Nahoko Uehashi’s The Beast Player is an epic YA fantasy about a girl with a special power to communicate with magical beasts and the warring kingdom only she can save.
The Beast Player
Asia
Materials from Asia
Mommy Sayang
Aleeya, concerned when her beloved mother becomes sick, remembers and returns the promise Mommy has made to her–that she will always be by her side.
Diwali
Each autumn we gather with our friends and family and light our brightest lanterns. It’s time for Diwali, the festival of lights! In this lovely board book with illustrations from Archana Sreenivasan, readers learn that the five days of Diwali are a time to pray for a bountiful season, celebrate the special bonds between siblings, and rejoice in the victory of light over darkness and good over evil.
Ojiichan’s Gift
This gentle picture book story will warm children’s hearts as it explores a deep intergenerational bond and the passing of knowledge from grandparent to grandchild over time. The lyrical text by Chieri Uegaki and luminous watercolor illustrations by Genevieve Simms beautifully capture the emotional arc of the story, from Mayumi’s contentment through her anger and disappointment to, finally, her acceptance. The story focuses on an important connection to nature, particularly as a place for quiet reflection. It contains character education lessons on caring, responsibility, perseverance and initiative. It’s also a wonderful way to introduce social studies conversations about family, aging and multiculturalism. Mayumi lives in North America with her Japanese mother and Dutch father, and visits her grandfather in Japan. Some Japanese words are included.
Isla De Leones
A biographical novel about Antonio Chuffat, a Chinese-African-Cuban messenger boy in 1870s Cuba who became a translator and documented the freedom struggle of indentured Chinese laborers in his country.
My Beijing: Four Stories of Everyday Wonder
Four short stories set in a hutong, or residential alleyway, of Beijing, China. Yu’er, her grandfather, and their eccentric neighbors experience the magic of everyday life.
My Beijing is featured in WOW Review Volume XIV, Issue 1.
The Night Diary
Shy twelve-year-old Nisha, forced to flee her home with her Hindu family during the 1947 partition of India, tries to find her voice and make sense of the world falling apart around her by writing to her deceased Muslim mother in the pages of her diary.
Featured in WOW Review Volume XII, Issue 2 and Volume XI, Issue 3.
Farmer Falgu Goes to the Market
Farmer Falgu is off to the market to sell his produce, but has some unexpected bumps along the way. But then, Farmer Falgu can usually find his way out of any mess!
Too Young To Escape: A Vietnamese Girl Waits To Be Reuited With Her Family
After the end of the Vietnam War, Van wakes up one morning to find that her mother, sisters, and brother are gone. They have escaped the new communist regime that has taken over Ho Chi Minh City for freedom in the West. Van is too young–and her grandmother too old–for such a dangerous journey by boat, so the two have been left behind. Once settled in North America, her parents will be able to sponser them, and Van and her grandmother will fly away to safety. But in the meantime, Van is forced ot work hard to satisfy her aunt and uncle, who treat her like an unwelcome guest. And at school she must learn that calling attention to herself is a mistake, especially when the bully who has been tormenting her turns out to be the son of a military policeman.
Amal Unbound
In Pakistan, Amal holds onto her dream of being a teacher even after becoming an indentured servant to pay off her family’s debt to the wealthy and corrupt Khan family.
Featured in WOW Review Vlume XI, Issue 2.