by Ashley Dickson-Ellison (@teachingtheapocalypse)
This June is a great time for new books! I'm so excited to see new books by favorite authors and works by authors I haven't tried yet! I've selected one per week but am excited about so many more!
June 6
Isabel Allende's The Wind Knows My Name (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"Vienna, 1938. Samuel Adler is five years old when his father disappears during Kristallnacht—the night his family loses everything. As her child’s safety becomes ever harder to guarantee, Samuel’s mother secures a spot for him on a Kindertransport train out of Nazi-occupied Austria to England. He boards alone, carrying nothing but a change of clothes and his violin.
"Arizona, 2019. Eight decades later, Anita Díaz and her mother board another train, fleeing looming danger in El Salvador and seeking refuge in the United States. But their arrival coincides with the new family separation policy, and seven-year-old Anita finds herself alone at a camp in Nogales. She escapes her tenuous reality through her trips to Azabahar, a magical world of the imagination. Meanwhile, Selena Durán, a young social worker, enlists the help of a successful lawyer in hopes of tracking down Anita’s mother.
"Intertwining past and present, The Wind Knows My Name tells the tale of these two unforgettable characters, both in search of family and home. It is both a testament to the sacrifices that parents make and a love letter to the children who survive the most unfathomable dangers—and never stop dreaming."
Why I want to read it:
I love stories that explore the intersection of the past and the present, and I'm eager to see what Allende's latest work will be like. I also appreciate works that are taking on the family separation policy in the US and its connection to other historical events that have separated families.
June 13
Uzma Jalaluddin's Much Ado about Nadia (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"A sparkling second-chance romance inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion...
"Nada Syed is stuck. On the cusp of thirty, she’s still living at home with her brothers and parents in the Golden Crescent neighbourhood of Toronto, resolutely ignoring her mother’s unsubtle pleas to get married already. While Nada has a good job as an engineer, it’s a far cry from realizing her start-up dreams for her tech baby, Ask Apa, the app that launched with a whimper instead of a bang because of a double-crossing business partner. Nothing in her life has turned out the way it was supposed to, and Nada feels like a failure. Something needs to change, but the past is holding on too tightly to let her move forward.
"Nada’s best friend Haleema is determined to pry her from her shell, and what better place than at the giant annual Muslim conference held downtown, where Nada can finally meet Haleema’s fiancé, Zayn. And did Haleema mention Zayn’s brother Baz will be there?
"What Haleema doesn’t know is that Nada and Baz have a past—some of it good, some of it bad and all of it secret. At the conference, that past all comes hurtling at Nada, bringing new complications and a moment of reckoning. Can Nada truly say goodbye to once was or should she hold tight to her dreams and find their new beginnings?"
Why I want to read it:
I loved Jalaluddin's Ayesha At Last and am eager to read more of her work! I've also come to enjoy reading retellings of classics and am compelled by that as well. I haven't yet read Persuasion, but I am still interested in reading this one, which sounds so intriguing!
June 20
Stacy Jane Grover's Tar Hollow Trans: Essays (Bookshop.org)
Description from Publisher:
"Raised in southeast Ohio, Stacy Jane Grover would not describe her upbringing as 'Appalachian.' Appalachia existed farther afield—more rural, more country than the landscape of her hometown.
"Grover returned to the places of her childhood to reconcile her identity and experience with the culture and the people who had raised her. She began to reflect on her memories and discovered that group identities like Appalachian and transgender are linked by more than just the stinging brand of social otherness.
"In Tar Hollow Trans, Grover explores her transgender experience through common Appalachian cultural traditions. In 'Dead Furrows,' a death vigil and funeral leads to an investigation of Appalachian funerary rituals and their failure to help Grover cope with the grief of being denied her transness. 'Homeplace' threads family interactions with farm animals and Grover's coming out journey, illuminating the disturbing parallels between the American Veterinary Association's guidelines for ethical euthanasia and the World Professional Association for Transgender Health's guidelines for transgender care.
"Together, her essays write transgender experience into broader cultural narratives beyond transition and interrogate the failures of concepts such as memory, metaphor, heritage, and tradition. Tar Hollow Trans investigates the ways the labels of transgender and Appalachian have been created and understood and reckons with the ways the ever-becoming transgender self, like a stigmatized region, can find new spaces of growth."
Why I want to read it:
This essay collection sounds so powerful and moving. I'm interested in reading Grover's reflections on her own experiences and how they connect to larger cultural experiences.
June 27
Jesse Q. Sutanto's Theo Tan and the Iron Fan (Bookshop.org | Libro.fm)
Description from Publisher:
"A Chinese American boy and his snarky fox spirit face down demon kings as they race against time to be reunited with his brother’s spirit in Theo Tan and the Iron Fan, Jesse Q. Sutanto's magical, action-packed sequel to Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit.
"Theo Tan and his fox spirit, Kai, are willing to go to hell and back for their family. Literally.
"After exposing the corruption at Reapling Corporation and trapping the demon king Niu Mo Wang, they learn that Jamie (Theo’s beloved brother and Kai’s first human master) was not allowed to move on after death, and is now trapped in a waiting room in Diyu.
"If they can reach his soul before it faces judgement on the solstice, they might be able to convince King Qingguang to send his soul back to earth! Still, a trip to Diyu is no easy matter, and Theo and Kai can’t do it alone. Fortunately, they have good friends who are happy to help.
"But even with Namita’s knowledge and Danny’s powerful dragon familiar, the odds are stacked against them. Can Theo and Kai’s new bond hold up against lying demons with grudges, impatient Kings of Hell, and the wrath of the demon king’s powerful wife, Princess Iron Fan?"
Why I want to read it:
I haven't started this series yet, but I absolutely love everything I've read by Jesse Q. Sutanto, and this series sounds amazing! I'm interested in seeing how her writing style and character development carry over into this series. It sounds so good!
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