Folks who know me a bit know that my family was interned in the 1940s during WWII. This is a piece of family history that stays with me and I constantly reflect on its impact on my family and on me. I often talk about it in terms of my personal culture and in terms of the larger impact on racism. I continually come back to Japanese interment because the impact of that decision is generational. I feel residual impact and if I have children, they will also feel impact. This impact includes loss of culture, heritage and traditions, loss of family wealth, and I think one thing that I continue to fixate on, loss of language. While I consider it a personal goal to learn about internment and ways my family persisted, I think it is even more important for others to learn about it, the experiences of the Japanese people, and the politics used/abused to make it happen. Well, let’s move on to the actual content!

A Boy of Heart Mountain by Barbara Bazaldua

My grandmother was in the interment camp at Heart Mountain, Wyoming and I was able to visit the camp back in 2014 when I was driving from California to Massachusetts. I think Wyoming is a beautiful state to drive through but when I was in Heart Mountain, there is literally nothing around. When I was there, I purchased this book about the experience of a Japanese boy in the Heart Mountain camp. This book is simple and captures the dissonance between a child’s innocence and the hardship of living in the camp. As a part of my own journey towards understanding of my family’s history, this book is a treasure I will always own.

Citizen 13660 by Mine Okubo

I have boosted this graphic novel at any chance I can get. Mine Okubo writes and draws matter-of-fact-ly about her experiences in the internment camp. Her panels capture the pain, humiliation, resilience, and strength of the Japanese people in the camps. Two parts stood out to me: the first is about the close quarters and tiny things that I take for granted with my own space. The other were the scenes depicting the hypocrisy of honoring certain rights for citizens of the United States while keeping them in internment camps based on their cultural heritage. This will always be a sticking point for me when it came to enrolling Japanese men in the draft and pitching it as a civic duty.

Growing Up Nisei by David K. Yoo

My thoughtful and loving partner researched and gave this book for me as a gift. This is a non-fiction look into the Nisei or second generation of Japanese people in the United States and looks at where the Nisei fall in the US context. This is a much broader look at Japanese people in the United States, starting in 1924, but this book goes through the end of the 40s which will deal with the fallout of World War II and the internment camps. The Nisei generation born as United States citizens, have a unique experience with internment. I put this book on the list because I think it is important to understand the context of Japanese people in the US before the time of internment and get a sense of the experience of citizenship (maybe when other family members were not citizens) juxtaposed with the experience of internment.

Farewell to Manzanar by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston

Another entry into the non-fiction category is this memoir by Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston. I find personal accounts of internment to be very compelling and humbling. Jeanne in her memoir shares her experience as a United States citizen and being uprooted as a child to live in the camps. This is a story of resiliency, family, and finding ways to live in the camp at Manzanar. While not stated explicitly, I think this book was written for or intended for a younger audience. Here is where I struggle with the book. It is often compared to memoirs of Holocaust survivors or The Diary of Ann Frank. Let’s be clear: While the interment of the Japanese was a terrible point in US history and infringed on the civil rights of Japanese people, I find it unhelpful and disrespectful to compare this event to the Holocaust.  Let’s acknowledge both happened and center the voices that share their lived experiences.

Bonus: Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki

While I have not read this children’s book, I have heard stories about the importance of baseball in the internment camps for children. My grandparents were in the camp as children and had to figure out how to be a kid while under such terrible circumstances. I look forward to reading Baseball Saved Us and learn more about my grandparents experiences in the camps.

Last night, I attended a keynote address by a noted professor of history. This professor is an expert in African-American, Black, and African history and as an AfroLatina woman, brings personal experiences and perspectives to her teaching and to her addresses. The theme of this professor’s keynote was “What do you do with the mess we left you?” and focuses on the polarized political and racial climate we find ourselves in today. Her goal was to provide some insight of where to go and what to do if we are in fact committed to working towards a more socially just country. Besides connecting large scale systematic issues, such as environmental protection and the war against drugs, two main points stuck out to me.

