! So first the inimitable Mz. Jessica Hagedorn had to tell me (almost a year...
I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak
29 Apr, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Australian, Fiction, Young Adult Readers
I probably shouldn't have been so surprised when a wonderful literary friend (who is also a children's literature expert, professor, and recent judge for one of those major book awards) remarked that in Markus Zusak's native Australia, this and his unforgettable The Book Thief were initially not...
Scat and Chomp by Carl Hiaasen
28 Apr, by in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
Mega-bestselling author Carl Hiaasen might write formulaic young adult titles, but he's just so goofball funny, it's hard to put his books down – not to mention the covers are so irresistible, too. Following the massive success of his YA debut Hoot (which also got...
A Bride’s Story (vols. 2-3) by Kaoru Mori, translated by William Flanagan
27 Apr, by in Adult Readers, Central Asian, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers
What began as a visual marvel in volume 1, surely does not disappoint in the continuing two volumes. 'Exquisite' still hardly does the panels justice, but just know that every page will make you want to linger to discover and enjoy the glorious details – the...
A Wedding in Haiti by Julia Alvarez [in Christian Science Monitor]
26 Apr, by in Adult Readers, Caribbean, Caribbean American, Haitian, Latina/o/x, Memoir, Nonfiction, Repost
Neither Julia Alvarez nor her husband Bill can remember exactly when she fell in love with a Haitian boy named Piti. But both distinctly recall the first meeting, which happened in 2001 on one of their many trips to Alvarez’s native Dominican Republic. “[S]hort and...
Children of Manzanar edited by Heather C. Lindquist
24 Apr, by in Adult Readers, Japanese American, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers
The PR materials that arrived with this remarkable title contains one of the most effective descriptions of the Japanese American imprisonment during World War II I've ever read: " ...
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
22 Apr, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
"To start with, look at all the books." Thus opens Jeffrey Eugenides third and latest novel with another memorable first-line zinger – most definitely three for three. Alas, what follows that fabulous start isn't nearly quite as zingy. So far, Eugenides is averaging a new title about...
The Artist of Disappearance by Anita Desai
13 Apr, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Short Stories, South Asian, South Asian American
How silly of me for waiting so long to read this, the venerable Anita Desai's latest, when I've had the galley for almost a year (it pubbed last December). Instead, I've slogged through too many disappointing, tedious, nightmare-inducing titles when I could have been celebrating...
20th Century Boys (vol. 20) by Naoki Urasawa, with the cooperation of Takashi Nagasaki, English adaptation by Akemi Wegmüller
11 Apr, by in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers
Manga addict though I am, I DO try to keep manga posts spaced out, so I don't look TOO panel-dependent (even though I am!). But right now, I can't contain my effusive excitement over the latest volume of 20th Century Boys – which hit shelves yesterday! –...
Sông I Sing: Poems by Bao Phi
09 Apr, by in Adult Readers, Poetry, Southeast Asian American, Vietnamese American, Young Adult Readers
April is National Poetry Month. Every once in a long while, even a poetry-dullard like me has a poetic WOW!-moment. Certainly I'm not alone ...