Name Me Nobody-- Lois-Ann Yamanaka

Friend P suggested I read something by Lois-Ann Yamanaka. Thank for leading me to this great book!

I immediately love Emi-Lou. Outcast, overweight, and abandoned by her mother, she has three bright spots in her life, her grandmother and her best friend Yvonne being the two obvious ones. But Emi-Lou is also her own bright spot; over the course of the book, we see her become more compassionate, a better friend, and able to stand up for herself and others.

Emi-Lou and Yvonne are soul sisters-- "wherever Yvonne go, Emi-Lou go too." Together, they join the local softball team; Emi-Lou pushes Yvonne to be the best player she can, and Yvonne pushes Emi-Lou to lose weight. But when Yvonne gets romantically involved with her teammate Babes, Emi-Lou feels her world falling apart-- she wants her best friend to be "normal."

Watching this all play out is so painful. Emi-Lou just doesn't know how to handle Yvonne's relationship with Babes. She gets crap from her aunt Vicky and her classmates about being Yvonne's spurned "femme," accused of being jealous. Meanwhile, Emi-Lou isn't used to her newly-thin body and how people treat her; she continues to "feel fat" and struggle with emotional eating. She has an on-and-off relationship with a guy who cares more about his image than about her, and crushes on a popular jock who tries to use her in every way. It's like a high school horror show. I wanted to scream watching all these bad things happen, the very worst of which is seeing Emi-Lou drive a wedge into her relationship with her best friend.

In the end, the best part for me was the story's three heroines-- tough and forgiving Yvonne, solid-loving Grandma, and an Emi-Lou who emerges from codependency and inadequacy and self-doubt. It's worth all the hurt.

(And, seriously, I cannot overstate the awesomeness of Grandma.)

Bog Child-- Siobhan Dowd

I was eager to read another of Siobhan Dowd's books, as I loved the last one so much. Now I am wishing I hadn't picked this one. This slim book took me forever because I had difficulty coming back to it. I only kept going because there are two interesting things at work here: the book is set in Ireland during the Troubles, and the story attempts to bridge two worlds across a time gap.

Fergus and his uncle Tally are cutting peat when Fergus discovers a body-- apparently that of of a child-- buried in the bog. Fergus has a lot on his mind; his brother is on hunger strike in prison, Mam and Da fight about the strike and about politics. Fergus is trying to pass his A-levels so he can escape Ireland and live his life in peace, but his brother's friend is trying to enlist him to run things past checkpoints. On top of all of that, Fergus now wants to know who the bog child is and how she died, and finds himself falling for one of the young excavators working on the site.

Bog Child was published after Dowd's untimely death in 2007. In stark contrast to London Eye, I found this book rough and disjointed. The most compelling storylines are political-- the hunger strike and Fergus' casual friendship with a Welsh soldier stationed at the border-- but the inherent drama is not handled well, and the other storylines drop off abruptly. I think the flashbacks were the least effective of all. Given how much I liked London Eye, though, I think I might have to read one more of her books this year... stay tuned.

Walk Two Moons-- Sharon Creech

This another book from superstar friend E! E has so many great books, and is a great writer too! You can visit her here.

Walk Two Moons is fascinating in its attempt to articulate the inexplicable decisions of grown-ups. Why would your mother pick up and leave you if she loves you? Why do some parents leave and others come back? How do we recover from loss?

Sal is driving to Lewiston, Idaho with her grandparents. She wants to get there before her mother's birthday, believing that she might be able to bring her mother home. While tracing her mother's path across the country and trying to put herself in her mother's place, Sal tells Gram and Gramps the story of her friend Phoebe. (Phoebe's story is like Sal's, with the exception of a few critical details.) This is a story about learning to see through the hurt and the annoyance to really understand someone else's pain or fear-- profound stuff for a little book.

Walk Two Moons strikes me as very honest. Here, as in life, there are all kinds of love and all kinds of relationships, not all of them easy to navigate or explain. It may have been over my head as a kid, but there are readers who will welcome this book based on personal experience.

The book has plenty of mysterious elements, but they are not bound together; tangents of plot spring all over the place, in unexpected directions. It's not clear what's material to the plot; things just happen right and left. The word choice and narration are colorful and fun; you don't have a sense of where it's headed, but it's fun to be along for the ride.

Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian-- Sherman Alexie

I have yet to encounter a novel with a teenage male protagonist that brimmed with affection like this book. Arnold Spirit ("Junior") is adamant in his love for his flawed but adoring parents, revered grandmother, tough sister, and always-angry best friend Rowdy. Later, Junior proclaims love for his classmates-turned-friends, his teammates and his coach. Junior's outlet is cartooning, but his tender pencil sketches reflect caring observation.

Junior is suspended after his first day at Wellpinit High School, when he throws a 30 year-old textbook at his math teacher. Recognizing Junior's rage, his teacher tells him to leave the reservation. Junior, a freakish and picked-on kid, does the unthinkable in enrolling at Reardon High School-- 22 miles away, off the rez. Junior suffers ridicule from community members and classmates alike, but eventually discover supporters and a sense of self-worth.

The illustrations-- sketches and cartoons-- are sometimes sweet, sometimes caricatures, and sometimes dark. The writing is accessible and the themes are plain: rez life is rough, family and friends are important, determination is key. Alexie also does some editorializing about reservations and alcoholism. Things become sad to the point of absurdity-- it feels wrong to say that, but I don't know how one could portray a sequence of senseless deaths more artfully. That said, the more dramatic moments tend to fall flat; I think the best material is in Junior's relationships with his father and Rowdy.

In reviews, teachers fretted about how to use this book in the classroom with the stereotypes of drunk Indians and frank sex talk, but censoring Alexie would be pointless. If anything, I felt that this semi-autobiographical work lacked the poignancy of his more autobiographical work for adults. Diary is good for late reluctant readers, but I would recommend Alexie's truly incredible The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven as a better alternative for high schoolers.

Detour: The Danger of a Single Story

Take a break from reading to listen to the amazing Ms. Adichie...

Chimamanda Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story

Born Confused-- Tanuja Desai Hidier

Born Confused is the open-hearted book about South Asian identity that I have been looking for. The book problematizes issues of first and second generation identity beyond the tidy "self-acceptance = yay" that I have now (sadly) come to expect from many of these books.

Dimple Lala is in the summer before her senior year. She lives in the shadow of her beautiful, blonde, spotlight-loving best friend Gwyn, and behind the lens of her beloved camera. These days, Gwyn is busy with her boyfriend, leaving Dimple in her darkroom with all the images of life once-removed. Things start to change when Dimple reconnects with her cousin Kavita and meets suitable-boy Karsh, who introduce her to the young desi scene in New York. Dimple slowly discovers a sense of connection-- to her parents, whose history she is uncovers; to Kavita, who keeps a secret; to her roots and innermost self. But when Gwyn falls for Karsh, Dimple feels herself losing both of them.

As conventional as some of the plot points are, I insist they are handled more beautifully here than in any comparable book. The NYU connection allows Hidier to introduce Dimple to things outside her suburban world-- academic discourse, reconciliation of cultural and personal identity, and more than token treatment of LGBT desis. I love how it's embracing but critical at the same time, proffering a lot of questions and no easy answers. It also seems very fair and right to treat Gwyn's identity struggle on par with Dimple's-- there is more to "finding yourself" than just the color of your skin. The book also breaks the mold in not resolving all identity issues then and there; really, how many young people completely find themselves in the course of a single (albeit formative) summer?

The writing is fabulous and, at times, very funny (the scene were Dimple comes home stoned is hilarious). The book is full of moments that I love-- Dimple's shots of the crowd at an underground/ bhangra dance party, the notes her dad sent her as a kid, the photographic correspondence she had with her departed grandfather, pictures of the beautiful Zara putting on her makeup. The prose is lush and energetic, and Dimple is a 100% genuine article.

Personal note: Dimple's revelations are an echo of my seismic internal shift after learning about this amazing organization and attending their South Asian summit. They do so much for all us ADs (B and C optional).

Notes for a War Story-- Gipi

It's a struggle describing the essence of a graphic novel in words, particularly one as abstract as Gipi's Notes for a War Story. It's a book about war, but not in the way you would expect-- only the occasional discussion of militias and bombings. Rather, this book's backdrop is protracted violence and civil unrest, with a focus on characters who profit from them.

The power of Notes for a War Story comes not from its protagonists (a group of archetypal outsiders who are supposed to be friends but show no signs of bonds between them) or its unique perspective ("war is ugly"), but from its haunting images. Rendered in monochromatic oils with a few penned-in details, there are ruined hotels with glassless windows, expanses of wasteland where villages used to be, and alley nightclubs with only a handful of patrons, all reminiscent of post-apocalyptic futurescapes. The headless figures that haunt the main character's dreams are equally chilling. The war itself is abstract-- a civil conflict in an unnamed European country, though the images and the artist's close proximity to the conflict in the former Yugoslavia suggest something more specific.