The first is the concept of blowback. Blowback refers to unintended  consequences of an action – something that was not foreseen while planning and even while executing. The professor talked about the blowback on White America from the upholding of racist systems and White nationalism. I thought it was a brilliant way to show how racism hurts us all regardless of race. The second concept is the idea of accepting people back into the fold in efforts to build coalitions. Now this concept is probably more controversial and definitely harder in our state of perpetual hurt, grief, violence, and survival. In social justice work, we tend to burn people pretty harshly and refuse them into our community. This is a product of systemic violence and a self-defense mechanism for survival, but I’ve been thinking more and more about this concept. When folks (who may have voted for Trump) have an ‘aha’ moment that maybe his ideologies will not help the people of this country, are we ready to accept them back into the fold?

The short answer is no. And I do not place any blame on folks who are angry, folks who don’t want to accept others back into the fold, because it is not on the marginalized to coddle and simply be okay with those who have taken actions to oppress. But my question is… where does that leave us? 

For me, that leaves us in a place where we are trying to push others to pluralism using a dualistic approach. You are either with us or you are a piece of trash. One mistake and you are ostracized. There is no way or a very limited way to come back into the fold. Now this is dualistic thinking. This or that. With us or against us. Us versus them. With no in between. YET, we expect to push folks to a more pluralistic view with this method. To clarify, pluralism is a state of cognitive thinking where we can accept multiple worldviews and perspectives simultaneously. At least, that is my goal. For someone with privileged identities to recognize and validate the existence on my experiences and how their own experiences impact that on an individual and systemic level. And I do not think a dualistic approach will help us in this fight. I think we need to model a pluralistic approach and deconstruct the us versus them mentality.

I honestly feel stuck because I am either supporting folks I can about or taking care of myself. It is exhausting to even begin to think about accepting people back into the fold. To recognize the blowback of racism, sexism, heterosexism, cissexism, and ableism and have empathy for people who might not have the capacity for empathy back. That’s hard. I recognize this is not healthy or safe for many people and I fully support that marginalized folks need to do what they have to do to survive. However, in order to truly progress, we must form strong coalitions which includes those folks who need to be welcomed back.

What would you do for fam?

American Street is the #OwnVoices debut novel by Ibi Zaboi and it packs a punch. This is not a happy story; however, it was very powerful and before I get to my thoughts, I want to recommend this as a solid read with the following warnings.

TW: drugs, domestic violence, police brutality

American Street follows Fabiola, a Haitian teenager, moving to Detroit with her mother. While going through immigration, Fabiola’s mother is detained, but she sends Fabiola on her next flight to Detroit. There, Fabiola meets her three cousins, Chantal, Primadonna (Donna), and Princess (Pri) and her Aunt Jo. From the get go, I felt like Fabiola’s family in Detroit were well known and well connected. I had my suspicions, but I wasn’t about to make any conclusion. A lot of the story focuses on Fabiola’s transition and acclamation to the United States and Detroit, MI in particular. While there are many cultural differences, Fabiola is also able to find many similarities between Detroit and Port-au-Prince. While caught up in transitioning to life in the United States, Fabiola (now known as Fabulous to many in Detroit) is still determined to get her mother into the country. When everyone else gives up, she has a renewed self-determination to achieve that goal. Then out of the blue, a detective approaches Fabiola with a proposition. The detective offers her to help her mother cross over to the United States… if Fabiola is willing to snitch on Donna’s boyfriend Dray.

The tension and question of loyalty and family come up fast and often. Fabiola’s cousins have each other’s backs and want to bring her into the fold as ‘The Fourth B.” But Fabiola needs to decide fast whether or not to throw Dray under the bus in order to help her mother. Ultimately, she decides to snitch on Dray which leads to a whole lot of trouble. The themes of family over everything resonates with me… but what about when it’s one piece of family verses another piece of family? Dray isn’t family, but… with Donna in the mix, Fabiola is a bit hesitant at first. But Fabiola’s loyalty to her mother wins out. As the story goes on, Fabiola gets entangled in a situation that was much deeper than she originally thought.

Another theme the story focuses a lot on is the myth of the American Dream. So much so, when I first started to write this review, I titled it “Book Review: American Dream” I mean… Fabiola moves to a house of the corner of American Street and Joy Street. How fitting is that? It seems only fitting to talk about (many times) the unattainable American Dream for immigrants and people of color. I think both Fabiola and her mother thought of the United States as a place to thrive and succeed. She doesn’t realize the harsh realities of the United States and race until she is thrown into Detroit. And the something as simple as the street names capture it perfectly. Without spoiling the stories, Ibi Zaboi manages to address the American Dream myth, stereotypes of the black community in Detroit, the intersections of socioeconomic status and race, selling drugs to survive, and a bit on police brutality.

