#harperinfluencer

I'm always so excited and grateful for diverse representation in books. Happy pub day to Dream, Annie, Dream by Waka Brown! Thanks to @harperkids for the gifted copy. QOTD: What is a book you recommend that debunks the "American Dream"? Books like these are so important because they offer kids a window into another person's world and unique experiences. They teach compassion and empathy. They also empower kids to make a difference. 🇯🇵 SYNOPSIS: 🇯🇵 In this empowering deconstruction of the so-called American Dream, a twelve-year-old Japanese American girl grapples with, and ultimately rises above, the racism and trials of middle school she experiences while chasing her dreams. As the daughter of immigrants who came to America for a better life, Annie Inoue was raised to dream big. And at the start of seventh grade, she’s channeling that irrepressible hope into becoming the lead in her school play. So when Annie lands an impressive role in the production of The King and I, she’s thrilled . . . until she starts to hear grumbles from her mostly white classmates that she only got the part because it’s an Asian play with Asian characters. Is this all people see when they see her? Is this the only kind of success they’ll let her have—one that they can tear down or use race to belittle? Disheartened but determined, Annie channels her hurt into a new dream: showing everyone what she’s made of. #DreamAnnieDream #WakaBrown #books #bookish #bookstagrammer #bookphotos #bookrecommendation #bibliophile #bookworm #reading #middlegrade #bookstagram #AAPI #ownvoices #literature #harperkids #readersofinstagram #Asianbooks #HarperInfluencer #AsianAuthors #booksforyouth #explorebooks #diversereads #childrenslit #TBR #booksbooksbooks #bookfeature #newrelease #hardcovers #libros (at Ridgewood, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/CZu3UD-vERK/?utm_medium=tumblr

This was a fun package to find on my doorstep! Thanks @deystreet @williammorrowbooks and @harpercollins for this finished copy of From Hollywood With Love by Scott Meslow (and a bag of popcorn, yum!)💖💖 I love romcoms so definitely will be reading this one. #harperinfluencer #williammorrowinfluencer #newbooks Shakespeare tried to “help” take the picture by trying to steal the popcorn but Aphra - seeing that I had taken a bunch of DVDs off the shelf - assumed her usual place for watching movies 💖 #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cats_of_instagram #murdermittens #shakespearekitteh #aphrakitteh https://www.instagram.com/p/CZmsjuJrEzQ/?utm_medium=tumblr

New #bookmail 😽 thanks to Julie at @avonbooks for the copy of Mistletoe Christmas by @eloisajamesbooks @christicaldwellauthor @jannamacgregor and @ericaridley 💖 and to @harpercollins @customhousebooks #harperinfluencer program for Clare Chambers’s Small Pleasures! (Shakespeare was not a very helpy Mitten this time, but he was at least very floofy 💖) #books #bookstagram #bookmailisthebestmail #romancenovels #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #cats_of_instagram #murdermittens #shakespearekitteh https://www.instagram.com/p/CU0fqlTLdLn/?utm_medium=tumblr

