Banned Books Week Find Your Voice, Tell Your Story: Banned Books Week 2020 by Powell's Books, September 28, 2020 9:30 AM



We’re not mad; we’re disappointed. Every year, it’s the same thing: the Venn diagram of challenged books and those written by authors from marginalized and underrepresented communities collapse into a single circle. We’ve explored before



In this year of mass protest for social justice and recognition, it’s more important than ever to honor writers whose work explores cultures, experiences, perspectives, orientations, and events that expand our understanding of the human condition and accurately reflect and give voice to readers of all backgrounds.



The books below are drawn from recent lists of the most challenged books in Oregon and across the country...

Read More » We’re not mad; we’re disappointed. Every year, it’s the same thing: the Venn diagram of challenged books and those written by authors from marginalized and underrepresented communities collapse into a single circle. We’ve explored before why these types of books are challenged by parents and educators, but it’s worth repeating that most challenges boil down to people rejecting books that propose a reality and a morality outside of American Christian whiteness.In this year of mass protest for social justice and recognition, it’s more important than ever to honor writers whose work explores cultures, experiences, perspectives, orientations, and events that expand our understanding of the human condition and accurately reflect and give voice to readers of all backgrounds.The books below are drawn from recent lists of the most challenged books in Oregon and across the country...





Original Essays The Accidental Mystery by Nancy Jooyoun Kim, September 23, 2020 11:00 AM

From the very beginning, I knew that my literary novel, The Last Story of Mina Lee, would open with the protagonist, Margot, a 26-year-old woman on a road trip that ends in the discovery of a body, the body of her mother, Mina, in their Los Angeles Koreatown apartment. But what I didn’t know was that within this dual narrative that alternates between the mother’s POV in the past and the daughter’s in the present, I would be writing a story that uses elements of mystery as well — a death that might be crime, a string of clues, a red herring or two. I only realized while writing a second or third draft of my book, that a story that depends so much on the past needed forward momentum and action too, so that the past and present, like in life, would be in conversation with each other...



Read More » From the very beginning, I knew that my literary novel,, would open with the protagonist, Margot, a 26-year-old woman on a road trip that ends in the discovery of a body, the body of her mother, Mina, in their Los Angeles Koreatown apartment. But what I didn’t know was that within this dual narrative that alternates between the mother’s POV in the past and the daughter’s in the present, I would be writing a story that uses elements of mystery as well — a death that might be crime, a string of clues, a red herring or two. I only realized while writing a second or third draft of my book, that a story that depends so much on the past needed forward momentum and action too, so that the past and present, like in life, would be in conversation with each other...





Lists Understanding the Latinx Electorate by Powell's Books, September 22, 2020 8:25 AM This year for Hispanic Heritage Month we’ve decided to focus on the Latinx electorate in the United States. Latinx voters make up roughly 12% of the nationwide electorate, and much larger percentages in states with significant Latinx populations like Texas, Florida, and California. To understand American democracy and political sentiment in 2020, one must consider Latinx voters’ diverse range of concerns and desires, as well as the ways and whys of Latinx voter suppression, disenfranchisement, and activism.



Interestingly, one way that this kind of information gets sidelined is by being routed through academic publishers instead of mainstream presses with large budgets and a commercial presence. This isn’t malicious; most books on the Latinx electorate are being written by academics with niche audiences and are being published by small publishers... Read More »





Original Essays Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Rhianna Walton, September 21, 2020 11:15 AM



When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday, September 18, 2020, my phone lit up. My neighbor called; my cousin; my best friend; my boss; I called my parents, because even as an adult, you need your mom to verify the incredulous. Ginsburg had been so tenacious and present in our lives that her death seemed like the loss of something elemental.



It’s unfair to make a person, no matter how brilliant or courageous, your life raft, but that is what many of us did with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her decades on the court showed us that she was deliberate, just, and future-minded, defending citizens whose constitutional personhood is somehow always in jeopardy. With Ginsburg on the bench, it seemed possible that we could ride through the oligarchic mayhem of present politics...

