Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities #4) by Shannon Messenger

★★★★½

*** Warning: This review contains spoilers!! ***

I really enjoyed this installment! Sophie and the gang are now working with the Black Swan, so it's a pretty satisfying beginning. The first half of the book focused on Prentice, then the spotlight turned to Exillium, but there was a flow to the events, and there was a clear story arc involving the gnomes that tied it all together for the conclusion. There were lots of surprising revelations, plus a couple major events at the very end, one very poignant, the other a twist to set up the next book.

Ultimately, my rating is short of 5 stars because of some developments that seemed just too easy, or too simplistic. For example, Exillium's harsh practices were long-standing, yet Sophie was able to effect a full 180-degree change simply by telling two Councillors the truth? Did the Councillors really not know? Was there literally no oversight at Exillium?! Also, the whole idea that the Black Swan, and Della, would let 7 kids walk into Ravagog with only Alvar as a guide was a bit much, too. The Black Swan went out of their way to be secretive, but suddenly they needed Alvar's ogre knowledge, and they brought him on board, welcomed him to their hideout, assigned him a very important task without asking him to swear fealty first, and completely disregarded how Alvar used to argue with Alden against the Black Swan! Tam and Linh were equally unvetted, but at least they had nothing to lose, and good reason to help the gnomes.

Dear Friend: Letters of Encouragement, Humor, and Love for Women with Breast Cancer by Gina L. Mulligan

★★★★

A lovely collection of short letters to encourage and support women who have breast cancer. (Though men can and do get breast cancer, many of the letters assume the reader is a woman, as the book's subtitle indicates.)

A friend gave me this book when I was undergoing chemotherapy for breast cancer, and it was just what I needed to feel supported. It makes a perfect gift.

Most of the letters are written by women, some of whom are fellow survivors. There are a few letters here and there from men and children. I was impressed to find that letters from teenagers showed remarkable wisdom. In my reading, for every letter that did not quite resonate with me, there was at least one other that said exactly the words I needed to hear/read.

It's probably best not to read this book cover-to-cover in one sitting; instead, keep it nearby and pick it up whenever you need a little comfort.  

Overall extremely uplifting, but with a twinge of bittersweetness with the realization that complete strangers were able to provide more meaningful support than some of my own friends and family. Then again, these letters must have been carefully curated out of thousands to include only the most powerful and heartfelt words.

It's worth noting that all the letters in this book are printed as they were originally handwritten. I loved the beautiful pages of colorful stationery and doodles, and I enjoyed each letter-writer's unique penmanship. It occurs to me that maybe a younger generation of survivors might not appreciate the handwriting as much, since many schools no longer teach cursive.

The Land (Logans #1) by Mildred D. Taylor

★★★★★

A worthy prequel to Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry, The Land is an equally important and just as engrossing must-read book.

Taking place soon after the Civil War, The Land presents the reality of post-Civil War racism and white supremacy. This book is middle grade, though it does have some mature ideas along the lines of how the main character's married white father took his black mother to be "his colored woman". 

Mildred D. Taylor has an unparalled talent for both storytelling and character creation. Each richly-developed character offered a complex perspective to the story. There's Paul-Edward, the main character, whose black mama was owned by his white daddy before the Civil War, and who struggled greatly in his coming-of-age years to understand his own identity and his place in society. There's Hammond, George, and Robert, Paul-Edward's white half-brothers, who themselves needed to make decisions about being white while still staying loyal to family, regardless of race. There's Paul-Edward's white father, who does his best to raise and treat all his children equally while still maintaining a "respectable" place in a racist society, and also while having to teach Paul-Edward the reality of his place and position as a person of color. And there's Mitchell, the black boy whose family lives and works on Paul-Edward's father's land, who is at first resentful of Paul-Edward's half-whiteness, but then eventually comes to understand Paul-Edward. It is clear that every character in this book has their own story, and we are only seeing them as their lives intersect with Paul-Edward's.

Paul-Edward and Mitchell form a life-long bond of brotherhood, a friendship that defines trust and loyalty in the deepest meanings of those words.

Along the way, Paul-Edward deals with fair-minded white people who treat him respectfully and give us readers faith that those who lived in this time period had reason to hope for a better future. Of course, Paul-Edward also deals with his share of mean and double-crossing white supremacists. All the while, he works earnestly and tirelessly and keeps his eyes on the prize, which is the land he intends to buy, so that he may finally have something of his own.

