Book Review
“Poignant, tender, and surprisingly humorous all at once, The Son of Good Fortune is a coming-of-age story that reflects on the often untold Filipinx immigrant experience shared by both Excel and his mother Maxima.” On the blog, Noreen Ocampo reviews Lysley Tenorio’s The Son of Good Fortune (Ecco, 2020).
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“Aguila Labra’s candid writing meticulously portrays the extent of the speaker’s layered emotional experience, with the difficulty of moving forward predominating the beginning sections of ‘Natalie.’” On the blog, Noreen Ocampo reviews Keana Aguila Labra’s Natalie (Nightingale & Sparrow Press, 2020).
Read More“In ‘As Relic, As Remnant,’ Li writes of a city that shifts as it ages, one that has forsaken its former population for the glamor of a newer, richer one, forgotten the ‘chip-toothed lawns / fraying gray / like old boutique lace.’”
Read More“As I have aged the world has gotten bigger while I have gotten smaller. Things seem to make more and more sense as my need to define them or pin them down has abated.”
Read More“I imagined how I would feel if I were abused by a man who happened to be powerful. How I would feel if people continued buying his work, feeding his power, and insisting it had nothing to do with me.”
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“Above all else, Frying Plantain is a coming-of-age story in which Reid-Benta carefully unfolds an abundance of themes, such as growth, connection, belonging and the lack thereof, that will undoubtedly hit home for readers of all backgrounds.” On the blog, Noreen Ocampo reviews Zalika Reid-Benta’s Frying Plantain (House of Anansi Press, 2019).
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“Flynn effectively encourages sympathy for all of her characters, leaving the reader both in awe and horror at the history she writes—the history that feels more emotional than artificial, more lifelike than fiction.” On the blog, Noreen Ocampo reviews Katie Flynn’s The Companions (Scout/Gallery Press, 2020).
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