BIPOC author

Audiobook: One Day Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This

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by Omar El Akkad
Read with the author.
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is talk of the genocide in Gaza and abuse by immigration officers. It’s in the Current Events section of the bookstore.

In this short memoir/accounting of the genocide in Gaz, El Akkad talks about how it is to be Muslim in the west, and how the ideas of justice and freedom are so far from what Americans, at least, believe them to be, that it’s laughable. There is heartbreak, despair, and pain and a lack of hope that anything will ever change. Except, in the writing of this, El Akkad bears a witness to the pain and maybe by reading this, there is a small amount of hope that things will become more just and truly free.

I don’t usually say books are important; I don’t really believe that there are books that everyone should read. And yet, as I was listening to this, feeling El Akkad’s pain – feeling the pain of the Palestinians who have been obliterated, feeling the pain of the people who have been unjustly detained – I realized that this is a book that, in order to change, everyone must read. If you read this and come out unchanged, you have a heart of stone.

There is pain out there; pain that must be stopped. And, the very least we can do is be a witness for the people who can’t speak.

Two Tribes

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by Emily Bowen Cohen
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Review copy provided by the publisher
Content: There is bad-mouthing by divorced parents of the other parent, a runaway kid (nothing happens), and some slurs against Native Peoples. It’s in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Mia lives with her Jewish mother and stepfather in LA, and goes to a Jewish school. Which is all good, except her father is Muscogee and she longs to learn about her Native side of the family. Her mom is not really open to talking about Mia’s dad, or her Native family, so Mia hatches a plan to take a bus to Oklahoma and visit them, without her mom’s knowledge or approval. Once in Oklahoma, she meets relatives she barely remembers, learns about the traditions, and goes to a powwow. Once her mom figures out what she’s done, however, she is whisked back to LA. There, she finds the courage to confront her mother about wanting to learn more about both sides, both tribes, that she has inherited.

On the one hand, I think this is an excellent story about kids struggling between identities, with divorced parents who aren’t on good terms with each other. It’s a basic primer about Native peoples – there is a confrontation with a kid at the Jewish school who insists she can’t be Native because they “aren’t even alive anymore.” There’s also a side bit about a book that perpetuates negative Native stereotypes. And a confrontation with her Rabbi about using a slur – something he didn’t even register.

On the other hand, I’m not sure I really liked it. I liked parts of it, sure, and I liked the Idea behind it, and I think it’ll be good for kids to have access to. But, the story felt flat. It all happened too quickly. There wasn’t enough development with the character or her family. Mom turned on a dime (I wanted a story about mom, honestly). It just lacked the depth I think it could have had.

But it’s still a good graphic novel.

Red River Rose

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by Carole Lindstrom
First sentence: “‘Hurry up, Delia, I want to stop at the ferry on the way,’ said Rose, trying not to tug her sister’s arm too hard.”
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Release date: March 17, 2026
Review copy provided by the publisher.R

Rose is a Métis girl living her beset life in Batoche, Saskatchewan in 1885. She helps take care of her sister, she goes hunting with her father and uncle, she enjoys watching the ferry on the river. However, one day, she overhears the elders talking about how the Canadian government want to come take their land – and that they should resist. Rose agrees: she doesn’t want to lose the only home she’s ever known, but as a 12-year-old girl, how can she help her people stand up against the government?

In the author’s note at the end, Lindstrom mentions that she wanted this to be a Native Little House on the Prairie, and I think she succeeded. It has the same quiet tone, an engaging and relatable heroine, and an insight into what life might have been like for the Métis in 1885. It was a bit simplistic (but it’s for kids!), but overall, I loved the storyline, I loved how Rose wanted to help her family and her neighbors, and I admired her willingness to take chances. Lindstrom created a great heroine, and I would love to experience more of her story.

It’s an important book – there always needs to be more stories of historical events from the Native perspective – but it’s also a good one.

Angelica and the Bear Prince

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by Trun Le Nguyen
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Review copy pilfered from the ARC shelves at work.
Content: There is racism toward Asian people and bad boyfriends. It’s in the Teen Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

Angelica was an overachiever. She did everything, and was super good at it all. That is, until she burned out her junior year. She’s spent a while recovering and is slowly trying to get back into participating. She got an internship at the local children’s theater. Where they’re doing a production of East of the Sun, West of the Moon, with the classic Bear Prince costume. With whom Angelica has been DMing on Instagram and may like. Gable – who was Angelica’s best friend in childhood – is the bear prince but is concerned that Angelica won’t like him in his new trans identity. It’s full of ups and downs, nice adults and lame boyfriends, and is a perfect snapshot of a moment in the life of a couple of high school students.