I thought the incorporation of Fabiola’s spiritual and religious beliefs was done very well. Not only did this illustrate Fabiola’s struggle with assimilating the US culture, but provided the spark of hope and drive she needed to get through all the issues she faced. This book is tagged as magical realism on Goodreads and I think it is because of the incorporation of Papa Legba and the other deities Fabiola prays to. I find this to be less magical realism and more about Fabiola’s spiritual identity. Spirituality and religion can be a huge influence on a young adult and I was very happy to see the her identity shared in the story.

The ending was so bittersweet. I cannot say anything more else I will spoil the story, but it left me feeling a bit empty. Empty in the sense that Fabiola had to sacrifice for her family and had no other choice but to sacrifice. I do not want to sound too negative here because this book is also about resilience, the power of family, and finding one’s way in a new country. As I mentioned in the beginning, this book gets a high recommendation from me. Another fantastic #OwnVoices debut novel!

Final Rating: 4.4/5

For the past week, I have been thinking about a tough question about representation in all forms of media – TV, movies, books, and in particular board games. This mainly stems from the idea of the #ownvoices movement in literature. This means that an author is writing characters from their own experience. So for example, if I wrote a book about a multiracial API man, I would be writing from an #ownvoices perspective because I actually live that experience. I personally love this idea because this pretty much ensures an authentic* representation.

*I say pretty much ensures authentic representation because everyone has a unique experience and cannot be expected to speak for everyone of that identity. While some folks of those identities might really resonate with the story and characters, other folks of the same identity might not… this does not mean the story is less #ownvoices than any other.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how does the #ownvoices movement fit into board gaming, specifically when it comes to themes that use cultures and countries. In my experience, there are two types of games that fall into this category: 1) Games about Europe or the Mediterranean. 2) Games that appropriate other cultures for the ‘exotic’ theme. I see those two exclusively because there are very few game designers of color. Most designers, both in the US and globally are White. White men to be specific. So I question the authenticity of representation of different cultures and countries as an entire theme. I make this distinction because I think art within a theme can reflect diversity well without taking an entire culture as a theme (for example, see Dead of Winter, One Deck Dungeon, or Trickster). Still, when a game takes a culture on as a theme, no matter how it does so, I think it can be problematic when folks from that culture are not integrally involved in the creation process.

One game in particular popped up for me recently in this realm called Dubai: Rebuild the Ruins**. My honest first reaction to the theme (after looking through who was involved) was… this theme was picked for no apparent reason. This could have been set in England or Dubai or Tokyo or New York City. Very little ties the game mechanically to the theme, which I can tell from the pledge page. I could be completely wrong since I have never actually played this game, but in my experience, few games are absolutely tied to their theme. Of course I tweeted about the game without naming it and I DMed by a couple of followers asking what game. I got mixed reactions about my take on the theme. Some folks agreed wholeheartedly with my initial reaction. Others thought this was a refreshing new theme with great diverse representation. After a couple of different conversations, I was still deep in thought about how I felt about Dubai.

**A couple things I do want to note about Dubai. First, the designers are fantastic people. I love the games they have designed and they are open to talking to anyone. Seriously. Second, the publishing company in my experience has been a very inclusive publisher. And lastly, I did do some research and there was one publicly credited person of color involved with the creation process.

The artist for the game was the only person of color involved. I think that’s a positive because I have seen how damaging art depicting people of color can be in board gaming by White artists. Further, it was released that the artist’s father was consulted for the Arabic names in the game, since his father is an Arabic linguist. As soon as that information was released, it was almost if folks who at first were questioning the theme were suddenly okay with it. That one POC and one consultant focused on Arabic names made the theme okay. I do think both of those are huge wins for board game publishing. Publishing companies usually hire a White people throughout their development team and do not consult on anything. However, I still question the use of the theme despite those two details because everyone else involved in the project (publicly credited) is White to my knowledge. And I do not know if the artist or the consultant has lived in Dubai or the UAE or has cultural heritage of that region.

Which brings me to my question:

Can a board game (or book or movie or etc.) have fantastic, authentic representation of a marginalized group of people and still be appropriative?

