Late, late, late POC update

Yes, this is an update on the Person of Color Challenge 2010. I'm very, very late. Blog updating has just completely fallen off my radar recently, so I'm going to try to get back into the swing of things.

This challenge involved coming up with a list of books that focused on characters of color and trying to read all of them last year. I pretty much failed miserably. Here's my original post at the start of the challenge. Below are the links to the rest of the posts from the challenge:

• One Day the Soldiers Came
• Zorro
• All Aunt Hagar's Children
• Chains
• The Red Pyramid
• Children of the New World

Out of my original list of 12 books to read, I read 4 and a half. That's not so good. I did get an additional POC book out of The Red Pyramid, which was not on my initial list, and I also read the sequel to Chains, Forge, which I loved. Oh, and I started La femme sans sépulture, which I have enjoyed so far, but put aside for easier reading in English.

As I predicted, the "adult" books took me quite a lot longer to read than my normal YA/children's fare, and I have basically abandoned All Aunt Hagar's Children, which was super depressing. I still intend to pick it up and finish it, but who knows.

A lot of the books on my list fell into my personal "serious" reading category (adult, often classics, anything in French falls into this category), which I can usually only tackle one at a time, often with long breaks in between, and I think this contributed to not getting further through my list. I picked up several non-POC "serious" books throughout the year (a couple theology books, since my husband is in divinity school, and an Anthony Trollope novel, which took from late November to early January to plow through). While many of the books on the list remain on my "to read" list, I'm not going to try to finish the list this year--especially not with it being already April, yeep! However, I will try, as I browse children's and YA books, to try to make more effort to choose books with POC protagonists.

POC Book #5: Children of the New World

There's no way I'm going to get to my goal of 10-15 books by the end of the year, but hopefully I'll get one or two more under my belt after this one...

Children of the New World by Assia Djebar

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novel, by a Francophone literary giant, describes a day in the Algerian war from the perspective of a number of women (and some men) in a small town that is not far from front-line fighting. I did read it in translation, so I probably missed some of the lyricism that characterizes Djebar's writing, but it was a very good translation. It read pretty quickly (it just took me awhile to finish because I kept getting distracted by other books!), and I thought Djebar did a good job of describing the point of view of different people without necessarily judging. (I say necessarily, because it's hard for me to conclude that Lila--until the very end--is anything but a self-centered ditz, Touma a self-centered jerk, and Hakim a man with a weak conscience, to name some of my least-favorite characters.)

The afterword made a big deal about Djebar adhering to all the Aristotelian unities (time, place, and action)--I could see place and action easily, but I found it hard to realize that the whole novel took place in one day--if, in fact, it did--because the characters reminisce and recount so much else. I don't think this at all takes away from the story, but it's something that struck me.

The Algerian war is often considered France's Vietnam, so reading about it from the point of view of Algerians (mostly--there are a few European characters, but certainly the author is Algerian, although she is now an exile) is definitely worthwhile. Djebar's storytelling, however, makes it an enjoyable as well as a worthwhile read.

View all my reviews

An unexpected POC Book: #4

My POC reading has not kept pace as it should, both due to having several "fun" books I couldn't wait to read, and getting my husband to give me a "serious" summer reading assignment, separate from the POC challenge.

However, one of my "fun" books turned out to have two characters who are mixed-race teenagers. Now, the author Rick Riordan is white, so I feel like his portrayal of non-white characters should be viewed with that in mind, but I (who am also white, so take my opinion with the grain of salt it needs) think he did a pretty good job overall. He definitely knows middle school kids well, and some of the issues that Carter, in particular, encounters, ring true: his dad making him dress in button down shirts and khakis instead of jeans and sweatshirts because he can't just look normal, he needs to look better than normal; getting immediately followed by an airport guard, etc.

In any case, I think it's nice that a book that has gotten and will continue to get so much attention in YA circles featured mixed-race characters. Here's my Goodreads review of the book:

The Red Pyramid by Rick Riordan

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I thought this was an excellent new work from Riordan. I have always found Egyptian mythology more confusing than Greco-Roman mythology (and I read The Egypt Game several times over as a kid), and I think Riordan did an admirable job of taking the many different stories about Egyptian gods and letting them work together.

