A heartbreaking inside view of growing up half black and half white. A young girl survives a landing from 9 storeys up (was she pushed, did she fall?) which her mother and siblings did not. Taken in by the African American side of the family in Portland, she starts to make …more decisions about who she is and how she will face the rest of her life. Did I say heartbreaking? You will root for her and hope she does more than survive the decisions about who she is she keeps being forced to make. This title will appeal to adults, is great for bookclubs, but should be suggested to thoughtful young adults as well. The voice is strong and clear and the writing is transcendent and beautiful. (less)

On the back cover of my advanced copy, Yann Martel (Life of Pi author) challenges the reader to "start reading this book and give up on it". Well, I did, and I am...for now. This is the story of Sivakami, a woman (1896-1962) who, because of her Brahmin class, was forced to …more live a secluded life .. widowed at 18 with two children, she is so bound up in tradition and ritual that I finally had to break out of her daily life and come up for air. Extraordinarily well written, the book is redolent with the wonderful smells and tastes that Indian novels tend to portray, and the details of the daily events of village life are interesting, and I really want to know more about the siddhas, who are naked, ash covered, skinny, itinerant ascetics. For now, though, I have to leave this 600-page still life of ash, and gold, and lemons. (less)

Aminata Diallo has a name and a history and it is her job, one she didn't even choose, to tell us about what it was like to be stolen from her village, and enslaved in America. You might think you know about the slave trade, but you don't understand it, it's daily rhythms …more and international consequences until you read this book. Great writing, wonderful images, great humor, even, and a must read for anyone who ever even heard of Alex Haley and/or Roots. (less)