To start off, I want to be clear what I mean by appropriative. Here is a generic definition of appropriation: the action of taking something for one’s own use, typically without the owner’s permission. And when talking about the dynamics of privilege and oppression in the United States and globally, we usually see folks from the privileged groups appropriating culture among other things from the oppressed group (e.g., White people taking from people of color). Therefore, cultural appropriation is allowed by and in support of systems of racism. But if we always go by this strict definition, White authors and creators will not go out of their way to include marginalized identities because they are afraid of the backlash. By this definition, any White creator using anything outside their experience could be appropriation. I posted in the past about ‘doing diversity right’ in board gaming pertaining to Hawai’i and this same question came up. My goal is not to scare White folks away from engaging with the need for diversity in the board game hobby and I think I have solidified some of my thoughts since my post in December.

First, White authors and creators… I do not have time for you all to be afraid. If you are serious about diversity you will jump right in and be open to the conversation, both the positive and negative (maybe this was the case with Dubai). Second, if designer, developer, artist, other folks involved with the game are all White or mostly White (I am using race as the example but this goes for all privileged identities), you should be cautious about using a culture or representation outside of your experience. You should be asking questions about why there is a lack of diversity in the industry. You should be consulting people with those experiences and paying them. And again you shouldn’t be afraid but you should expect folks with marginalized identities to question the lack of representation on your team and to call you out. Third, I always question… who is profiting from all of this? You might say board game designers and publishers make little money but my question still stands. If you take a culture as a theme in the board game, are folks from that culture/community profiting or gaining any benefits?

This is a complex question and this does not just pertain to Dubai. I happen to stumble on the Kickstarter as I was thinking about representation and appropriation. I have played numerous games and own a few games that I think represent different cultures well, but appropriate said culture. I want to make it clear that I am not saying this game should never be made, but we all need to be critical about diversity in the hobby, how it is presented, and what a diverse theme really means.

What are your thoughts? Do you think it is possible to write/create outside of one own’s identity and have positive representation? Do you think those instances can still be appropriative?

Amal and Claud are married. They live in London and have a fantastic relationship and life. Together, they decide to have a child, but twenty-one days into the pregnancy, Claud has a miscarriage. The story begins here as Amal drives to the hospital to pick up Claud in order to drive to Claud’s parent’s house in the country for their scheduled visit. The entire story is about the drive down to the country, their brief stay with Claud’s parents, and how they reconcile this tragedy between themselves and the people around them. Although a short book, Black Bread White Beer carries strong emotions, explores healing relationships in the face of the impossible, and two cultures clashing through grief.

An interesting dynamic between Amal and Claud’s parents is centered around race. From the moment Amal and Claud start driving out to the country, I felt the tension between the two rise. Once they arrive at the country house, the way Claud’s parents treat Amal is evident at the lingering racism and bigotry they have towards Amal. Amal is Indian and Claud is British, creating not only a racial divide but a cultural divide too. Although Amal is British (similar to how an Indian as an American citizen is American), he is not accepted. I am not quite sure the intentions by the author when writing the relationships in the book; however, I saw the author infusing the history of colonization and racism between Britain and India into the sparse prose, playing out in the relationships between Amal, Claud, and her parents.

Further, the author was able to explore the expectations of grieving in different cultures and between different gender identities and expressions. How much grief is Amal suppose to show? Who are they suppose to tell? When should they tell Claud’s parents… Amal’s parents? What will the different reactions be from both of them? These questions all come up and are all measured by the main characters. As to be expected, the ending of the book holds no stunning answer to questions about grief and loss. As tough as the topic of the book, the resolution is similarly tough. However, I do think there is a lot of great discussion of what healing might look like from such a devastating personal tragedy for different people.

Black Bread White Beer was a powerful and difficult read. While I cannot even fathom the experience of going through a miscarriage and what that might do to my relationships, I felt the raw emotions packed into this short book. Each chapter, each scene is crafted by the author, has a specific purpose, and carries a heavy philosophical questions with it. It is short, but dense. It is short, but meaningful. Getting a print version of this book might be difficult (especially for those in the US), but the Kindle edition is currently 99 cents . On Amazon.de, the Kindle version is 6,99 EUR and the print version is 10,80 EUR. At the very least, put this on your TBR for 2017!

Final Rating: 4.2/5

I received a free e-copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review.

