Diverse Community Review

This Is the Honey: An Anthology of Contemporary Black Poets; edited by Kwame Alexander In 2020, poet Kevin Young, current director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and poetry editor for the New Yorker, published “African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song.” Young’s 1,110-page anthology is a comprehensive array of Black poets from … Read more

The Night Parade: A Speculative Memoir by Jami Nakamura Lin “Maybe this isn’t a story about ghosts, but a story about telling a story about ghosts.”  This genre-defying memoir uses multiple storytelling traditions to make sense of mental illness, motherhood, and grief. Jami Nakamura Lin, who was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at seventeen, has always … Read more

Thunder Song: Essays by Sasha taqʷšǝblu LaPointe Sasha taqʷšǝblu LaPointe has been on many local reading lists as her debut book, “Red Paint: the Ancestral Autobiography of a Coast Salish Punk,” is the 2024 Whatcom READS selection. LaPointe is visiting Whatcom County March 14–16 and participating in a variety of events that are free to … Read more

The Lost Journals of Sacajewea by Debra Magpie Earling Schoolchildren across the country have heard the story of Sacajawea, and can readily recall her association with the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804 – 1806.  She is commonly referred to as the expedition’s interpreter.  One has the impression of a beautiful, competent, wise young woman … Read more

Hula by Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes Now that winter has finally arrived in Whatcom County, readers might enjoy a literary escape to warmer climes, and “Hula: a Novel” by Jasmin ‘Iolani Hakes is the ticket.  Set primarily in Hilo, Hawai’i, “Hula” conjures the glittering ocean, the sizzling sun and misty rain, and the fragrant and colorful … Read more

Roaming by Jillian Tamaki and Mariko Tamaki  High school best friends Zee and Dani have always dreamed of visiting New York City together. In Roaming, they reunite in Manhattan for spring break after their freshman year at separate colleges. Tagging along is Fiona, a glamorous new friend from Dani’s dorm who would rather see the … Read more

Accountable: The True Story of a Racist Social Media Account and the Teenagers Whose Lives It Changed by Dashka Slater  It began with a meme. A single image that an Albany High junior saw as edgy, intended to court his friends’ dark sense of humor. Soon that meme was a private Instagram account. The content … Read more

Congratulations, the Best Is Over!: Essays by R. Eric Thomas In this new collection of laugh-out-loud funny essays, R. Eric Thomas picks up where his last memoir (Here For It, 2020) left off. Newly married and enjoying professional success, Thomas’ life is upended when his husband, a Presbyterian pastor, takes a job in Thomas’ hometown … Read more