fandomsecrets | [ SECRET POST #2086 ]

[ SECRET POST #2086 ]

⌈ Secret Post #2086 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 060 secrets from Secret Submission Post #298.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ], [ 1 - posted twice ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Taking off from secret 13 - what are your POC book recs?

One of my favorite books of all time is The Icarus Girl by Helen Oyeyemi.
Summary taken from Amazon:
Jessamy “Jess” Harrison, age eight, is the child of an English father and a Nigerian mother. Possessed of an extraordinary imagination, she has a hard time fitting in at school. It is only when she visits Nigeria for the first time that she makes a friend who understands her: a ragged little girl named TillyTilly. But soon TillyTilly’s visits become more disturbing, until Jess realizes she doesn’t actually know who her friend is at all. Drawing on Nigerian mythology, Helen Oyeyemi presents a striking variation on the classic literary theme of doubles — both real and spiritual — in this lyrical and bold debut.

I loved all the little bits about Nigeria and Nigerian mythology, and the mystery and strangeness of the mystery kept me reading to the end, I think I read this book in one sitting I was so enchanted.

(If you want to start race wank please don't. If you don't want to read POC books or you don't think people should focus on books with non white characters, just don't reply. Move along. Nothing for you here.)

That sounds really great. I'm going to have to look for it.

I'm fond of The True Meaning of Smekday by Adam Rex. (If you mean books with POC characters. I'm not sure about the author.)

Anyway, it's a science fiction novel about a girl whose mother is white and whose father is black, though he doesn't appear in the book. The mother disappears in connection with an alien invasion, and the girl goes looking for her and meets up with one of the aliens. It's funny as hell. I think it's meant as a YA book but it's definitely good for adults.

Edited 2012-09-19 00:51 (UTC)

Seconding the rec! Smekday is honestly one of my favorite books ever.

The Girl who fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow. It's about a mixed little girl, who is half African American and half Danish. After her mother and brother die, she is sent to live with her father's mother, which is the African side of her family. Before that, she lived only with her Danish mother where she never saw herself as "black girl" but as Danish (She spoke only Danish at home. Ate only Danish food. And did only Danish things.) It's when she moves that she sees a new side of racism that she has never experiences before. Rather being allowed to call herself by how she felt she is forced to take on a new tag by how others perceived her.

It's an interesting tale of when mixed children are forced to take sides.

The writer, herself, is of African-American and Danish roots.

This reminded me of how much I love Nancy Farmer. She writes YA, but, imo, her books are interesting and hold up for adults. I've read and liked The Ear, the Eye and the Arm and A Girl Named Distaster. Both books are set in Africa and feature characters of color.

A Girl Named Disaster! I haven't thought of the book for years. A+

I used to read a lot of African-American historical fiction like Mildred D. Taylor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mildred_D._Taylor)'s Roll of Thunder series. It started off as a children's books but grew significantly darker and grimmer as the characters aged.

Haven't read this yet but I had Lauren Beukes "Moxyland" (cyberpunk sci-fi set in future South Africa) recc'ed to me and it looks interesting.

I'd actually love to know if anyone here has read it and what they thought before I buy it.

My BF is reading Zoo City, which is the other book by this author and sounds quite similar, and he's enjoying it. He says she has a very similar style to William Gibson, which could be a good or bad thing depending on the person!

That's a very good thing to me, so both that and Moxyland are going on my list. ^^

Thank you!

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (published as Someone Knows My Name in the US, NZ, and Australia).

The title references the historical document of the same name kept by British naval officers after the American Revolutionary War. It documented people who had served the British before and during the war and were fleeing Manhattan for Canada. The author explains about the title in this article. It's the story of a woman named Aminata Diallo who was stolen from her village as a child, and ends up a slave in South Carolina. Years later, she finds freedom. It's a fantastic book.

I love Caramelo, by Sandra Cisneros (http://www.amazon.com/Caramelo-Sandra-Cisneros/dp/0679742581). It's full of history, back and forth between Mexico and the US.

I'm also a huge fan of James Baldwin, although I've only read his short stories and essays.

Nalo Hopkinson's Brown Girl in the Ring, which is urban fantasy/horror with a lot of Caribbean influence (and set in Canada). The writing is really strong, and the world she sets up really draws you in. There was was another book of hers I really liked too, but I'm completely blanking on the title.

Seconding this. I love Nalo Hopkinson's stuff, especially Midnight Robber, sci-fi with that same Caribbean influence, and it's just plain amazing.

Dawn by Octavia Butler is one of my favourites. Whenever I think about this book I'm reminded how much I want to read more scifi by women.
I'm not crazy about the rest of the series. It deals with similar issues, but I never loved the POV character the way I did Lilith.

The Dragon series by Laurence Yep. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_(fantasy_series)

*goes through Goodreads list*

Octavia Butler, of course ;)
Moonshine by Alaya Dawn Johnson (mixed race heroine, Middle Eastern hero, set in a supernatural 1920s New York... freaking awesome)
Shadows on the Moon by Zoe Marriott (Japanese based)
Imaro by Charles Saunders (old school sword and sorcery but in an African setting, lots of fun)
N.K. Jemisin's work
Nnedi Okorafor's work
Newsflesh trilogy by Mira Grant (supporting characters of color)
The Iron Seas books by Meljean Brooks (first and second books have WOC heroines; will note first book has some dubious consent, but the second book stands alone and is much less squidgy on that score)
Zoe Archer's Blades of the Rose series (second book has a Native American hero, fourth book has a black geeky inventor hero *swoon* -- aside from finding POC in romance, do you know how hard it is to find geeks as heroes? Oy.)
Jim Hines' Princess quartet has Sleeping Beauty as a gay WOC
All Men of Genius by Lev A.C. Rosen (Jewish side character, which is more culture than race but I figured worth mentioning)
Eon by Allison Goodman
Vampire Empire books by Griffith Clay (Middle Eastern characters)
The Necromancer chronicles by Amanda Downum
World of the Lupi by Eileen Wilks
The Clockwork Century books by Cherie Priest have POC characters

http://www.tor.com/blogs/2009/08/making-lists-mindblowing-sf-by-women-and-people-of-color
I also recommended a number of YA books in the YA secret thread that have diverse casting and pointed out which ones do.

I will also give the caveat that I am white so it is possible there is fail that I didn't pick up on.

Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay is set in an alternate version of ancient China.

The Outremer trilogy by Chaz Brenchley is set in an alternate version of the Middle East (though some of the main characters are white).

I think the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky has an interesting take on race, but I'm not sure if it'd be exactly what you're looking for. It's a world where people are divided into numerous races based on insect-like characteristics - for example, Moths can fly and see in the dark, and Wasps can shoot stinging blasts from their palms. There are people with black, white, red, blue and golden skin, huge variances in culture, and a widespread prejudice against 'halfbreeds' whose parents were of different races.

Guy Gavriel Kay

*facepalm* I knew I was missing someone when I wrote Garth Nix (both names start with the letter G). Seconded!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ SECRET POST #2086 ]

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