Fans of Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry may appreciate, as I did, seeing a good-hearted young Wade Jamison, who grows up to be an ally to the Logan family and the black community.

Everblaze (Keeper of the Lost Cities #3) by Shannon Messenger

★★★½

*** Warning: This review contains spoilers! ***

The exciting titular event depicted in the cover illustration happens about halfway through the book. After that, I was sort of left wondering, "Okay... Now what?" Rest assured the last third of the book picks up quite a bit, with a number of satisyfing revelations!

Overall, I just didn't feel like this book was tight enough. There wasn't a defining climactic event, and the story didn't have a good flow. There was the assignment with Fitz, and then the adventure with Keefe, then one shocking plot twist, and then another. It was kind of just all over the place.

I was also bothered by a lack of character development between Sophie and her friends. Dex is the only friend who I feel has "earned" his place as "a good friend of Sophie's who wants to help her by going where she goes." Sophie and Fitz shared the trust exercises from their Telepathy classes, but that didn't feel like an authentic bond of friendship. Keefe is by far the most developed character on his own, but even though Sophie and Keefe share the Silveny bond, she never seems to warm up to him as a friend unless she's faced with his vulnerable side, which makes it seem like Keefe just likes to be around Sophie because exciting things happen when she's around. Sophie and Biana's friendship is the most baseless of all. They don't have much in common except playing base quest with Fitz and Keefe, a pretty convenient way for each girl to spend time with her crush (Fitz for Sophie, Keefe for Biana). It's like Biana just wants to join in because otherwise she'd be left out, and also she wants to be where Keefe is. I don't know if I'm being too harsh, but all I know is that when Hermione and Ron volunteered to leave school and run off with Harry to hunt horcruxes, it was pretty believable because of the strong friendship shared by all three. When Keefe, Fitz, and Biana all volunteer to run off with Sophie, I saw it as a plot device, not really genuine.

Still, the Council versus the Black Swan versus Neverseen and ogres makes for a pretty exciting set-up, and now that we know who some of the Neverseen players are, it'll be fun to see where the story goes next.

Her2: The Making of Herceptin, a Revolutionary Treatment for Breast Cancer by Robert Bazell

★★★★★

I first read about the dramatic story behind Herceptin in The Emperor of All Maladies, a sweeping biography of cancer that includes Herceptin as one of many major developments in cancer research. When I learned of a book that dives in deep and provides all the fascinating details of Herceptin's own biography, I jumped to read it.

This story has all the players you might expect, and more. There are academic researchers, oncologists, and biotechnology executives; insurance companies, government agencies, Hollywood philanthropists, and activists. There are missed opportunities, serendipitous encounters, and determined individuals with unrelenting perseverence. 

The author, Robert Bazell, interweaves the story of Herceptin with stories of women with breast cancer who helped make the drug available by participating in clinical trials or by advocating for compassionate access before it was FDA-approved. Bazell provides important facts about cancer and cancer research alongside candid accounts of the reality of cancer treatment and recurrence. There is poignancy and meaning in each woman's story. 

For me, this book is personal, so maybe my rating is inflated. I was diagnosed with a HER2-positive breast cancer and am currently receiving targeted therapy with Herceptin. I am keenly aware that if I had been diagnosed 25 years earlier, my prognosis would very likely have been much more grim. I am deeply indebted to every individual who believed that Herceptin would save lives, and who persisted despite obstacles and set-backs. I feel sincere gratitude towards each woman whose participation in a clinical trial helped bring the drug to market.

Finally, this book reaffirmed my belief that health care and pharmaceuticals should not be for-profit industries. I am horrified to think of how many potentially life-saving drugs aren't under development because corporate executives don't see a path to profit. 

Exile (Keeper of the Lost Cities #2) by Shannon Messenger

★★★

I still like the series, but I felt this book was lacking. I was a bit bored at the start, feeling like the story didn't pick up until chapter 8. I was annoyed at all the explicit recapping, but my daughter said if I had to wait a year in between reading books, I'd have appreciated it. The adults in this series seem to have a bigger role than I realized, because we didn't get to see any peers for Sophie until Dex appeared in chapter 15.

