Category Archives: YA

Anne of Everywhere: On re-reading Anne of Green Gables and its contemporary reboots

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M. A. and W. A. J. Claus

Check out my latest for the NYT Book Review.

If I’ve been acting a little “extra” these days, chalk it up to recent quality time with “Anne of Green Gables,” the classic 1908 novel by L.M. Montgomery about a spirited red-haired orphan with a flair for melodrama. “I cannot tie myself down to anything so unromantic as dishwashing at this thrilling moment,” I declared one evening after forcing my family to admire a particularly pretty sunset. Another day, as I skimmed the class notes in my alumni magazine, I told my husband, “My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes.” And after my neighbor kindly offered to check my mail while I was away, I nearly blurted, “You are a bosom friend.”

Like millions of readers — the original book has sold more than 50 million copies and remained continuously in print — I was captivated as a child by “Anne of Green Gables” and its sequels. The plight and possibilities of orphanhood, the hearty meals and daunting chores of farm life, the catastrophic debacles with things like green hair dye all made a lively impression on me, a Korean American girl growing up on 1980s Long Island. Later, my fandom was solidified by the CBC’s popular mini-series, memorable for the breathtaking beauty of Prince Edward Island and for Marilla Cuthbert’s merciless hair bun….

Continues here

Food for Thought

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My obsession with food in children’s books is no secret to anybody who’s read this blog. Here’s a piece I wrote in the November 8, 2020 issue of the NYT Book Review about four books for kids where food plays a central role: MEASURING UP by Lily LaMotte, Illustrated by Ann Xu; A PLACE AT THE TABLE by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan; AMERICAN AS PANEER PIE by Supriya Kelkar; THE SURPRISING POWER OF A GOOD DUMPLING by Wai Chim

Korean-American teens in YA: It’s happening!

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I recently viewed three YA novels with Korean-American teens at their center for the NYT Book Review: Frankly in Love by David Yoon, Somewhere Only We Know by Maurene Goo, and Permanent Record by Mary H.K. Choi. This was a dream assignment for me, bringing together my love for YA with my more recent interest in telling the stories of Korean-Americans.

For about a year now, my friend Juliana Sohn and I have been co-hosting an arts and culture podcast for the non-profit organization KoreanAmericanStory.org. On our podcast, called K-Pod, we interview Korean-American artists, writers, actors, chefs and other creative types about their life and work. One of the questions I most love asking guests is what they were like in high school. After all, the teenage years are all about questioning your identity — and when you’re growing up caught between two cultures, the question of who you are and how you fit in can be especially hard to answer.

You can read the full text of the reviews here.

Download our podcast, K-Pod, here!

Highly Recommended (and not just for the kids): How to be a Good Creature

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Who is this extraordinary book for, exactly? It’s hard to say.

Sy Montgomery is a renowned nature writer who’s authored more than ten adult nonfiction books, including The Soul of an Octopus, which was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2015. Over her impressive career she’s swum with piranhas and electric eels in the Amazon, searched for tree kangaroos in New Guinea, and experienced near-death experiences studying gorillas in Zaire. Montgomery is also the author of 16 books for kids, including a fantastic biography of Temple Grandin aimed at middle graders.

Her latest, How to be a Good Creature: A Memoir in Thirteen Animals is one of the rare non-fiction books that you could arguably call middle grade, YA or adult.  The advance copy I was sent came to me via from The Houghton Mifflin young readers PR team. And the very sweet cover art by Rebecca Green and large-point type didn’t exactly fight the impression that this was a book intended for 10 and 12 year-olds. It’s a memoir organized by animal: Thirteen chapters covering thirteen animals (from dogs and pigs to tree kangaroos), each offering insight into the creatures and also Sy’s growth as an individual.

But as I read it, I started to wonder.

There was a lot of dark stuff in there about the author’s depression, career crises and parental discord. There was even one stomach-turning incident involving the author’s mother and a virginity check.* But mostly, the book was about the wonder of these incredible animals. As I plowed through the book I kept thinking to myself that I wanted to share these fascinating stories with my own kids.

Throughout the book Montgomery befriends the unlikeliest of creatures, including a tarantula in French Guiana and an octopus at the New England Aquarium (I know the word “befriend” sounds ridiculous, but it happens). And her passion for her calling is totally inspiring — at age 26, she’s sleeping in a tent in South Australia wilderness, mapping the burrows of wombats, digging through emu droppings and having the time of her life. For a young person dreaming about what they will be when they grow up, it may be totally eye opening.

So, who is this book for, really? As it turns out, it’s officially an adult non-fiction book. But  I would hand it to any teenager with an appreciation for nature, animals or gorgeously written confessional personal essays.

*NB: For most 8-12 year-olds, there’s probably too much meditative midlife-crises stuff to keep them interested all the way through. But the chapters on the pig (“Christopher Hogwood,” chapter 3), the tarantula (“Clarabelle,” chapter 4), and the octopus (“Octavia,” chapter 9)  will be totally captivating.

 

 

 

Complicated crushes, sibling rivalry, poverty, family secrets, adoption, bisexuality, racial profiling and the up side of boredom…

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I reviewed five new YA novels for the NYT Book Review this week: Far From the Tree by Robin Benway, Dear Martin by Nic Stone, I am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erica L. Sanchez,  Little & Lion by Brandy Colbert, and Nothing by Annie Barrows. Check it out HERE.