Editors Aldama and Sánchez divide the work into two major sections—“Cocinas” and “Sports y Locura”—each of which contains chapters that group works together by themes, including “Building Bridges, Building Community” and “Belonging…Dolor y Alegría.” The authors and illustrators run with the inspiration provided by food and sports, exploring the nuances of diaspora culture and belonging […]
An introductory note makes clear that while Blake is drawn to pet themes and personally salient motifs, readers should expect to find neither thesis nor throughline connecting the vignettes ahead. Instead, the eight sections that follow are entirely unrelated to one another, each filled with images that invite onlookers to both occupy the world as […]
“Every Saturday, me and Mom bring Yaya a small box of dan-tats to share,” the young narrator informs readers. The child’s grandfather, who lives in a nursing home, uses a wheelchair and has memory issues. Though Yaya speaks only Chinese, the two bond over their love of egg tarts. But today, Yaya promptly takes the […]
The year is 1974, and Mike Turner is a 13-year-old boy living at Children’s Christian Hostel in Singapore. He spends his time going to school, putting up with his immature roommates, and most notably, awaiting his parents’ return from South Vietnam. However, during their time working in the Foreign Service, Mike’s parents suddenly go missing. […]
Opening and closing with scenes from a gig as a 33-year-old burlesque dancer, Campbell shows off her experience as a stand-up comic with a quip-laden narrative in which she chronicles both her youth as a picky eater from childhood through college and a yearslong, riotously contentious, on-again, off-again relationship with a sometimes pushy, sometimes disturbingly […]
In his debut memoir, the author, a former Arizona state representative, recounts the highlights and low points of an eventful life, including his wife Rhonda’s battle with breast cancer and his own nightmarish experience with Covid-19. Sierra describes himself as a classic “retail politician,” someone who regularly cuts ribbons or appears in parades. “I like […]
The late philosopher Roland Barthes had a fear of heights and a hatred of mountains. Had he been around to read McPherson’s book, he might have reconsidered: Seeing from up high can yield awe, and while “awe often carries an undercurrent of fear,” it can provoke some, if you will, elevated thoughts. It can also […]
Bourdain, notes editor Witherspoon, “had wanted to be a writer all his life.” His fame as the host of several television travel series, she adds, was accidental: The gigs were someone else’s idea, but as long as he got to write, it was fine. Some of the pieces assembled here are near-transcripts from those shows, […]
Amore, co-author of Stealing Rembrandts (2011) and head of security at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston, here describes the colorful life of Myles Connor, a rock musician who turned to a life of crime throughout New England in the 1960s and ’70s. The author details many of Connor’s early exploits, including impersonating an […]
Although he hasn’t seen his spacefaring military father (who may or may not be dead) in years, Kael Vallen wants to follow in his footsteps—and does just that when he turns 18.As a recruit in the God Ruler’s forces, Kael dreams of sharing the transcendent light of the Starlit Covenant with what he sees as […]