“Where are you from?” Sometimes, this feels like such an innocuous question. But often, it isn’t. For Mimi Yoshiko Oliver, growing up in 1969 Vermont, it feels like a particularly loaded question because her mother is Japanese and her father is African-American. She is American, but she doesn’t “look” it. Full Cicada Moon is a […]
Punching the Air
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Verse can do what prose cannot. I cannot imagine a book as powerful as Punching the Air being written in prose. It is stark and vivid, detailed and hard-hitting all at the same time. Amal was just sixteen when he was convicted of a crime he […]
Lion of the Sky
I love historical fiction, and I love novels in verse. A middle-grade work of historical fiction in verse? I knew I wanted to read it. And Lion of the Sky by Ritu Hemnani didn’t disappoint. Set in Sindh in August 1947, Lion of the Sky tells the story of Raj and his family, who are […]
If Elephants Could Talk
Temple elephants. I’ve always hated the fact that they exist. I remember during a dance tour once, when everyone lined up to be blessed by the elephant. I stayed away. And like Meenakshi in If Elephants Could Talk, I didn’t say a thing. I didn’t know how to form my words or what to say. […]