News on Two New YA Books

Interview with Mitali Perkins, whose novel Secret Keeper just came out: Books in 140. I can't wait to read this one!

I keep seeing Zetta Elliott's middle grade children's book, Bird, mentioned as one of the best of 2008, and I just learned that Elliott has also written a YA book. It's called A Wish After Midnight, and is about Genna, who is transported back to Civil War times in New York. Elliott says she wrote the book because, "When I was growing up, there weren't any books about magical things that happened to girls who looked like me." The book (reviewed today on Crazy Quilts) is only available directly from Elliott's website. Watch the trailer--are you as intrigued as I am?

Young Adult books (Many approved for us Old Adults as well!)

My list of YA books and authors for the challenge keeps growing and growing, so I'd better post some tonight! Don't rule out these titles just because they're marketed as Young Adult and you are, perhaps, not as young as the protagonists. They still "count" as real books, just as much as Catcher in the Rye and David Copperfield do.

Junot Diaz (Dominican American), The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.
This is very well written, definitely not a light read. I have yet to finish it, as I had a library copy that needed returning before I could get fully entrenched in it. Oscar is a sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd who—from the New Jersey home he shares with his old world mother and rebellious sister— dreams of becoming the Dominican J.R.R. Tolkien and, most of all, finding love. But Oscar may never get what he wants. Blame the fukú—a curse that has haunted Oscar’s family for generations, following them on their epic journey from Santo Domingo to the USA. Encapsulating Dominican-American history, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao opens our eyes to an astonishing vision of the contemporary American experience and explores the endless human capacity to persevere—and risk it all—in the name of love. (product description)

Sherman Alexie (Native American), The Absolutely True Story of a Part-time Indian
This was recommended by so many people. It won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 2006. I read it, liked it, but didn't review it, but there's a review of it here.

Sharon Draper (African American) is a new author to me. She consistently gets 4 and 5 stars on the online bookseller sites. I'm especially intrigued by Copper Sun, historical fiction about an Ashanti girl sold into slavery. Here's a review on the Hip Librarian's Book Blog Draper also has several more contemporary titles, including The Hazelwood High Trilogy, The Battle of Jericho, and November Blues.

Walter Dean Myers (African American) has published a ton of books, including Sunrise Over Fallujah, which I just finished last week. This is the first novel about the current war in Iraq that I've read, and I thought Myers did a great job with it. I'm not a big fan of war books, but this one worked for me.

Hotlanta by Denene Millner and Mitzi Miller (Recommended by the Rawsistaz Reviewers) Sydney and Lauren Duke live the life. They live in the exclusive Buckhead community, attend a high-profile private school, and wear clothes and drive cars most of us will only dream about. And they take it all for granted, until a series of events force them to take a cold, hard look at themselves and the lives they’re living. To be honest, this doesn't look like my type of book, but I'm including it because it may be yours. :-)

Varian Johnsoon (African American), My Life as A Rhombus. I have to read this one, just because it may be the only instance of a male author writing a book about teen pregnancy from a girl's perspective. Here's a review on Teens Read Too .

Nnedi Okorafor-mbachu (Nigerian-American) The Shadow Speaker (2007) This is a YA fantasy novel. Niger, West Africa, 2070: After fifteen-year old Ejii witnesses her father's beheading, her world shatters. In an era of mind-blowing technology and seductive magic, Ejii embarks on a mystical journey to track down her father's killer. With a newfound friend by her side, Ejii comes face to face with an earth turned inside out-and with her own magical powers. But Ejii soon discovers that her travels across the sands of the Sahara have a greater purpose. Her people need to be protected from a force seeking to annihilate them. And Ejii may be just the hero to do it.

Next I have some recommendations from my friend Ameena, of YA novels that portray the cross-cultural experience between India and America:

1. Rachna Gilmore, A Group of One. (2001) Fifteen year old Tara has lived in Canadian all her life. Although her parents are Indian, Tara considers herself completely Canadian. However, when her grandmother from India comes to visit, she learns more about her family’s history and involvement in the fight for Indian freedom. As a result, she begins to consider where she fits in, as a Canadian with Indian heritage. Addressing issues of racism, the caste system, the Indian freedom movement, including satyagraha.

2. Tanuja Desai Hidier, Born Confused (2002) Dimple Lala feels like she was born not only confused, but clueless as well. Her parents want to introduce her to suitable Indian boys. Her best friend engineers her first experience with alcohol, while trying to set her up with a college boy. However, her “perfect” cousin from India who is attending NYU turns out to be a surprise, helping her find ways of being Indian in America. (This title was also recommended by others)

3. Uma Krishnaswami, Naming Maya (2004) After her parents’ recent divorce, Maya doesn’t want to spend the summer in Chennai, India, where her mom must try to sell her grandfather’s house. However, as the summer progresses, she able to better understand her parents’ divorce. In the process, she is forced to confront the fact that her granfather’s aging former housekeeper may be getting old and losing some of herself, while forging a stronger bond with her cousin as well.

