Seventeen-year-old Maybelline Mary Katherine Mary Ann Chestnut, aka "Maybe," escapes the clutches of her slimy stepfather-to-be, for whom her ex-beauty queen alcoholic mother insists she'll walk down the aisle a seventh time. Maybe decides it's high time to go find her real father, the one...
The wealthy Rajesekharan family of Ipoh, Malaysia is suddenly in shambles. Chellam, one of the family servants, has been mysteriously dismissed and leaves in utter disgrace. The bitter, difficult family matriarch is dead. Her son is...
Helen Kimura has survived and thrived by using her irresistable beauty to get exactly what she wants. Steely and independent, she's never succumbed to anyone else's expectations but her own. Her four daughters by four different...
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...
Immortalized by Deborah Kerr, Anna Leonowens – yes, that Anna, the one who taught the children of the King of Siam – was, without a doubt, a remarkable character. Unfortunately, her story remains buried in...
A little girl insists on her seventh birthday that she is finally old enough to wear one of her mother’s gorgeous saris. One by one, each magical sari tells a story of the last special occasion...
From the creative team that brought you the bestselling I Love You Like Crazy Cakes comes a memorable new title that celebrates the growing bond – year after year – between a mother and her adopted...
Hapa Girl: A Memoir is a disturbing book in that the author is younger than I am, that the harrowing events are hardly distant, and most of all, that I have young hapa children of...
Marjane Satrapi on the "Axis of Evil," Cheese, and Exploring Family History
Marjane Satrapi changed my reading life. Before I picked up Persepolis, her fabulous autobiographical debut about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, I had...
While her husband Da Chen writes sweeping literary historical sagas, newcomer Sunny offers a contemporary entertaining tale of young Mona Lisa who discovers she has latent super-powers. Turns out our heroine is actually half-Monère, an ancient...
A fluffy, fast read to warm the heart: gorgeous Lakshmi hides behind glasses as she looks deep into others’ lives while helping women find the perfect sari. Always the dutiful daughter, she agrees to her matchmaking...
This one will break your heart in the most haunting way. The follow-up to An Na’s Michael L. Printz Award-winning A Step From Heaven, is just as powerful – perhaps even more so –...
An unput-down-able romp of a fun novel (with a few very serious moments) starring hapa (half-Asian, half-not) Patty Ho who goes from awkward Seattle suburb freshman to adventurous, independent Stanford summer math camper.
Reviews: "In Celebration of...
Although the main character is just 9, the book is definitely for an older audience. Kati’s happy life with her grandparents is disrupted by a visit to her mother, whom Kati has not seen for almost...
The turbulent mother-daughter relationship between world-renowned filmmaker Deepa Mehta and her photographer/journalist daughter is interwoven into a fascinating account of how Mehta’s latest film, Water, came to be. As the final installment of Mehta’s...
Cho starts with “haven’t we heard enough from these ancient white guys?” and ends with “Choosing to stay and fight for ourselves in the...
This latest picture book from the 2002 Newbery Medal Award winner Linda Sue Park introduces an adorable little girl who hurries her mother to finish making bee-bim bop,...
Somebody's Daughter
Marie Myung-Ok Lee Finds Her Voice
Ten Thousand Sorrows by Elizabeth Kim, A Single Square Picture by Katy Robinson, and The Language of Blood by Jane Jeong Trenka...
Got the publication date confused and held it longer than intended – but can’t let it go without saying this is a grand coming-of-age story. Jazz Gardner travels to India with her family where...
Breathtaking, heartbreaking account of the women trapped for generations in Pakistan’s pleasure quarter – once beloved, artistically gifted courtesans now reduced to devastating prostitution.
Review: "New and Notable Books,"...
