Reading: International

Sunny Nwazue lives in Nigeria, but she was born in New York City. Her features are West African, but she's albino. She doesn't seem to fit in anywhere, but then she discovers she is a free agent with latent magical power. Young adult fiction. 477 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook Disponible en español como audiolibro.

This enchanting novel, about an Andalusian shepherd boy who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of treasure, is a testament the transforming power of our dreams and the importance of listening to our hearts. Fiction. 182 pages. Available as ebook, audiobook, and graphic novel

Two young Pakistani Americans open a motel together in a sweeping story that crosses generations and continents in a novel about family and forgiveness, and love and loss. Young adult fiction. 374 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

18-year-old Salama Kassab, a pharmacy student volunteering at the hospital in Homs, Syria, is desperate to find passage on a refugee boat for herself and her pregnant best friend, but first she must learn to see the events around her for what they are--not a war, but a revolution. Young adult fiction. 417 pages.

Antonio Marez is six years old when Ultima – a curandera who cures with herbs and magic - comes to stay with his family in New Mexico. Under her wise wing, Tony will test the bonds that tie him to his people,as Ultima nurtures the birth of his soul. Fiction. 290 pages.

Noah's path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. Born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother, he struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. A moving yet funny portrait. Nonfiction. 288 pages. Available as ebook Disponible en español.

An outrageously funny debut, Crazy Rich Asians is the story of three superrich, pedigreed Chinese families and the gossip, backbiting and scheming that occur when Nicholas Young, heir to one of the most massive fortunes in Asia, brings home his ABC (American-born Chinese) girlfriend to the wedding of the season. Fiction. 517 pages. Available as audiobook

One of The New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year, Disappearing Earth is described as brilliant, engrossing and daring. Set on the shoreline of the Kamchatka peninsula at the northeastern edge of Russia, the novel begins when two sisters, ages eight and eleven, go missing. Fiction. 255 pages.

A fictionalized biography of the Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, who grew up a painfully shy child, ridiculed by his overbearing father, but who became one of the most widely-read poets in the world. Young Adult Fiction. 372 pages.

Embittered by her first experiences of love, a young Brazilian girl travels to Geneva in search of fame and fortune and finds her beliefs about sex and romance challenged by her relationship with a young painter. Fiction. 273 pages. Available as ebook

A whimsical fantasy and mystery novel featuring a genius, anti-social professor whos is an expert on dryadology, the study of fairies on an isolated island in Norway. Fiction 317 pages.

As violence and unrest looms over their country, Nadia and Saeed embark on a furtive love affair.. As the violence escalates, Nadia and Saeed leave their homeland and begin their life as refugees. Described as "spellbinding" and "all too relevant." Fiction. 231 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

Russia's last tsar, Nicholas II, and his family (four daughters and a hemophiliac son), buried their heads in the sand, living a life of opulence as World War I raged outside their door and political unrest grew into the Russian Revolution. Alternating between the lives of the Romanovs and their advisor Rasputin and the plight of Russia's peasants and urban workers -- and their eventual uprising – the author tells a compelling story, complete with period photographs. Nonfiction. 292 pages.

There are the memories that inspired the hit television series. The author is the proprietor of Baohaus, an East Village hangout for locals seeking delicious Taiwanese street food late into the night, as he tries to find his place American culture. Nonfiction. 276 pages. Available as ebook

In 1972, when she was seven, the author and her family moved from Iran to Southern California. Funny in Farsi is a humorous and unforgettable story of culture shock, discovery, and the power of family love. Nonfiction. 227 pages.

The story of a former literature professor and fugitive of the Mexican government who reinvents himself as a trucker in the United States. A whimsical and passionate story of a father and daughter on the run. Fiction. 295 pages.

Two Pulitzer Prize winners address our era's worst human rights violation: the oppression of women in the developing world. They show that a little help can transform lives, and that the key to economic progress lies in unleashing women's potential. Nonfiction. 294 pages.

Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into two different tribal villages in 18th century Ghana. One will marry an English colonel, the other will be shipped to America and sold into slavery. In a novel that stretches from the tribal wars of Ghana to the streets of 20th century Harlem, Yaa Gyasi's has written a modern masterpiece. Fiction. 305 pages. Available as ebook

In this gripping memoir, Uwiringiyimana, a member of the Banyamulenge tribe in the Democratic Republic of Congo, recounts a childhood shaped by experiences as a refugee in Africa and the United States. Young adult memoir. 288 pages.

In the 1960s, political tension forces the García family away from Santo Domingo and towards the Bronx. The sisters all hit their strides in America, adapting and thriving despite cultural differences, language barriers, and prejudice. Fiction. 290 pages.

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education. On Tuesday October 9, 2012, she almost paid the ultimate price. Nonfiction. 327 pages.

When the sister who delighted their parents by her faithful embrace of Mexican culture dies in a tragic accident, Julia, who longs to go to college and move into a home of her own, discovers that her sister may not have been as perfect as believed. Described as a "perfect book about imperfection." Young adult fiction. 344 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

Traces the unlikely friendship of a wealthy Afghan youth and a servant's son, in a tale that spans the final days of Afghanistan's monarchy through the atrocities of the present day. Fiction. 372 pages. Available as ebook and graphic novel

Unusual zookeeper's son Pi Patel sets sail for America, but when the ship sinks, he escapes on a life boat and is lost at sea with a dwindling number of animals until only he and a hungry Bengal tiger remain. Fiction. 326 pages. Available as ebook

This soul-stirring Korean novel imagines a laundromat that offers to erase emotional burdens, weaving in cultural reflections, poignant character journeys, and the delicate exploration of the cost of forgetting. Fiction. 248 pages.

A captivating gothic horror novel set in 1950s Mexico, combining eerie atmosphere, family secrets, and a creepy haunted house. Fiction. 334 pages. Available as ebook

This first novel in the widely acclaimed The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series tells the story of the delightfully cunning detective, Precious Ramotswe of Botswana. This case is of a missing boy, who may have been snatched by witchdoctors. Fiction. 235 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

Written in the form of a letter from a Vietnamese American son to his illiterate mother, this devastatingly beautiful novel is a painful but extraordinary coming-of-age story. Fiction. 246 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook.

When Javier Zamora was nine, he traveled unaccompanied by bus, boat, and foot from El Salvador to the United States to reunite with his parents. This touching memoir recalls the details of that dangerous journey, as seen through the eyes of a child. Memoir. 384 pages. Available as ebook and audiobook

In a narrow alley in Kyoto, the mysterious Kokor Clinic for the Soul offers a unique treatment to those who find their way there: it prescribes cats as medication. Translated from the Japanese. Fiction. 296 pages.

The true story of how the keepers of the Warsaw Zoo saved hundreds of people from Nazi hands. Nonfiction. 368 pages. Available as audiobook