4. Mitali Perkins
(a)Monsoon Summer (2004) Jazz’s mom was adopted from an orphanage as a four year old, but the last thing Jazz wants to do is spend her summer of being fifteen in India, volunteering. She has a business in Berkeley to attend to, and she doesn’t think of herself as a “save the world” type. However, as she begins her summer, she meets an orphan her own age who just might change her mind about wanting to get involved.
(b)The Not-So-Star-Spangled Life of Sunita Sen (2005) Sunita doesn’t want to spend eighth grade having her grandparents from India visiting. That means that she can’t invite boys to the house, she has to discuss her homework with her grandfather everyday, and her normally liberated mother is acting like a traditional Indian woman. This story traces Sunita’s growth as a bicultural person, as she increases her connection to both her past and present, ultimately finding a balance between being Indian and being American.

5. Kashmira Sheth, Blue Jasmine. (2004) When Seema’s family immigrates from India to Iowa City, she must confront what it is like to leave behind the life she’s always know, while also trying to forge a new life. Her experiences in America and India ring true, as she is faced with family crises, the challenges of speaking a second language, and her own insecurities. The book is a journey from uncertainty to strength, as Seema discovers not only who she is, but what her values are.

There's another whole post's worth of titles but I'll stop there because it's my bedtime! As always, if you've read any of these titles, give us the low-down or the link to your review in the comments (that goes for everyone, not just challenge participants).

Graphic Novels

You don't have to be signed up for the Graphic Novels Challenge, of course, to include a graphic novel or two in your reading list! Graphic novels cover all sorts of topics and styles and are well worth looking into if you haven't already.

I don't go for Manga, myself (lots of Japanese authors, there), so the only one I've read so far by a non-white author is Skim, a young adult graphic novel by Asian Canadians Mariko and Jillian Tamaki. You can read my take on it here (I didn't love it as much as a lot of people did). Mariko Tamaki also wrote Emiko Superstar with Steve Rolston, whose site describes it this way: A borrowed diary, a double life and identity issues fuel a teenager's quest to find herself before she cracks and commits social suicide. Watch Emi go from dull, suburban babysitter to eclectic urban art star compliments of one crazy summer!

One book on my stack to read is Incognegro, by Mat Johnson and Warren Pleece.
In the early 20th Century, when lynchings were commonplace throughout the American South, a few courageous reporters from the North risked their lives to expose these atrocities. They were African-American men who, due to their light skin color, could "pass" among the white folks. They called this dangerous assignment going "incognegro." Zane Pinchback is sent to investigate the arrest of his own brother, charged with the brutal murder of a white woman in Mississippi. With a lynch mob already swarming, Zane must stay "incognegro" long enough to uncover the truth behind the murder in order to save his brother -- and himself."

Here are some other African American/Canadian graphic novelists I found, and I plan to add several of these to my reading list (the graphic novels, they go fast!):

Lance Tooks, Narcissa
A talented and self-centered independent filmmaker is collapsing under the strain of her critics--the "enlightened" people who are trying to get her to compromise her integrity. The stress is killing her--literally. Warned that if she tries to complete her current project she'll be dead in a week, Narcissa decides to escape the chaos that surrounds her--and fears the fears that threaten to overwhelm her--by traveling to Spain.

Canadian Ho Che Anderson has written everything from a series on Martin Luther King (titled King) which has been compared to Maus, to some I'd want to hide from my kids.

Kyle Baker
Nat Turner depicts the evils of slavery in this moving and historically accurate story of Nat Turner’s slave rebellion. Told nearly wordlessly, every image resonates with the reader as the brutal story unfolds. (from the publisher)
Also The Cowboy Wally Show, King David (yes, that King David story), and more.
Kyle Baker also cowrote Birth of a Nation, a political satire, with Aaron McGruder (creator of the Boondocks comic).

Edited to add: I found more! Check out the Boston Bibliophile's reviews of Aya and Aya of Yop City, by Marguerite Abouet and illustrated by Clement Oubrerie, of the Ivory Coast. These look like fun.

I also had forgotten about Marjane Satrapi, who wrote the fabulous Persepolis memoirs about her life as an Iranian girl and young woman. I'll be reading her Embroideries for my Graphics Novel Challenge.

And Alea pointed out that Adrian Tomine is Japanese American. She plans to read his 32 Stories as part of the graphic novel challenge.

If you've written reviews of any of these, or have other suggestions for books in this category, please let me know.