Perla - Carolina De Robertis

Perla by Carolina De Robertis
As a little girl growing up in Buenos Aires, Perla never wanted for anything. At a time when Argentina's government used violence to silence the public, Perla's father had a position of power as a naval officer. He was responsible for many of people who "disappeared" during the Dirty War. Perla's parents kept this truth a secret. The novel is set in the present (2001) after Perla receives an unexpected guest. His presence has Perla thinking about her life, her fathers deeds, and remembering a time in Argentina that the country would rather forget.

When I found out De Robertis had a new novel coming out I was very excited because I loved her debut Invisible Mountain. The author once again written a gorgeous piece of historical fiction. The story is wonderfully layered by the end I was so invested that several of the scenes had me in tears. And Perla had my heart from the very beginning.

Starred Library Journal review
Starred Publishers Weekly review
O Magazine review

Read an excerpt



The author's tour schedule. An autographed book makes a great gift. De robertis first event is on April 2.

The Taste of Salt - Martha Southgate

The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate
I actually meant to review this one last year but didn't get around to it. This review is coming mainly from memory so bear with me. Josie was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio, though she was far from any large bodies of water she fall in love with it and made a career out of it. Josie is the only Black senior scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute. In this way The Taste of Salt reminded me of Intuitionist by Whitehead. The novels are stylistically very different, however both feature a Black female protagonist in workforce positions that are predominantly held by men.

Since Josie is telling this story and because of much of who she is is defined by her chosen field, everything has a straightforward scientific analytical feel though the author is still able to give it a nice literary rhythm.

"I'm a scientist. I like to get to the bottom of things, to state the working hypothesis quickly. Narrative is not my specialty. But when I stop to think about it, in some ways, telling a story is like science. Trying to understand how a system works, what makes it function or not function, that's part of what a story does. Nothing is unrelated to the things that came before it. it's true of evolution and it's true of a family."

The quiet life Josie has carefully built is tested when her brother Tick is released from rehab for the second time. Josie must return to her childhood home in Cleveland, a place she rarely visits because of all the bad memories. The families experience with addiction began with the father. Josie shares her story, from marriage to growing up in a house with an unpredictable alcoholic father. She also gives the reader insight into the early years of her parents courtship and marriage. The latter I believe is the scientist in Josie, trying to pinpoint that one moment or event that would change the course of her parents lives and her own in the process. The city of Cleveland is an essential part of the story as well, it's describe and visualized with purpose from its years of promise to the lean ones.

Southgate skillfully explores how addiction can destroy a families dynamic. What stood out for me most was the strength and pain of Josie's voice. Taste of Salt had a quiet beauty that I loved and a rhythm worth getting lost in.

An excerpt

Thoughts on Heidi W. Durrow's The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

The Girl Who Fell From the Sky

Heidi W. Durrow

256 pages

Publication Year: 2010

Publisher: Algonquin

Source: Bought it

It’s a funny thing to think about: moving toward extinction. And I think of how maybe I’m already extinct in a strange way – there’s no way to make another me: at least I can’t do it. But that doesn’t matter anyway because I never want to have kids.

The Girl Who Fell From The Sky is the debut novel from Heidi W. Durrow. It’s also the winner of the Bellwether Prize for Socially Engaged Fiction, which was founded by Barbara Kingsolver.

The story tells the life of Rachel, the only survivor of tragic, mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of her three siblings and their mother. Rachel is also biracial, the daughter of a white Danish mother and African-American father. After the death of her family members, Rachel is sent to live with her paternal grandmother and has to learn how to navigate in a country where she’s considered black, something she didn’t think much about before. Told from the perspective of Rachel, her mother Nella, and those who knew her family, The Girl Who Fell From the Sky is an engaging read of one girl’s struggle to live after the death of those she loved most.