Nguyen wrote The Magic Fish, which I adored, and his art and storytelling are just as strong here, even if the subject matter is lighter. I like the way he wove the fairy tale through these books as well. It’s a sweet little graphic novel, one that is bound to make readers smile.

Audiobook: A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping

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by Sangu Mandanna
Read by Samara MacLaren
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, instances of emotional child abuse, and one fade-to-black sex scene. It’s in the Romance-Fantasy section of the bookstore.

I know: I said a few posts ago that I don’t do romantasy. Let’s put it this way: a slightly magical book set in contemporary times is NOT romantsy, and I think I prefer the latter.

Sera was an up-and-coming, talented witch when she was younger, but when she was 15, her great-aunt, whom she loves and lives with, died. Sera was talented enough to bring her aunt back from the dead, but she lost most of her magic and was exiled from the British Guild of Magic as a result. Now, 15 years later, running an inn full of wayward people (both magical and non-), she finds the resurrection spell, something that will help her get her magic back. It’s a historian, Luke, who happens (sort-of) to be stopping in at the hotel with his younger sister, that puts Sera on the right path, and maybe together they can get her magic back.

This was absolutely delightful, especially on audio. The narrator was perfect (Luke is Scottish, and her accent for him was delightful), and the story just silly enough and charming enough to make me happy. It was exactly what I needed, and I can’t complain.

Love is a War Song

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by Danica Nava
First sentence: “Three nearly naked men drenched in oil gyrated around me, their things barely covered in short tan-hide loincloths that dangled between their thighs.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Review copy provided by the publisher.
Content: There is swearing, including multiple f-bombs, and a couple of on-page sex scenes. It’s in the Contemporary Romance section of the bookstore.

Avery has spent her whole life in LA – first as a child actor, and now trying to break into the music business. Sure, she just wants to write her own songs, but her mom (who is also her manager) keeps telling her that she has to pay her dues. So, she listens when the record label gives her a “Native-inspired” song (since her mother says they’re Muscogee) and films a video for it. Plus there’s a Rolling Stone cover. But when they come out, there is a huge backlash: what they thought was “taking back stereotypes” ended up just being deeply racist. So, to get away from death threats, her mother sends Avery to her estranged grandmother’s house in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, to hide. And maybe to learn a bit about this heritage she has claimed but knows nothing about.

Once there – on her grandmother’s working ranch – she meets Lucas, a Muscogee ranch hand who has a chip on his shoulder, especially when it comes to her and her music. Except, he’s hot. And while she is often annoyed at him, she also kind of likes being around him. And she comes to respect him. And maybe there’s more to Broken Arrow than she thinks.

I’m not sure I liked this one as much as I liked The Truth According to Ember, but I did like it. I like that Nava looked at how being a Native person in Hollywood/the music industry isn’t an easy thing. I liked the juxtaposition of city girl/country boy. Nava is good at writing banter, and I liked how she wove in Native culture and mannerisms throughout the book. Additionally, both Avery and Lucas grew as people, which was satisfying to see.

In short: I really liked this one.

Into the Riverlands

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by Nghi Vo
First sentence: “The barber paused, flicking water droplets from his razor with a brisk snap of his wrist.”
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Content: There is some violence and evidence of a murder. It’s in the Science Fiction/Fantasy section of the bookstore.

We scheduled an event with Vo, and the marketing person at work is super excited about this, so she decided to pass out Vo’s books to staff to get them excited, too. This was the one she thought I would like.

I’m not quite sure of the plot. There’s a monk – but they’re not religious – and their talking? sentient? bird named Absolutely Beautiful and they’re on a journey… somewhere? They meet up with people who go with them. Stories are told, a dead body is found. Maybe other stuff happens? I am honestly not sure.

Which is really my reaction to this. I have no idea what I read. I’m not a “good” enough, close enough, critical enough reader to actually get what happened in this short book (is it a long short story or a short book?). I can see how people like this; it was well written, and the language is beautiful, but personally. I don’t get it.

