New Crayons is a meme when I share what new books I got this week. This meme was started by Susan at Color OnlineHaiti review week has now ended. I enjoyed reading books that all revolved around the same country, I learned A LOT. Unfortunately, I think this would be too hard to do with other countries but I'll keep my eyes out for YA/MG books that revolve around a particular country (I could do Mexico and maybe Cuba). Did you guys like having a week of reviews that revolved around one country?
Male Monday: Every Time a Rainbow Dies by Rita Williams Garcia
Tuesday: Anacaona: Golden Flower, Haiti 1490 by Edwidge Danticat
Throwback Thursday: Touching Snow by M. Sindy Felin
Friday: Taste of Salt by Frances Temple
Saturday: Behind the Mountains by Edwidge Danticat
Did anyone notice these were reviewed in chronological order (except for Monday), starting in the 1400s to the 2000s.
Bought
Girl Overboard by Justina Chen HeadleyThe worst thing about having it all is having to deal with it all-the good, the bad, and the just plain weird. Like seeing more of my dad when he's on the cover of Business Week than I do in person. Like the surgeon whose schedule was too jammed with professional ballplayers to deal with my busted up knee...until he heard who my parents were and miraculously his calendar was wide open. Like the pseudo boyfriend who was more in love with my last name than with me.
Everybody thinks Syrah is the golden girl. After all, her father is Ethan Cheng, billionaire, and she has everything any kid could possibly desire, right down to a waterfront mansion, jet plane, and custom-designed snowboards. But most of what glitters in her life is fool's gold. Her half-siblings hate her, her best friend Adrian's girlfriend is ruining their friendship, and her own so-called boyfriend is after her for her father's name. When her broken heart results in a snowboarding accident that exiles her from the mountains--the one place where she feels free and accepted for who she is, not what she has--Syrah must rehab both her busted-up knee, and her broken heart, and learn that she's worth her weight in real gold.
-The What a Girl Wants talk at Chasing Ray on girls who play sports in YA literature made me feel ashamed and ignorant because I have read so few of those books. Especially about POC. I didn't plan on buying this book, but I saw it in Borders and decided to go for it. I'll read it over break when I'm in the warmth :)
Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves
Love can be a dangerous thing....
Hanna simply wants to be loved. With a head plagued by hallucinations, a medicine cabinet full of pills, and a closet stuffed with frilly, violet dresses, Hanna's tired of being the outcast, the weird girl, the freak. So she runs away to Portero, Texas in search of a new home.
But Portero is a stranger town than Hanna expects. As she tries to make a place for herself, she discovers dark secrets that would terrify any normal soul. Good thing for Hanna, she's far from normal. As this crazy girl meets an even crazier town, only two things are certain: Anything can happen and no one is safe.
-Hooray, I finally bought this one!! I'm so super excited to read this, I've just been staring at the beautiful cover. I'm trying to save this for the plane ride. *Must resist* Here's the cover story as told to Melissa Walker (isn't the whole wrap fantastic?!) And the tagline? "Crazy never looked so beautiful." It's a package of awesomeness (and I'm convinced the content will be even better).
Received
Paris Pan Takes the Dare by Cynthea Liu
So what if it’s a rite of passage for every seventh grade girl in town to spend a night in the woods? Paris Pan only just moved here, the woods are supercreepy, and she has enough weirdness to deal with in her own family. Finding out a girl died mysteriously years ago while on the Dare—right near Paris’s new house, no less—is bad enough, but the unmistakably ghostlike noises coming out of the broken-down shed at the edge of the Pan’s property? Definite deal breaker.
All Paris wants is to make friends, try to fit in, and not have to deal with a dead girl. But everyone has to take the Dare, and the new girl’s turn is up.
-I loved Great Call of China and I'm looking forward to reading Cynthea's middle grade debut. And I'll be giving this away after I finish it =) Thanks Cynthea!
What POC books did you get this week? Did you discover any new ones?
I got Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay this week =D Chinese historical fantasy, written by non-Chinese author, really wonder how it will turn out =3
ReplyDeletehttp://angeltyuan.blogspot.com/2010/03/in-my-mailbox-20100328.html
I look forward to your thoughts on Bleeding Violet =)
I enjoyed Girl Overboard; it was fun, funny, interesting and well, just good.
ReplyDeleteI really liked Girl Overboard - I hope you enjoy it too!
ReplyDeleteI have a lot love for 'Girl Overboard'. It got so many things right, from Chinese culture to the PNW area. I think the summary doesn't quite do it justice because it is about so much more than snowboarding and boys and money.
ReplyDeleteYay! You have Bleeding Violet! I think I might wait until the read-a-thon to read it. Paris Pan looks excellent! I love the cover. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteI love the Girl Overboard cover, and I've been feeling equally ashamed by my lack of sports reading. Of course, I'm still waiting for a book about women's water polo...
ReplyDeleteI've heard such great things about Bleeding Violet, but I'm still a bit on the fence about it. I'm looking forward to seeing what you think.
As for new books, I got Racing the Dark by Alaya Dawn Johnson and The Shadow Speaker by Nnedi Okorafor, which are both POC SF/F.
@ninefly-Under Heaven sounds good. Thanks for sharing the link!
ReplyDelete@Vasilly-I'm dying to read BV, but I'm trying to wait. Looking forward to your review. I'm eager to read Paris Pan as well and the cover is adorable.
@Mary-I like it too, although I wish we could see the model's face. I've resolved to read more S&B. I'll make sure you see my review =) The Shadow speaker was really good and Racing the Dark sounds good.
@Priya-Glad to hear you liked it! I haven't seen many reviews of it
@Helen M-Sounds great! Funny, interesting, sports!
ReplyDelete@Handy-I'm not familar with the PNW area so that should be interesting. From what you say, it sounds like the summary should include a mention of Chinese culture
Yes, it should've! This is my (sort of spoilery) reaction to it, and all the things it got right with Chinese culture and what I loved about it. I'm interested in seeing your take on it! I hope you like it.
ReplyDeleteYou have Bleeding Violet, which looks fab. It's the first book I'm going to pick up after I finish reading books from the Orange prize list. This week I got 'Page from a Tennesse Journal' by Francine Thomas Howard, whcih Zetta Elliot talked about recently - another Amazon Encore book.
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