I also liked both of the Kanes, although it took me time to get into the split-narration. (I was thankful that the publisher put the name of the narrator instead of the chapter title at the top of each page--once I got into the chapter, the voice of the character came through, but with some of the action and dialogue heavy openings, it took me a few minutes to tell who was telling the story at that point.

Overall, I'm looking forward to more of the Kane chronicles.

View all my reviews

POC Book #3: Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Another book from my list that is not written by a person of color, although the protagonist is African American. Still, it was a great book and "easy" enough that I am ready to return to adult fiction (or nonfiction) for my next POC book.

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Very excellent.

Follows Isabel, a young slave girl, and her sister Ruth, from their home in Rhode Island just after the death of their mistress to New York City as the American Revolution is in the process of breaking out. Unashamedly shows the whims to which slaves were subjected, whether owned by rebels or Tories.

I liked Isabel, especially her concern for Ruth and her loyalty to those who were friendly to her, even when that loyalty involved risk to herself.

I enjoy historical novels, especially those aimed at young people, that talk about the "truth behind the story" at the end, which this one did, but I would have been interested to hear more about views on epilepsy at the time (Ruth seems to have this condition).

View all my reviews >>

POC Challenge Book #2.5: All Aunt Hagar's Children by Edward P. Jones

I realize that I haven't posted any book reviews in over a month, and definitely not a POC book. I really have been reading, but I gave up on the POC book I was currently working on (and it sure felt like work!). Still, I wanted to post what I thought of it so far. For the next POC book, I'm going to read one of the children's/YA books on my list (Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson), which should get me over my current reading hump.

All Aunt Hagar's Children: Stories by Edward P. Jones


My rating: 2 of 5 stars
I want to go ahead and review this so I can post it, even though I'm not done--and won't be for awhile.

I just don't like this collection of stories very much. I feel bad about this, because it has gotten rave reviews and won awards, but it just doesn't appeal to me.

I got through 5 and 1/2 of the 14 stories, and of those, the one I've only read half of is the one I liked the best (it was just so depressing that I didn't finish it). ALL of the stories have been depressing, and in most of them, I didn't like the characters very much. Finally, there is much more emphasis on characterization and description than on plot, and I still really like plot. I like characterization, but I have to like the characters to appreciate good characterization (what can I say, I have low brow tastes). Sigh.

I don't intend to give up on this book. It's still on my nightstand. However, I have found that pregnancy makes me even less tolerant of depressing books than I normally am, so I think I need to wait until the new baby arrives to try to finish.

Finally, one note about my use of the word "depressing." I don't necessarily mean books where bad things happen or that don't end happily (although I will admit to being partial to happy endings). I know that in real life, bad things happen and endings are not always happy, and it makes sense that literature often reflects this. However, that doesn't mean that people/characters can't and don't rise above the awful-ness that life often throws at them, and I just didn't feel like any of these characters did.

I'll revisit my opinion when I revisit the book.

View all my reviews >>

POC challenge book #2: Zorro by Isabel Allende

Zorro by Isabel Allende


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This was my first Isabel Allende novel (read in translation, as I sadly do not read Spanish), and I enjoyed it very much. It took me two tries to really get into it, but once Zorro (actually named Diego de la Vega) is born, the story picked up for me. The narrator (who we find out is one of the book's supporting characters) follows Diego and his "milk brother" (nursed together) Bernardo through childhood in Alta California, to Barcelona, Spain during the reign of Napoleon, and eventually back to California. The book is meant to examine Zorro before his legendary exploits truly take-off and show some of his formative experiences.

I liked that there was pretty constant action throughout the story, and that Diego could not carry out his adventures without the help of Bernardo and others. I also liked that the women in the story had more spine in them than "damsels in distress" (even Diego's principle love interest) and that Diego stayed connected to his Indian family (through his mother) while taking on the role of his Spanish father's heir.

I was sometimes surprised by events that were first mentioned briefly (for example, the pirate attack on the de la Vega hacienda) as if they were unimportant, then expounded on until we see that they were actually formative. I don't know if this story-telling style is relevant to it being told originally in Spanish, but it made for interesting reading.

