CULTURE CLASH, personality clashes, and the shock of the new in Nigeria are depicted in this fascinating novel.

QUIRKY, OFTEN POETIC memoir of art, nature, family, and Native culture from Leslie Marmon Silko.

CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER Charles Hamilton Houston, mentor to Thurgood Marshall, profiled in engaging book. B PLUS

ROOT AND BRANCH: CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON, THURGOOD MARSHALL, AND THE STRUGGLE TO END SEGREGATION
Bloomsbury USA
2010

SWEET MEMOIR of growing up Japanese in rural Indiana has charm, poignancy, but may seem slight to some readers. B PLUS

BENTO BOX IN THE HEARTLAND: MY JAPANESE GIRLHOOD IN WHITEBREAD AMERICA by Linda Furiya
Berkeley, CA: Seal Press
January 2009

FUNNY VIGNETTES of Hollywood helicopter parents and media madness offer laughs, insights, but don’t hold together. B MINUS

MOTHER ON FIRE: A TRUE MOTHER F%#$@ STORY ABOUT PARENTING by Sandra Tsing Loh
New York: Crown
August 2008

20th-CENTURY FABLE of a black family and community in Oklahoma, told in rich, lyrical language. Vivid characters. A MINUS

LIFE IS SHORT BUT WIDE by J. California Cooper
New York: Doubleday
March 2009

THE GREAT KOREAN-AMERICAN NOVEL in stories. Fresh/ nuanced/funny/touching; vivid pix from an immigrant kid’s life. A MINUS

EVERYTHING ASIAN by Sung J. Woo
New York: Thomas Dunne Books
April 2009