Kimberly finds herself trapped in the jealous grip of her mother's sister as they work for peanuts in her clothing factory (read sweatshop) to repay the expenses of their move to America that include squalid living conditions.  She initially struggles in her new school as her teacher has no empathy for his students' struggles with language, poverty, or any other hardship. Kimberly soon realizes that education is her and her mother's salvation. While she focuses on her studies which lead to her exemplary turn at an exclusive private school for gifted students, she also finds herself falling for one of the boys who works in the factory.

Kwok's beautifully written debut novel is such a refreshing take on the immigrant story. I felt like a voyeur as I watched Kimberly triumph over innumerable obstacles with an amazing unwavering determination but without some neat  bow tied ending.  The author's command of language leaps off the page in her use of colorful Chinese colloquialisms and Kimberly's early attempts at decoding many of the new English words she hears. I can't say more without obnoxious babbling. But, I am gushing over Jean Kwok's Girl In Translation.  I just adore this novel immensely and how I was allowed to become invested in such a remarkable character's life.

www.jeankwok.com

Challenges:
Women Unbound
POC Reading

I received this book from the publisher via LibraryThing.

Esperanza is your typical "nerd". She reads voraciously, has amazing study habits, has little fashion knowledge beyond jeans and t-shirts, and is accident prone. The best thing about the lead character of Beyond the Gardens is that she's perfectly content with who she is and grateful to be out of the barrio. She's fulfilling her dream of being in college, an art college, at that, where she studies animation. During freshmen year, she discovers that her childhood best friend, Carlos, wants to be more than friends but, she's fallen for another guy who has the same love for books as she does. Meanwhile, Esperanza forms an unlikely friendship with her shopaholic roommate.

Lopez easily takes us through the saga of a young woman from a working class east L.A. neighborhood dealing with the usual growing pains: first loves, finding a job, self-discovery. She thoughtfully explores a colorful mother-daughter dynamic which is refreshing.  In Esperanza, Sandra Lopez has written a believably studious and aspirational character. Through a solid first person narrative, the reader will cheer for Esperanza as she enters adulthood and carves her path Beyond the Gardens.

Beyond the Gardens
By Sandra C. Lopez
Price: $19.50
ISBN-13: 9781432746988
Published: Outskirts Press
www.dulcebreadandbookshop.com

Praise for Beyond the Gardens

“Sandra Lopez’s sequel to Esperanza—Beyond the Gardens—
reacquaints the reader with a compelling character,
Esperanza, her barrio past and her college present, as
she struggles to get an education and find her identity. A
heartwarming story that young, female teens will enjoy!”
—Donna Del Oro – Author of Operation Familia and Hasta La Vista, Baby


“It’s not easy to figure out who you want to be, especially
if you’re a chica from the barrio. With a crazy family
and un amigo, who has suddenly decided he wants her,
brainy college student, Esperanza, finds herself having to
make some tough decisions. In this humorous and sweet
novel, Lopez brings us lovable characters we want to root
for from page one. Don’t miss it!”
—Lara Rios – Author of Becoming Latina in 10 Easy Steps



Tour Schedule


Monday     April 26     Bonnie S. Mata     http://authoroffaith.blogspot.com/   

Tuesday    April 27     Mayra Calvani     http://www.examiner.com/x-6309-Latino-Books-Examiner

Wednesday     April 28     Christina Rodriguez   http://www.christinarodriguez.com/

Thursday     April 29     Lori Calabrese     http://loricalabrese.com/blog/

                                        http://www.examiner.com/x-7597-Childrens-Books-Examiner

Friday     April 30     Mary Jo     http://writerinspired.wordpress.com/

Monday     May 3     Erin O'Riordan     http://www.erinoriordan.blogspot.com/

Tuesday    May 4     Joylene Nowell Butler     http://cluculzwriter.blogspot.com/

Wednesday     May 5     Terri Lee-Johnson     http://www.browngirlspeaks.com/


Thursday     May 6     Romina Tybitt     http://www.mamaxxi.blogspot.com/   


Friday     May 7     Leslie Toledo     http://thatchickthatreads.blogspot.com/   

 
Our author, Sandra Lopez, will be selecting from the comments on the tour stops a winner to receive a copy of Beyond the Gardens.

14-year-old Arnold Spirit, aka Junior, is an awkward looking kid born who spends his time drawing cartoons as an escape from his impoverished life on a Spokane Indian reservation in Wellpinit, WA.  He also hangs out with his appropriately named friend Rowdy who's always ready to beat up someone or something. Arnold's life really turns into a big question mark when he decides to enroll in a wealthy, white school in Reardon. He's in a tug-of-war with his new identity and his old one individually and as part of a tribe.