I give it 4 stars instead of 5 only because I didn't feel it was a "life changing" book--I enjoyed it, and I felt that the historical details were well done, but I didn't feel when it was over that I needed to go convince everyone I know to read it immediately.

View all my reviews >>

First POC challenge book: One Day the Soldiers Came

Finished just in time to link as a February read.


One Day the Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War by Charles London


My rating: 4 of 5 stars
The first book I'm reading for the 2010 "Person of Color Reading Challenge." The author is white, so I somewhat feel like I'm cheating, but most of the book is based on interviews with children and teens from Rwanda, Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burma/Myanmar, and the Balkans, so it gives voice to people from around the world.

I read it in ARC format, so I should allow some leniency in any critiques. I felt that it was very, very good, but a little jumpy--some children's stories were followed in some depth and returned to several times, while others were only mentioned once and briefly. This may be due to the reality of how interviewing and being able to keep up with subjects works. I also found it hard to remember who was who when stories were revisited.

Still, it does a powerful job of telling the stories of older children and adolescents who have been through war, and an especially good job of respecting these children--I think the author mentions several times that children are "the protagonists in their own stories," a fact that adults forget. So while these children have been caught in situations that render them powerless, they were still active agents in making their own decisions, figuring out how to survive etc.

Well done.

View all my reviews >>

POC Reading Challenge

I found out about the POC (persons of color) reading challenge after recent Twitter/blogging furor over Bloomsbury's "whitewashing" of a character in a new YA/children's book. Between this and (looking over my Goodreads list from the last year) my own appalling lack of reading books featuring non-white protagonists lately, this seems like a good reading project for 2010.

I compiled a list of books I've been wanting to read that fit the category, and if I get to them all, I'll easily fulfill the requirements for Level 4 (10-15 books) this year. This is a bit ambitious for me, both because I know there are many other books I want to read and because many of these are (gasp) adult books, which take me longer to get through than kids'/YA books. Still, it's do-able and I intend to do it!

Here's my list, in no particular order:

• Children of the New World by Assia Djebar
• I translated part of a memoir/reflection on her writing for my honors French project in college, so I want to read some more by Djebar. This particular work was given to me by my sister-in-law and has been sitting on my nightstand for too long.
• La femme sans sépulture by Assia Djebar
• I bought this in France on our honeymoon--5 and a half years ago! Plus, I need to practice my French.
• Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
• Seems to important not to have read.
• Zorro by Isabel Allende
• I hope this counts; I started reading it but have temporarily set it aside. From what I started, I believe that Zorro is going to be the son of a Spanish man and an American Indian woman.
• The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation. Vol. I: The Pox Party and Vol. II: The Kingdom on the Waves by M. T. Anderson
• YA historical fiction set in the American revolution period.
• All Aunt Hagar's Children: Stories by Edward P. Jones
• Probably bought this about two years ago--I was interested that it was stories set in Washington, D.C. Need to pick it up off the nightstand and read it!
• Up at the College by Michele Andrea Bowen
• A local Durham author who came to speak at our library (I missed it since it was at noon)--it sounds like a fun, light read.
• A Mercy by Toni Morrison
• I didn't really like the other Morrison books I've read--Sula and Beloved (I can never hear the hymn "Shall We Gather at the River" without thinking of National Suicide Day and consequently don't like that hymn!)--but I definitely found them interesting, and I'm curious as to how this one ties in with the story of Beloved.
• Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson
• A story about slavery during the American revolution by a YA author I really like.
• The Motorcycle Diaries by Ernesto Che Guevara
• I've wanted to read this since I saw the movie (yes, I saw the movie first!).
• One Day the Soldiers Came: Voices of Children in War by Charles London
• I don't know if the author is white or not, but my understanding is that the focus of this book is children in Africa, so I am still going to count it in my total. I'll be reading an ARC version that I got at the American Library Association annual conference in 2007, so I have to keep in mind that I have an unfinished version.

I think I'm actually going to start with the last book, once I finish the book I'm currently reading (Ghostwalk by Rebecca Stott--a fascinating blend of historical fiction and fantasy, plus it's told in 2nd person!), and I will add updates as I proceed.