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Fiction A to Z February 2022 |
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| Brown Girls by Daphne Palasi AndreadesStarring: Four young women of color identifying themselves and collectively narrating their stories as "we."
How it unfolds: In snapshots of their lives at key turning points, from their shared childhoods in the Bronx to old age.
Read it for: An intense depiction of brown girls going against the grain of stereotypes, including those within multi-racial communities. They emerge both gleaming and splintered. |
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| The Fortune Men by Nadifa MohamedWhat it is: A Booker Award shortlisted novel based on the real-life story of a Somali sailor wrongfully convicted of murder in 1950s Cardiff, Wales. Flimsy circumstantial evidence, hearsay, and racial bias combine to seal his fate as the last man hanged in Cardiff.
For readers tuned in to... Current-day accounts of race-based violence perpetuated by law enforcement agencies charged with protecting and serving all -- not just some.
Also available in eAudiobook on CloudLibrary |
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| Love in the Big City by Sang Young ParkThe party ends when... Young (a gay man in Seoul) must leave his 20-something club life behind after his college roomie and dedicated partner-in-crime, Jaehee (a straight woman) settles into married life.
Now what? Young, now slightly more grown up, gains acclaim as a writer, even as his loneliness and longing for love intensify.
Also available in eBook on Hoopla |
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| Tell Me How to Be by Neel PatelWhat it's about: The dilemmas of an Indian American family, told primarily from the perspective of Akasha, a gay (very closeted) son, his older brother Bijal (who has secrets of his own), and their mother Renu (now widowed, and longing for the man she loved prior to marriage).
Whose secrets will explode first? See for yourself, as this own-voices novel steers through the challenges of dreams deferred, keeping up appearances, and family dynamics -- ultimately leading to catharsis for all concerned. Critics proclaim the result as "noteworthy and memorable."
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Spotlight on: Asian American Authors
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| The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine ChanWhat it's about: A single (typically very loving) mother falls under scrutiny by child protective services, who place her in a heartless authoritarian institution. She is assigned a robot child stand-in, whom she must care for faultlessly, while constantly repeating the mantra "I am a bad mother, but I am learning to be good."
For fans of: Dystopian fiction in the vein of The Handmaid's Tale, Minority Report, and exhausted parents everywhere.
Also available in eAudiobook on CloudLibrary |
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| Light Years from Home by Mike ChenThe good news: Missing for years, Jakob, finally returns to the delight of his sisters, who have become estranged in his absence. Kassie has coped by being ever-responsible and pragmatic. Evie has turned to wildly speculative alien-abduction conspiracy groups.
The bad news: Jakob is definitely... different -- and Evie might be right.
Also available in eAudiobook on Hoopla |
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| Fiona and Jane by Jean Chen HoWhat it's about: Two Taiwanese American women, best friends since childhood, take divergent paths as time, distance, and betrayal test their once-close relationship.
Read it for: Dry wit, understated prose, and a bittersweet story with central characters that defy stereotypes about successful Asian American women.
Also available in eAudiobook on CloudLibrary
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| Beasts of a Little Land by Juhea KimWhat it is: A sweeping novel encompassing 20th-century Korea, with narrative strands ranging from Japanese occupation of 1917 through WWII and the subsequent, shifting nature of colonialism.
Starring: Central female characters Jade, Luna, and Lotus who navigate turbulent waters of political unrest and love, in a novel that "shows clearly how patriarchy harms these resourceful women."
Also available in eBook & eAudiobook on Libby |
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| The Cat Who Saved Books by Sōsuke NatsukawaWhat it's about: Reclusive high-schooler Rintaro Natsuk inherits a failing family bookstore. Just as he's packing it in, an imperious talking ginger cat named Tiger demands they go on a mission to save books from unappreciative owners.
Who it's for: Bibliophiles with a soft spot for tubby, bossy tabby cats, unlikely heroes, and stories that will leave you rooting for the lead characters from page one.
Also available in eBook on Libby |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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