BookDragon Series Tag

Legend Trilogy: Legend, Prodigy, and Champion by Marie Lu

13 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Chinese American, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

While production doesn't seem to have started just yet, news that Marie Lu's bestselling dystopic trilogy is coming to a theater near you keeps resurfacing since CBS Films bought rights to Legend in 2011. That Lu has a much-hyped new series, The Young Elites, hitting shelves this fall, will surely add pressure to...

what did you eat yesterday? (vol. 1) by Fumi Yoshinaga, translated by Maya Rosewood

09 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Before you open this tasty title, ask your stomach if it's full. Any hint of hunger and you just might embarrass yourself salivating. The cover is already a toothsome teaser: salmon-and-burdock seasoned mixed rice, boiled bamboo shoots with konjac and wakame seaweed, eggplants and tomatoes with Chinese-style...

Crazy Rich Asians [Crazy Rich Asians 1] by Kevin Kwan

29 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hong Kongese, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

You might consider duct-taping your jaw shut because Manhattan-based Singaporean author Kevin Kwan insists on the veracity of the excesses in his outrageous, hilarious, train-wreck tragic debut novel: "So many aspects of and stories in the book I actually had to tone down!" he told...

The Interrogation of Ashala Wolf by Ambelin Kwaymullina

24 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Australian, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

As I feel I know so little about the literature of our Down Under friends, I admit I'm surprised to find I've posted almost 30 titles with Australian origins here on BookDragon thus far. If you were to pop-quiz me on Aussie authors, my instant...

The Year of the Baby and The Year of the Fortune Cookie by Andrea Cheng, illustrated by Patrice Barton

01 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Chinese American, Drama/Theater, Middle Grade Readers

When I read Andrea Cheng's The Year of the Book almost two years ago, I had no clue it would turn out to be a series! Such staying power bodes well that later printings of Book have been fully corrected; click on The Year of the Book post for...

The Incredible Adventures of Dog Mendonça and PizzaBoy (I and II: Apocalypse) by Filipe Melo, art by Juan Cava, colors by Santiago Villa, translated by Raylene Lowe (I) and Philip R. Simon (II)

07 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Translation, Young Adult Readers

While watching evening TV that's been interrupted by a special bulletin about the unending "wave of child abductions in Lisbon," Eurico nods off, only to be jarred awake by the ringing telephone. He's late again to his pizza delivery job, where his boss thinks he's...

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs

02 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Whenever I hear that a book is about to be transformed into celluloid, I get into a little panic to read the original, oftentimes titles I ironically wouldn't have opened otherwise. Occasionally, I'm pleasantly rewarded, Miss Peregrine among those few that fill me with literary gratitude....

Avatar: The Last Airbender | The Rift (Part One) created by Bryan Konietzko and Michael Dante DiMartino, script by Gene Luen Yang, art by Gurihiru, lettering by Michael Heisler

28 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Pan-Asian Pacific American, Young Adult Readers

Although our son incessantly watched various versions of the Avatar series on television and even more often on DVD, I had little knowledge for years of who's who or what's what. The casting controversy of the 2010 film version disastrously directed by M. Night Shyamalan is what...

Wandering Son (vol. 6) by Shimura Takako, translated by Matt Thorn

17 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Our daughter, now a senior at one of the most progressive of progressive schools where she's been a 'lifer,' was recently trying to explain the specifics of what 'gender-fluid' means using a classmate's evolving, changing behavior as descriptive examples. We old folks were still a...

Triton of the Sea (vols. 1-2) by Osamu Tezuka, translated by Eugene Woodbury, edited by Eileen Tse

03 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Middle Grade Readers, Translation, Young Adult Readers

When I say 'brought to you by popular demand,' I have indisputable proof here: 715 supporters put up almost 150% more than the requested funds in answer to Digital Manga's 2012 Kickstarter campaign to bring Triton of the Sea (along with two additional Tezuka titles, Unico and...

The Year of the Horse: Tales from the Chinese Zodiac by Oliver Chin, illustrated by Jennifer Wood

31 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Fiction

Get ready to ring in the new year ...

If I Stay and Where She Went by Gayle Forman

21 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

That the film version of If I Stay is currently in production is reason enough to read the book before Hollywood leaves its indelible imprint too soon. Trust me: 99.9% of the time, the book is better. The intensity and ferocity that author Gayle Forman offers with...

The Savage Fortress [Ash Mistry Chronicles, Book 1] by Sarwat Chadda

12 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, British, British Asian, Fiction, Indian, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Well, I seem to be totally out of order here: so I read The City of Death (Book 2) first because I had a judging deadline, then backpedaled to catch up by sticking this Fortress (Book 1) in the ears (Bruce Mann narrates well enough, although I...

The Fences Between Us: The Diary of Piper Davis, Seattle, Washington, 1941 by Kirby Larson

07 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Japanese American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

How’s this for new math: the first 286 pages hold about the same weight as the final 25 pages. The fictional diary expounds and entertains, revealing a 13-year-old’s West Coast experiences during World War II; the ending “Life in America in 1941” section illuminates and...

The City of Death [Ash Mistry Chronicles, Book 2] by Sarwat Chadda

05 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, British Asian, Fiction, Indian, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Okay, so we're skipping ahead here, because I had to read this for a book judging requirement – and, in reading out of order, also confirm that it can narratively stand alone even without its prequel. I can't reveal any trade secrets, but I can...

A User’s Guide to Neglectful Parenting by Guy Delisle, translated by Helge Dascher

29 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Canadian, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Memoir, Translation

After traveling and drawing the world – Pyongyang, Shenzhen, Burma, Jerusalem – comic master extraordinaire Guy Delisle turns inward to his own family with a tongue-in-cheek look at the challenges of being a parent trying to keep his kids safe, supported, loved ...

The Cemetery of Forgotten Books: The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel’s Game, The Prisoner of Heaven, The Rose of Fire by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, translated by Lucia Graves

24 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, European, Fiction, Translation

Well, crud. In spite of making a list and checking it twice, thrice, and more, I read these in about as 'wrong' order as I possibly could. But before I offer two preventative options, some quick background: the full Cemetery of Forgotten Books by internationally bestselling...

Tune | Book 2: Still Life by Derek Kirk Kim and Les McClaine

22 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Korean American, Young Adult Readers

Okay, so both Book 1 and Book 2 of this intergalactically stupendous series start out almost the same (Book 2 has an extra, well-placed, close-up "Gyaaaaah!" thrown in), but don't be misled into thinking you've already read it, done that, check! "What's next for Andy Go?" the...

Marisol McDonald and the Clash Bash | Marisol McDonald y la fiesta sin igual by Monica Brown, illustrated by Sara Palacios, Spanish translation by Adriana Domínguez

16 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Bilingual, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Latina/o/x, South American

In case you need an introduction to the "unique, different, and one of a kind" Marisol McDonald, check out her 2011 debut here: Marisol McDonald Doesn't Match. Now that she's starring in her second book, I hope that means Marisol's got her own series going, so we...

My Name Is Blessing by Eric Walters, illustrated by Eugenie Fernandes

09 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in African, Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Nonfiction

Muthini – whose name means "suffering ...