While we’re mostly familiar with the Disney version of the 17th century European folk tale, the earliest version of Cinderella was undoubtedly Chinese, appearing a millennia before the original Neapolitan story. So it’s more than appropriate that when New York Times Bestselling author Adeline Yen Mah went to write an abridged version of her autobiography,…

Sometimes I leave origami cranes in places for strangers to find—in desk drawers, the windowsills in trains, or tucked in an otherwise dirty corner. The Paper Magician by Charlie N. Holmberg has convinced me that this simple act does carry just the littlest spark of magic. The first installment of a trilogy, The Paper Magician…

During high school I visited Ellis Island with members of my school’s wind ensemble. While many of my compatriots excitedly used the database to explore their familial origins, I didn’t bother. Both my sets of grandparents came to America in the early seventies on an airplane. My roots don’t extend into a mysterious past. However,…

If you’re a YA fan more than K-Pop purist, you’re going to love Katie M. Stout’s Hello, I Love You. If you’ve enjoyed the occasional romance or EXO music video, you’re definitely going to root for Grace and Jason’s East Vs. West romance. She’s the black sheep of her musical family and he’s Korea’s newest…

Well before I was introduced to World War I politics, there was a little cartoon called Anastasia that had the hands-down best non-Disney music number of all time. I remember being thoroughly disappointed to learn the movie was total bollocks, but also feeling a tiny fraction of real despair for those ghostly figures emerging from a…

I’m not usually one for the bleeding heart memoir and I started Little Princes: One Man’s Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal with a certain amount of ambivalence. I didn’t want to be emotionally blackmailed about this story of orphans and some social justice crusader. But in all seriousness, Conor Grennan probably deserves…