Amy Chua's Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother did more than speak to me. It screamed, shouted and lectured me. It made me simultaneously laugh with empathy and cringe with embarrassment and exasperation. "This is a story about a mother, two daughters, and two dogs," the...
Sometimes my inability to process dialects actually has an upside ...
It's New Year's Eve 2014 ...
Talk about testosterone gone awry: The Chocolate War is a disturbing look at how boys – and the men from whom they are supposed to learn – mistreat, outmaneuver, and abuse one another.
Jerry...
This one starts with a mini-dilemma of choice ...
This time of the year, in spite of my higher-than-usual crank factor with all the commercial hubbub, I do enjoy escaping into mushy, happy books. Here's one to add to the holiday list,...
*STARRED REVIEW
The Korean title of this indelible novel, Omma rul put’ak hae, contains a sense of commanding trust that is missing in its English translation: “I entrust Mommy [to you].” That trust...
As much as this time of the year makes me sooooo cranky with too much focus on the frantic buy-buy-buy messages all around us, it also makes me a total mushpot for...
His name is Leonardo, he'll answer to Leo, but he's most often called "sardine" by his nearest and dearest because several years ago, "Leo got squashed in a corner and cried ...
Checking my inbox yesterday, I received quite a flurry of emails highlighting the latest announcement that Chinese students are outscoring all other students in international standardized testing, with their U.S. counterparts ranked 23 or...
I didn't actually read most of Jean Kwok's debut novel, but Grayce Wey who read it to me made it un-put-downable. Wey's gentle, lilting accent which fades in and out depending on...
First off, Samrat Upadhyay is one of my favorite short story-tellers. His debut Arresting God in Kathmandu remains one of the most memorable collections I've ever read, and a quote from the review I...
Oh my, oh my ...
Hurray (itself a word of Mongol origin) for cultural anthropologist and Macalester College professor Jack Weatherford who reclaims Genghis Khan from a much maligned history that defines him as "the quintessential barbarian," leading an...
Yes, President Obama's first picture book is, of course, a gorgeous gift to his two young daughters. But it's also quite a legacy for every child anywhere as it reminds us that...
I fully admit that had Mockingbird not won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature last week, I probably wouldn't have read it. I'll also tell you that by page 9, I...
At 14, Moritaka Mashiro figures he's "just going to live a normal life." For a teenager, that translates into "getting into a good high school, a good college and a good company to work...
Whether a soldier or a civilian, no one ever escapes the consequences of war. While those on the fighting front face the greatest risks, those left behind have excruciating challenges, as well. Two-time Newbery...
Inspired by three years of living in Thailand with her family and visiting refugee camps along the Thai-Burma border, Mitali Perkins’ latest novel follows the lives of two boys on...
The final title of Caroline B. Cooney's award-winning Janie Johnson quartet begins with a newspaper article that marks the anniversary of the "Missing Child Milk Carton Campaign" that – for better...
