5 Books I've Recently Read
1. The Dreamer by Pam Munoz Ryan (Stunning poetry/narrative and drawings)
2. Girl vs. Boy by Yvonne Collins & Sally Rideout (fun read, just what I needed to read while I'm in school)
3. Amigas #2: Lights, Camera, Quince! by Jennifer Lopez
4. The Girl Who Fell From the Sky by Hedi Durrow (really liked it!)
5. Pirates! by Celia Rees (A re-read but never reviewed. An old favorite)
5 Books I'm Planning to Read
1. Amigas 3: She's Got Game by Veronica Chambers
2. Sister Chicas by Lisa Alvarado, Ann Hagman Cardinal, and Jane Alberdeston Coralin
3. The Long Song by Andrea Levy
4. Sammy & Juliana in Hollywood by Benjamin Alire Saenz
5. Other by Karen Kincy
5 of My Favorite Books
1. Whale Talk by Chris Crutcher
2. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger
3. A Wish After Midnight by Zetta Elliott
4. A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry
5. The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz
5 of My Least Favorite Books
1. The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
2. The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momoday
3. Beowulf (no author)
4. A Girl Like Me by Ni Ni Simone
5. Naughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
5 of My Favorite Book-to-Film Adaptations
1. To Kill a Mockingbird
2. Pride & Prejudice (I've never seen the Colin Firth version)
3. Clueless
4. Devil in a Blue Dress
5. Charlie & The Chocolate Factory
5 Things You Want to See More of in YA (I added this question. Why? Because I can)
1. A boarding school setting with a PoC main character that has humor. I get that most of the time we Brown faces will be in the minority at boarding school but do we have to be all angsty about it the ENTIRE book? No. I like boarding school YA novels. I love witty main characters. I like to read about PoC. I think this could be a winning combination.
2. An Inter-cultural couple. As in Latina girl and Asian guy, Native American guy and Black girl, etc. I'm so tired of interracial romance in which the fact that the romance is between a Black person and a White person is a BIG DEAL. I don't mind interracial romances but I would like to see more of them in which the romance/other teenage issues take precedence over the race dynamic. Obviously they are going to face some scrutiny, but I would like to see less emphasis on that.
3. An original paranormal with a poc main character. I might even settle for a poc vampire as long as the story was original. But I'd prefer a leprechaun, djinn, ghost, a hunter of some kind, a made up creature, etc.
4. PoC athletes. Especially female athletes. And not just in the usual sports like Black basketball players and Latino soccer players. Let's see some Black figure skaters, Native American lacrosse players, Latino/a swimmers and Asian baseball players. I would love it if less-popular sports were featured, but let's take it one step at a time.
5. Western historical fiction. I would LOVE to read a YA about a Black cowboy/cowgirl. I also want to know more about life in the Southwest when Mexico (and even earlier on, Spain) was in control of those states. However, when it comes to Asians and Native Americans, I want to see more stories set not in the West, but in other settings. Although I would like to see a few more books about life on the reservation. But I also want to see a book about a Native American teen who does not grow up on the reservation.
Your turn :)
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ReplyDeleteI'm glad you got a chance to read The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. I really liked that book and the author is so friendly and nice.
ReplyDeleteI want to read more PoC paranormals too. They are almost non existent. I told myself I would write one, but ugh, the market is already so inundated with paranormal romance. I want to see more PoC fantasy too. I know of some people who are writing nothing but PoC, I'm hoping their writing can reach the market at large. (I edited this for grammatical failures)
A Black cowboy/cowgirl story would be awesome. Especially cowgirl. Reading this I just realized that in the nonfiction book on cowgirls I read, there wasn't a single non-white woman mentioned ~sigh~ I know a lot of cowboys historically were African-American, since they went out there during/after the Civil War. I have no idea if Black women were joining them. Would be interesting to find out.
ReplyDeleteA boarding school with a Poc character would be great! (I just wouldn't want that school to focus on music or the arts b/c that seems typical in many Poc books)And inter-cultural dating? Yesss please.
ReplyDeleteI know this is a basketball, but have you read The Judge Who Stole Christmas?
ReplyDeleteAnd I alsways thought paranormals were not any race, but their own.in other words non earthly, so non race
Penny
For number 4, have you read Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves? YA paranormal starring a biracial girl (her mom's black, her dad's Swedish) and it's really original. I really liked getting to see a paranormal with more original mythology.
ReplyDeleteThinking of books recently read, I just finished Toads and Diamonds, which I only knew about because I saw it on this blog (probably a couple of months ago now). That book was awesome! Thanks for spotlighting it.
ReplyDeleteLove that question you added, as well as your answers! In regards to original paranormals, I recommend Lynne Ewing's books, since she always has at least one POC character in the ensemble casts for her series. (Great reads if you enjoy Greek and Egyptian mythologies in the modern world!) I also recommend Tara Bray Smith's BETWIXT, where two of the three main characters are POC...and where all three are changelings. :)
ReplyDeleteI love your ideas at the end and I might have to do this meme just for that part of it. I am constantly aghast when people say they have not seen the Colin Firth P&P adaptation - if my copy were in the right format I'd send you my box set because it's excellent. I love Clueless, must have watched it at least twenty times and was addicted to the spin off series (even without Alicia Silverstone).
ReplyDeleteI’m so happy to see that you read and liked The Girl Who Fell From the Sky. I loved how you added your own question set to the meme.
ReplyDeleteI’m working on #1 and #4 – my MC at boarding school is an athletic girl of color. She’s not the only character of color in the book. The novel is a comedy. That’s NOT CRICKET, my current WIP.
I’m covering #2 in “as u like it” my YA that’s currently on submission to publishers. It’s set in contemporary Upper West Side Manhattan, and the white MC is dating a biracial boy. Race is not an issue, except when he quotes Othello. Fingers crossed!