Monthly Archives: July 2018

Shadowshaper by Daniel Jose Older

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Sierra Santiago looks forward to a summer of working on the mural she is painting in her Brooklyn neighborhood. While working on her dragon mural, she notices other murals in the neighborhood are changing.  Her abuelo, Lazaro, is acting even more strangely after suffering a stroke.  He keeps mumbling to Sierra that he is sorry.  Then Lazaro speaks clearly to warn her she must finish her mural. “They are coming for us!” he warns.  Sierra meets Robbie, another young artist in the community, at a party. She confides in him about the changes she is noticing in the neighborhood, Robbie starts to explain the ancestral ways of their culture, but they are interrupted by a creepy being that they just barely escape.  Sierra discovers the secrets of her ancestors, and she must use them to protect her family and her neighborhood.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

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Dimple is not a traditional Indian girl.  She is focussed on achieving the career of her dreams.  Her future does not involve an arranged marriage much to the disappointment of her parents.  So when her parents agree that she may attend Insomnia Con at San Francisco State University before she starts her Freshman year at Stanford, Dimple feels maybe her parents are finally starting to get her.  That’s until some strange but good-looking Indian young man calls her his future bride at Starbuck’s near campus. Pouring her drink on him and fleeing the Starbucks, let him know she wasn’t interested.  Rishi Patel is confused.  The picture he has in his pocket matches the girl he just spotted at the Starbucks.  That was definitely Dimple Shah, daughter of his parents’ friends. The young lady his parents have arranged for him to marry. They were to meet at Insomnia Con before Rishi heads off to MIT. Dimple’s parents, however, have not informed her of this arrangement.  It is their hope that the two will make a connection at Insomnia Con, and Dimple will change her mind about marriage.  But Dimple is not a traditional Indian girl.

The 57 Bus by Dashka Slater

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Two high school students cross paths on the 57 bus in Oakland, California. Their lives will never be the same.  Richard is fooling around on the 57 bus with his friends when they dare him to touch a lighter to Sacha’s skirt while Sacha is asleep on the back seat of the bus.  Richard foolishly thinks that the flame will go out or that Sacha will awaken and put out the flame.  But that’s not what happens.  Sacha’s skirt erupts in flames. Sacha is severely burned, and Richard is later arrested and charged with two hate crimes. The district attorney decides to try Richard as an adult.  He is facing life in prison for this impetuous act. Meanwhile, Sacha is recovering from third-degree burns on over twenty-two percent of their body.  The 57 Bus: A True Story of Two Teenagers and the Crime That Changed Their Lives explores topics of gender, race, juvenile crime, and forgiveness.

The Sun Is Also A Star by Nicola Yoon

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Natasha Kingsley sets out with determination.  She needs to find someone in the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) building and convince him to allow her family to stay in the United States.  Her family are undocumented immigrants living in New York City, and tonight at 10 P.M. they are being deported back to Jamaica. Natasha doesn’t believe in fate, she is all about science and facts. But she desperately needs to find a way to stay in America. Maybe today the universe will bring Natasha what she needs.

Enter Daniel Bae, a Korean American perfect second son.  Daniel is on his way to an admission interview with a Yale alumnus when he spots Natasha moving to music on the street. That’s all it takes for this poet, this believer in destiny and fate.  He has fallen in love at first site. He will do everything in his power to convince practical, no-nonsense Natasha Kingsley to give him a chance.

The universe works in mysterious ways in this young adult novel by the author of Everything Is Everything.