This is such a funny and entertaining read but, it's also quite educational as I feel I got a real glimpse into life on a modern Indian reservation. I was well aware of he alcoholism that plagues a number of the Indian community, but Alexie's narrative brought a sensibility to it. The sheer level of poverty is also a tough pill to swallow when one considers the grave impact of settlement in the U.S. on American Indians. But, again, Alexie makes it all bearable with the cartoons that provide much of the insight on Junior's life. Junior's quirky persona while coping with  life and  pursuing a permanent way off the rez through education provides a hopeful and uplifting tale for young people.

Lone survivor of a tragedy that leaves her motherless and an only child. Biracial. "The new girl".  All of these describe young Rachel Morse as she is sent to live with the black grandmother she doesn't know in Portland, OR. The kids at her new school and most others around her all but force her to identify as black and this is new territory for Rachel. Race and skin color have never factored into her existence as her Danish mother and black father did not harp on them while living in Germany.

Rachel deals with the issue of racial identity as a subtext to the circumstances surrounding what leads to her mother and siblings' deaths. The fragmented pieces she recalls are supplemented by journal entries of her mother, Nella, her mother's former boss, Lauronne, and the boy who witnessed Rachel's tragedy, Brick. The near obsession with her need to identify as black seems extraneous as Rachel does not struggle so much with this as do those around her.  Meanwhile, her grandmother refuses to acknowledge her Danish mother thereby ignoring that she's of mixed race. I became enthralled with Rachel as she grew into a teenager who tried to remain true to her own identity simply as her mother's daughter and the naivete that came along with adoring a mother whose actions were disturbingly tragic.

Durrow's use of language and plot is what really makes this novel fresh and engaging. Characterization could have been a bit more developed but what we do get are real and unpretentious people that many readers will recognize. In spite of a hazy conclusion, I still adore this book and the writer. Heidi Durrow's The Girl Who Fell From the Sky is not a perfect piece of literature but, it is courageous and poetic.

A Wish After Midnight is one of the first selections for the Amazon Encore program that re-introduces previously self published books to hopefully reach a wider audience.  This is a worthy selection. It's very rare to find a self published, debut novel with such depth, wisdom, and maturity and A Wish After Midnight is definitely a gem.

This YA fiction novel is a first person narrative of Genna, a 20th century teen just trying to survive and make it out of her impoverished Brooklyn life and into a better one as a psychiatrist.  She's the youngest of three and seems to be the only one with her head on straight while her mother struggles to support them. She's like any other teenage girl who's not one of the "pretty girls" but very smart and often teased because she chooses to focus on her studies and not the streets and boys. Genna spends a great deal of time at a local botanical garden which houses a fountain filled with numerous penny wishes including many of her own. One day, a wish goes awry and she finds herself in 1863 Brooklyn in the midst of the Civil War and an infamous New York draft riot. She quickly adapts to her new life in a time where the ink is barely dry on the Emancipation Proclamation taking care of the child of a doctor and his wife who support the abolitionist cause. Genna also finds herself in a bit of a love triangle when she finds herself the affection of a mixed race dockworker and realizes the guy of her blossoming romance from her own time has somehow been sent back in time as well.

Zetta Elliott is a great storyteller. She really captured the hardships of being a teen in modern times with all of the nonsense they deal with and those who instigate it. She also sheds light on the history of race relations with regard to the disparaging treatment the Irish suffered that was just as bad if not often worse than blacks. I loved her portrayal of Genna as it is so realistic. Her life is rough but it didn't come across as sensationalized like the media and other novels often portray.  Genna also possesses a wisdom that's very admirable for a teenager in her situation which is why she doesn't flounder under the weight of her odd teleportation to over a century back in time. 

The ending left my brow furled, but in a good way. Elliott has left the door wide open for Genna's story to continue and I'm cheering her on. I heartily await the sequel to A Wish After Midnight.

Challenges:
POC Reading
African Diaspora

The Joys of Motherhood tells the story of Nnu Ego born in a village in colonial Nigeria to a note Ibo chief and his mistress. Her mother was not allowed to marry as her father felt she should not "stoop to any man" but could have a lover. Nnu Ego would eventually be raised solely by her father and he would raise her to be just as independent and stubborn as her mother. However, the pressure to become a mother, especially of sons, was prevalent in her tribe as it was supposed to proved a woman's worth.

