The Annual “Silkies”

As the first Silkie winner from the mystery genre, Bahamas West End Is Murder may seem like a departure from the cultural immersion previous winners have shared with readers. The story features American protagonists in the Bahamas who have an outsider’s perspective on their surroundings. But the sheer amount of research and personification Dirk Wyle portrays in his local characters, the conflict and interplay between foreigners and locals, and even the setting of it all won me over.

Bibliophilic dragons. Sea dragons. Dragons who love to cuddle. Alia Terra: Stories from the Dragon Realm reimagines fairy tales through radical acceptance. Author Ava Kelly and illustrator Matthew Spencer present three stories in both English and Romanian (as Alia Terra: Basme din Tărâmul Dragonilor), weaving tales of courage, acceptance, and self-discovery with characters who express gender and orientation freely.

In The Weight of Our Sky, Hanna Alkaf transports us to 1969 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, a city ablaze with racial tension between Malay and Chinese communities. At the center of this tumult is Melati Ahmad, a Beatles-loving teenager grappling with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) against the wartorn backdrop of her home country.  Melati’s OCD - which she believes to be proof of a djinni (or magical spirit from Persian folklore and, coincidentally, supporting character in Silk Rhode Books’ own Across the Sun saga) that’s taken up residence in her body - is characterized by distressing thoughts and compulsive behaviors increasing and mirroring the chaos erupting in her city.

This first installment of the Talon series brings young readers to a fascinating new place they’ll likely need to locate on a map to understand. It’s so refreshing to read a coming-of-age story of a place where most would know little of daily life. Gigi Sedlmayer, a German-born expatriate to Australia published this first YA novel of the series in 2013 about a young girl named Matica living on a remote plateau with a small indigenous community in Peru. Despite name-dropping three very different locations, there’s more to the story than just points on the globe, for sure.

The amusing tale of the boy-master, “Botchan”, was written by Soseki Natsume all the way back in 1908. Written as a first-person account, Botchan (we never learn his real name) is not shy when it comes to his lack of experience and tact. He is, however, quite certain about his morals and principles, calling people to task, and doing the right thing under the watch of heaven.