When I first started blogging about books, I had a small understanding of what diverse literature and stories were. I thought mostly about diverse authors from the United States and less about global perspectives. I also failed to acknowledge the many intersections of identities that were missing from published literature. As I continue to grow in this journey as a book blogger, I am discovering and learning about more #OwnVoices books. One of these books is The Story of Maha by Sumayya Lee. This beautifully written coming of age story follows Maha, a South African Indian Muslim girl during Apartheid in South Africa, from her childhood through her teenage years. After Maha’s parents are killed tragically in a political rally, she is relocated from Cape Town to the suburbs to live with her extended family.

For me, the story started off very slow and I found myself having a difficult time getting in the flow and the story. However, as I progressed through the different experiences of Maha growing up, I became more engrossed and more attached to Maha as a character. It was similar to getting to know a good friend slowly over time and I think the author deserves a lot of credit for not only writing style but how Sumayya Lee constructed the story to build off experiences. The story deals with tragedy and love and loss and growing up and rebellion. Against a background of angst and struggle are charming vignettes of how Maha navigates her new environment in the suburbs, and how Maha navigates her culture, religion, and her grandparents. The stories range from heartbreaking to hilarious. Maha is such a dynamic person and character – I loved each and every struggle and adventure.

The Story of Maha is chalk full of culture and language, which makes the book very immersive for the reader, regardless of they background. The use of Gujarati is peppered throughout and the story does not pause to explain or translate for the reader. This in my opinion is a good thing. The conversations and thought process of Maha is natural because of the writing and the use of language. In some instances, the reader is learning slang along with Maha, but the intention of the language is not to educate readers outside of this culture. As a reader, I found enough context clues to understand what was going on and the feelings in the different scenes.

The Story of Maha addresses pretty large concepts such as colorism, gender roles, and classism in the Indo South African Muslim community. From the moment the book talks about Maha’s parents, the issue of skin color and hair texture becomes a common refrain among Maha’s grandparents. While Maha is learning to accept herself and becoming proud of how she looks, she experiences the effects of Apartheid in South Africa, which leads her to explore more about her parents and their activism. These views continue as Maha grows older and the inevitable search for a Marriage to a Suitable Boy by her grandparents ensues. The choice for a suitable partner has a lot to do with family name, family origin, wealth, and race. These moments happen within a culture context, one that is not shared in mainstream literature often and one that is stereotyped and portrayed negatively. Whether you agree or disagree, whether this is similar to your experience or different, there is validity, authenticity, and truth in Maha’s experience.

The incorporation of Islam and spiritual beliefs was done in a very positive way. While Maha often butts up against her religious traditions, she also had a positive incorporation of her beliefs and traditions in her daily life. A lot of the topics discussed in conversation between Maha and her friends / role models seemed normal for teenagers to explore; however, they tend to fall outside of the conservative values presented in the culture. Through a western lens, we often interpret this as bad. While there may be issues to talk about or resolve, this is not how we should be viewing these stories. The incorporation of religion in the story is an essential part of Maha’s life experience and allows the author to tell a very personal story of how a teenager navigates and makes meaning within this context.

Wow! I did not know what to expect when I received this book. All I knew was a brief one line description. And this book does not disappoint. The Story of Maha hits everything I am looking for in a coming of age book – steeped in culture and traditions, positive representation of diverse people, struggles of a teen, times of hardship and times of joy, subtle humor that warms the heart, and outright rebellion against the rules. I would highly recommend adding this book to you “to-read” list and starting it right away. Sumayya Lee has written a unique gem from an #OwnVoices perspective.

Final Rating 4.7/5

This is Paradise is a short story collection written by Kristiana Kahakauwila, a hapa author of kanaka maoli (Native Hawaiian), German and Norwegian extract. In efforts to set up this blogging event, a person contacted me through my blog with the recommendation I reach out to and possibly feature Kristiana during this month. I immediately went to Goodreads to find out more and purchased the e-book version of This is Paradise: Stories. Over the course of this year, I am more and more interested in short story collections, poetry collections, and anthologies. I love the diversity of stories told within one collection and I love how a collection comes together as a whole. This collection has many powerful themes and cohesively has a messages for readers about love, family, loss, tragedy, authenticity, and belonging. In total, this collection consists of six stories.

