Apr 18 2012
“When the Cleveland Chiefs baseball team signs Kentaro Ikuta as their new star pitcher, they are faced with a man unable to speak English and a media frenzy clamoring for his words. Management turns to the renown linguistics department of Case Western Reserve University for help. Doctoral candidate Claire Ferris is chosen to act as [...]
Mar 7 2012
Dear Ms. Cullars, I can’t recall whose blog I was reading when this book was mentioned but I’m glad I found out about it. A Negro heroine and a Chinese hero in 1865? Sign me up. “In 1865, the hope for gold has spurred many to seek their fortunes in California, the place the Chinese [...]
Apr 13 2011
Dear Ms. Pon, I read your debut, Silver Phoenix, when it was first released and enjoyed it. Like Jane, I’m a big fan of multicultural stories and it was wonderful to see a YA fantasy featuring a setting based on ancient China. So I’ve been looking forward to your follow-up for a quite a while. [...]
Nov 9 2009
In light of the very gracious post by Handyhunter about cultural appropriation, it seems that we should compile a list of books that feature multicultural characters. Please note whether the book is a young adult (YA) or romance as well as whether the multicultural characters are main or secondary. Please also be respectful of other [...]
May 6 2009
Dear Ms. Pon, I fall into that category of people who wish more fantasy novels set in non-Western settings were available to the general readership at large. And while I’m it, I want more than just those non-Western settings; I also want the stories of the non-white characters that live in those worlds. Diversity, multiculturalism [...]
Feb 7 2009
Dear Mr. Valentine and Mr. MacLeod: It’s all about expectations, isn’t it? This book is being marketed, or at least it’s labeled by its publisher, eXcessica, as a BDSM novel. And the excerpt is some pretty darn hot pre-BDSM-play negotiations which promises more hotness of the BDSM variety when you get the rest of the [...]
Feb 2 2009
Dear Ms. Chen Headley, I loved your previous novel, Girl Overboard, and after going back to read your debut, Nothing But The Truth (and a few white lies), I’ve decided that you’re one of my favorite contemporary young adult novelists in recent years. I wasn’t sure if North of Beautiful could match my love for [...]
Jan 23 2009
Dear Ms. Lee, Like Jane, I’m biased towards books featuring Asian heroines. So imagine how excited I was to discover a book that not only featured an Asian heroine but an Asian hero too! And in historical China! Even better, the cover depicted them as both distinctly Asian. That last bit sounds like a strange [...]
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