By Danielle Winterton
Crossing the Boulevard: Strangers, Neighbors and Aliens in a New America; By Warren Lehrer and Judith Sloan; W.W. Norton, August 2003; Paperback: List Price $19.95. Because of its international airports, Queens has been called the New Ellis Island: the first American land many new immigrants step foot on. To celebrate and explore the borough's rich cultural diversity, Queens residents Lehrer and Sloan combined their skills and talents as a married couple (he's a writer, designer and photographer, while she's an oral historian, actress and writer) to create this striking volume of oral narratives. The eclectic mix of Queens residents is portrayed through personal stories of immigration, culture shock, and degrees of assimilation, which are grouped into five categories: “contemporary pilgrims,” “asylum seekers,” “family ties,” “neighborhood tales” and “unlikely coexistences.” The original words of the speakers remain intact and unedited, and a CD of their recorded stories is sold separately from the book. The Preacher's Son; By Carl Weber; Dafina Books, January 2005; Hardcover: List Price $24. That things aren't always what they seem is the major theme and lesson to be learned in Carl Weber's novel “The Preacher's Son.” Weber's African-American protagonist is a highly revered bishop in Queens whose seemingly perfect life begins to unravel when he decides to run for public office. The secrets revealed include his son's relationship with a former stripper from the projects and his daughter's affair with his own protege. Using several narrators and multiple points of view, Weber slowly peels away the outer layers of the Weber family's faade to reveal what is going on at the heart of the matter. By all accounts, this novel promises to be a fun, lively, engaging read. A Spirit of Evil; By Lisa Cotoggio; JoNa Books, Summer 2005; Hardcover: $24.95. Cotoggio's debut mystery novel is set in College Point, where tension is drawn taut between New York Police officers, the Catholic Archdiocese of Brooklyn, a tabloid reporter, and a high-strung heroine as the murder of a local priest is investigated. At the same time, a young woman has gone missing in the neighborhood. As more bodies show up and more people disappear, the narrative reveals the crime spree's connection to a scientist's egomaniac experiments more than 75 years earlier. The Cordelia Squad: A Novel of Queens, New York; By Mary Anne Kelly; Thomas Dunn Books, June 2003; Hardcover: $24.95. Part of Kelly's mystery series, this novel shows Claire Breslinkski leaving her unfaithful husband and returning to her native Queens, where she purchases a Victorian home and converts it into a bed and breakfast. When fire rips through the home and causes destruction, arson is suspected, and the tale spins out from there. While the narrative tone is reflective, the plot is tight and driven, taking the reader along on an entertaining ride. Eating Like Queens; By Suzanne Parker; Jones Books, May 2005; Paperback: $16.95. The TimesLedger's own food critic and restaurant reviewer Suzanne Parker has just published a book that details her journeys through the international restaurants in Queens. Culinary fusions like Carribbean Chinese may seem creative to the outsider but more likely emerged from sheer geographical proximity in the city's most diverse borough, which is home to some of the city's best restaurants. This book is divided up by different kinds of food and includes maps of neighborhoods like Jackson Heights and Flushing, as well as information about each individual restaurant. Early Bird: A Memoir of Premature Requirement; By Rodney Rothman; Simon & Schuster, April 2005; Hardcover: $23. When Rodney Rothman tired of long work weeks and stressful deadlines, he quit his prestigious and coveted job as the head writer for the David Letterman show and moved to Boca Raton, Fla., where he settled into a retirement community to soak up the sun and enjoy the golden years. The fact that he was only 28 is the reason the book was born, as Rodney's inter-generational lifestyle provides ample opportunity for comedy and lively story-telling. Five Year Vest: Why I Quit the N.Y.C. Police Department; By Mike DeMarino (Queens resident, local Queens publisher) Seaburn, July 2004; Paperback: $9.95.When Mike DeMarino wanted to publish a book about his experiences as a police officer in New York City, he turned to Seaburn and was thrilled to be picked up by them. This slim novel, little more than 100 pages, is an account of what DeMarino calls “the worse five years of his life” as he experienced what he describes as the incompetent and discriminatory policy of the NYPD. His strong voice and gruff sense of humor make this novella a fun, quick summer read. Hispanas De Queens: Latino Panethnicity in a New York City Neighborhood; By Milagros Ricourt, Ruby Danta; Cornell University Press, November 2002; Paperback: $18.95. The authors of this extended anthropological study are primarily interested in the results of mixing individuals from several different Latino cultures in one neighborhood, as Ricourt and Danta incorporate the stories of Colombian, Cuban, Dominican, Ecuadorian, Peruvian, and Puerto Rican woman, in Corona. From these accidental interaction, a new pan-Latino social identity is consciously being formed by groups of Corona women who have formed organizations and work to strengthen their common bonds even in the face of their diversity. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince; By J.K. Rowling and Mary GrandPre; Arthur A. Levine Books, July 2005; Hardcover: $17.99. Harry Potter is about to once again cast his spell on children and adults across the globe. On July 15 at midnight, bookstores everywhere will host Harry Potter's Midnight Magic events as the book is released to the general public. Barnes and Noble in Bay Terrace, Forest Hills, and Fresh Meadows, as well as at Seaburn in Astoria will participate in this phenomenon; contact your local stores for more information. 47; By Walter Mosley; Little, Brown, May 2005; Hardcover: $16.99. Queens' own Walter Mosley has successfully written his first young adult novel. Once again, he is splicing genres: young adult, fantasy, science fiction, and historical elements are all present in this narrative about a slave boy who meets a magical spirit guide. Through adventure and introspection, young 47 (who has no name but only a slave number) learns to break the mental and spiritual bonds of slavery.