This is Paradise is steeped in culture and tells stories from the real Hawaii. Now, I know these stories are not the only stories from Hawaii and not the only experiences of Native Hawaiian people. We cannot fall into the trap of a single story. I use the phrase real Hawaii because I think this collection challenges the dominant narrative of Hawaii as a place of tourism and paradise. The stories expose a truth we do not hear often. They expose a truth that includes culture, pain, belonging, family, and loss. They push back against what we think of Hawaii – beaches, surfing, resorts, and fancy alcoholic beverages. We need these challenges because we are not taught much of anything about Hawaii in US History classes, except a brief overview of its statehood. Kristiana’s six uniquely Hawaiian stories are a start in the right direction.

I want to highlight three out of the six stories. By no means does this mean I did not like the other three. These three stood out to me for various reasons.

This is Paradise

This is the first story in the collection as well asthe title of the entire collection. Similar to what I was walking about above, this story is a direct challenge to the dominant narrative and perceptions of Hawaii. The story follows a group of local women who are going out at night. They see a tourist at the bar/club they go to and see that tourist woman interact with a local they know to be dangerous. They attempt to look after the tourist but they are quickly dismissed as local “fun killers.” In my interpretation of the story, this is less about the dangers of Hawaii and more about the perception of paradise from outsiders and tourists. The drastic imagery and tragedy in this story tells me as a reader, I do not know the real Hawaii and other outsiders do not know the real Hawaii. I liked that this is the story that opens the collection. It sets the tone for the next five stories and the types of themes we as readers will experience.

The Road to Hana

The Road to Hana grabbed me because it deals with the struggle of what it means to be from somewhere. The main character is constantly debating whether he is local, whether he is Hawaiian. The symbolism is strong on the drive to Hana, focusing on themes of belonging and authenticity. I have had similar thoughts throughout my life when it comes to racial, ethnic, and national origin identity. As a multiracial person where do I belong? In what communities will I be accepted in? Even if I am from somewhere or of a particular decent, will the people there consider me a part of the community? I enjoyed this story because for me it brought up more questions than answers and made me think of my own identities and positionalities.

The Old Paniolo Way

In this short story, the author explores sexual orientation identity within the context of culture. In subtle ways, the story exposes the homophobia and transphobia in the community and the main character’s specific family and illustrates the his struggle between living fully in their own identity and doing what he thinks he must to keep their family together. For me, this story was powerful because it was held together by the backdrop of a dying parent. I had a deep personal reaction to this story particularly with the relationship between the main character and his sister. Without giving too much away, his sister says something towards the end that breaks my heart about intentions and impacts of coming out. It made me reflect on my own family and my own relationship with my sister. As the closing short story, I found it to take the reader to a natural conclusion in the collection.

Overall, a fantastic collection of short stories from a hapa Native Hawaiian author. I would recommend you try a find a copy – my best advice would be through amazon. I think the e-copy of the book is around $12 and you may be able to find a print copy through online sources. I am looking forward to what Kristiana will write next! She is an author I will be keeping an eye on.

Final Rating 4.4/5

In the United States, November is Indigenous Peoples Heritage Month / Native American Heritage Month. Although we should be celebrating and honoring all Indigenous Peoples and First Nations year round, this month in particular is an intentional focus on standing with these communities and help to lift Indigenous Peoples voices and experiences. This month on my blog, I plan to feature many authors and posts in celebration of this month, focusing on Native Hawaiian authors and stories.

Why focus on Native Hawaiians?

Indigenous Peoples History Month is extremely important. It falls close to two federally recognized holidays that celebrate the genocide of Indigenous Peoples in the Americas. Native Hawaiians are Indigenous Peoples of the modern US State of Hawaii and are often lumped into the Asian Pacific Islander category. Folks with Native Hawaiian heritage may choose to identify within the API community or not; however, I think we (I use ‘we’ generally here to talk about non-Hawaiian people) forget that the islands of Hawaii were conquered by Europeans, ‘united’ under European colonization, emigrated by Protestant missionaries and eventually other Asian immigrants, used as a tactical military base/port, and finally becoming a state (which despite the overwhelming positive vote is still a point of contention). The general knowledge and perception of Hawaii is paradise, beaches, surfers, and vacation resorts. As a country and culture, we have completely erased the stories, experiences, voices, culture, and heritage of Native Hawaiian peoples. My goal this month is to provide more visibility to authors of Native Hawaiian decent, fighting against the systemic erasure of their voice.

