New Crayons: What's New On Our Shelves

Remember when you were a kid and getting new crayons was a big deal? Getting new books holds the same kind of magic for some of us big kids. Every week on Sunday, I post what's new in our box. I think crayons is a pretty cool metaphor for multicultural lit. Every week we receive a book at Color Online is a good week.

This week turned out to be equally plentiful so I'm blogging here and at Color Online about the wonderful donations we received. Check these out:

Rattlesnake Mesa: Stories form a Native American Childhood by Ednah New Rider Weber
I have rediscovered children's books. Thanks to Debbie Reese at American Indians in Children's Literature, I'm interested in finding positive and authentic Native titles. I'm looking forward to reading this.
After her beloved Grandmother dies, EdNah, a seven-year-old Pawnee girl, goes to live with a father she hardly knows on a Navajo reservation miles away. Heartbroken but resilient, she begins to create a new life for herself in this unfamiliar place.

Born Confused by Tanuji Desai Hidier
This is funny and smartly written. The combination of Hidier's artistic sensibility renders a fresh, face-paced read for a mammoth of a book. No character was a prop and Hidier manages to touch on budding sexuality, romance and sexual orientation without be stiff or didactic.
Not quite Indian, and not quite American, Dimple unsuccessfully tries to blend in, riding on the coattails of her blue-eyed, blonde best friend, Gwyn. The author nimbly describes the shared outsider status that drew together the two, "the rich little girl who lived like an orphan and the brown little girl who existed as if she were still umbilically attached to her parents." During Dimple's 17th year, however, the tables suddenly turn when Dimple's parents introduce her to Karsh Kapoor, the son of their close friends from India. Through their meeting, the author reveals Dimple's mother's own secret creative aspirations (to become a dancer in her youth) as well as another first-generation teen's attempt to straddle both cultures.

Aya by Magurerite Abouet (GN) I read this first volume and I can't say enough of how pleased I was to see a modern African society with characters today's teen could relate to. The graphic novel is so entertaining, the reader could easily fail to realize the informal way the author relays a cultural and history lesson.
spinning a multifaceted romantic comedy that would satisfy even without any political agenda behind it. Set in 1970, Aya follows the travails of some teenage girls in the peaceful Abidjan working-class neighborhood of Yopougon (which they call "Yop City, like something out of an American movie")

Aya of Yop City by Magurerite Abouet (GN) and Aya: The Secret Comes Out by Magurerite Abouet (GN). I've been looking forward to the sequels. Thanks to Olugbemisola, I'll have a chance to read these before sharing them with others.

What did you get this week in the mail, at the book store or on trade? Post a link to your Crayon post at Color Online, and your name is entered in a monthly random drawing. Kristi at the Story Siren also hosts In My mailbox.

New Crayons: What's New On Our Shelves

Remember when you were a kid and getting new crayons was a big deal? Getting new books holds the same kind of magic for some of us big kids. Every week on Sunday, I post what's new in our box. I think crayons is a pretty cool metaphor for multicultural lit. Every week we receive a booka t Color Online is a good week.

We received so many books that this week I'm blogging here and at Color Online about the wonderful donations we received. Check these out:

Michelle and First Family by Deborah Hopkins, illustrated by AG Ford. Mr. Ford is featured during the celebrated 28 Days series hosted by The Brown Book Shelf. Friend and illustrator, Don Tate sent us a box full of titles that I will be sharing with parents, educators and young readers. Thanks to all the authors and illustrators who shared with Don who in turn was generous to us.


The Adventures of Sili Page: The Case of Benjamin Laire by Dew Platt
Silli Page is no ordinary teenager with her sleepwalking and lucid daydreams. But when fifteen year old Benjamin Laire drops dead after a lab accident, she begins a new adventure in reality.

Legacy: The Becoming by Dew Platt. Eighteen-year-old Tutu Bade has it all going for her: a bright future, a loving family, and great friends. But what she inherits from her grandmother sends her life into a different direction. With a new supernatural awareness, when her best friend's cousin's death is labeled a suicide and the dead sixteen year old cries foul, she is thrown into an investigation.
Saw these at Reading In Color. I confess I was jealous. Listen, it helps to know Ari. Thanks Ari and Dew for sending us copies. Will be sharing these with the community.

Retaliation: What Would You Do If.... by Yasmin Shiraz. Saw an interview with the author at The Brown Bookshelf and wanted the book then. Thanks to the folks at Rolling Hills Press for sending us two copies. We will be connecting readers with Ms. Shiraz' work.
My novel Retaliation aims to shed light on how no one really wins when retaliation against others is the focus. I don’t think the general public realizes how violent girls and young women have become. The number of women incarcerated continues to grow annually at an alarming rate.

Crossing by Andrew Xia Fukuda. I've heard about this novel and I was psyched to get an ARC in the mail. I've been working on reading more titles with male leads and this looks like something this is going to be a satisfying read.
One of the great joys of this novel is in trying to figure out if Xing is a “reliable” narrator (in the grand tradition of Ishiguro and Highsmith), piecing together clues from what is said, or, more importantly, what is left unsaid. It’s a tricky, subtle high-wire act that Fukuda pulls off with the skill and élan of a seasoned novelist. Terry Goodman (Senior Acquisition Editor, AmazonEncore).

What did you get this week in the mail, at the book store or from the library this week? Drop a link at New Crayons at Color Online and you'll be entered in a monthly drawing for a book of your choice from the Prize Bucket.