Similarities to Harry Potter continue, e.g., the mesmer talent is analogous to the imperius curse, and inflicting is like the cruciatus curse. Also, Silveny the flying horse-like alicorn was reminiscent of Buckbeak the flying half-horse hippogriff. But just as my son assured me, by the end of this book, the series veered quite a bit away from the wizarding world of Harry Potter. 

I was surprised at how dark and disturbing some of the scenes were, e.g., people consumed to death by flames, minds shattered to the point of insanity. I liked the encouraging message about not letting yourself get destroyed by guilt. And I thought it was weird how quickly elves turned to sedatives to calm down, instead of just trying to calm down naturally. 

Overall, the whole arc of the story just seemed kind of convoluted. The link between Sophie wanting to save Alden and her figuring some doodles in an old diary would be the answer seemed awfully tenuous. And sure, all the clues left by the Black Swan were intriguing and helped to build suspense, but why all the riddles? If they were able to contact Sophie directly via private messages in her locker, why not just give her clear instructions? 

Finally, I had to dock the rating a star because I really disliked the way the author reframed J.R.R. Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings was a seminal work of fantasy and literature, yet in Shannon Messenger's elven world, Tolkien was unoriginal and didn't understand his own writing. Maybe she was trying to pay homage to Tolkien's elves, but the execution was lacking and, at least to me, it felt derisive.

Keeper of the Lost Cities (Keeper of the Lost Cities #1) by Shannon Messenger

★★★★½

Super derivative and frequently reminded me of Harry Potter. Sophie, like Harry, was a pre-teen who had only ever known a human existence when suddenly she finds out she is something else. They were both whisked away to a special school in a secret world hidden from humans. They feel inadequate for not understanding the ways of "their people", yet they are both uniquely more advanced than their peers in special ways. Light leaping is analogous to apparating and disapparating, and Keefe's dad reminded me a lot of Lucius Malfoy.

All that said, even if this work is derivative, my son says it gets more original in future books, and my daughter points out that at least it's well-executed. I'll have to keep reading to see if I agree with my son, but I can say I do agree with my daughter. Characters are engaging, the plot is intriguing. What exactly is the big secret of Sophie's existence?! Sophie's crush is a little eye-rolling, but it's all age-appropriate. I also really like that Sophie seems to have a good head on her shoulders. Most of the time, she properly turns to adults in times of crisis, and when she doesn't, the repurcusions are swift.

I'm giving the book short of 5 stars because it kind of irks me the way Marella and Jensi were just dropped. They were the first to reach out to Sophie in school, not knowing anything about her, and I think they deserved more consideration than they got! At one point, Sophie has a falling out with some people and laments that she "had no friends". But what about Marella and Jensi!? Apparently they are chopped liver.

Dr. Susan Love's Breast Book (6th Edition) by Susan M. Love

★★★★½

The first thing that struck me was the very first line of the Acknowledgments, in which Dr. Susan Love says that she revises this book every 5 years. From my own limited research, it's clear that the treatment of breast cancer has had major developments over the last few decades, and it's good to know this book stays abreast (haha) of new advancements. 

The second thing that struck me was the very first line of the Introduction, in which Dr. Love notes that this sixth edition, published in 2015, will probably be the last revision. I hope this is not really the case, because this book is such a thorough, accessible, go-to reference for breast cancer. It would be a shame if future women don't have an up-to-date resource like this one! I hope that maybe someone else from the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation will take over the book and ensure it's continued relevancy. (Maybe they figure everything should just be online these days...)

Dr. Love's writing style is colloquial, her descriptions and explanations are clear and easy to understand. A quote on the front cover touts this book as "the bible for women with breast cancer," and it really is. I think any woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer should get their hands on this book as soon as possible and keep it close by for reference. 

This isn't a book that needs to be read cover to cover; chapter titles are self-explanatory, and there is a complete index, so you can look up terms and topics and questions as they come up. (In fact, there are sections towards the end titled "How Long Do I Have?" and "End-of-Life Planning: Making Your Wishes Known" that I really hope I don't ever have to read.)  

That said, this book isn't just for women who have already been diagnosed with breast cancer. Any woman who has started getting mammograms, or who has found a lump and is facing a possible diagnosis, should have this book, too. There are entire chapters on screening and diagnosis that I imagine would be very helpful if they are read even before being diagnosed, or while going through it.

