Given this is a presidential election year, I know you've been searching for the perfect (non-partisan!) political primer. Look no further ...
For most of us in the west, our filtered news of the Middle East is, more often than not, rife with contention, violence, and tragedy. Laughter would certainly be a rare reaction to the decades-long Palestinian/Israeli conflict, and yet Palestinian author Suad Amiry manages to...
"Dear Mr. Jean Paul Sartre, I know that you are dead and old and also a philosopher. So, on an obvious level, you and I do not have a lot in common." Thus begins 15-year-old Tina's class project for her English Honors elective on existential...
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...
Oooh, such campy, goofy, gory fun, complete with a buff, albeit geeky APA male hero! But don't judge those dweeby glasses just yet ...
What serendipitous timing that I chose to post Kevin Wilson's debut novel right after an interview with Jessica Hagedorn: Wilson's next public appearance, according to this website schedule, is on September 18 at the Brooklyn Book Festival with none other than the inimitable Mz. Hagedorn!...
Warning: NO NO NO! This is NOT to share with your kiddies, at least not until they're much older ...
Warning: reading this whimsical globe-trotting picture book debut from Amy Gibson with your young 'uns will surely make them peripatetic adventurers sooner than later in life. Divided by continent, Gibson wanders the globe sharing giddy, often enlightening poems about animals familiar and hidden. In South America,...
For those of you searching for an antidote to the Tiger Mom brouhaha, this is it! I kid you not. Picture this ...
Shockingly enough, Valentine's Day wasn't actually created by Hallmark! In fact, the heartfelt holiday has two versions as to its origins. The Christians say the date commemorates three martyrs all named 'Valentine'; St. Valentine's Day was established at the end of the 5th century, only...
Delighted guffawing is inevitable as soon as you open the pages. And most especially fitting if you are a proud, obstinate Luddite like me! Move over Kindles, Nooks, iPads, Vooks, and whatever other...
The peaceful slumber of Johnny Hiro and girlfriend Mayumi Murakami in their rent-controlled (run-down) New York City apartment, is rudely interrupted by Gozadilla (that extra 'a' is not a typo), who couldn't make it as a killer monster in Tokyo so has come to New...
When Alvin Ho gets scared, he can’t seem to talk ...
High school senior Patti Yoon, the perfect Korean American daughter studying for her perfect SAT scores, perfectly playing the violin, aiming for HYP (KorEnglish for HarvardYalePrinceton), and (of course!) never talking to boys, discovers her feisty...
At 32, Anita Jain is an object of pity. Never mind her Harvard degree and a journalism career with its expat adventures in far-flung destinations such as London, Mexico City, and Singapore. Ask any auntie or...
The first two volumes of one of Japan’s top 10 manga bestsellers make their Stateside debut. Join the over-the-top adventures of newly inducted magic-key-carrying wizard Lucy (did she have to be so Barbie-like? Please!), motion-challenged fire...
"Yes. That is exactly what it is. A book is a device to ignite the imagination,'" says the fictional Queen Elizabeth II when her footman informs her that her reading choice might have been an explosive...
A humorous look at an endearing, rambunctious young boy’s promises of all the things he will not do on the very last day of...
Who needs Peter Mayle when we’ve got the original Chinese German Valley Girl?
Review: "New and Notable," aMagazine: Inside Asian America, October/November 2001
Readers: Adult
Published: 2001...
In this parody of the hard-boiled detective genre, Sam Shikaze (of the Sam Spade school) is a Japanese American private detective hired to find the missing Cherry Blossom Queen. In the process, he meets...
