BIPOC author

Magnolia Wu Unfolds it All

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by Chanel Miller
First sentence: “Magnolia Wu was almost ten.”
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Content: It’s heavily illustrated, short, and with lots of white space. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore, but I’d give it to a precocious younger reader as well.

While Magnolia likes her family’s laundromat, she feels like nothing ever happens. Then, the summer that she turns 10, she and her new friend Iris decide to return all the lost socks that have been left. What follows is an adventure as Magnolia and Iris learn about their neighbors in their New York City neighborhood.

It’s a cute little book, full of fun illustrations. There’s not much depth to it: Magnolia and Iris solve one little sock mystery after another while Magnolia learns the value of hardworking, caring parents, and Iris and Magnolia navigate a friendship.

Cute, especially for those beginning/struggling readers.

The Cookie Crumbles

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by Tracy Badua and Alechia Dow
First sentence: “Generally speaking, cookies don’t kill people.”
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Content: There is talk of almost-murder, and there are some intense situations. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Laila loves to bake. Lucy is a budding reporter. They both want to get into the prestigious Sunderland boarding school, and the cookie competition hosted by the school, with the grand prize of a scholarship, is the only way they can make it work. The plan was for Laila to bake and be brilliant and for Lucy to write and be brilliant. What they didn’t anticipate was one of the judges – Chef Remy – almost dying after eating one of Laila’s cookies. Now, they need to figure out who tried to kill Chef Remy (it wasn’t Laila!) – especially since there was a storm that wiped out all the ways to get into and out of Sunderland.

This was a fun little mystery. The stakes were high – a lot of the other kids had motives to hurt Chef Remy – but it wasn’t so high that it would scare younger kids. The clues were there to figure it out if you were paying attention (I did), but it was clever enough to keep me entertained. I liked that the authors conceived of a clever way to get parents out of the picture – it was kind of like a sleep-away camp for the competition – so that it wasn’t weird that the kids were running around the school by themselves. I liked the alternating chapters between Laila and Lucy, and I thought it was all done very well.

A really solid Middle Grade mystery.

Audiobook: The Truth According to Ember

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by Danica Nava
Read by Siena East
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is blatant racism towards Native people, as well as some swearing including a few f-bombs. There is on the page, pretty spicy sex. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Ember Lee Cardinal hasn’t been able to catch a break. She had to drop out of college because she used her college money to bail out her younger brother from jail, but he skipped bail so she lost the money. She’s working a dead-end job at a bowling alley in a less-than-desirable part of Oklahoma City. And all her applications for better jobs come back as rejected. So she decides to be creative: she exaggerates her qualifications and checks the white box instead of the Native American one. (Her dad is white, so it’s not a super big stretch on that one.) She lands a job as an accounting assistant at a tech firm where she meets Danuwoa Colson, the IT guy and fellow Native. He even seems to be interested in her as well. Things are looking up. But when she gets an unexpected (and unwanted) promotion to the Executive Assistant to the CEO and when a coworker finds Ember and Danuwoa in a bit of a compromising position (they were kissing on an elevator at an offsite conference), her lies begin to build and get out of control. With everything – her job, her life, the relationship with Danuwoa – at stake, will Ember be able to come clean?

This one was a ton of fun. There was a bit of second-hand embarrassment as Ember’s lies kept piling up, but I got why she kept doing it. The motivations were always there. Nava was great at making the spice pop as well as weaving in elements of what Native people have to deal with in the corporate workplace (it was SUPER cringe). I loved Ember’s best friend Joanna (not sure of the spelling of that, since I listened) and the way it was incredibly centered in Oklahoma. Additionally, East did an excellent job narrating, making all the characters come to life.

It ended up being one of those books where I kept driving just so I could keep listening, and there really isn’t any higher praise than that.