In my personal experience, I wish I had this book for reference as soon as I felt a lump. My cousin gave me the book in the time between diagnosis and double mastectomy, but I admit I didn't read it right away, and that's on me. I should have read the sections on mastectomy and sentinel lymph node biopsy before my surgery. All the information is so straightforward and thorough; the book included everything that I had otherwise gathered from multiple web sites and online support groups, plus some. Moreover, my online research involved having to filter out random pieces of information that didn't apply to me, and it took a lot longer than if I had just read a few pages of this book instead.

I finally picked this book up about 3 weeks after my surgery, just before meeting with my medical oncologist. Once I saw how accessible the information was, I jumped ahead, searched the index, and read the pages about types of cancers and different kinds of treatment. Reading just these select pages helped me feel more prepared for my appointment. And as soon as my oncologist confirmed my treatment plan, including chemotherapy and hormone therapy, I went straight to relevant sections of the book.

I did notice that the book does not use some common terms, even when it does address the particular issue. For example, it mentions that after a mastectomy, "surrounding tissue under the arm may seem baggy and excessive and hang over your bra," (p. 475) but it doesn't use the term "dog ears", which is how the condition is referred to in online forums. It also describes "axillary web syndrome" (p. 348) as a side effect of lymph node surgery, but does not use the word "cording", and neither term is included in the index. As someone who happened to develop cording after surgery, an index reference to this topic would have been nice.

Additionally, not every drug is specifically mentioned. For example, in the section on gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists, Zoladex (name brand for goserelin) is discussed, but not Lupron (name brand for leuprolide). Taxol (name brand for paclitaxel) is also not in the index. I understand that not every single drug can be covered, but as someone being prescribed these medicines, the omissions were noteworthy for me.

I do wonder if the book being published in 2015 has anything to do with the above two observations. Like maybe the terms "dog ears" and "cording" have only recently become more widely used? Or maybe Lupron and Taxol are less common these days? I don't know.

Because this book is more like a reference book, I have not read it in its entirety. I certainly plan to use it as needed moving forward.

The Cancer Journals: Special Edition by Audre Lorde

★★★★

The actual book is a very brief 79 pages. The special edition additionally includes 20 pages of photos and posthumous tributes to Audre Lorde, who died of liver cancer in 1992. I am reviewing only the content written by Audre Lorde; I admit I did not read all the tributes that followed.

Audre Lorde was a black lesbian feminist poet. Her writing is at times poetic or edgy. It's important to keep in mind that this book was written in 1978, and the landscape of breast cancer detection, treatment, and prognosis has changed significantly since then; genetics as a factor in the occurrence of breast cancer was not yet known at the time. She advocated for going flat after a mastectomy, and was against wearing prostheses. She was sometimes skeptical of the medical establishment, and she supported exploring alternative therapies.

The book started out non-linearly. On page 26, Audre Lorde began to tell her story narratively.

One speech reprinted in this book was given after Audre Lorde had surgery for what ultimately turned out to be a benign growth, before she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo a mastectomy. Her speaking at this point in time is powerful. Many women experience the fear of breast cancer, and are thankfully spared. Their experiences and voices are valid in conversations about breast cancer. For every woman with breast cancer, the path began with that fear of suddenly becoming "forcibly and essentially aware of [your own] mortality" (p. 17), and a hope to be spared.

I don't think I would automatically recommend this book for anyone diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing a mastectomy, but it's certainly worth a read if you have been diagnosed and are working through emotions, or are considering going flat. Reconstruction was still a relatively new post-mastectomy procedure back in 1978, but it's no surprise (given her feelings on prostheses) that she referred to it as an "atrocity". (p. 70) If you've already decided to go flat, this book can be a strong affirmation of your decision.

This book was a very personal read for me, so the rest of this space I will use to identify quotes that were especially meaningful to me, and why.

"These selected journal entries... exemplify the process of integrating this crisis [of breast cancer and mastectomy] into my life." (p. 8)

Having cancer is not a "phase". It's not something you "get over" or "put behind you". Being diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing a mastectomy changes you forever. The non-existence of your breasts is a constant, daily reminder. There's always a chance the cancer will return, and you live with that "background noise of fear" (p. 12) and anxiety for the rest of your life.