Read More » When Ruth Bader Ginsburg died on Friday, September 18, 2020, my phone lit up. My neighbor called; my cousin; my best friend; my boss; I called my parents, because even as an adult, you need your mom to verify the incredulous. Ginsburg had been so tenacious and present in our lives that her death seemed like the loss of something elemental.It’s unfair to make a person, no matter how brilliant or courageous, your life raft, but that is what many of us did with Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Her decades on the court showed us that she was deliberate, just, and future-minded, defending citizens whose constitutional personhood is somehow always in jeopardy. With Ginsburg on the bench, it seemed possible that we could ride through the oligarchic mayhem of present politics...





Original Essays The Uses and Abuses of Narrative by Angela Chen, September 18, 2020 9:30 AM

I distrust narratives, always have. The child too shy to open her mouth and captivate others with story became the science journalist who fetishized data instead, fond of talking about how stories can stand in the way of justice — just look at how a blond girl suddenly kidnapped can receive so much more attention and care than all the less photogenic children who live every day in difficult conditions.



The distrust has not changed. I still believe that narratives are easy to mutate and misinterpret, and that narrative is an insidious form of magic, a tool not always used for good. The difference now is that I see that narrative is all there is. All my suspicion has done little to immunize me; I am not as imaginative as I would like to believe. And I keep thinking about a minor plot point in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, how it taught me without me knowing, and how it hits differently now...



Read More » I distrust narratives, always have. The child too shy to open her mouth and captivate others with story became the science journalist who fetishized data instead, fond of talking about how stories can stand in the way of justice — just look at how a blond girl suddenly kidnapped can receive so much more attention and care than all the less photogenic children who live every day in difficult conditions.The distrust has not changed. I still believe that narratives are easy to mutate and misinterpret, and that narrative is an insidious form of magic, a tool not always used for good. The difference now is that I see that narrative is all there is. All my suspicion has done little to immunize me; I am not as imaginative as I would like to believe. And I keep thinking about a minor plot point in Philip Pullman’s, how it taught me without me knowing, and how it hits differently now...





Lists Meet You on the Fictional Quad: 10 Campus Novels by Michelle Carroll, September 15, 2020 11:20 AM

Like a fresh notebook or a back-to-school fashion experiment, campus novels are full of promise and possibility. And in a year when academic pursuits feel paused at best, fraught at worst, we’ve compiled some of our favorite novels that conjure the specific community norms a campus has to offer, and let you experience that first chill of the still-fresh school year, without having to move into a dorm.



Real Life

by Brandon Taylor



Taking place over a hazy August weekend, Real Life is a pitch-perfect capture of so many things: a Midwestern university town, frustrations and uncertainty in academia, and emotionally charged 30-something dinner parties, to name a few...



Read More » Like a fresh notebook or a back-to-school fashion experiment, campus novels are full of promise and possibility. And in a year when academic pursuits feel paused at best, fraught at worst, we’ve compiled some of our favorite novels that conjure the specific community norms a campus has to offer, and let you experience that first chill of the still-fresh school year, without having to move into a dorm.





Original Essays Six Ways Chicken Soup Can Make the World a Better Place by Jenn Louis, September 10, 2020 9:03 AM

I wrote a book about chicken soup. It all started when I was super sick and traveling home from a work trip. I came home to a pot of chicken soup on my porch. My sister had left it there. I immediately ate three bowls. It was the greatest gift and made my world better that day. Inspired by that, here are six ways that chicken soup can make the world a better place.



Chicken soup heals the body.

When you are sick, when you are hungry, when you are worn out, there’s nothing like a hot bowl of chicken soup to hit the spot. Whether it is the miracle of “Jewish penicillin” or Saoto, Suriname’s hangover cure, there is something magical about eating a bowl of this sweet and salty broth. The restorative properties of chicken soup are a common thread across the world...



Read More » I wrote a book about chicken soup. It all started when I was super sick and traveling home from a work trip. I came home to a pot of chicken soup on my porch. My sister had left it there. I immediately ate three bowls. It was the greatest gift and made my world better that day. Inspired by that, here are six ways that chicken soup can make the world a better place.When you are sick, when you are hungry, when you are worn out, there’s nothing like a hot bowl of chicken soup to hit the spot. Whether it is the miracle of “Jewish penicillin” or Saoto, Suriname’s hangover cure, there is something magical about eating a bowl of this sweet and salty broth. The restorative properties of chicken soup are a common thread across the world...



