The Boy by Naeem Murr
You can't believe how scary this book can be, especially if you have children of your own. The eponymous boy of many names in Naeem Murr's disturbingly effective debut novel is a complicated, unpredictable,...
You can't believe how scary this book can be, especially if you have children of your own. The eponymous boy of many names in Naeem Murr's disturbingly effective debut novel is a complicated, unpredictable,...
Naeem Murr’s latest novel is a near-perfect coming-of-age story about an Indian-born, London-raised young man, dropped into the American Midwest virtually without support, and was last year’s Commonwealth Writers’ Prize for Europe...
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...
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...
Here’s the best news up front: Tahmima Anam’s impressive debut is the first of a planned trilogy. While still mourning the sudden loss of her too-young husband, Rehana loses custody of her young son...
India in the 1940s is a time of tumultuous violence – the British troops are subduing independence efforts, citizens of different religious backgrounds are fighting each other, World War II is raging in Europe, and the...
First published in 1983, Sidhwa’s haunting first novel has been brought back with a new introduction by grand dame Anita Desai. It's based on a true story Sidwha heard while traveling in Pakistan about a young...
When the brutal dictator Idi Amin violently grabbed power over Uganda, he declared in August 1972, that within 90 days all Indians would have to leave the country. Part of Uganda’s population since the 16th century,...
While Robert Chow’s life might be a bust, this second novel for the talented Lin turns out to be quite the page-turner. As the token Chinese policeman in 1976 New York Chinatown, Chow is also an...
Best known for her highly entertaining picture books (The Runaway Rice Cake, The Real Story of Stone Soup), Compestine enters the young adult market with a story that draws on her own childhood during the crushing...
Meet Kimberly Keiko Cameron, aka “Skim,” a wannabe witch navigating her angst-filled teenage life in a 1990s Toronto high school. In this book created by cousins Mariko and Jillian, making their fabulous collaborative debut, Skim manages...
Maggie is the youngest in a family of baseball lovers. While she might not play herself – girls usually didn’t in the 1950s – she knows the game inside and out. She hangs out with guys...
Sameera Righton, who first appeared in First Daughter: Extreme American Makeover, now calls the White House “home.” Sparrow, as her parents call her, is the adopted Pakistani-born daughter of the new U.S. President and his First...
This slim volume resonates long after the last page, especially for mothers in today’s overscheduled, harried world. Hua Wu, a recent Chinese immigrant working a dead-end waitress job in New York's Chinatown, meets stylish Jane Templeton...
Get ready for some rollicking fun with this debut novel about super-overachieving Maya, the perfect daughter who gets all As and still manages to help out in her parents’ Thai restaurant. One small slip-up while her parents...
The Cultural Revolution was a harrowing decade of Chinese history. Moying Li recalls her life from ages 12 to 22, when she bore witness to brutal atrocities against her family, friends, and entire community – and...
Pakistani dictator General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq’s sudden death in a mysterious 1988 plane crash remains unsolved. Hanif, once part of the Pakistani air force and now a British expat, cleverly presents a riotous fictional version of how...
A 2007 Booker Prize nominee, Sinha’s third title is presented as a series of 23 directly transcribed tapes, spoken by a creature called “Animal,” who was once human before an industrial chemical catastrophe (inspired by the...
The long-awaited follow-up to Manil Suri's glowing debut, The Death of Vishnu, features headstrong Meera, who escapes her controlling father’s house at age 17 by marrying handsome crooner Dev which, alas, proves...
If literary awards are any measure of prowess, then native Chinese speaker Ha Jin has most certainly mastered the English language. As a writer of poems, short stories, and fiction, he has been showered...