"[W]hat is most important to me must be spoken...the speaking profits me, beyond any other effect." (p. 17)

Well, I'm glad Audre Lorde spoke, because her speaking profited me, too. As a woman with breast cancer recovering from a double mastectomy without reconstruction and having a whole lot to process, reading this book assured me that I am not alone. So much of what she wrote - about fear, mortality, self-identity, pain (both physical and emotional), even the feeling of support when showered with the care and concern of others - resonated with me personally, even as the details of her experiences differed from mine.

"Once I accept the existence of dying, as a life process, who can ever have power over me again?" (p. 24)

Variations of this sentiment were repeated a few times throughout the book. Being diagnosed with cancer means being forced to face your mortality. It's just a really powerful idea that once you face the very real possibility of death, everything else is put into perspective.

"I am a post-mastectomy woman who believes our feelings need voice in order to be recognized, respected, and of use." (p. 7)

"I am also writing to...[set] down my artifacts, not only for later scrutiny, but also to be free of them. I do not wish to be free from their effect... but free from having to carry them around in a reserve part of my brain." (p. 54)

These words echoed my own feelings of why I decided to keep a blog about my breast cancer experience. The "of use" part is why I made my blog public; I hope my experiences can help support and reassure another woman in her time of uncertainty, anxiety, and fear.

"[The] socially sanctioned prosthesis is merely another way of keeping women with breast cancer silent and separate from each other." (p. 14)

"Prosthesis offers the empty comfort of 'Nobody will know the difference.' But it is that very difference which I wish to affirm, because I have lived it, and survived it, and wish to share that strength with other women... [W]omen with mastectomies must become visible to each other." (p. 62)

1 in 8 women will eventually be diagnosed with breast cancer, but you wouldn't know that by looking around you. There is a whole sisterhood of potential support for one another, but we don't know who has borne the burden of breast cancer because we try to hide the evidence of having been through it. I get it. Social norms are hard to go against. Women are "supposed" to have breasts. But what if we could recognize our warrior sisters on sight? I think it would be empowering. Of course it's a very personal decision whether or not to get reconstruction, and if not, then whether or not to wear prostheses. I have chosen no reconstruction, and I'm not sure yet where I'll end up regarding prostheses, but certainly this book has inspired me to more boldly embrace being flat, and has reassured me of the power and peace of not wearing prostheses.

I think it's worth noting that while Audre Lorde doesn't spend a lot of time reassuring women who do choose to wear prostheses, she does say that prostheses "can still serve a real function for the woman who is free enough to choose when and why she wears one or not." (p. 68) She was not completely against prostheses; what bothered her was how much immediately wearing a prosthesis was considered the normal, default thing to do, and how it was a way for women to reclaim their "old selves" before even allowing them the time and space and opportunity to get to know and love their new selves, sans breast.

No Other Gods: The Politics of the Ten Commandments by Ana Levy-Lyons

★★★½

Full disclosure: I went into this book self-identifying as a politically liberal Christian.

In this book, Ana Levy-Lyons shows us how the Ten Commandments support liberal Christianity. "Liberal Christianity" may seem like an oxymoron if your idea of Christianity is what is presented by the conservative, right-wing Christians who seem to dominate the American religious landscape. But here, Levy-Lyons even goes so far as to call out the religious right for the ways in which their interpretation of Christianity actually breaks some of the Ten Commandments.

Interestingly, I associated the Ten Commandments so strongly with Christianity that I was a bit surprised when I realized the author is Jewish. But of course, the first five books of the Old Testament are the Torah, so the Ten Commandments are as much a part of Judaism as they are a part of Christianity.  

Rather than write off the Ten Commandments as irredeemably outdated, oppressive, and a symbol of tribalism, the author encourages us to reclaim these ancient teachings within the context of modern times. She is clear that she is not trying to define what the Ten Commandments "actually" mean; instead, she examines the original text of each commandment and extends the interpretation beyond the literal. What do the Ten Commandments offer us, spiritually and politically, in the 21st century? Levy-Lyons proposes that keeping the Ten Commandments is to "reclaim...the concept of God...as a force for justice and stewardship of the earth." (p. 96) She leads us to think beyond our individual selves to see how the Ten Commandments can shape our thinking in regards to broader issues such as protecting the environment and supporting a living minimum wage.

The chapter on the Fourth Commandment about observing the Sabbath especially resonated with me. The author interprets this Commandment as urging us to take time to slow down and take care of ourselves on a regular basis, engaging in "joyful, life-affirming, relationship-building, or spiritually deepening deployments of our time." (p. 112) She notes the irony in how, in our over-scheduled world of commitments and busy-ness, "it takes discipline...to enter into an undisciplined, formless time." (p. 119)

The chapter on the Sixth Commandment that forbids killing was also especially eye-opening for me. (The commandment is not as straightforward as one might expect.)

