The books I've recommended are all skillfully told by someone who is not of the race or sexual orientation of the protagonist. Though I believe in the importance of people telling their own stories, I also think there should be room for writers to write from viewpoints other than their own. The past is where many of my characters live, but I still have to deal with the quandry of authenticity. Daughter of Winter is placed in Essex, MA, in 1949, at the height of the shipbuilding industry and features a mixed-race child and a Wapanoag grandmother. To make certain of my characterizations, I hired a chief of that tribe to read the finished manuscript.
For years, I often drove past an old school house in the middle of a historic graveyard in Essex, Massachusetts. I imagined how children must have played amongst the headstones and ultimately decided that this place and shipbuilding town would be a unique setting for a novel. When I learned that many schooners from the numerous shipyards at mid-century had set sail for the gold fields, I knew I’d found the time in which to set my story of a young girl’s coming of age, the separations and deaths she must endure, and her brave search for a self that had always confounded her.
Years of research into Japanese life, culture, and history went into the preparation for writing this totally believable and lyrical work of fiction that takes the reader through the life of a Geisha from orphaned child to old woman. As Sayuri is groomed for a life of elegant slavery we see the glittering world of the Geisha through her eyes with its demands, emotional loneliness, and pathos. And we accompany her at a time when the Geisha houses are forced to close during World War II and she must reinvent herself. The book is peopled by compelling characters but there is none more convincing than the protagonist in this exacting cultural and historical experience. I found it to be an exceptional depiction of a multi-faceted woman by a male author. It moved me to be as exact as possible when developing a character of another culture.
'An epic tale and a brutal evocation of a disappearing world' The Times
A young peasant girl is sold as servant and apprentice to a renowned geisha house. Many years later she tells her story from a hotel in New York, opening a window into an extraordinary half-hidden world of eroticism and enchantment, exploitation and degradation and summoning up a quarter of a century of Japan's dramatic history.
'Intimate and brutal, written in cool, lucid prose it is a novel whose psychological empathy and historical truths are outstanding' Mail on Sunday
This is a moving middle grade novel in verse in which the protagonist, a young Syrian girl who flees to America with her mother, must leave devoted family members behind and in danger. Written by an American-born woman with patriarchal roots in Jordan and a few Syrian friends, she has nevertheless given us a vivid picture of the war in Aleppo, Syria, and the difficulties encountered by Jude who must come of age during a very difficult and confusing time in her own life and the life of her country. Young people will be able to relate to this on many levels including the wish to belong, homesickness for what was known, and what it is to come of age in such a completely unfamiliar setting. For someone who has moved many times, this story was particularly affecting.
A gorgeously written, hopeful middle grade novel in verse about a young girl who must leave Syria to move to the United States, perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds and Aisha Saeed.
Jude never thought she'd be leaving her beloved older brother and father behind, all the way across the ocean in Syria. But when things in her hometown start becoming volatile, Jude and her mother are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives.
At first, everything in America seems too fast and too loud. The American movies that Jude has always…
Parrotfish is a very early and stunning YA about what it is for a pre-pubescent child to transition from a girl to a boy written by a woman who prepared for this by learning as much as possible from the experiences of a close transgender friend. Because of these efforts, the problems faced by such young people and their families are sensitively dealt with in this story of Gabe's heartwrenching journey which, at times, is also hilarious. Instructive as well as entertaining, it gently schools the reader in compassion and understanding for anyone who chooses to make such a difficult journey. This was my first in-depth view of the difficulties and yearnings of a transgender youth.
The groundbreaking novel from critically acclaimed author Ellen Wittlinger that tells the story of a transgender teen's search for identity and acceptance has now been updated to include current terminology and an updated list of resources.
Angela Katz-McNair never felt quite right as a girl. So she cuts her hair short, purchases some men's clothes and chose a new name: Grady. While coming out as transgender feels right to Grady, he isn't prepared for the reactions of his friends and family. Why can't they accept that Grady is just being himself?
Grady's life is miserable until he finds friends in…
Nhamo is the remarkable twelve-year-old heroine in this engrossing book who bravely sets out to escape an arranged marriage to a cruel man. Summoning uncommon courage, she builds a raft and launches it upon an enormous lake where she must war against enemies both seen and unseen as well as the threat of drowning and starvation. Mystical African beliefs come alive in this book written by a white woman who is deeply versed in the culture and customs of Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Skillfully rendered, it is often cited as a classic adventure story for young people and was one of the catalysts that convinced me to write my adventure stories.
This winner of the Newbury Medal is another book that gave me the courage to write a book that includes my own invented tribe. The author, Scott O'Dell, also spent his early years in Southern Calif. as did I and much of the described island flora and fauna is reminiscent of Santa Catalina Island. After hunting for otters Karina's tribe misses the first boat that was to take them back to the mainland. When she misses the second one because of an act of bravery, she is fated to survive many years alone which she does with unimaginable courage and tenacity.
Twelve-year-old Karana escapes death at the hands of treacherous hunters, only to find herself totally alone on a harsh desolate island. How she survives in the face of all sorts of dangers makes gripping and inspiring reading.
I have been writing all my life, but was never able to find my voice until I had my daughters. It was for them I wrote “Wrightsville Beach”. I wanted to show them what a good relationship should look like and how their decisions make a difference in where they will go. I want my readers to relive that feeling of falling in love and to be sent in unexpected directions, as life so often does to us. I want you to enjoy it so much, you don’t want to put the book down until it’s finished and once you do, to sit and reflect on it, savoring the feeling it has left behind.
Two years ago, devastated by the sudden death of his older brother, Hank Atwater went on a drinking rampage that ended in his being arrested. Since then, he has been working to rebuild his reputation in his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina, with little luck. But everything changes after a chance meeting with Jess Wade, a UNCW student studying to be a marine biologist. Hank and Jess feel connected to each other in a way neither has ever felt before.
But when Hank’s past leads to a frightful incident, it ends their relationship. Jess leaves to work on the beach with sea turtles, thinking about what really happened that summer with Hank, while Hank sets out to find his own path in hopes of one day winning her back.
Two years ago, Hank Atwater made a terrible mistake. Devastated by the sudden death of his older brother, Rob, he went on a drinking rampage that ended in his being arrested for aggravated assault. Sober since then, he has been working to rebuild his reputation in his hometown of Wilmington, North Carolina, with little luck.
Working a dead-end delivery job, Hank uses surfing and running to deal with being ostracized as he waits for his probation to end. But everything changes after a chance meeting with Jess Wade, a UNCW student studying to be a marine biologist. Hank and Jess…
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