This week I'm waiting on
Toads and Diamonds by Heather Tomlinson
Macmillan
Release Date: March 30, 2010
Diribani never expected to meet a goddess at the village well, much less one who grants her a remarkable gift: flowers and precious jewels drop from her lips whenever she talks. Tana is happy for her beloved stepsister, yet when she encounters the goddess, she finds herself speaking snakes and toads. While Diribani’s newfound wealth brings her a prince, Tana is chased out of the village because the province’s governor fears snakes, though thousands are dying of a plague spread by rats. As their fates hang in the balance, each sister struggles to understand her gift. Will it bring her wisdom, good fortune, love . . . or death?
-It sounds like it may be a fairy tale retelling and I want to read more of those. And I LOVE the cover! I think it's really pretty.
You all know about my project to find the most diverse YA/MG publishing company. I will be working with Doret and Laura to find this out but it's a lot of work so I need your help. Please leave a comment telling me the name of a book with a diverse cast published between 2007-2010. Also it would be helpful if you could leave the name of the company (it could be the YA/MG division or the overall company name). Thanks! Oh and vote in my poll, it will be interesting to see if people have a good idea of what the most diverse YA/MG publishing company is.
That's quite a beautiful cover. I love all the bright colors, the henna and the lotus. It seems that we need classic-style fairy tales these days. They are very comforting, and reassure us that we are connected to something bigger than just the here and now.
ReplyDeleteYes, that is a fab cover! How gorgeous. I'm totally adding it to the TBR.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.leeandlow.com/
ReplyDeleteThis is a small publishing company that publishes books from a multicultural background.
Just read the graphic novel "Smile" from Scholastic and it is an incredibly diverse cast - really impressive. (But I think you will find Scholastic actually does a pretty good job at diversity.)
ReplyDeleteThat book sounds really cool. I'm gonna have to check it out (damn you, my list is long enough as it is ;__; )
ReplyDeleteAs for diverse YA books, sadly I can't name one off the top of my head. A lot of the books I've read recently (the big Ya releases) have mostly taken the token minority route if there are POC at all. Though I have read Half World by Hiromi Goto. Not diverse, but it stars a young Japanese girl and deals with a world largely inspired by Buddhist cosmology. At least it's different.
I have an award for you :-)
ReplyDeleteI actually decided to be a little decadent today and pre ordered this, which I almost never do. Just sounds so awesome, but kind of scary for the character who spews toads.
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it is a fairy tale retelling. It's a French tale by Charles Perrualt called "The Fairies" or "Toads and Diamonds" depending on who you talk to. If you're interested, you can read the original version here:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.surlalunefairytales.com/authors/perrault/fairies.html
Looking forward to this book too! I love the idea of setting it in India.
This looks wonderful. I hope it is! (And thank you, Ari; I might not have heard of it otherwise.)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really cool reinterpretation of the fairy tale. I am definitely keeping this one on my radar now. There aren't very many fairy tales with POC.
ReplyDeleteOh, and why limit it 2007-2010? I think that the more information, the better. Then you could graph trends and whether something is rising and falling, etc. I think the more information, the better in this search.