American Born Chinese
Anybody who is interested in or cares about children’s literature, or graphic novels, or Asian-American culture, or just basically anything should read Jamie Fisher’s article about Gene Wang’s unparalleled American Born Chinese and the upcoming Disney adaptation (for which I cannot wait).
Read MoreWhat I’ve Been Reading
Actually, listening to. (I’m a big audiobook fan.) My new favorite: Hench: A Novel by Natalie Zina Walschots.
Sometimes a romp, sometimes a deadly serious meditation on moral responsibility, and most of all a book that answers the eternal questions we didn’t know we had, like: Who the heck runs payroll for supervillains? Who does R&D on those space lasers and mind-control rays? Who’s renting the space for the hidden lair? Do minions get health benefits? Do they have HR?
It’s not strictly YA but it could be. Mostly it’s fascinating, suspenseful, and fun. I found the end a bit unsatisfying, though, and am wondering if this is supposed to be the first in a series or at least a trilogy. If so, I’m eager for more!
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This excellent graphic novel is so painful, tender, sweet, funny, bitter, exasperating, and satisfying that it’s tough to describe it in a brief paragraph. Suffice to say, it’s exactly like love and friendship in the most emotionally intense time our our lives–high school.
Required reading for all who’ve survived first love and all who’ve managed to get themselves out of a relationship that was taking them someplace and making them into someone they didn’t want to be.
Read MoreWhat I’ve Been Reading
When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller–the Newbery Committee got it right this year for sure! This book made me believe in magic, took that belief away, broke my heart, mended it, and gave magic back to me–all in the space of seven and a half hours of audio narration. (The narrator wasn’t a fast talker, either!) Truly astonishing.
Sarah L. Thomson
A children’s book author publishing award-winning nonfiction, poetry, picture books and novels including…
“Readers will treasure the blossoming friendship between opposites in this whimsically illustrated tale. Short chapters and plenty of action make for an accessible and appealing reading experience. . . . Touching and inspiring.”
—Kirkus Reviews