I admit, the writing in this book didn't grab me at first. What finally made the book click for me was imagining the words being spoken as in a sermon. The whole book is like a really great, thought-provoking sermon series. 

I do wish the book, as a work of non-fiction, had references. The author makes a lot of statements that we are expected to accept at face value, without being given a source. Statements like, "Over one billion people in the world lack access to safe drinking water," (p. 166) and, "Today in the United States the average CEO makes a salary several hundred times that of the average worker." (p. 202)  I know these statements are in the ballpark of being true (I don't know exact figures) because I keep up with the news and current events. But I can see someone else doubting those kinds of statements, wondering if maybe she's exaggerating. 

They Called Us Enemy by George Takei

★★★★

Disclaimer: I'm a huge George Takei fan, so I was probably predisposed to like this book.

I was pleased to find that even though I had read George Takei's autobiography To The Stars, seen his Broadway musical Allegiance, followed him on Facebook, read countless articles by and about him, and watched who knows how many interviews on video - still this book had details that were new to me.

The book centers on George Takei's experiences growing up in an internment camp during World War II, but it does briefly touch upon his acting and activism at the end of the book. Published just this year, the graphic novel includes a panel that draws a clear parallel to the current border crisis.

Mostly this book is an excellent way to educate new audiences about a part of American history that is still largely unknown. Telling this personalized history through illustrations and from the perspective of childhood humanizes the events. The remembrances of happy moments shed surprising warmth on an otherwise dark and painful time. Through the agonizing decisions faced by George Takei's parents, we see the injustices perpetrated by our government on our own citizens, and we see how time and time again the Japanese-Americans were in "lose-lose" positions, yet they persevered with as much dignity and resolve as they could muster.

Ultimately, I rated this book short of 5 stars because I found the storytelling choppy. The narrative jumped unexpectedly from George Takei's childhood to a TEDx talk in 2014 back to childhood flashbacks then forward to a Day of Remembrance event in 2017, etc. Even scenes that followed chronologically were sometimes difficult for me to separate as new events taking place on a new day or in a new setting. I admit that I usually do not read graphic novels, though, so I am not the target audience, and maybe I'm just not accustomed to graphic novel storytelling.

Anyway. I hope this book finds its way into many school libraries and classrooms.

Part Asian, 100% Hapa by Kip Fulbeck

★★★★★

I LOOOOOVE that this book exists.

My children are Hapa, and I want them to feel like they belong, that they have "their people". We are lucky to live in an area with plenty of other part-Asian kids, but seeing a world of Hapas outside our own community, of all ages and ethnicities, is even more empowering.

Each 2-page spread features a photo of a person, their self-identified ethnicities (to demystify their race so you can't be distracted by the mystery), and their own handwritten responses to the age-old question faced by anyone who is not white: "What are you?"

The answers are amazing. They are thoughtful and irreverent, earnest and frivolous. The wide range of responses just can't be summarized. Every page is worth reading, every story deserves to be heard.

This book reminded me of a Facebook post by The Love Life Of An Asian Guy. Only now do I realize that the post was inspired by one of the photos in this book! These are the words of LLAG:

Dear EVERYONE,

Stop invalidating folks who are multiracial. There are (at least) three different ways to identity as a multiracial POC:

1.) Who you are based on DNA percentages ("I'm 50% Filipino and 50% Black")
2.) Who you are based on your physical appearance ("I'm Filipino and Black but I look and experience life as a Black individual.")
3.) Who you are based on culture ("I'm Filipino and Black but I connect more with my Filipino heritage.")

We should let multiracial folks make that decision on their own instead of us trying to fit them into boxes that we prefer.

But, even better (IMO) is the belief that multiracial folks are 100% of everything. 100% Black. 100% Filipino. 100% them. We can still address colorism and privilege without striping them of their right to identify.

If they wanna self hate and neglect their POC side in favor of their whiteness, so be it. It's their loss.

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee

★★★★★

This book is impressively approachable. I found the author's writing exceptionally concise and engaging, though admittedly I got a bit muddled in trying to understand the DNA research towards the end.

