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Cultural Stories
We need new names by NoViolet Bulawayo
Ten year old Darling has a choice: it's down, or out.
In a shanty called Paradise, Darling and her friends spend their days stealing guavas and singing Lady Gaga, all the while grasping at memories of life before and dreaming of escape - a dream that one day comes true for Darling.
But as Darling discovers, her new life in America is a far cry from what she imagined and this new world brings with it dangers of its own...
Call Number: F BUL
ISBN: 9780099581888
Publication Date: 2013
Everything good will come by Sefi Atta
It is 1971, and Nigeria is under military rule, though the politics of the state matter less than those of her home to Enitan Taiwo, an eleven-year-old girl tired of waiting for school to start. Will her mother, who has become deeply religious since the death of Enitan’s brother, allow her friendship with the new girl next door Sheri Bakare? This novel charts the fate of these two Nigerian girls, one who is prepared to manipulate the traditional system and one who attempts to defy it.
Call Number: F ATT
ISBN: 9781876756666
Publication Date: 2008
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Sijie Dai; Ina Rilke (Translator)
In this enchanting tale about the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening, two hapless city boys are exiled to a remote mountain village for reeducation during China's infamous Cultural Revolution. There they meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, they find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined.
Call Number: F SIJ
ISBN: 037541309X
Publication Date: 2001-09-11
Cultural Stories
Diego, run! by Deborah Ellis
Diego lives in a prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His parents are locked up, but he is free to come and go: to school and to the market working as a "taxi", doing errands for other prisoners. But the future looks grim unless he can make money, fast. His friend Mando has a plan...
Diego and Mando are soon deep in the jungle, on their way to a fortune. But their plan hits terrible trouble, and Diego must risk everything if he wants to see his family again.
Call Number: F ELL
ISBN: 9781741751550
Publication Date: 2007
Cultural Stories
The Namesake by Jhumpa Lahiri
Gogol is named after his father's favourite author. But growing up in an Indian family in suburban America, the boy starts to hate the awkward name and itches to cast it off, along with the inherited values it represents. Determined to live a life far removed from that of his parents, Gogol sets off on his own path only to discover that the search for identity depends on much more than a name.
Call Number: F LAH
ISBN: 9780006551805
Publication Date: 2003
Cultural Stories
The Beauty of humanity movement by Camilla Gibb
Tu' is a young tour guide working in Hanoi. As he leads bands of Westerners on 'war tours' through the scarred landscape of Vietnam, he wonders what it is his clients see - and what they miss entirely. Maggie is Vietnamese by birth but has lived most of her life in the U.S. Returning to her homeland, she sifts through history for clues as to the fate of her dissident father. Witness to both their stories, Old Man Hung has lived through decades of political upheaval.
But Hung has found a way to provide hope in his waterside community: The Beauty of Humanity Movement. The Beauty of Humanity Movement is a keenly observed and skillfully wrought novel about the reverberation of conflict through generations, the enduring legacy of art, and the redemption, and renewal, of long-lost love.
Call Number: F GIB
ISBN: 9780857891716
Publication Date: 2010
Under the hawthorn tree by Ai Mi
Jingqiu, an innocent young woman from a poor and politically questionable family in the city, is selected as one of a small group of students to be sent into the countryside to work on a glorious new education project that will further the Cultural Revolution. Clever, curious and eager, she wants to fit in with her hosts and the rural way of life, and it isn't appropriate for her to fall in love. But she does, with the son of a mighty army general.
Call Number: F AI
ISBN: 9781844087020
Publication Date: 2011
We need new names by
Ten year old Darling has a choice: it's down, or out.
In a shanty called Paradise, Darling and her friends spend their days stealing guavas and singing Lady Gaga, all the while grasping at memories of life before and dreaming of escape - a dream that one day comes true for Darling.
But as Darling discovers, her new life in America is a far cry from what she imagined and this new world brings with it dangers of its own...
Everything good will come by
It is 1971, and Nigeria is under military rule, though the politics of the state matter less than those of her home to Enitan Taiwo, an eleven-year-old girl tired of waiting for school to start. Will her mother, who has become deeply religious since the death of Enitan’s brother, allow her friendship with the new girl next door Sheri Bakare? This novel charts the fate of these two Nigerian girls, one who is prepared to manipulate the traditional system and one who attempts to defy it.
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by
In this enchanting tale about the magic of reading and the wonder of romantic awakening, two hapless city boys are exiled to a remote mountain village for reeducation during China's infamous Cultural Revolution. There they meet the daughter of the local tailor and discover a hidden stash of Western classics in Chinese translation. As they flirt with the seamstress and secretly devour these banned works, they find transit from their grim surroundings to worlds they never imagined.
Diego, run! by
Diego lives in a prison in Cochabamba, Bolivia. His parents are locked up, but he is free to come and go: to school and to the market working as a "taxi", doing errands for other prisoners. But the future looks grim unless he can make money, fast. His friend Mando has a plan...
Diego and Mando are soon deep in the jungle, on their way to a fortune. But their plan hits terrible trouble, and Diego must risk everything if he wants to see his family again.
The Namesake by
Gogol is named after his father's favourite author. But growing up in an Indian family in suburban America, the boy starts to hate the awkward name and itches to cast it off, along with the inherited values it represents. Determined to live a life far removed from that of his parents, Gogol sets off on his own path only to discover that the search for identity depends on much more than a name.
The Beauty of humanity movement by
Tu' is a young tour guide working in Hanoi. As he leads bands of Westerners on 'war tours' through the scarred landscape of Vietnam, he wonders what it is his clients see - and what they miss entirely. Maggie is Vietnamese by birth but has lived most of her life in the U.S. Returning to her homeland, she sifts through history for clues as to the fate of her dissident father. Witness to both their stories, Old Man Hung has lived through decades of political upheaval.
But Hung has found a way to provide hope in his waterside community: The Beauty of Humanity Movement. The Beauty of Humanity Movement is a keenly observed and skillfully wrought novel about the reverberation of conflict through generations, the enduring legacy of art, and the redemption, and renewal, of long-lost love.
Under the hawthorn tree by
Jingqiu, an innocent young woman from a poor and politically questionable family in the city, is selected as one of a small group of students to be sent into the countryside to work on a glorious new education project that will further the Cultural Revolution. Clever, curious and eager, she wants to fit in with her hosts and the rural way of life, and it isn't appropriate for her to fall in love. But she does, with the son of a mighty army general.