Hey, you should read this book!

Ten worthwhile books you may have missed

My piece last week about eight worthwhile books you may have missed got a very positive response here and on my Instagram account. Many people said they hadn't heard of any of the books but were adding some (or several) to their reading list. The situation with highly publicized books by famous authors or the few selected by celebrity book clubs is similar to that of major studio movies and independent films. The big stars and their films get all the attention, but there are outstanding actors and indie films that deserve our attention as well.

So here are another ten books that you might have missed, or perhaps you heard about them when they were published but have since forgotten about them. I'm here to tap you on the shoulder and say, "Don't forget about this book. It's good!"

True Biz – Sara Novic (Random House)

True Biz by Sara Novic is a coming-of-age story set in a residential school for the deaf in rural Ohio. Novic, who is deaf, has written a compelling story with three main characters you will care about. Charlie, the daughter of hearing parents, was given a cochlear implant as a child and never learned ASL, but the CI has never worked as hoped and she’s trying to adjust to going to school for the first time with other deaf students – all of whom know ASL. Austin comes from a family that is well known in the deaf community and is something of a big man on campus. The schoolmistress, February, is a hearing child of deaf parents who is trying to keep the underfunded school open while navigating a complicated marriage. True Biz entertained me while educating me about a community that is dealing with issues coming from all sides. The book is highlighted by informative illustrations of sign language, deaf cultural content, and explanations of various issues and challenges facing deaf children and their parents. (I also recommend Novic’s first novel, Girl at War.)

All That’s Left Unsaid -- Tracey Lien (William Morrow)

Tracey Lien’s debut novel is a compelling exploration of the immigrant experience as seen through the eyes of a first-generation Vietnamese-Australian who grew up in the refugee enclave of Cabramatta on the outskirts of southwestern Sydney. Set in the 1990s when Cabramatta was the epicenter of a heroin epidemic, All That’s Left Unsaid follows recent college graduate Ky as she returns home from Melbourne after the murder of her younger brother Denny in what seems like the most inexplicable circumstances. He was a straight-A student attending a post-Prom dinner with friends at the popular Lucky 8 restaurant in the heart of Cabramatta. There were several witnesses, but all of them claim not to have seen anything. When the understaffed and cynical local police fail to mount a serious investigation, Ky, a novice journalist, decides she’ll have to do it herself. Maybe people in the Vietnamese community will talk to her; after all, she’s one of them, not a white police officer, and she’s the older sister of the victim. Who could be more sympathetic?

Ky’s return home is the catalyst for an examination of the way growing up in Cabramatta influenced her and the price her parents paid as refugees trying to adapt to Australian culture. All That’s Left Unsaid is also the story of Ky’s close friendship with Minnie, who is her opposite in nearly every way. (Their relationship reminded me of Elena and Lila in My Brilliant Friend.) The mystery of Denny’s murder will keep you turning the pages, but the closely observed and sympathetic portrayals of the key characters are what will leave a lasting impression on readers.

You Are Here -- Karin Lin-Greenberg (Counterpoint Press)

You Are Here follows the community of people who work in a suburban Albany mall that is scheduled to close, possibly to be converted into apartments. Tina Huang owns a hair salon but dreams of returning to her true passion, art. Her son Jackson comes in after school every day to sweep up, do his homework, and secretly learn magic tricks. He befriends Maria, a high school student and aspiring actress who works in the food court. Tina’s most reliable customer is a lonely elderly woman named Ro, whose next-door neighbor, Kevin, manages the bookstore but is supposed to be finishing his dissertation. Kevin and his wife, who is Black, live with her mother. When her parents first moved to the neighborhood decades earlier, they were ostracized by Ro and everyone else.

The looming closure of the mall is the catalyst that causes their lives to become increasingly intertwined in complex and thought-provoking ways. In one sense, everyone is misunderstood because they are hiding key aspects of their true selves. But the glue that holds these people together is kindness, a latent community spirit, which shows up in unexpected ways. In the end, tragedy leads to surprising results.

Pet -- Catherine Chidgey (Europa Editions)

Pet is a psychological mystery (but not quite a thriller) involving a 12-year-old girl, Justine, who is enamored of her charismatic new teacher, Mrs. Price. Set in New Zealand in 1984, it offers a portrait of growing up in a slower and simpler time, yet one that is no less complicated when it comes to the desire to be understood and liked by peers and certain adults.

Mrs. Price is too charming by half, walking the fine line next to unsettling creepiness. Her unethical behavior has the plausible deniability essential to a gaslighting control freak. She manipulates the students individually and as a class, exploiting their insecurities, petty jealousies, and shifting alliances. Yet her young charges adore her and compete for her attention and approval.

The tension and rivalries increase when students’ belongings are stolen, one by one. Everyone has been victimized by the class thief except Amy, the sole Chinese-New Zealander and Justine’s best friend, making her the object of suspicion. This mystery leads to several complications in Justine’s life involving her teacher, friends, and widower father.

Peach Blossom Spring -- Melissa Fu (Back Bay Books)

Peach Blossom Spring is the story of four generations of one family over 60 years. When Japan invades China in 1938, Meilin and her young son, Dao Renshu, flee their home in central China. They eventually end up in Taiwan, where Chiang Kai-shek and the Chinese Nationalists have migrated with the hope of returning to mainland China after the Communists are defeated.