It's a sweeping account chronicling everything related to cancer from causes and prevention to detection and treatment, from laboratory scientists making discoveries to physician researchers running clinical trials to the individual patients facing down cancer with bravery and dignity.

As the author lays out the history of cancer, there are incredible stories of pathologists and chemists and physician-scientists whose individual contributions came together over many decades to eventually result in the discovery of a new cancer or a new chemical to treat cancer. It was nothing short of fascinating to follow the history of chemotherapy through textile dyes and mustard gas. Ideas changed and developed and were tied back to concepts first proposed centuries earlier.

Much of the history of cancer research has taken place in Boston, and growing up in this area, it was particularly enlightening for me to learn about the stories behind well-known institutions and individuals like the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the Jimmy Fund, and Vannevar Bush. (As a student at MIT, I walked by a room named for him almost every day, and attended events in the room, but never had any idea who he was.) I even learned that a nearby town, Framingham, is the site of a massive epidemiological study that has led to a number of medical findings.

Remarkably - and this is altogether beside the point of the book - I could not help but take note, especially in today's political climate, how a great many of the researchers in the U.S. who made strides in the fight against cancer were immigrants or from immigrant families. I also saw parallels between the tobacco industry's refusal to acknowledge the dangers of cigarette smoking and the present-day gun industry's refusal to acknowledge the dangers of gun violence. If Big Tobacco, "an industry once thought virtually impregnable," (p. 267) could eventually be well-regulated, then maybe there is hope that the gun industry could one day be well-regulated, too.

On a personal note, this book was a gift to my husband (a teacher) from a student who wanted to share the book that had an outsized impact on him, inspiring him to want to become a doctor. The book sat on our shelf for years, and I didn't pick it up until I was diagnosed with breast cancer myself. Suddenly, I felt drawn to the book, and reading it felt like a kind of opposition research. While the book discusses many different cancers from leukemia to breast cancer to prostate cancer, a good portion of the history of cancer centers on breast cancer. I repeatedly felt that much of the information was directly relevant to me. I certainly now have a better understanding of how surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and hormone therapy are all tools in an oncologist's toolbox, but figuring out which tool will work, and how exactly to use it, is highly dependent on the specific stage and type of cancer being treated.

What is clear from this book is that I am thankful for - indeed I feel deeply indebted to - every person ever drawn to study, treat, and attempt to cure cancer, every patient whose diagnosis, illness, treatment, and death helped to further the understanding of cancer and push the community towards a cure. Poignancy abounds in the history of cancer. Scientists who discovered the healing properties of radiation, only to succumb themselves to radiation-induced cancer. Patients who made up the statistics that drove the research towards a cure, but who were all individual persons with families and interests and full lives they weren't ready to leave.

It's been a very long, arduous, terrifying fight. The descriptions of the earliest mastectomies are horrifying, and I feel immensely grateful for being lucky enough to be diagnosed in 2019, when anesthesia, sterilization, and pain killers are customary parts of the procedure. Particularly astonishing to me was the realization that much of my treatment as a cancer patient is heavily reliant on discoveries and advances in cancer medicine that took place relatively recently, over the course of my own lifetime.

I would not go so far as to recommend this book to cancer patients. I might be a weirdo in the extent to which I am curious about what I am up against. But it's definitely a book worth reading for anyone who wants to know more about cancer, for whatever reason.

Classroom Voices on Education and Race: Students Speak from Inside the Belly of the Beast by Daniel Frio

★★★★

I picked up this book because I have close ties to Wayland High School, the school featured in this book. I believe many of the issues Mr. Frio describes in the book have continued and remain unaddressed.

The first two chapters serve to provide a background of Mr. Frio's teaching experience. Starting in the third chapter, class and race relations at Wayland High School are discussed in depth. Mr. Frio compiled student quotes and journal entries from over 30 years of teaching at WHS, but many of the student voices he shared very well could have been attributed to current students.

Especially insightful are his observations about the METCO (Metropolitan Council for Educational Opportunity) program, the Boston-based voluntary school desegregation busing program. Interestingly, the book talks at length about the "accommodations" black and Latino students in the METCO program have to make in order to fit in with Wayland's predominantly white student body, but the phrase "code switching" is never used. Presumably this book was written just before the term became prevalent.