I'm definitely still thinking about ghosts and counting down the days until it is officially spooky season. Maybe one day a ghost will actually speak to me. Until then ghost hunting, nighttime ghost tours, spooky movies and shows and fantastic middle grade books will have to do. QOTD: What is your favorite ghost movie or show? Thanks to @theshelfstuff and @harperkids for the gifted copy of Ophie's Ghosts. This one released in May and it is one you won't want to miss reading. It takes place in a haunted manor and has ghosts and spirits with their own personalities and tastes/gripes. They all have stories to tell and may even reveal some truths about injustice. If you loved Dread Nation, then this one is for you. 👻👻SYNOPSIS👻👻 The New York Times bestselling author of Dread Nation makes her middle grade debut with a sweeping tale of the ghosts of our past that won't stay buried, starring an unforgettable girl named Ophie. Ophelia Harrison used to live in a small house in the Georgia countryside. But that was before the night in November 1922, and the cruel act that took her home and her father from her. Which was the same night that Ophie learned she can see ghosts. Now Ophie and her mother are living in Pittsburgh with relatives they barely know. In the hopes of earning enough money to get their own place, Mama has gotten Ophie a job as a maid in the same old manor house where she works. Daffodil Manor, like the wealthy Caruthers family who owns it, is haunted by memories and prejudices of the past--and, as Ophie discovers, ghosts as well. Ghosts who have their own loves and hatreds and desires, ghosts who have wronged others and ghosts who have themselves been wronged. And as Ophie forms a friendship with one spirit whose life ended suddenly and unjustly, she wonders if she might be able to help--even as she comes to realize that Daffodil Manor may hold more secrets than she bargained for. #OphiesGhosts #JustinaIreland #HarperKids #HarperInfluencer #ghoststories #middlegradebooks #welovemglit #bookphotos #books #bookstgram #booksandmurals #booksandart #BlackAuthors #bookfeature #bookrecs #bookish #weneeddiversebooks #ownvoices #bookworm #read (at The Bushwick Collective) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRzQxIkrWR6/?utm_medium=tumblr

Thanks to @harperkids for the gifted copy. QOTD: What book features a young protagonist who loves to read? Happy Sunday! I bring you today a new middle grade debut novel, Ahmed Aziz's Epic Year. It features an Indian Muslim protagonist who discovers his love of reading while investigating his family history. Protagonists who love to read are some of my favorite characters because they take me back to my youth. 📚SYNOPSIS📚 The Best at It meets John David Anderson in this Indian Muslim #ownvoices debut about a champion underachiever who must start over in a new state with the help of three classic books. Ahmed Aziz is having an epic year—epically bad. His family moved from Hawaii to Minnesota because his dad got sick, and even though Minnesota is where his dad grew up, Ahmed can’t imagine a worse place to live—not that anyone asked him. Being the new kid is tough, especially because Ahmed is the only brown-skinned student in a sea of white. But over the course of the school year, Ahmed—who never lives up to his potential—surprises himself by actually reading the three assigned books for his English class: Holes, Bridge to Terabithia, and From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler. Even more surprising, he doesn’t hate the books. At the same time, Ahmed is learning about the uncle he never knew—his dad’s brother, who died young, and who Ahmed takes after. Investigating his family history offers Ahmed comfort as his dad’s health hangs in the balance. Could Ahmed be warming to Minnesota? In this memorable debut, Ahmed, an inimitable protagonist, deals with bullies, makes new friends, and uncovers his family’s past—all while finding himself in three good books. #AhmedAzizsEpicYear #NinaHamza #HarperInfluencer #ownvoices #TBR #middlegrade #debutnovel #bookish #IndianMuslim #Asianbooks #books #booksandart #bookphotos #BIPOC #bookstagram #bookfeature #gifted #weneeddiversebooks #bibliophile #booksandmurals #bookdragon #bookworm #diversereads #reading (at Bushwick) https://www.instagram.com/p/CRegrdirEPy/?utm_medium=tumblr

I got #bookmail today!! Thanks so much to @harpercollins imprints @williammorrowbooks and @avonbooks for these beautiful finished copies! ❤️❤️❤️ I loved the first two books in @sonali.dev modern desi Austen retellings and I have DESPERATELY wanted Yash’s story (although…is this an S&S retelling or a Persuasion retelling? Both? I can see both! 💖) And while I haven’t kept up with all @sepauthor Chicago Stars series installments she had me at “opera star/diva and QB/diva stuck on a promo tour together” 😻😻😻 I posted previously about @vanessarileyauthor Island Queen when I snapped up the galley from work - but I somehow got on the list for a finished copy and WOW it is even more gorgeous with that beautiful aqua dust jacket ❤️❤️❤️ Fantastic summer reading coming up! All books have been vetted by Master Shakespeare but Aphra says “why look at books when you can look at a pretty kitty?” (The Mittens have had a bit of a rough and noisy day - our garage door got replaced today, the next door neighbor had her roof replaced today, the lawn service came, AND it was garbage day so they recycling and garbage trucks came by. They’re in need of some love and scratchies.) #bookmailisthebestmail #newbooks #harperinfluencer #williammorrowinfluencer #avonbooks #cats #catstagram #catsofinstagram #murdermittens #shakespearekitteh #aphrakitteh https://www.instagram.com/p/CRCxY8gLXWy/?utm_medium=tumblr

