September 30: CSW Alum Latinx Fantasy Writer + Book of the Week & More

Daniel José Older, a 1993 alum of CSW, is the NY Times bestselling author of the fantasy young adult series, The Shadowshaper Cypher, which follows a young Afro-Latina named Sierra who discovers her family’s history of supernatural powers and her ability to interact with the spirit world. Older won the International Latino Book Award and has been nominated for the Kirkus Prize, the Mythopoeic Award, the Locus Award, the Andre Norton Award, and the World Fantasy Award. His latest book, The Book of Lost Saints, is an evocative multigenerational Cuban-American family story of revolution, loss, and family bonds.

All of Older’s books are available for check out at the CSW Library. 

Each week, the CSW Library highlights one title in our BOOK OF THE WEEK feature to help you choose (or not choose) your next read.

All of Us with Wings is a dark and magical coming of age story about love, found family, and healing. Perfect for fans of music, magic, and life in San Francisco told through the eyes of 17 year old Mexican-American, Xochi, who accidentally summons a pair of ancient beings bound to avenge the past.

This book is available in our physical collection, as well as on ebook and in audio.

Dive into this profile of author Ruth Ozeki for Vulture on the heels of the publication of her latest book, The Book of Form and Emptiness. She discusses the writing process and attending Massachusetts boarding schools as a child, which created friction and isolation between her and her already fraying family. A nervous breakdown and subsequent hospital stay formed the inspiration for her protagonist, Benny, in her latest novel. From her home in North Hampton, Ozeki shares hope and resilience, discusses scraping by to matriculate at Smith College (where she now teaches creative writing) and the confusion of straddling worlds as a mixed race person growing up in the 60s, as well as a perception of her, while living in Japan, as being something other than small, delicate, and Asian, as she was seen in the United States--feeling empowered to be boisterous, loud, and funny...American.

Interested in reading some of Ozeki’s work? It’s available for check out from the CSW Library.