Recommendations please: "Around the world" - books/novels for YA/teen summer reading

Parent Cafe
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<p>I’m trying to pick about 10 books — novels or creative non-fiction — that could introduce my 15-year-old reluctant reader to various countries or regions around the world this summer. She’s not picky about time period, but she’s hoping to learn about various culture’s/country’s/region’s roots through her summer reading this year. — And, do I ever need help! Young adult book lists are overwhelming me as I try to construct this list. My own references are probably pretty dated (Cry, the Beloved Country, anyone?). So, I’m wondering if anyone here might suggest some. She’s focusing on (roughly):
Africa
China
India
Middle-East
Russia
South or Central America/Mexico
Japan
Pacific Islands
Native American nations
The American West/Pioneer experience
Caribbean Islands </p>

<p>Any favorites come to mind? </p>

<p>I’m fixing on The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian as one. Every other place-book match has me stumped. My old self thinks “James Michener,” but those are probably dated and waay to long for my kid.</p>

<p>Thank you so much for any ideas you can toss my way!</p>

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<p>The Kite Runner comes to mind, right away, for Afghanistan. A lot of culture in that one. The author wrote two other books as well regarding the same region that were quite good.</p>

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<p>In my 9th grade humanities class (1999 - 2000), the entire year’s focus was on “around the world” books. <a href=“http://www.lwsd.org/school/ims/Library/readinglists/Pages/9th-Grade-Reading-Lists.aspx”>http://www.lwsd.org/school/ims/Library/readinglists/Pages/9th-Grade-Reading-Lists.aspx&lt;/a&gt; I did honors (the challenge list) so I could pick whatever I wanted for each unit. I know you said you didn’t really want book lists but this should give you / your daughter a ton of ideas. </p>

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<p>Book lists that target “around-the-world” are prefect! It’s wading through all the lists with more US- and Europe-centric works that are doing me in. :wink: </p>

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<p>My daughter (and I) really enjoyed Laura Resau’s books. They all take place in South or Central America/Mexico. My personal favorite was “What the Moon Saw”. </p>

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<p>There are some hilarious travel books.
My youngest has to work hard to read, but she loves to travel and we have quite a collection of suggestions.
Ive read Sex lives of Cannibals,( Kirabati) Holy Cow & Shantaram. ( both India)
<a href=“http://suzanneday.hubpages.com/hub/travel-books”>http://suzanneday.hubpages.com/hub/travel-books&lt;/a&gt;
The lenght of Shantaram would put her off Im sure, but she might like the others.</p>

<p>For Alexie, I like Lone Ranger & Tonto fistfight in heaven, which has interconnected short stories and he introduces characters that come up in later books.</p>

<p>I have been listening to podcasts recently, especially Snap Judgment with Glynn Washington. He had Jayne Amelia Larsen on, who has written what sounds like a very warm and human book about driving the daughters of a Saudi Arabian royal family in California.
<a href=“Driving the Saudis | Book by Jayne Amelia Larson | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster”>http://books.simonandschuster.com/Driving-the-Saudis/Jayne-Amelia-Larson/9781451640038&lt;/a&gt;
I havent read it yet, but its on my list.</p>

<p>If she likes mysteries or character studies, Alexander mcCall Smiths series that begins with The #1 Ladies Detective Agency move quickly and often have wise & witty observations about people. ( Botswana)
<a href=“The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith | Goodreads”>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7061.The_No_1_Ladies_Detective_Agency&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Ill come back with more suggestions later.</p>

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<p>She loves humor, and funny travelers’ tales are a great idea! Thank you!</p>

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<p>I heard an author interview for the driving memoir, and, you know, that would be perfect, as the SA girl was a teen. </p>

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<p>For the middle east (Israeli kibbutz) I thought One More River by Lynn Reid Banks was interesting. It’s about a family that emigrates to Israel from Canada in the late 60s or early 70s. Point of view is a teenage girl who befriends a Palestinian boy.</p>

<p>For South America, I have no patience for most Magical Realism, but I really liked Isabel Allende’s House of the Spirits.</p>

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<p>Just sayin’ - this is a fantabulous book!!!</p>

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<p>These are all for Africa:
“Kaffir Boy” by Mark Mathabane (Apartheid South Africa)
“We Are All the Same” by Jim Wooten (South Africa)
“The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind” by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer (Malawi)
“Cry of the Kalahari” by Mark and Delia Owens (Botswana)</p>

<p>And one still in my pile to read, so I can’t recommend it first hand, but it gets great reviews:
“Cutting for Stone” Abraham Verghese (Ethiopia)</p>

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<p>She also might like Sandra Cisernos acclaimed book about a Latina growing up in Chicago, House on Mango Street.</p>

