Last Night at the Telegraph Club

Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo is the story of a Chinese American young woman coming of as in 1950s San Francisco and balancing her budding lesbianism with her family culture. 

Seventeen year old Lily Hu lives in China town with her family. When at a friend's restaurant one evening, she sees in the paper an ad for a male impersonator. Her curiosity is piqued. Lily dreams of leaving the neighborhood where everyone knows her to explore other ways of life.

At classmate she has shared classes with but not often spoken to, Kathleen Miller, sees the newspaper clipping when Lily drops her book. Kath has seen that same ad, and the show it references.

Through shy hints and slowly opening up to each other, Lily and Kath find they have something in common. Their discovery is both exciting and dangerous - in the midst of the McCarthy era.

Lo is a wonderful writer, one of my favorites. She is a master as historical fiction. Read this book for a glimpse into our past. 

Lo, Malinda. (2021). Last Night at the Telegraph Club. New York: Dutton Books.

The Seed Keeper

The Seed Keeper by Diane Wilson is the story of one woman's journey from foster care back to her Native American roots. 

Rosalie Iron Wing was twelve when her father died. Instead of looking for relatives, the state removed her from her tribe and placed her with a foster family hours from home. In her case, the foster family was only in it for the money and free labor, not to help a girl who lost her parent.

As Rosalie grows up, she has few encounters with other Lakota. One friend at school reminds her of a home that is fading from memory.

When Rosalie takes a job working in a corn field her senior year - in the hopes of saving money to move away on her eighteenth birthday - she recalls her father teaching her about plants near their cabin. This fertilizes a long dormant seed in her about her family and being Lakota.

I will admit I am biased in favor of any book about plants or animals, but The Seed Keeper is also an important look at the history of how the US and state governments treat Native Americans. 

Read-A-Like for plant lovers / gardeners The Overstory.

Wilson, Diane. (2021). The Seed Keeper. Canada: Milkweed Editions. 

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree

The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree by Shokoofeh Azar is a beautiful tale of one family's difficult time during the Islamic revolution in Iran. Translated from Persian.

Narrated by Bahar, a thirteen year old ghost, we follow her family as they flee from Tehran for a small village in the forest. They build a house in the woods where they can continue to enjoy the now illegal music, books and intellectual freedom they had before the revolution.

In the chaos of the time they are only trying to go on living. While the violence of the time intrudes, the writing of this family tale is more folktale than horror story. Infused with magical realism, this based on real life tale, is poignant in our unstable times.

Azar and her translator have created a story that will quickly become a classic. Read this book for the beauty of an ancient culture trying to survive in the midst of political oppression.  

Azar, Shokoofeh. (2017). The Enlightenment of the Greengage Tree. NY: Europa Editions.