This year I’m learning a lot about my reading. I’ve learned that I don’t read many books that feature:

· the elderly as protagonists

· mother-daughter relationships

· bi-racial characters

Where have I been? In today’s society with so many people being of several races and cultures, I can’t believe I’ve ignored this. Luckily reading this book brought it to my attention. As a young girl, not only does Rachel has to deal with everything that has happened, she also has to learn how to deal with so much attention to both who she is physically, her long fuzzy hair that makes girls in her class want to fight her, blue eyes, and light brown skin to who she is as a person, someone who loves to read and tries to understand what being black means in America during the 1980s.

The problem is that as interesting and engaging as the book was, I didn’t connect very well to Rachel. Readers understand this character through her words and interactions with others but it wasn’t enough.

I had the same problem with Rachel’s mother, Nella. Nella is a young Danish woman living in Europe when she meets Roger, an African-American man stationed at a nearby base. They soon marry and have children before Nella leaves Roger and flees to the United States with their children. She struggles with everything before she finally makes a terrifying decision.

*spoiler spoiler I need to understand her decision with the same depth that I understood a similar decision in Toni Morrison’s Beloved. *spoiler over

Though I didn’t get the connection I needed, I still think this was an excellent read. My rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

This review was originally posted at 1330v.

Summer Selections

I thought it would be a fun idea for some of us, Color Online contributors to name a few summer read picks.

Ari's Summer Selections

Monsoon Summer by Mitali Perkins -I'm late on reading this one but I'm very glad I saved it for summer. Jazz travels to India for the summer with her family and it's the classic tale of discovering yourself in a foreign country. What makes this book really stand out is that I learned a lot about India both directly and indirectly, through conversations Jazz had with girls at her school (I know attending school in the summer, the horror!) and through her observations. While I hated her attitude towards helping others, I admired her entrepreneurial spirit and she did change :)

Saving Maddie by Varian Johnson -Joshua is the narrator, he wants to "save" his old childhood friend (and crush), Maddie who has moved away from the church. Maddie challenges Joshua on his beliefs and the author challenges readers to ask themselves if everyone needs to be saved (not just in the religious sense of the word, mind you). The relationship Joshua has with his parents is rare in that his parents are a known presence in his life who both frustrate him and make him happy. His parents also grow as characters. Plus there's a sly side to the novel, it's not always clear if Maddie and Joshua are going to be romantically involved, it's tastefully portrayed. I only wish a sequel would be in the works and that the cover was more guy-friendly (although I love that lipstick shade and pretty cross!)

Bleeding Violet by Dia Reeves The only reason I have for making this a summer read is because it's set in Texas. Texas is hot. Therefore it's a summer read. Wonderfully bizarre, not for the faint of heart (well actually it is because I scare so easily but I was able to handle this book. Then again it's not paranormal/fantasy that scares me). Hanna is the main character and she's so bold, confident and yet vulnerable at the same time, aching for her mother's love. I adore her.

The Great Call of China by Cynthea Liu - A summer in China leads to observations and knowledge being imparted on the one-child policy, surprisngly deep. A bonus is one of the minor characters being the complete opposite of the 'submissive Asian girl stereotype' and I really liked the romance (I'm a sucker for cross-cultural love yes but I also like when love interests bond over their shared ethnic culture, it's cute).




Born Confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier -Probably one of the slowest-moving books I've ever read, but this contemporary YA is well worth a read if you ever wanted an All-You-Need-To-Know-About-South-Asian-American-Culture guide (which is both good and bad). Dimple is one of the funniest main characters I've ever come across, definitely a laugh out loud worthy book. I could really relate to Dimple for feeling left out because she didn't come from a broken home. Because her personal issues were less obvious, her best friend Gwyn dismissed her as having a perfect life and not understanding pain. But Dimple did understand pain and she wanted to be there for her friend. And Karsh actually made me think omg when I read this one scene that was about pictures of Dimple and Gwyn. Haha

Fury of the Phoenix by Cindy Pon - A sequel to Silver Phoenix that could be read as a stand-alone but I would really recommend reading Silver Phoenix first. Less action, more character development but it's a wonderful trade-off. I'm still in awe that the author made me understand the villain. And there's some smoldering sexual tension, essential for a summer read ;)