I was pleased to see a chapter dedicated to Asian Americans. Too often, conversations about race are limited to black vs. white perspectives, but in a town where 16% of the students are Asian, it's critical to include Asian Americans at the center of any discussions about race.

Notably, there is an entire chapter focused on white students' ignorance about racial matters, their sense of guilt, and how those conditions prevented them from openly discussing and exploring race. A white teacher able to model how to talk about race, and one who sees the importance of teaching white students how to be social justice allies, is invaluable.

The book helpfully offers up lessons learned as well as recommendations. I feel like Mr. Frio has provided a diagnosis with all the supporting evidence, and now it's up to the school - WHS in particular, but other schools as well - to move forward and actually address these issues by making systemic changes in curriculum, teacher training, and administrative policies.

In the end I gave this book 4 stars because something about the writing style tripped me up. I just found myself frequently re-reading a lot of sentences.

Below are a few quotes that I found particularly informative or instructive.

"When tough issues are left unaddressed by the adults, the students' education on these issues, by default, enters into a school's hidden curriculum, which produces significant learning outcomes... which generally contradict the formal curriculum." (pg. 1)

"Students who live in two worlds, particularly non-whites, need their primary identity affirmed as a foundation for academic confidence and success." (pg. 23)

"The grade and college competition, in conjunction with the social pressures to live a trendy lifestyle, tend to mimic the stresses of the adult world, a world that has increasingly encroached on kids before they are emotionally equipped to cope." (pg. 29)

"If the racial issues that continue to divide the United Sates are to be overcome they must be addressed early in life, and the public schools should welcome the challenge." (pg. 45)

"Although all students had been exposed to 'great black leaders,' their education had not explicitly provided them with whites who had also led the fight against racism. Nor could they generally identify such people in their immediate world. This significant gap in the formal curriculum, if left unaddressed, will reinforce the feeling among whites that the fight for racial equity is a non-white issue." (pg. 53)

"No real education would actually take place [after a racial incident] since each event would be attributed to individual aberrations, rather than the conspicuous signs of deeper, systemic problems." (pg. 78)

The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority by Ellen D. Wu

★★★½

I'm an Asian American. When I was in college (a couple decades ago), I didn't even know that Asian American Studies was a thing. If I had taken any classes in it, I imagine this is the kind of book I would have read for class (though this particular book, published in 2013, wasn't available back then).

While absolutely informative, I also found this book to be academic and dense. I'd give 4-plus stars for the content, but maybe 3-minus stars for readability, which averages out to something like 3.5 stars.

This book focuses on the Chinese and Japanese experiences, as those have been the most visible Asian ethnicities in U.S. history, and they are the populations around which the model minority emerged. Going into this book, I had a working knowledge of major pieces of Chinese and Japanese American history as separate and distinct events, but this book - for the first time I have encountered - studies Japanese internment alongside the Chinese Exclusion Act. During World War II, when the U.S. allied with China to fight Japan, Japanese Americans suffered from their assumed allegiance to their ethnic country of origin, while Chinese Americans benefited from the same assumption.

After WWII, integration became even more complicated as U.S.-Japan relations were strained and Communism took hold in China and threatened to spread throughout East Asia. Both Japanese and Chinese Americans loudly declared their support for American ideals, but at the same time, there was value on the international stage in promoting cultural plurality in America, to show that America truly was a place of equal opportunity, regardless of race.

Both groups were cast as "assimilating Others," capable of being culturally American despite clearly being racially distinct. Asian Americans were definitely not white, but also definitely not black, and the model minority was consciously created as a "simultaneously inclusive and exclusive reckoning" (p. 9) of Asian Americans as part of the national identity. Asian Americans themselves engaged in self-stereotyping, eager to "dislodge deeply embedded 'yellow peril' caricatures." (p. 6) It was a conscious effort to align themselves with white middle class Americans, and to separate themselves from African and Mexican and Filipino Americans (despite sharing common experiences of oppression), thereby upholding white supremacy in the process. Inevitably, the model minority became a wedge that divided Asian Americans from other minority groups seeking equal rights, particularly African Americans.

Personally, I would have liked to learn more about the model minority in the post-1960s era - the time in which I've lived and have first-hand experience - but this time period is only discussed briefly in the Epilogue, which touches upon the "repudiation of the model minority and its assimilationists origins...[as well as how activists] deliberately inverted the trope of non-blackness and instead embraced affinities with" other racial minorities. (p. 247)