The Yellow Ao Dai by Hanh Bui
I was thinking that The Yellow Ao Dai was going to be super sappy. The cover is cute and sweet looking, and the main character is a young child. The subject felt as if it was going to be a “feel good tale.” And it is but all that, but it is more, too. It is a feel-good story, but there is some meat with those potatoes. We follow a young Vietnamese girl excited to share part of her culture with her class, but her […]
Technopoly by Neil Postman
It’s nearly impossible for contemporary critical thinkers to write about our relationship with technology without referencing Postman’s Technopoly. While it was originally published thirty years ago, many of its points and predictions remain as relevant as ever. However, Postman also gets a lot wrong. In particular, his solutions to cultural issues with tech problems seem shallow at best. For that reason, I would only recommend this book to readers interested in the history of our concerns about tech. Postman first asserts that “embedded in every […]
Cyberville: Clicks, Culture, and the Creation of an Online Town by Stacy Horn
A tip of the hat for tech & culture writer Joanne McNeil for mentioning this book in her excellent Lurking. Cyberville is the story of New York City’s 1990s “online salon,” Echo. Stacy Horn founded Echo and authored this book. However, the book features clips of lengthy discussions from Echo and its Echoids, so in effect the book is collectively authored. As are all online communities. That’s really what this book is about – the co-creation of online communities. While it was written in 1998, […]
Eyes That Speak to the Stars by Joanna Ho
While gorgeously illustrated, Eyes That Speak to the Stars is a repeat of the companion book Eyes That Kiss in the Corners also by Joanna Ho and Dung Ho. However, that is not to say it is not as delightful as the first book, but I was looking for something slightly different. The story starts off with an innocent drawing by a school friend, has our narrator questioning how people see him, and how he sees himself. The picture looks nothing like him. But through […]
Tales from the Bamboo Grove by Yoko Kawashima Watkins
I think Tales from the Bamboo Grove might be out of print, therefore, I am writing this review for those who might find it hidden on the library shelves, in a sale, or hiding among your own collection. Also, to promote the other books she had written is the other point of the review. Several months ago, I learned that Yoko Kawashima Watkins had passed. I had enjoyed both So Far from the Bamboo Grove and My Brother, My Sister, and I. Those two novels […]
Sun and Sand by Jamila Rowser, Neil Brideau
Sun and Sand is a fantastic new anthology zine from Radiator Comics and Black Josei Press. It collects ten mini comics from cartoonists living in south Florida, and explores the physical, emotional, cultural, and natural connections to the area. The artists guide readers through beaches, swamps, and the human communities woven into them. Many of the comics in Sun and Sand explore this theme with a sense of humor: assertive cockroaches, an alligator presenting an HOA violation, animals feasting on a dropped mango while the […]