Sisters in the Wind

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by Angeline Boulley
First sentence: “My heart races when the handsome Native guy enters the diner.”
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Release date: September 2, 2025
Review copy sent by the author
Content: There is violence against women; off-page teen sex and teenage pregnancy; and swearing, including a few f-bombs. It will be in the YA Contemporary (or maybe 2009 is history?) section of the bookstore.

Lucy’s dad died years ago, and she’s bounced through foster care. She’s finally on her own, and is making ends meet when two things happen: a Native man finds her and tells her that he’s a friend of her dead half-sister, that she didn’t know she had. And then a bomb blows up the diner where she worked and she’s injured. She’s thrown into a new world, one where Daunis and Jamie are supporting her and fighting for her, and introducing her to her mother’s family – a part of Lucy’s world that she didn’t want anything to do with, having been told her whole childhood that her mother “gave up her maternal rights”. As the mystery of who bombed the diner (and why), Lucy comes to terms with her Native heritage and with the trauma of being a part of the foster care system.

I adore Boulley’s storytelling, how she tackles tough subjects (foster care can be good, but is often terrible, especially for non-white kids) with grace and with heart and with characters that are complex and fully real. This one is told through a dual timeline – you see Lucy go through her father’s death and the subsequent foster care when her stepmother refuses to take care of her, and then the contemporary timeline after the blast and figuring out who is after Lucy. Boulley doesn’t shy away from dealing with the harm that white people have done to Native people, and doesn’t shy away from illustrating the results of that harm.

In short, this, like Boulley’s other books, is a powerful look at one girl’s story and the impact that knowing her heritage and family has on her.

Excellent.

It Rhymes With Takei

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by George Takei, Harmony Becker, Steven Scott, and Justin Eisinger
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Content: There is homophobia and mention of gay sex. It’s in the Graphic Novel section of the bookstore.

In his previous memoir, They Called Us Enemy, Takei wrote about his time in the internment camps during World War II, but didn’t really elaborate on the rest of his life. In this book, Takei does just that. It picks up when he first realizes that he was gay, when he was about 10 years old, and works his way through the years until the present day. There is a lot about his activism, and the guilt and shame he felt staying in the closet for so long. But, he feared being too different – his family was already put in a camp for being different once – and it was a different time. He was just doing the best he could with what he knew at the time. He made good friends on Star Trek, people who stood beside him later in life, and he eventually became more comfortable with his identity as he got older. The most truly heartbreaking thing was that his brother shunned him when he finally came out to them, but he still has a relationship with his brother’s kids.

It’s a good book – Takei has a good team for this (it’s the same team that did They Called Us Enemy) – one that captures the conflicted and complicated life of one man. It’s perfect for those who are fans of Takei, but it also puts the whole LGBTQ movement in the context of one person’s life.

I really enjoyed it.

Audiobook: Great Black Hope

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by Rob Franklin
Read by Justice Smith
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is drug use and lots of drinking (by adults). There is also a lot of swearing, including many f-bombs. It’s in the Fiction section of the bookstore.

When he’s arrested on drug possession in a small Long Island town, Smith – a queer Black Stanford graduate, trying to make his way in the city- finds himself in an interesting position. He comes from a wealthy Black family, one with power and prestige, so he has the money for bail and treatment, but he is Black, with all that entails, and he finds that his race complicates things.

Which is only partially what this book is about. Smith lost his best friend, Elle, to a drug overdose – another Black life taken – and because of who Elle was, her death was fodder for tabloids. His other friend, Caroline (a white woman), finds herself trying to get sober, but spiraling out of control with an affair with a married French chef. On top of all this, Smith loses his job – not because of the drugs (everyone does drugs!), but just because of downsizing – and is dragged home to Atlanta to face his parents with his less-than-successes.

Much like many adult fiction books, this is less about the plot and more about the journey, which I found interesting. Not much has changed in the past 30 years, when Gen X was in their early-to-mid-20s and having the same crises and doing the same drugs, and experiencing the same ennui. It’s good to know that nothing really changes. That said, Franklin is a good writer, exploring class and race (though I wish he had done more exploring of both) and what it means to be Black and wealthy in a city that respects money more than anything. I think the most telling scene was the confrontation between Smith’s sister (a third-year law student, planning on going into public defense) and their grandmother, whose wealth was built on being a landlord of underserved people (or, as it is lobbed at her, a slum lord). It helped, too, that Justice Smith was a good narrator, and kept me engaged in the story.

Not exactly one that I would have picked up normally (it’s one everyone at the store is talking about), but I’m glad I did.