The first half of Peach Blossom Spring is an alternately harrowing and heartwarming depiction of refugee life. The second half of the book is the story of Renshu, now renamed Henry Dao, as he attends graduate school in Chicago in the 1960s and settles into life in the United States. But family and political issues complicate his otherwise contented life. Peach Blossom Spring is a satisfying novel that begins as a riveting story of war and refugee life and then shifts to a domestic drama that explores immigration, culture, and heritage.

The Missing Word -- Concita De Gregorio (Europa Editions)

Irina is an Italian lawyer living in Switzerland with her husband Mathias and their two daughters, Alessia and Livia. Their marriage ends after years of tension, and they maintain a relatively cordial relationship for the benefit of the girls. But one weekend Mathias fails to bring the girls back. They’ve disappeared. Then Mathias’s body is found, an apparent suicide. But where are the girls? Dead, lost, hidden?

In The Missing Word, journalist and broadcaster Concita De Gregorio imagines Irina’s life following this traumatic event. In a fragmented first-person narrative, De Gregorio puts us in the mind of a mother bereft of her children and relentlessly searching for them. She examines everything and everyone in an attempt to stitch together an explanation and find the girls, even if, as she eventually concedes, they are dead. There are letters to her husband, friend, therapist, and grandmother, as well as to the girls’ teacher, a prosecutor, and a judge (asking her to review the inconclusive investigation). The Missing Word is a riveting and heartbreaking exploration of parental love, memory, and the saving grace of words. But the missing word is one that describes a mother who has lost her children.

Vera – Carol Edgarian (Scribner)

Fifteen-year-old Vera Johnson is the illegitimate daughter of Rose, the infamous madam of a bordello in the Barbary Coast section of town, and a father whose identity remains unknown to Vera. Rose has farmed Vera out to be raised by a Swedish immigrant widow with a daughter of her own. Not surprisingly, Vera feels she has no real family and grows into a scrappy, street-smart girl. Her unsettled childhood has prepared her to adapt to a city and society in ruins. Vera begins shortly before the April 18 quake and follows Vera and her family and friends during a year that changes their lives. This coming-of-age story about a young woman and a city that didn’t play by the rules is a satisfying read.

No More Boats – Felicity Castagna (Europa Editions)

No More Boats made a big splash with its timely story of an earlier generation of immigrants closing the door on those trying to immigrate now. Antonio built a new life in the working-class western suburbs of Sydney in the late 1960s and 1970s, including raising two children whom he is proud to call Australian. Now it’s 2001, Antonio is much older, recently unemployed from a lifetime of construction work, and both Australia and his family have changed in ways that make them less recognizable to him. The situation disintegrates further when a boat with 400 refugees is held offshore by the government. Antonio becomes entangled in the resulting social and political soap opera, which has been inflamed by the media. No More Boats is a probing exploration of family life, immigration, changing cultures, and the things we do to find and keep our place in the world.

The Music Shop -- Rachel Joyce (Random House)

Rachel Joyce's fourth novel, The Music Shop, is a book for music lovers who remember the days of neighborhood record shops run by eccentric owners. It would also satisfy the curiosity of younger folks who regret that they never experienced the glory days of vinyl in the 1970s and most of the 1980s. The Music Shop is the story of Frank, who owns a uniquely ragged and disorganized record shop on a rundown cul-de-sac off the main street. His neighbors are half a dozen other businesses run by people who love what they do but aren’t very good at it. Like Frank, all the owners are eccentric, and over the years they’ve created a little community of misfits. Frank’s shop stands out for two reasons. It’s1988 and CDs are all the rage, but he refuses to stock them. And he has an uncanny gift for knowing what song or album a customer needs when they’re heartbroken, depressed, confused, or lonely. Frank is battling with record labels and distributors over his insistence on selling nothing but vinyl even though everyone keeps telling him it’s becoming obsolete. They warn him he’ll go out of business before long.

When a woman named Ilse Brauchmann drops by the store, Frank is perplexed and intrigued by her odd behavior and secretiveness. He can’t read her like the other customers. He and his assistant Kit are unable to find out anything about her, including why she always wears gloves. She tells Frank that she knows nothing about music and asks him to teach her about it in weekly lessons. It’s all very mysterious.

Rachel Joyce has crafted a story that pulls you in and holds you with its obvious love for the characters and especially for the lifesaving grace of music. It’s a mostly dark tale lightened by humor arising out of the characters’ quirky personalities and the intellectual and emotional dance of the awkward Frank and Ilse. Through the power of music they discover the truth about each other and ultimately themselves. The Music Shop will lift your spirits and send you in search of the music Frank was shaped by and the albums he recommends to customers.

The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone – Felicity McLean (Algonquin Books)

In the hot Australian summer of 1993, the three Van Apfel sisters disappeared. Their 11-year-old neighbor Tikka Malloy was as intrigued as everyone else searching for them in their small town. The girls were never found, and now, years later, Tikka has returned, determined to find out what happened to them. The Van Apfel Girls Are Gone is both a mystery and a moody, darkly funny coming of age story.