Identity Challenge 2015

[Happy]

Read a book / story / essay where the author's or a main character's social identity is highly important to them or to the story or non-fiction narrative:
lgbt (includes gay, lesbian, bisexual, asexual, transgender, bigender, and agender), disability, race, nationality, religion, etc.

Bonus points if it's an identity that you know very little about.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Great idea, Happy!
Is there a time limit on this one?

[Happy]

Let's make it fun... since it's about identity, you should finish it by your own birthday. =3

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

LOL!! I LOVE that idea!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

I'm in!
I will read an Identity Book before September 20, 2015.

[megan]

I'm in! Birthday is Jan 10th, so I better find something quick.

[Becca]

Megan wrote: "I'm in! Birthday is Jan 10th, so I better find something quick."

Not far behind you. Mine's the 14th.

[Izavel]

In for reading an identity book before October 25, 2015! :)

[megan]

I started reading my Identity Challenge pick, but the author and book links in Good Reads are basically nonexistent It Never Ends so here's the address to the author's page if anyone is interested: http://andyphelps.net/book

[Happy]

You can ask a Goodreads Librarian to add the book for you.

[Holly, That Geeky One]

I happen to be a Goodreads librarian, so I'm happy to set it up for you :)

This version of the book appears to have a bit more information, although it is the Kindle version. You can also find a paperback version here.

I'm updating it to include a description, and any other information I can find.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Holly's so awesome! Like a bookish cross between Janes Bond and Mary Poppins, she just keeps pulling out gadgets and coatracks. So awesome!

[Holly, That Geeky One]

Aha, I promise you Renee, I'm not that awesome. I just applied on a whim really and it came through. It's kinda nice having an electronic librarian counterpart to my usual volunteering in libraries!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

I think I'm going to use Beloved for this challenge. In the introduction, Toni Morrison talks about how the main character's experiences/identity, as a black woman/ex-runaway slave, affect the choices she has made. And how those experiences are a kind of legacy. It has already given me something new to think about, as to how the tendrils of slavery still can unconsciously affect our modern lives.

[[deleted user]]

I'm in! At least I have until Nov. 26 for this one ;)

[Sneha]

Anyone looking for recommendation in romance section? The guy in this story is deaf and a great musician.
Maybe Someday by Colleen Hoover.

[Happy]

The author is Nigerian-American, and the characters are Nigerian and then, briefly, Biafrian, during a failed attempt for one tribal region of Nigeria to secede. The title refers to the design on the flag of Biafra.

I never knew this unrecognized state existed. I had never heard of this civil war, which Adichie brings so vividly to life. The Biafrans never had a chance, because their region has the majority of Nigeria's oil production. Nigeria would never let them go, and they had the backing of the UK and the US.

It was the famine and starvation caused by the Biafran Secession that led to the formation of Médecins Sans Frontières ("Doctors Without Borders").

One image that has stayed with me is that of children playing with shrapnel after the shelling.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

That sounds very intense and also amazing. I know it's already on my Boxall list, but I'll definitely move it up.

[Melissa]

I have till June 14th, but I need help with suggestions. :D Thanks!

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

Finished!
Beloved by Toni Morrison
I struggle with Morrison's writing style, but I'm glad I read this. It gave me many things to think about.

[Sam]

I have til December 12th! Anyone have any suggestions for me?

[Melissa]

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson. Memoir done in free verse. She grew up in Ohio, then South Carolina, then New York City during the turbulent 60's and 70's as laws were changing and the voice of the African-American community were being heard. Beautiful book.

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

I don't know when I'm gonna fit that in, Melissa, but I'm looking forward to it.

[Melissa]

Renee wrote: "I don't know when I'm gonna fit that in, Melissa, but I'm looking forward to it."

I know I'm being repetitive, but it reads up pretty quick! :D

[Rogan]

I have tons of time until my birthday (December 29th) but I already have a book- and I plan to read it this month:

Wintergirls by Laurie Halse Anderson.
It's about anorexia.

[Dana]

Great choice, Rogan, Wintergirls is highly moving.

[Evan]

Just want to leave a suggestion here: Last Exit to Brooklyn. The book focuses on LGBTQ* subject matter and moves around a lot, but it's a very good book, if you can stomach it. There's lot of drug use and rough language, so reader beware, but when you peel back all the layers the story is about a bunch of outcast new yorkers trying their best to make their way with the hand they've been dealt while coming into their own. The book left me seriously disoriented, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. (I actually might read this again, it's been well over a year since I've picked it up.)

[Renee, Mistress of the Mini-Challenge]

November and December birthdays are still able to complete this mini-challenge... But the clock is ticking!!

[Evan]

More suggestions: Between the World and Me
The Color Purple
The Bluest Eye

[I've been catching up on my black and African-American authors, haha)

[Evan]

Oh! and My Friend Leonard