War Archives - Page 18 of 33

Prophecy [Book 1 of Prophecy Series] by Ellen Oh + Author Interview [in Bookslut]

07 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Author Interview/Profile, Fiction, Korean, Korean American, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Young Adult Readers

As the mother of three young girls, Ellen Oh is constantly on the lookout for good books that showcase female empowerment. She's found a few here and there – say, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, The Girl of Fire and Thorns trilogy by Rae Carson, The Hero and the...

The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau

03 Jan, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Middle Eastern, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Need the verdict first? READ THIS. Stephen Dau's The Book of Jonas is one of those rare, shattering, lingering, breathtaking-at-unexpected-moments debut novels that arrive so perfectly formed you're left both haunted (wondering what you could possibly read next to dispel the terror) and grateful (utterly so, that...

The Spy Lover by Kiana Davenport

26 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Hawaiian, Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples

The Spy Lover lingered on the top of my must-read pile for months, mainly because I just needed a break from the death and destruction of war (seems to be my reading theme for too much of this year!). I wasn't wrong to be afraid: set during...

I Survived the Bombing of Pearl Harbor, 1941 by Lauren Tashis, illustrated by Scott Dawson

07 Dec, by SIBookDragon in Fiction, Hawaiian, Japanese American, Middle Grade Readers, Nonethnic-specific

Today – December 7, 2012 – is the 71st anniversary of the "date which will live in infamy," as named by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in describing the assault on the Pearl Harbor Naval Base and launching the United States into World War II. That the attackers...

The Rose Hotel: A True-Life Novel by Rahimeh Andalibian

29 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Iranian, Iranian American, Memoir

In the genre of memoirs (which includes based-on-a-true-story, autobiographical novels), I've noticed two distinct categories: the titles you read for the importance of the story, and the memoirs that also turn out to be fabulous examples of great literature. Psychologist Rahimeh Andalibian's writing debut represents the former;...

Escape from North Korea: The Untold Story of Asia’s Underground Railroad by Melanie Kirkpatrick [in Christian Science Monitor]

27 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Korean, Korean American, Nonethnic-specific, Nonfiction, North Korean, Repost

Please allow me to share a so-called North Korean political joke: “Kim Jong Il and Vladimir Putin ...

The Headmaster’s Wager by Vincent Lam

26 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Chinese, Fiction, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American, Vietnamese

Although Vincent Lam's first novel hit shelves months ago, I waited (and waited) to read it because I was afraid – seems to be my modus operandi for follow-up titles to books I've cherished, unable to move on for fear of grave disappointment. Lam's interconnected story...

Children of War: Voices of Iraqi Refugees by Deborah Ellis

24 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Canadian, Iraqi, Middle Eastern, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Bestselling Canadian anti-war activist Deborah Ellis’s four nonfiction titles (thus far) for younger readers should be bundled together and sent to every policymaker throughout the world. Two of those four, Kids of Kabul: Living Bravely through a Never-Ending War and Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak, give voice to children living...

Three Wishes: Palestinian and Israeli Children Speak by Deborah Ellis

18 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Canadian, Israeli, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Palestinian, Young Adult Readers

Given the latest headlines in the Middle East, this seems to be the perfect time for another Deborah Ellis title. Best known for her Breadwinner Trilogy (The Breadwinner, Parvana’s Journey, and Mud City) which became a tetralogy this fall with My Name is Parvana, Ellis is an...

Good Night, Commander by Ahmad Akbarpour, illustrated by Morteza Zahedi, translated by Shadi Eskandani and Helen Mixter

17 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Iranian, Translation

Award-winning Iranian writer Ahmad Akbarpour uses the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988, claiming 1.5 million lives) as the backdrop for this indelible, meaningful story about a young boy who lost his mother – and his leg. "The story is set in Iran," Akbarpour explains in his author's...

The Revolution Happened and You Didn’t Call Me by Maged Zaher

08 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Egyptian, Egyptian American, Poetry

For those of you who know me, this is no surprise: poetry is my literary Achilles' heel. But my contrary nature occasionally gets brave enough to try again, and the few times I eke out some level of comprehension, you'll read about it here. [Any...

Unspoken: A Story from the Underground Railroad by Henry Cole

06 Nov, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Black/African American, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

In our hyper-connected world of constant chatter, quiet is a difficult-to-access, precious commodity. Take a sweeping look around you, take a few minutes to turn everything off, and grab a copy of this spectacular, wordless book. That's right – no words, beyond the author's dedication (to a...

The Thinking Girl’s Treasury of Dastardly Dames | Njinga: “The Warrior Queen” by Janie Havemeyer, illustrated by Peter Malone

21 Oct, by SIBookDragon in African, Biography, Children/Picture Books, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction

Those Dastardly Dames are increasing their fold (yippeee!), this time to welcome a 16th-century West African queen named Njinga, meaning "twist," because she was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck! She certainly found her fighting spirit early on: as the eldest daughter...

The Street of a Thousand Blossoms by Gail Tsukiyama

08 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Japanese, Japanese American

For one reason or another, I've taken many years to finally finish a Gail Tsukiyama novel. I've started a few, gotten distracted and put each aside, but this time, after noticing that she was one of the few APA authors at this year's National Book...

A Game for Swallows: To Die, To Leave, To Return by Zeina Abirached, translated by Edward Gauvin

04 Oct, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Lebanese, Memoir, Middle Eastern, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Once again, I start from book's end, with the "About the Author" page which introduces war-child Zeina Abirached, whose first 10 years of life were spent surviving Beirut's civil war (1975-1990). As an adult, she happened upon a 1984 documentary that included "[a] woman whose...

20th Century Boys (vol. 22) by Naoki Urasawa, with the cooperation of Takashi Nagasaki, English adaptation by Akemi Wegmüller

28 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation, Young Adult Readers

Confession first: even though I'm posting after the fact, reading this was a little birthday present to myself. The older I get, oh how I loooovvvvve the manga that much more! Must be an age-escapist thing! The Friend has shockingly confessed that he's the mastermind behind...

The Sky of Afghanistan by Ana A. de Eulate, illustrated by Sonja Wimmer, translated by Jon Brokenbrow

27 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Afghan, Children/Picture Books, European, Fiction, Spanish, Translation

"I look at the sky, I close my eyes, / and my imagination begins to soar ...

Soul Calling: A Photographic Journey through the Hmong Diaspora by Joel Pickford, foreword by Kao Kalia Yang

26 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Adult Readers, Hmong, Hmong American, Nonfiction, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American, Young Adult Readers

Joel Pickford's titular journey took him through an 8,000-mile trek to some of the most remote villages in Laos, five years of interviewing Hmong refugees, and five years of reading Hmong history and ethnography. The result is a gorgeous, startling, intimate portrait of an ethnic...

My Name is Parvana by Deborah Ellis

20 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Afghan, Canadian, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

What delighted anticipation I felt when I heard that Deborah Ellis' multi-award-winning Breadwinner Trilogy (The Breadwinner, Parvana’s Journey, and Mud City), after almost a decade since its completion, was becoming a tetrology! I adamantly hoped for such at the end of my Mud City post:...

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein

18 Sep, by SIBookDragon in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, British, European, Fiction, Young Adult Readers

Having somehow stumbled randomly on Elizabeth Wein's very recent "meta-review" on reviewing (complete with crossed-out phrases about "tasteless morons"), I'll try to not break her seven "observations" here. Just allow me a moment to digress (and comment): 1. I wasn't aware of any Verity hype, although surely such...

BookDragon War Tag