<p>Well i just checked Ds bookshelf and it looks like many books she may have at college, but one trilogy she really liked in high school begins with Shabanu: daughter of the wind, about a Pakistani girl, in the Cholistani Desert, who is given more freedoms ( in the beginning)than most because she has no brothers.
<a href=“http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219563.Shabanu”>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219563.Shabanu&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Its a little romanticized( I dont mean sexual), but I like In the time of the butterflies, about the Mirabel sisters who were assassinated in the Dominican Republic after visitng their jailed husbands.
<a href=“In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez | Goodreads”>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11206.In_the_Time_of_the_Butterflies&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I wish i had read more books by women when I was 15, I think it is very empowering.
Ill find more travel titles, as I think they move fairly quickly which is preferable, when reading can be a chore.</p>

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<p>This is from my 15 y.o. D an avid reader:</p>

<p>Valkyrie Rising by Ingrid Paulson is based on Norse mythology, and takes place in Norway. Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Morgan is a historical novel about Rome and Egypt. Maid of Secrets by Jennifer McGowan is about Queen Elizabeth I’s rule. </p>

<p>There is a book that comes out this August, called the Girl from the Well, by Rin Chupeco, that explores Japanese culture and myths. I have read an ARC of it, and it’s very good. More ARCs are available on NetGalley.
The Islands at the End of the World by Austin Aslan comes out on the same date. I haven’t read it, but it’s an apocalyptic novel that takes place in Hawaii. </p>

<p>The Wildefire series by Karsten Knight is a series about several different gods and goddesses from different pantheons. It includes small bits of culture from the Polynesian islands, the Aztecs, Egyptians, Hopi, and several others. The series is very witty and well written. </p>

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<p>Oh for Caribbean I really liked Edwidge Danticat’s Claire of the Sea Light which we recently read on the CC book club - it’s set in Haiti. I also like Esmerelda Santiago’s memoir When I was Puerto Rican.</p>

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<p>I waited too long to edit.
I love this thread, finding books is one of my favorite things!</p>

<p>Bill Bryson is very engaging.
My daughter who was infatuated with Australia, and weird bugs, loved In a Sunburned Country.</p>

<p>Some people find it less intimidating to read on a Kindle, because you arent lugging a fat book around, and it always holds ypur place!
Also I dont know if she actually is dyslexic ( my daughter was), but being able to change the font might help, and with a Kindle, you can read childrens books, without anyone knowing what you are reading.
However, my daughter is rebelling against technology, so she always reads hard copies.</p>

<p>I have got a great read for her if she might like graphic novels ( and they made a movie)
It isnt really " a comic book", because the art adds so much to the story.</p>

<p>Persepolis, about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution, by Marjane Satrapi.
Its a two parter.
<a href=“Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi | Goodreads”>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9516.Persepolis&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Persepolis is a great suggestion!</p>

<p>For Australia, if you just want sweeping love story not great literature there’s always The Thorn Birds. If you want something that’s shorter and more respected, I love A Town Like Alice by Neville Shute. Also a nice love story.</p>

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<p>Another Danticat recommendation: The Farming of Bones</p>

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<p>Persepolis is a great suggestion. I remember when one of my sons brought that that book home as required reading. I looked at it and thought, "Really, a comic book for a lit class?” I am so glad I gave it a chance. The art is simple but truly amazing. The facial expressions are so perfect. It’s just a good story about living in Iran during that time.</p>

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<p>I’m probably in the minority on this, but I would NOT introduce a 15 year old to Khaled Hosseini books. They’re brilliant, just not for that age.</p>

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<p>For a summer read, especially for someone who has a hard time sticking with a story, Id lean toward the humorous travel books, at least at first, rather than the moving, but more difficult ( and slower) books.</p>

<p>She will have to read books in school that she doesn’t get to choose, so might as well have some that are fun!
Audiobooks might also be something to think about, and with the recent passing of Maya Angelou, I cant help thinking about her magnificent voice and her early autobiography,

<p>The Living is Annie Dillards first novel, a historical fiction accounting about a group of European settlers and a tribe of Lummi natives in late 19th century Washington state.</p>

<p>O Pioneers’ by Willa Cather, is the first of her books set on the Nebraska frontier.
<a href=“O Pioneers! (Great Plains Trilogy, #1) by Willa Cather | Goodreads”>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/140963.O_Pioneers_&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>I also liked Doc, by Mary Doria Russell, referring to " Doc" Holliday, mostly about his life in 1878 Kansas, although it also talks about his childhood.
<a href=“http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/ron-charles-reviews-doc-by-mary-doria-russell/2011/04/25/AFvGSFjF_story.html”>http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/ron-charles-reviews-doc-by-mary-doria-russell/2011/04/25/AFvGSFjF_story.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Mary Doria Russell also wrote Dreamers of the Day, another historical novel, this time set in Egypt

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<p><a href=“Dreamers of the Day by Mary Doria Russell | Goodreads”>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1276938.Dreamers_of_the_Day&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;