You Bring the Distant Near by Mitali Perkins and more ...

YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR by Mitali Perkins is a multigenerational story of immigrants to America. Two Bengali daughters, Tara/Star and Sonia/Sunny move from London (after Ghana) to New York with their parents. For Tara, who aspires to be an actress, copying Marcia Brady means she has a sense of what to wear and how to act in 1970s America as she and her more rebellious yet studious sister learn to adjust to high school. 

Eventually, they fall in love, marry and have children of their own who struggle in turn with adolescent issues of identity and questions relative to race, culture and tolerance. Those cousins, Chantal and Anna, forge a special relationship with their immigrant grandmother, Ranee, who memorably has her own identity crisis while still revering her late husband. In fact, the title of Perkins’ young adult novel refers to a line in a poem which the patriarch of this family recited to his bride and reflects their sometimes hidden affection and esteem along with the value of acceptance. YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR focuses on the importance of family, despite occasional stresses, and on mother-daughter conflicts as well as cultural assimilation. 

The novel is a fairly quick read and its 720 Lexile score should add to appeal for reluctant readers, although girls will have the most interest given the main characters and arc of the story. YOU BRING THE DISTANT NEAR has potential for a Junior Theme with immigrant experience emphasis (it has been referred to as an easier, Indian version of The Joy Luck Club) or possibly as a mother/daughter read for a freshmen or sophomore advisory.  Starred reviews from Booklist, Horn Book, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.

On another note, I was very surprised when I saw the starred reviews (from Booklist, Horn Book, Kirkus, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal) that LANDSCAPE WITH INVISIBLE HAND by M. T. Anderson had received.  I would agree that it is very well-written by National Book Award winner Anderson, but his vision of a dystopian future was depressing to read, especially given all of the all too real recent news about hurricanes, a major earthquake, identity theft, and immigration restrictions for refugees and dreamers.  Anderson’s work involves a future Earth controlled by an alien species, the vuvv.  Humans such as the main character, Adam, struggle to provide for their families due to a scarcity of jobs.  Healthcare, too, is an issue with high costs and limited availability, plus a polluted environment contributing to disease like Adam’s frequent bouts of diarrhea and gastro-discomfort. Also, social media is used for entertainment with sometimes little regard for factual presentations.  Yes, I guess one should acknowledge Anderson’s satirical points, but even though LANDSCAPE WITH INVISIBLE HAND is more of a novella (about 150 pages), it is still quite a sad, bleak, and disturbing read.

I also recently had a chance read excerpts from 5 young adult novels being published by Penguin this month or next. They included: more gritty science fiction from Marie Lu (Legend) in WARCROSS; Kristin Cashore’s (Graceling) new fantasy titled JANE, UNLIMITED; the start of a horror story called THERE'S SOMEONE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE by Stephanie Perkins (Anna and the French Kiss); plus THINGS I'M SEEING WITHOUT YOU by Peter Bognanni (The House of Tomorrow) and a fractured fairy-tale debut novel, FOREST OF A THOUSAND LANTERNS by Julie C. Dao.  A variety of teen reads, but generally dark and a bit grim – the first and last titles especially are getting quite positive reviews; I will post more comments when I finish a full text.