A failed first marriage because she did not bear any children leads to a second with a man she does not like or respect because of his looks and his occupation. It does eventually yield many children to whom Nnu Ego selflessly devotes her life. Her selflessness is supposed to reap her the joys of motherhood.  A mother can give and give until her life ends in a most despicable way and her children may never bestow her with the things she may have given up or simply support her in old age. Once into the meat of the story, it becomes evident that joy is also supposed to come simply from the act of giving to her children. Even this is troublesome as she often had very little to give them. Often what she had to give went to her eldest son to further his education much to the frustration and anger of the second son and their father. Nnu Ego's struggle are compounded by her conflict with maintaining a traditional role which includes being a financial contributor and the modern role in this urban setting that calls for her to just focus on being a mother.

I'm an instant fan of Buchi Emecheta. Her writing is so vivid and crisp. Perhaps I'm biased being a mother and this is my first impression of her writing, but I feel she nailed it. The joys of motherhood are something that don't just necessarily manifest as tangible or, even, emotional rewards. They are just random moments and, sometimes, the good doesn't outweigh the bad. But once you're a mother you have to just surrender to it and come what may. For Nnu Ego, her joy came from the superficial outlook others had on her as a mother of seven and their individual success. Emecheta's use of chi, or personal spirit, and a number of other cultural references often relating to spirituality and death make this a very enriching read. The constant presence of death- be it that of a newborn, and old chief, or an attempted suicide- adds a profundity to this book on motherhood.

I also own and hope to read Emecheta's novel, Slave Girl, in the near future.

Challenges:
Women Unbound
Reading Africa
POC Reading
African Diaspora

Buchi Emecheta is a well-noted Nigerian born novelist whose writing often has feminist themes. Her novels include The Joys of Motherhood, Slave Girl, and Second Class Citizen.

First published in 1924, There Is Confusion was the first novel for poet and The Crisis editor Jessie Redmon Fauset. The novel examines the lives of some Black middle class (Fauset's specialty) residents of New York and Philadelphia trying to navigate the inevitable confusion present in their lives due to race and/ or gender. Fauset is not known for very colorful writing, which hasn't stopped me from being a fan of her work, but her stories are presented in a realistic fashion. Her characters are believable as they are flawed in various degrees. For example, Joanna Marshall is an average looking Black woman of some means thanks to her father's hardcore desire for success. The same tenacity was inherent in Joanna and somewhat to a fault. Joanna believes that not only should she be aiming for mega-success but also all Black people should be just as driven. Her life is consumed by it so much so that she believes success is more important than love and finds out the hard way that she may have been wrong. However, it's very important that Fauset wrote this female character as outside the box when it comes to goals and self reliance unlike her counterpart Maggie. Maggie's goal in life is typical for a woman of any color during the time: marriage. The real flaw with Maggie, though, is that she only partially realizes her abilities to be successful without depending on a man for financial security. Meanwhile, the major male character, Peter, struggles the most with simply wanting to be ambitious or just accepting the confusion that color brings and settling for mediocrity. He comes from a long line of "old Philadelphians" but now only their name survives their socioeconomic status as his father lost the sense of ambition held by his forefathers becoming shiftless and losing most of the family's material possessions. I found this novel very enjoyable and a good piece of social commentary on the state of the Northern middle class Black American of the 1920's.

Challenges:
African Diaspora
POC Reading

Thanks to the Classics Circuit for hosting this tour featuring the prolific works of the Harlem Renaissance.

Page From a Tennessee Journal is the first novel from former Pediatric Occupational Therapist, Francine Thomas Howard. This is one of the first of previously self-published books being relaunched by the AmazonEncore program. I think it's a very fitting choice. Howard brings us into the lives of the white farm owning couple of Alexander and Eula McNaughton and the Black sharecropping family of John and Annalaura Welles. Set in rural east Tennessee in 1913, the story of these four people as individuals and as couples unfolds.

Alexander and John are both in love with the same woman yet neither knows how to appropriately show their affection without leaving her hurt emotionally and physically. And for one the love is forbidden which is the major source of conflict in this novel. The author's depiction of the lives of sharecroppers would make a good argument of why this practice was as detrimental to Blacks as, if not actually worse than, slavery. The squalid living conditions and unfair arrangements for payments and advances against labor were deplorable. Another social issue tackled is the marginalization of women. The status of the rural Southern woman was very bleak for both Blacks and whites. They both dealt with philandering husbands which was acceptable amongst their social class and being silenced. This was not news to me however, Howard's portrayal was like re-opening a wound and I was angered so much when this matter was brought up. John Welles angered me most with his self-righteous attitude even after he left his wife and children with nothing to seek his fortune. These women had to endure everything thrown at them while keeping up the dutiful, loyal wife routine without so much as an eye roll.  Eula does get her opportunity to use her voice in her journal even if it is only for herself. Annalaura even gets a bit of poetic justice in the end when she gets to make a life changing decision on her terms.

