I Love You More by Jennifer Murphy
27 Aug, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
What are the chances: I seem to be island-hopping this week ...
BookDragon Mother/daughter relationship Tag
Sisters by Raina Telgemeier, with color by Braden Lamb
22 Aug, by in Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Memoir, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction
If the cover looks somewhat familiar, that's because Sisters continues Raina Telgemeier’s highly entertaining (for the reader, certainly) coming-of-age escapades she shared in Smile, published four years ago to bestselling success. In Sisters, she's hasn't quite shed her braces, but she's heading to high school come fall. That pivotal summer...
The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing by Mira Jacob
21 Aug, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, South Asian, South Asian American
Probably my brain is showing its advancing age, but I can't remember the last time I stayed up half the night to finish a book unless I had an impending deadline (procrastinate? me?!). While I started Sleepwalk-ing in daylight stuck in the ears (debut novelist Mira Jacob...
The Book of Unknown Americans by Cristina Henríquez
19 Aug, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Latina/o/x
Oh, oh, oh. You know something special is coming when I start with those three simple syllables. Because big words like 'remarkable,' 'marvelous,' 'resonating' just don't carry the same admiring adoration as plain old 'oh, oh, oh.' I'm also hoping that sort of speechless reaction...
We Are All Completely Besides Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler
30 Jul, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
"Once upon a time, there was a family with two daughters, and a mother and father who promised to love them both exactly the same." "She was my twin, my fun-house mirror, my whirlwind other half. It's important to note that I was also all those...
The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow
14 Jul, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race
So here I sit facing a familiar conundrum ...
The Pearl That Broke Its Shell by Nadia Hashimi
09 Jul, by in Adult Readers, Afghan, Afghan American, Audio, Fiction
See the entwined pair of hands? Although the girl and woman never meet, they remain forever bound by both blood and experience over a tumultuous century in Afghanistan. The woman is Shekiba, the only daughter in a family of sons, whose gender alone makes her a target of abuse...
The Last Werewolf Trilogy: The Last Werewolf, Talulla Rising, By Blood We Live by Glen Duncan
07 Jul, by in Adult Readers, Audio, British, British Asian, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race
In a roundabout way I can't quite recall, I ended up at this 2007 New York Times article, "Young Man Behaving Badly," and learned that bestselling author Glen Duncan is hapa British Asian. I found his latest title, By Blood We Live, magically waiting on my shelves, only...
The Hula-Hoopin’ Queen by Thelma Lynne Godin, illustrated by Vanessa Brantley-Newton
01 Jul, by in Black/African American, Children/Picture Books, Fiction
Welcome to the corner of Broadway and West 139th Street in New York City: Today, Kameeka is determined that she will finally claim her rightful title as the Hula-Hoopin' Queen of 139th Street! But today is also the beloved Miz Adeline's birthday – "I love Miz...
Lost Girl Found by Leah Bassoff and Laura DeLuca
25 Jun, by in African, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
Not quite a teenager, Poni loses her 12-year-old best friend in violent increments: to too-early forced marriage, three failed suicide attempts, and finally to childbirth long before her natural time. Poni – and her fiercely supportive mother – are determined that Poni will somehow stay in school...
A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life by Dana Reinhardt
11 Jun, by in Audio, Fiction, Jewish, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers
"Look at us. A family of four. Seated around the dinner table," 16-year-old Simone observes. "We do this every night. ...
Someone Knows My Name by Lawrence Hill
10 Jun, by in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Canadian, Fiction
Let's start with the bottom line: read this. [Or listen – narrator Adenrele Ojo is superb.] I guarantee this stupendously epic, unforgettably affecting story of Aminata Diallo will haunt you long after you finish. Born in 1745, Aminata is 11 when she's violently abducted from her...
Reconstructing Amelia by Kimberly McCreight
05 Jun, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
Without a doubt, Kimberly McCreight's bestselling debut contains every parent's every nightmare, beginning with the absolute worst at the end of the first full chapter: "I'm sorry, Mrs. Baron. But your daughter, Amelia, is dead." Her 15-year-old body lies broken on the grounds of her posh private school...
We Were Liars by E. Lockhart
03 Jun, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian American, Nonethnic-specific, South Asian American, Young Adult Readers
Get ready: E. Lockhart's latest is apparently the young adult read of the summer. That John Green cover endorsement alone should sell endless copies. So when everyone is chattering about what happened, you're going to want to join in. An aging, wealthy, widowed patriarch spends his summers on a private...
Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian
01 Jun, by in Adult Readers, Armenian American, Audio, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific
As epigraphs go, Chris Bohjalian couldn't have chosen better (as if we would expect any less), not only for the words, but for the poet who originated the verses: "Before you know what kindness really is / you must lose things, / feel the future...
The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirrezvani
29 May, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Iranian, Iranian American
When her father dies, a girl and her mother's futures are forever altered. As a 14-year-old living in a 17th-century Persian village, she expected to be contentedly married, looking forward to starting her own family, not unlike her best friend who is already heavy with...
Claire of the Sea Light by Edwidge Danticat
28 May, by in Adult Readers, Black/African American, Caribbean, Caribbean American, Fiction, Haitian, Haitian American
I read the eponymous first chapter almost a year ago and then stopped. I listened to the same story – the absolute highlight in the disappointingly uneven collection Haiti Noir – so smoothly, lullingly read by Robin Miles, and again stopped. The book stayed on my desk...
The Girl in the Garden by Kamala Nair
27 May, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian, Indian American, South Asian, South Asian American
After years of keeping secrets, Rakhee Singh's "demons" have finally "clawed their way free." Without confronting what happened to her family that summer in India when she turned 11, she finds herself unable to embrace her future – her impending architecture degree, her promising design job, and most importantly,...
How to Be an American Housewife by Margaret Dilloway
26 May, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Japanese, Japanese American
Okay, I confess the cover put me off from opening the book for months (well, actually, years); I recently compromised by choosing to go aural and was surprisingly delighted to spend almost eight hours with narrators Laural Merlington and Emily Durante (who take turns reading as mother and...
The Tyrant’s Daughter by J.C. Carleson
14 May, by in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Middle Eastern, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers
Laila, 15, is newly arrived from an unnamed Middle East country. She's living in a modest apartment in the suburbs of Washington, DC, with her mother and younger brother. She's at a new school with new friends, and she's doing her best to adjust to her...