Welcome to another edition of Books That Got Into My House That I Previously Haven’t Posted 😹 Thanks to the #harperinfluencer program I got a package last week with three books on my summer TBR: happy 6/1 book birthday to Anne of Manhattan by Brina Starler and A Lowcountry Bride by Preslaysa Williams and happy 6/8 book birthday to The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid! (Thanks @harperbooks @avonbooks @williammorrowbooks and @harpervoyagerus for the review copies! They all look great 💖💖) Some good galleys came into the store lately: Seeing Ghosts by Kat Chow (out 8/24), Island Queen by Vanessa Riley (out in July, I’m super looking forward to this one because I love her historical romances), and The Love Songs of WEB DuBois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (also out in July and is unexpectedly very chunky, whoops!) My signed copy of The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren arrived with an exclusive virtual tour print by Liz Parkes 💖💖💖💖 And then books I bought at my store: Neon Gods by Katee Robert (which I read is a digital galley and is amazing and I’m now busy making buy it 💖), 365 Days by Blanka Lipińska (oh yes, 365 DNI is now available for retail trade and I’m reading it for science...three chapters in and I think the movie adaptation might be better 🙃🤣), and The Memory Theater by Karin Tidbeck (for @isabellaboylston Ballerina Book Club, I read the short story this novel grew from a while back and really liked it). Whew. Now I have to go put all these away 😹🤣 #bookstagram #books #newbooks #bookmail #bookmailisthebestmail https://www.instagram.com/p/CPv7yOor---/?utm_medium=tumblr

Thanks to @harperkids for the gifted copy. QOTD: What books about fitting in do you recommend? AAPI Heritage Month is almost over but that doesn't mean the celebration has to end. Reading AAPI stories has introduced me to some of my favorite books of all time. I am so excited to read this middle grade tale about the strength of grandparents, the Korean War, fitting in and combating racism. 🇰🇷 Title: FINDING JUNIE KIM 🇰🇷 Author: Ellen Oh 🇰🇷 Released: 5/4/2021 🌷SYNOPSIS🌷 A story of family, hope, and survival, inspired by the author's mother’s real-life experiences during the Korean War. Faced with middle school racism, Junie Kim learns of her grandparents’ extraordinary strength and finds her voice. Junie Kim just wants to fit in. So she keeps her head down and tries not to draw attention to herself. But when racist graffiti appears at her middle school, Junie must decide between staying silent or speaking out. Then Junie’s history teacher assigns a project and Junie decides to interview her grandparents, learning about their unbelievable experiences as kids during the Korean War. Junie comes to admire her grandma’s fierce determination to overcome impossible odds, and her grandpa’s unwavering compassion during wartime. And as racism becomes more pervasive at school, Junie taps into the strength of her ancestors and finds the courage to do what is right. #FindingJunieKim #EllenOh #Books #HarperKids #HarperInfluencer #BIPOCBookstagram #Ownvoices #BooksandMurals #BooksandArt #grafitti #AAPIHeritageMonth #AsianRecs #MiddleGrade #Korean #ReadAsianBooks #NewRelease #BookDragon #BookFeature #bibliophile #bookworm #books #bookstagram #diversereads #BookPhotos #Booksbooksbooks (at Bushwick) https://www.instagram.com/p/CPZOS_5LXV9/?utm_medium=tumblr