The Kamogawa Food Detectives by Hisashi Kashiwai From childhood favorites to special meals with friends or family, few things bring us back to the past as immediately as the smell or taste of a particular dish. But sometimes foods become lost to time and circumstance, and that’s where Nagare and Koishi Kamogawa come in. From their … Read more
This Is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets; edited by Kwame Alexander In 2020, poet Kevin Young, current director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and poetry editor for the New Yorker, published “African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song.” Young’s 1,110-page anthology is a comprehensive array of Black poets from … Read more
The Night Parade: A Speculative Memoir by Jami Nakamura Lin “Maybe this isn’t a story about ghosts, but a story about telling a story about ghosts.” This genre-defying memoir uses multiple storytelling traditions to make sense of mental illness, motherhood, and grief. Jami Nakamura Lin, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at seventeen, has always struggled … Read more
The Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling Schoolchildren across the country have heard the story of Sacajawea, and can readily recall her association with the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 – 1806. She is commonly referred to as the expedition’s interpreter. One has the impression of a beautiful, competent, wise young woman who … Read more
Hula by Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes Now that winter has finally arrived in Whatcom County, readers might enjoy a literary escape to warmer climes, and “Hula: a Novel” by Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes is the ticket. Set primarily in Hilo, Hawai’i, “Hula” conjures the glittering ocean, the sizzling sun and misty rain, and the fragrant and colorful hibiscus, … Read more
Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki High school best friends Zee and Dani have always dreamed of visiting New York City together. In Roaming, they reunite in Manhattan for spring break after their freshman year at separate colleges. Tagging along is Fiona, a glamorous new friend from Dani’s dorm who would rather see the “real” New York … Read more
Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater It began with a meme. A single image that an Albany High junior saw as edgy, intended to court his friends’ dark sense of humor. Soon that meme was a private Instagram account. The content grew … Read more
Congratulations, the Best Is Over!: Essays by R. Eric Thomas In this new collection of laugh-out-loud funny essays, R. Eric Thomas picks up where his last memoir (Here For It, 2020) left off. Newly married and enjoying professional success, Thomas’ life is upended when his husband, a Presbyterian pastor, takes a job in Thomas’ hometown of Baltimore. He … Read more
Where the Language Lives by Janet Yoder Vi taqʷšɘblu Hilbert was 49 years old when she got a phone call that changed the course of her life. Thom Hess, a linguist at the University of Washington, called Hilbert and asked her to review an audio recording of one of her mother’s traditional Coast Salish stories he … Read more
I Never Dreamed You’d Leave in Summer by Robert Lashley I have read and heard Robert Lashley’s work for more than 15 years. He has published three books of poetry and has presented his work in venues across the country. In 2021, at the peak of the pandemic, Lashley gave a live 10-poem performance via Zoom. … Read more