Initial Research

My initial research into books and authors who identify as Native Hawaiian or part Native Hawaiian was very difficult. Most of the resources I found featured non-Hawaiian (mostly White men) authors writing about Hawaii OR authors who were born or lived in Hawaii with no Hawaiian ancestry. This disappointed me because they were all attributed as Hawaiian literature. Then I came across a very helpful site off of the University of Hawaii webpage (https://www.hawaii.edu/gened/hap/Native_Hawaiian_Authors.pdf) which had a compilation of Native Hawaiian authors compiled by Noenoe K. Silva in 2010. There I found poets, historians, fiction writers, journalists, and anthropologists. Their writings span from novels to medical books to historical texts to poetry collections. I ran into another problem with acquiring these books and written works. As I scoured my local library, I only found a couple of works which was disappointing. I did not let this get me down and I managed to find a couple of book sellers with two books I will review!

What can you expect?

First of all, thank you for reading my blog and thank you for support my efforts this month. I write for many reasons; however, it is nice to get supportive feedback and interaction from the blogging and book community. I have a tentative schedule of posts in my notes and I hope to add even more as the month goes on! I have a couple of book reviews, highlight of different authors, maybe some board game stuff, guest book reviews, guest posts looking at historical contexts, and guest posts featuring reading lists. Like I said before, I may have some other things in the works, but I am having a bit of trouble confirming a couple of things. This has been a great learning experience in trying to run a blog event and I cannot be more thankful for your ongoing support! Stay tuned this month for more content and I look forward to sharing it all with you!

Giveaway!

If you have not already entered my Twitter giveaway, please check it out! It is a Follow & RT giveaway for a copy of Love Beyond Body, Space, and Time: An Indigenous LGBT Scifi Anthology edited by Hope Nicholson. The giveaway will end November 15 and the winner will be selected on November 16! Check out my review of the book here!

This is a feature book for LGBTQ+ History Month.

Disclaimer: I received a free e-book in exchange for an open and honest review.

I received an electronic copy of City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault from the author after inquiring about the book through Twitter. From the description, this book is the first in a political fantasy trilogy featuring an entire cast LGBTQIAP+ characters. Most of the fantasy I have read is not political fantasy, but more of an adventure fantasy. This entire book takes place in the city of Isandor, which is a complex society ruled by different powerful families who sit on a council. Each chapter follows a different character with their own story line in different parts of the city. Once in a while these story lines intersect, providing more context to the world and interesting plot twists.

I first need to applaud the fantastic representation through all of the characters in this book. The description of the book advertises a cast featuring all LGBTQIAP+ characters. However, you should also know there is a variety of other forms of diversity represented in the book. The cast was racially diverse and led to the a solid and very integrated dialogue on racial (skin color) relation among the different folks in Isandor ON TOP OF the relation of different [types?] of people – elves, humans, wizards. What I really appreciated was the fact that elf or wizard or other magical type of person was not considered a race, but there was racial diversity within each of these groups. I also found representation of difference in ability and socioeconomic status. All of these divergent identities were presented and vital to each character’s identity; however, their identity did not define them. A good example of this is how sexual orientation was presented. The author talks about the different romantic and platonic relationships (or lack of relationship) between different characters naturally in the writing. When it was appropriate to mention and added to the depth of a character or commentary about social justice within the world, identities were mentioned and discussed. In a fictional fantasy world, this is how I want diversity to be represented. In addition to representation of identity, this book also addresses systemic issues such as The book tackled issues like gender dynamics within “traditional” male/female gender roles, the rampant homophobia in Myrian society, racism and colorism, and the different parts of the city based on socioeconomic status.

Reading at the gym.

City of Strife is book one in a trilogy. Consequently, there were a lot of chapters of meeting characters, learning about their back stories, and building the world around the city of Isandor. Authors undergo a huge challenge when building a new high fantasy world and must consider possibly hundreds of years of history, a myriad of family lines, and relationships between not only major characters but minor characters as well. And, the author must do this in a way that feels unobtrusive, slowly integrating this history and information within the flow of the story. Claudie Arseneault has the talent to do this very well, keeping the reader engaged with the active story line.

