Library!

[oyceter]

Having forgotten to go to the library sale yesterday, I went twice today (once for first picks, once for the bag sale). I now have even more books.

In between, I sauntered about the library looking for even more even more books, woefully handicapped by the fact that I couldn't access LJ for recs (all the internet computers were being used). I managed to actually talk to real people and ask the librarian at the Teen Zone (new one, not same one from knitting) for recs for YA books by people of color, preferably women. She thought I was a high school or college student for a bit, hee hee. I got several nice lists from her, checked out The House on Mango Street and browsed the YA section, but I figure LJ knows all.

So, anyone have recs for good books by and/or about people of color? My general preference is for books by and/or about women of color, preferably YA, preferably fantasy. I have read Stormwitch and Zahrah the Windseeker and loved them both, and I already know about Maya Angelou, Alice Walker, Amy Tan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Gus Lee, Marjane Satrapi, Geoff Ryman, Nalo Hopkinson, Gail Tsukiyama and Kyoko Mori, although book recs for Hopkinson, Tsukiyama and Mori would be nice.

What I really want is something like Stormwitch or Zahrah the Windseeker. I want something about girls of color kicking ass and growing up. I randomly browsed through some adult books by Asian Americans (I accidentally wandered into the Ch section -- Chiu, Choi, Chu, etc.), and I put most books down despite really wanting to read more about people of color. I don't really feel like reading a sad, depressing story about people dealing with hate and race relations and the difficulty of being a POC; I know that stuff. I don't mind those elements in the book, but I want the story itself to be about kicking ass and taking charge, about women and girls finding power within themselves and changing things.

I don't mind books about female POC written by white people, though I would prefer that the books not be centered around whiteness and white people dealing with race (ex. Han Nolan's A Summer of Kings, which I may read some other time but am not in the mood for now).

All POC are good, though bonus points for Latin-American (as opposed to Mexican or Chicano), South-American, African, Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian including Indian fiction, as I have read much less of those and not seen much of those recced at all.

Uh, so do these books I am hankering to read actually exist? Where can I find them? What have you guys read?

Comments

Indian authors

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

The Mahabharata! OK, so it's more about men than women, and the authorship is not attributed to a woman, but it does have some very cool female and gender-switching characters, it is fantasy, and I would be surprised if none of it was written or dictated by women, though that's something we'll never know for sure.

More normal recs:

Love, Stars, and All That, by Kirin Narayan. Not fantasy. A romantic comedy about an Indian grad student and virgin in America whose horoscope claims she'll find her true love this year; deals with cross-cultural issues, but not in a depressing way.

A lot of Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni's books are borderline/mainstream fantasy, plus she has two YA fantasies but those are with a boy protagonist. Her books do often deal with cultural conflicts, but not usually (in my opinion) in a depressing way. Try The Mistress of Spices.

She's not a fiction writer, but I think you would love the evocative Indian food writer Madhur Jaffrey. She has a new memoir out, which I haven't read yet but I'm sure it's excellent, like everything she writes.

Re: Indian authors

[oyceter]

Hee! I swear, I will read it, but probably not now while juggling assorted RL things.

Oh, thanks for the authors! And I have heard many things about Madhur Jaffrey and should probably check that out.

Re: Indian authors

[vom-marlowe.livejournal.com]

Oooooh, you haven't read Madhur Jaffrey? She is my favorite food writer! Her book World of the East is fantabulous and I think you would like it a lot. It's a cookbook that has vegetarian recipes from all different parts of Asia. She explains neat things about the reason each food is cooked the way it is, different vegetables, stories from her childhood, interesting facts, regional variations. The explanations of different vegetables alone is priceless. And she writes a damn good recipe. World of the East has my favorite greens recipes. Mmmm, greens.

Re: Indian authors

[oyceter]

I have not! I think I should get on that! Also, you have completely won me over by telling me she explains different vegetables ^_^.

Re: Indian authors

[buymeaclue.livejournal.com]

The Narayan looks good! Thanks.