Open Mic: Riffs on Life Between Cultures in Ten Voices

Reseña del editor

Using humor as the common denominator, a multicultural cast of YA authors steps up to the mic to share stories touching on race.

Listen in as ten YA authors—some familiar, some new—use their own brand of humor to share their stories about growing up between cultures. Henry Choi Lee discovers that pretending to be a tai chi master or a sought-after wiz at math wins him friends for a while—until it comically backfires. A biracial girl is amused when her dad clears seats for his family on a crowded subway in under a minute flat, simply by sitting quietly in between two uptight white women. Edited by acclaimed author and speaker Mitali Perkins, this collection of fiction and nonfiction uses a mix of styles as diverse as their authors, from laugh-out-loud funny to wry, ironic, or poingnant, in prose, poetry, and comic form.

Biografía del autor

Mitali Perkins is the author of numerous books for teens and younger readers, including Monsoon Summer and Secret Keeper. She was born in India and immigrated to the United States with her parents and two sisters when she was seven. Bengali-style, her and her sisters' names all rhyme: Sonali means "gold," Rupali means "silver," and Mitali means "friendly." About Open Mic, she says, "Humor crosses borders like no other literary device. Shared laughter fosters community and gets us talking about issues that might otherwise cause division or discomfort." Mitali Perkins lives with her husband just outside Boston.