Fans of graphic novels might consider this for its visual merits, but the plot points are too diluted to stand on their own.

The Skin I'm In-- Sharon G. Flake

Friends, it has been so great to get your recommendations! I have a whole new stack of books from the library and I am very excited to dig in. The wonderful L passed on this recommendation to me from some kids she works with (thanks L... and kids!).

There are certain books that every teen seems to have read, like the Twilight and Hunger Games series. After I read a book, I look it up on online to add the cover design to the blog and check out reader ratings. I am ashamed to say I had never heard of Sharon Flake, but there was unequivocal praise for The Skin I'm In, and almost all of it from young readers themselves. Why is there not a reading campaign for this book?!

The Skin I'm In speaks deeply to those adolescent fears of standing out, not being accepted. Maleeka, the protagonist, is so easy to identify with. I am sad to say that I think this book hasn't gone mainstream on account of race issues-- Maleeka is harassed by her classmates on account of the deep blackness of her skin, a point of self-consciousness that might not resonate with some readers. The book's themes, however, are universal. Maleeka sees herself as ugly, ill-dressed in her homemade clothes, pushed around by her "friends" and put down by her classmates. In Maleeka's journey towards self-acceptance, the book shines a light on what teasing is really about: envy and control. Meanwhile, Maleeka grows to recognize her own potential, stand up for herself, and see who her true friends are.

The themes in this book were so powerful, it only occurred to be later that this would be great for reluctant readers. A strong recommendation for all the middle-reading girls in your life-- at that age, everyone can use a little push.

Thousand Pieces of Gold-- Ruthanne Lum McCunn

Thousand Pieces of Gold, as its title might suggest, was a treasure trove for me: Pacific Northwest history, Asian American history, and women's history all wrapped up in a compelling young adult novel.

Thousand Pieces of Gold is based on the life of Lalu Nathoy (later known as Polly Bemis), who was born in a village in Northern China in 1853 and died in Grangeville, Idaho in 1933. Author Ruthanne Lum McCunn intended to write a nonfictional account of Lalu's life, but realized there were too many gaps and contradictions in the available historical accounts, and turned to fiction. In this story, Lalu unbinds her feet at age 13 to join her father in plowing the fields-- in doing so, she gives up hope of marriage. She is later stolen by bandits, sold to a brothel, transferred to the custody of a slave merchant, smuggled into San Francisco's Chinatown, auctioned to a saloon keeper, and won in a poker game.

Warrens, Idaho must have been a fascinating place in its gold-mining heyday-- a rare community where whites and Chinese lived together, although the town was segregated. In spite of tensions, McCunn's interviewees all spoke warmly of their friend Polly-- her grit and cleverness as well as her kindness and sense of humor. What an extraordinary person she must have been. I think it must have been amazing to have known her, and after reading this book, I feel like I have come very close.

In the notes at the end of the book, McCunn discusses theories about Lalu's origins that came up in the translation process. McCunn now believes that Lalu may have been Daur Mongolian, and possibly Muslim (one of the meanings of "Lalu" is "Islam"). What struck me about these discoveries, as well as the wide translation and publication of this book, is that Thousand Pieces of Gold is just as much about Chinese history as it is about American history. A great book for discussion groups and young history buffs.

Watership Down-- Richard Adams

My worlds collided last week in a great little discussion group on housing rights. We watched a snip from the inspiring documentary "A Village Called Versailles" and read about preserving Asian enclaves and immigrant neighborhoods in the face of gentrification and anti-immigrant ordinances. We talked about opportunities for people to band together to fight developers and local government... but the whole time I was thinking about rabbits. Why? Because at the time I was halfway through Watership Down.

This is more a testament to the depth of the latter than my superficial appreciation for the former (at least I hope so). I just hope no one was turned off this book after seeing the scary cartoon.

For those who have not had the pure joy of reading it, Watership Down is the story of a group of rabbits who flee a warren destroyed by developers. They pass through some strange places, encountering other lapine communities with radically different social structures, making for some clever allegory.

Above all, however, Watership is a classic adventure story, with elements reminiscent of folk mythology and Homer's epics: heroism, prophecy, fraternity, and the journey home. It was only after this discussion group that I began to appreciate a third dimension of the story-- how to unite a community, who decides and speaks for a group, and sustaining a social organization are classic themes in community organizing also explored in the book.

In short, it's worth discovering, rereading, and passing on.