New Crayons August 1

Hosted by Susan at Color Online.

"Remember when you were a kid and getting new crayons was a big deal? Getting new books holds the same kind of magic for some of us big kids. Every week on Sunday, I post what's new in our box. I hope you'll share what you picked up from the library, store, or in the mail too."

New this week:

The Latino Five

* B as in Beauty by Alberto Ferreras

* Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea

* Hungry Woman in Paris by Josefina Lopez

* The Disappearance of Irene Dos Santos by Margaret Mascarenhas

* Houston, We Have a Problema by Gwendolyn Zepeda

Won from Claire at kiss a cloud in the Hachette Latino Book Month Giveaway in May. Thank you Claire and Hachette.

I have several reading challenges going that I can use these for, including the Color Me Brown for August Challenge at Color Online, Diversity Rocks, LibraryThing Authors, or Spice of Life.

Pigs in Heaven by Barbara Kingsolver

From Publishers Weekly:

"Taylor Greer and her adopted Cherokee daughter Turtle, first met in The Bean Trees. Now six years old and still bearing psychological marks of the abuse that occured before she was rescued by Taylor, Turtle is discovered by formidable Indian lawyer Annawake Fourkiller, who insists that the child be returned to the Cherokee Nation. Taylor reacts by fleeing her Tucson home with Turtle to begin a precarious existence on the road; skirting the edge of poverty and despair, she eventually realizes that Turtle has become emotionally unmoored. In taking a fresh look at the Solomonic dilemma of choosing between two equally valid claims on a child's life, Kingsolver achieves the admirable feat of making the reader understand and sympathize with both sides of the controversy, as she contrasts Taylor's unalterable mother's love with Annawake's determination to save Turtle from the stigmatization she can expect from white society. Alice's resolve to help her daughter takes her into the heart of the Cherokee Nation and results in an astonishing but credible meshing of lives. In the end, both justice and compassion are served. Kingsolver's intelligent consideration of issues of family and culture--both in her evocation of Native American society and in her depiction of the plight of a single mother--brims with insight and empathy.

Won from Color Online, thank you Susan.

Which books by authors of colour or that celebrate racial diversity came your way this week?

If you've read or reviewed any of these books, tell us what you thought or leave links to your reviews. I'd love to read them.