What We Are Reading in November and December

“The Other Side of Tomorrow” is a poignant, unprecedented middle-grade graphic novel in verse that captures the dangers and hope that come with fleeing North Korea for a brighter future through the lives of two brave children. Shy, resourceful Yunho hopes to reunite with his omma, while fierce, vibrant Myunghee is reaching for dreams that are bigger than anything the regime would allow her to have. The two are strangers until a chance encounter unwittingly intertwines their fates and Myunghee saves Yunho’s life. Together, they face a road plagued by jungle snakes, corrupt soldiers, and the daily fear of discovery and imprisonment, while clinging to hope for freedom. 

Lila, a New York book editor, returns to Kolkata after learning that she has inherited her family’s enormous ancestral home — and the secrets that lie within. Lila is reunited with her mother after a decade of estrangement, plus her extended family members, all of whom still live in the house and resent her sudden inheritance. On top of that, Lila’s first boyfriend wants to reunite, and her occasional lover is suddenly determined to make things serious. Inspired by the author’s own family history and lineage, “The Magnificent Ruins” is a sweeping multigenerational debut that intricately blends familial legacy, cultural silence and confrontation, and personal redemption

This darkly funny novel follows two sisters who are bound by an ancient secret: They were snakes during the Tang Dynasty in China. When Emerald, who lives in New York, experiences a violent encounter, her sister, Su, flies over from Singapore, leading to a tenuous reconciliation for the first time in decades. Su convinces Emerald to move to Singapore, but soon begins to worry that Emerald’s irrepressible behavior will out them both. Razor-sharp, hilarious, and raw in emotion, “Sister Snake” explores chosen family, queerness, passing, and the struggle against conformity. Reimagining the Chinese folktale “The Legend of the White Snake,” this is a novel about being seen for who you are — and, ultimately, how to live free.

Claudia Lin has scored her dream job: co-running Veracity, a dating detective agency for chronically online New Yorkers who want to know if their prospective partners are telling the truth — until she and her colleagues uncover a far-reaching AI conspiracy. And the corporate matchmakers may be resorting to murder to protect their secrets. Meanwhile, Claudia is distracted by the possibility of romance with both her colleague and a charming target. She also fears that her older brother is being drawn into the matchmakers’ deadly web. “The Rivals” is a witty and thought-provoking mystery that reimagines the spy story to explore the nature of relationships in a digital age.

This witty and insightful novel offers a portrait of family through the lens of two family vacations. Keru and Nate are college sweethearts who marry despite their family differences: Keru’s strict Chinese immigrant parents demand perfection, while Nate’s rural, white working-class family distrusts his intellectual ambitions and his “foreign” wife. Several years into their marriage, the families vacation together, leaving them wondering if they could possibly tackle the big questions: How do you cope when your spouse and your family of origin clash? How many people (and dogs) make a family? And when the pack starts to disintegrate, what can you do to shepherd everyone back together? 

Kim Ronyoung tells the story of two immigrants who fled Japanese-occupied Korea for Los Angeles in the decade prior to World War II, and their American-born children. First published in 1986, “Clay Walls” describes what being Korean in California meant in the first half of the 20th century and how these immigrants’ nationalist spirit helped them withstand racism and poverty. Kim explores the tensions within immigrant families and new Americans, and addresses themes of Korean immigration, U.S. racism, generational trauma, and the early decades of Los Angeles’s Koreatown from a Korean American woman’s point of view. What resonates most in the book is the voice of a woman and her self-determination, through national identity, marriage, and motherhood.

After a lifetime of war, Alaric and Talasyn were thrust into an alliance between their homelands that was supposed to end the fighting; however, being married to their sworn foe feels far from peaceful. Now Talasyn must play the part of Alaric’s willing empress while her allies secretly plot to overthrow his reign. But the longer the couple are forced together, the harder it becomes to deny the feelings crackling like lightning between them. When the time comes to act, can she trust him, or must she ignore her heart for the sake of so many others? In this much-anticipated follow-up to “The Hurricane Wars,” prepare for more enemies-to-lovers romance, magical adventures, and political schemes in this Southeast Asian-inspired world.