Audiobook: Buffalo Dreamer

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by Violet Duncan
Read by Ashley Callingbull
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are some tough subjects, including the residential schools, but they are handled in an age-appropriate way. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

Summer is looking forward to a relaxing summer at the rez in Alberta where her mom grew up. But this year, there is a change: they have discovered a mass grave at a closed-down residential school where Summer’s grandfather was forced to attend. Additionally, Summer is having vivid dreams about a girl who ran away from a residential school and walked through a blizzard to escape.

It’s not a long book or even a harrowing one. But it is a sweet story about respecting and learning history, even (or maybe especially) hard history. Summer’s mom and aunties doesn’t think she’s ready to learn the history, and her grandfather is hesitant to speak about it, but when Summer shares the dreams, they are more willing to admit that talking about the hard and painful history can be a healing thing. I also appreciated learning about Summer’s heritage and family traditions as we went along; Duncan was excellent at weaving the small details in with the larger story.

The narrator was excellent as well; I really love listening to books by Native authors in audio because I know I would have no idea how to pronounce some of the words. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.

Audiobook: Arya Khanna’s Bollywood Moment

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by Arushi Avachat
Read by Nikhaar Kishnani
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is mention of mental illness, including depression, and some kissing. It’s in the YA section (grades 6-8) of the bookstore.

Arya’s senior year has been super complicated so far: she’s ben at odds with the school council president, Dean, since the year started; and her older sister has finally come home after three years to get married. It’s a lot to deal with, especially since she might have feelings for Dean. The question is: how is she going to manage everything.

Yes, it’s a fluff plot, and not a very deep book, but it was cute. The narrator was fun to listen to and there was enough to keep me entertained, My favorite part about it all, though, was the Bollywood references. I desperately needed a playlist (both audio and video) for the book, and was sad that I couldn’t find one.

So, no, not the best book out there, but a fun one.

Drawing Deena

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by Hena Khan
First sentence: “I wince as the sharp metal tool scrapes against my molars and pricks my gums.”
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Content: There are some tense moments, and Deena experiences a panic attack. It’s in the Middle Grade (grades 3-5) section of the bookstore.

What Deena really wants to do is draw. She’s good at it, and she loves it. However, her parents are always super stressed about money, and they are always pushing her towards doing something that will help her earn a living. They work hard – her mother has a clothing business, that Deena is sure she could help with – but they are unwilling to spend their money on art lessons. There are other money issues, and it all weighs on Deena, until she starts having anxiety attacks.

This is a quiet little book, without high-stakes conflict, but I thought that Khan did well with the characterizations. I could feel Deena’s parents’ stress, and understood their hesitation to spend money (I’ve been there!). I could understand why Deena wanted to both pursue her art but also to make her parents happy. I got the friendship conflicts and Deena’s jealousy of her cousin. I also liked her portrayal of anxiety, especially in someone who didn’t know they had it. Nothing in the book was high-stakes, but Khan is a good writer and while the book was quiet, it was a good sort of quiet.

I really liked it.

Audiobook: That Prince is Mine

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by Jayci Lee
Read by Olivia Song
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Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There is a lot of on-page, somewhat explicit sex as well as swearing, including many f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

Emma Yoon only wants two things to be happy: to open her culinary school and to have her godmother, a Korean matchmaker, arrange a marriage for her. She doesn’t believe in love matches – her parents had one that failed spectacularly – and she trusts that her godmother will find someone perfect for her. On the other hand, is Prince Michele Chevalier – the crown prince of some small European country – doesn’t want an arranged marriage, and so he’s in LA as a visiting professor to find someone to fall in love with so he can take her home and live happily ever after.

Of course, they have a meet-cute and of course, they fall in love despite Emma’s misgivings.