One aspect of the novel I found myself struggling with was a few pieces of the dialogue between characters. In certain instances, lines sounded out of place or unnatural when taken into context of the situation happening and the characters involved. Most of the time, these instances were due to the specific phrasing of the dialogue that seemed off to me. I am finding it hard to articulate; however, I found myself rereading passages to make sure I read the dialogue correctly. This unfortunately took me out of the the story at some points as I was trying to immerse myself in the world of Isandor. Ultimately, I found these situations to be minor in my overall experience with the book.

Overall, I am really excited for the rest of this trilogy. Author Claudie Arseneault has created a compelling world with political intrigue and deep characters. This is a book that gave me the same feeling that I get when I read huge high fantasy series. There is so much potential for every character, each with separate motivations and long term goals. At the end of the book, I finished feeling excited! There were many story lines that still needed more exploration, which made me want the second book right away! I am interested to see what happens in Isandor AND I also want to know more about different parts of the world – like where was Arathiel the whole time before this book takes place and more information about the Myriad empire. I commend Claudie Arseneault for a fantastic book one to her political fantasy trilogy. Look out for City of Strife, set to be published in early 2017!

Final Rating: 4.7/5

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About the Author

Claudie Arseneault is an asexual author from Quebec City, a biochemistry nerd, lover of squids and balloons, and relentless gamer. Her first novel, Viral Airwaves, was published in February 2015. Since then, Claudie has edited Wings of Renewal, a solarpunk dragon anthology, and published several short stories. You can find out more on her website, http://claudiearseneault.com .

This is one of my picks for #DiverseDetectives.

#DiverseDectectives is an book blogging event through the month of October hosted by  @siliconphospho and @Bina_ReadThis. Through this month I am committed to read two mystery / detective novels featuring detectives of color and posting at least one review. Devil in a Blue Dress is my first pick for this event and I plan to also read The Case of the Missing Servant, a Vish Puri mystery by Tarquin Hall. There is still time for you all to jump in to join this awesome event!

Devil in a Blue Dress is the first book following Easy Rawlins, an unconventional and compelling detective. I think I have heard of author Walter Mosley of the Easy Rawlins series before, but until October of this year, I never had an urge to pick it up. Crime and mystery novels are not my first choice and maybe it is because my experiences with Agatha Cristie and her detective Hercule Poirot. I was never able to get into Hercule’s way of investigating and often found the mysteries to be dry and anti-climactic. When #DiverseDetecives was announced, I was excited to try different mystery novels, in particular Devil in a Blue Dress.

Easy is just a guy trying to get by. He was recently laid off from his job in a defense plant and he is worried about making his payment on his house. What I loved about how this book began was that Easy Rawlins is not a detective by trade. He needs money so he takes a job from a White man in a nice suit, asking Easy to find a woman, Miss Daphne Monet. Easy has a gut feeling to not take the job; however, if he does not find the money soon, he would most likely lose his property. In the first couple of chapters, it seems like a relatively easy (no pun intended) job, but Easy Rawlins is soon plunged into a twisted mystery. much more convoluted and much more dangerous than he initially anticipated. A string on murders, police investigations, the demand of his boss, and Easy’s desperate need for a job all haunt him throughout the story.

Walter Mosley uses the backdrop of this mystery to start a commentary on race and power dynamics between Easy Rawlins, the police, and White men with money and power. In multiple scenes, Easy is pulled in by police for no apparent reason and questioned brutally about crimes he had no idea about. Also the power that the White men in the novel exert over Easy is frequent and disturbing. The one chapter that stands out to me is when Easy has to go into a White neighborhood in order to meet his contact in a park. A group of White teens start harassing Easy and probably would have physically assaulted him. The use of privilege in this part of the story by all of the White characters made me extremely uncomfortable and hit home so many points about race -> the segregation of neighborhoods, ability to commit violence with no consequences, antagonization of a Black man for no other reason besides his race.

The mystery itself was very compelling and engaging, in a very simplistic way. All Easy needed to do was find Daphne, but as the story unfolded, the reader learns the different motivations of the different power players in finding her. As I mentioned before, Easy is not a detective by trade and I loved seeing how that identity evolved in him as he got deeper into the mystery. He picked up different skills in deduction and detective work, sometimes making mistakes, and always coming out of dire situations. Easy feels like a real person, having real struggles and facing real consequences. Overall, I enjoyed my experience with Easy Rawlins and I plan to continue the series at some point.

Final Rating: 4.6/5