Reading this in two sittings, Howard's writing was well paced and never really hit any lulls. She has written great nuanced characters and the story felt like she was comfortable in the narrative as it's not forced. And I always applaud those who bravely take on whorehouses and Southern dialect without it all coming off as trite. Though it's hard for me to digest tales involving the disparaging treatment of women, it was worth it and deserves every accolade it has coming. Yes, I'm being prophetic. I do hope to see this also become part of the scholarly canon of fiction on women's studies. I highly recommend this entertaining and poignant debut novel.

I received a copy of this book from the author.

Schuyler's 1931 satirical novel, Black No More, tells the story of Black insurance man Max Disher who undergoes a procedure that makes him the permanently white Matthew Fisher. This novel explores how race is a social construct that can be altered and manipulated by those with power to suit their needs.

From the commentary on the often caricatured features of Black folks being inaccurate and how dialect is regional not racial to the scathing criticism of such Black luminaries as W.E.B. DuBois and the NAACP, George Schuyler wrote a brilliant and poignant piece that is unflinching in its attack on the idea of race. I found myself laughing out loud through most of the book especially at his satirization of Dr. DuBois as Dr. Shakespeare Agamemnon Beard and completely ripped his intentions as a "Race Man". The name alone is golden! Max, now Matthew, goes on to infiltrate a white supremacist group and marry a white woman he fell for while still a Black man. Everything about American society is turned upside-down as droves of Blacks flock to Dr. Crookman's sanitariums to experience "chromatic emancipation". It doesn't take long for the true whites to become frantic about issues such as Black babies born to seemingly all white pairings and for the Blacks who've "crossed over" to realize that white might not be right.

George Schuyler was a conservative Black author and journalist. He was also a big proponent of miscegenation as a means to eradicate the race problem in the U.S. He and his white wife were the parents of child prodigy and pianist Phillipa Schuyler.

Challenges:
African Diaspora
POC Reading

A few weeks ago, I stumbled across a book signing taking place at one of my local bookstores and the author was a native of the city. When I read the description of her debut novel, I knew I'd attend and have to read the book.

Wench is a story of historical fiction set in the mid-1800's mostly in Ohio at Tawawa House, a summer resort popular among Southern white men for getaways with their enslaved Black mistresses. First, to learn the existence of such a place caught me by surprise. This is one piece of slavery's history I don't think I expected to ever learn about. The four women who inhabit Perkins-Valdez's debut novel are all very different and pretty well developed. Sweet's name is befitting her mostly soft disposition. Reenie is deemed the wise elder among the ladies, yet she's terrified of water. Lizzie seems to be the most complacent and comfortable with her relationship with her master, Drayle. Mawu is the newest mistress and comes in as intriguing with her African name and non-Christian beliefs. It doesn't take long for Mawu to instigate the idea of the ladies escaping to freedom.

At about a quarter into the book, we get some back story on the development of the relationship between Lizzie and Drayle on their Tennessee plantation. This is an important section as it reveals the complexities of Lizzie's feelings towards her master and how those feelings cause a tug-of-war for her when it comes to the idea of her being a free woman. Perkins-Valdez does a very nice job of incorporating this portion without it disrupting the story's flow and seeming unnecessary. The dynamics of Lizzie relationship with her children and Drayle's wife, Fran, are also revealed. It's Lizzie's role as a mother/ child-bearer, and that of the other women, that is almost paramount to their feelings toward seeking freedom. The last summer that all of the women are together at Tawawa House brings a number of tragedies that catapult them into various directions away from each other, but not in spirit.

Dolen Perkins-Valdez writes very clean and, sometimes, lyrical prose. Her characterizations are not as fully realized as I would have liked for other characters besides Lizzie, but ultimately this is Lizzie's story. I did, however, feel invested in these four women.  Though, I've not done any research on Tawawa House, I'm confident the essence of the setting have captured beautifully. Wench is an exciting debut as it's filled a widely unknown void in the history of American slavery and I'm looking forward to Dolen Perkins-Valdez's future writings.

Challenges:
African Diaspora
POC Reading