It’s a cute enough book, and the narrator does a decent job, but I found it annoying. Mostly because it was so repetitive. Lee lays out at the beginning that Emma doesn’t want a love match, that she needs to use her godmother’s matchmaking services because only Emma can help save her business and that Michele needs to find someone that he’s Compatible with and can Love Forever. That’s all fine and good. The problem is that Lee needs to tell us these facts Every. Single. Chapter. It got really old really fast. And, honestly, while I was entertained by the book, that one issue kind of dampened my enjoyment. I honestly didn’t feel any chemistry between the main characters, and it all just kind of fell flat.

I wanted to enjoy this one a lot more than I actually did, which is too bad.

If You’ll Have Me

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by Eunnie
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Content: There is talk of sex, but none actual. It’s in the graphic novel section of the bookstore.

Momo is the one friend who is the helpful one. You know: the one you go to for homework, or to borrow $10 from when you need it. PG is a slacker – I’m impressed if she passes any of her college classes! – and tends to prefer one-night stands to actual relationships. So, when they meet, Momo doesn’t think she’s PG’s type. But as they get to know each other, Momo falls for PG.

I’m not doing too well describing the plot because there’s not much there. It’s a cute girl and a butch girl falling in love, having some miscommunications and then working it out. The art is where this one shines. Eunnie is a Korean-American artist and you can tell there are Asian influences in there. It’s all very pink and sparkly and big eyes and bubble hearts. It’s just so very sweet and cute and not a whole lot else. She did try to give PG a bit of an edge, but I’m not sure how well it worked; you could tell that PG is a softie under there. I still thought it was sweet and fun, and I’m sure there’s someone out there who will fall in love with it.

Audiobook: Lies & Weddings

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by Kevin Kwan
Read by Jing Lusi
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Or listen at Libro.fm
Content: There are the uber-rich doing the uber-rich things, including just being despicable to other people. There is talk of sex, drugs, and getting high, and there is swearing, including multiple f-bombs. It’s in the Romance section of the bookstore.

 Dr. Eden Tong has grown up in the cabin next to Greshamsbury manor, where her father – while a noted oncologist – is the personal doctor to the Earl and Countess Gresham. While she is good friends with the Greshams – especially Rufus, her best friend – she doesn’t want to get involved in all their old money exploits – flying everywhere on a whim, wearing designer clothes – and she doesn’t have any intention of marrying Rufus (no matter what his Chinese mother thinks). Yet, as the oldest, Augie gets married on the Big Island of Hawaii, Eden finds herself pulled into the Gresham drama. 

There’s more to it, of course: Kevin Kwan’s books are a meandering mesh of drama and Rich People Doing Rich Things. There are a ton of characters (I really liked Freddy Farman-Farmehian (which probably isn’t spelled right) to keep track of, as well as jetting around to exotic locations to enjoy (not to mention all the clothes and food!). It’s a lush, wild, winding book, with an ending that I called but didn’t mind that I did. I loved Lusi’s narration; there were a lot of characters to handle, and she did it beautifully. 

In short, it was a delightful romp of a book and I’m glad I read it.

Amulet: Waverider

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by Kazu Kibuishi
Support your local independent bookstore: buy it there!
Others in the series: The Stonekeeper, The Stonekeeper’s Curse, The Cloud Searchers, The Last Council, Prince of the Elves, Escape from Lucien, Firelight, Supernova
Content: There is some fighting and other intense moments. It’s in the Middle Grade Graphic Novel section of the bookstore. 

This is the last installment in the Amulet series. The overarching conflict is resolved (mostly), and most of the loose threads are wrapped up. It’s the culmination of 16 years of story. 

I went back and reread the entire series — it’s been nearly 6 years since the last one came out — and I was struck by how much the series changed throughout the story. What starts as an adventure story ends up more introspective, exploring ideas of control, free will, and choice. I wonder how much the events of the world affected the story – if it had been written faster would it have been a different story?

The art is still remarkable, with pages that take your breath away. And I think it’s a good ending for this series. It’s such a monumental graphic novel series, that I’m a little sad that it’s over. I hope there are more stories to tell in this world.