Mystery writer Keigo Higashino is one of my favorite adult authors; he’s written dozens of novels in Japanese, and each year I eagerly wait for a new one to be translated into English. His books are beautifully crafted and offer insight into a culture not my own: I feel as though I’ve walked through Tokyo’s Nihonbashi district and sat in ramen shops and hostess bars. Young people, too, should know the pleasures of reading without borders; thankfully, they have plenty of options. Here are a few of my favorite recent and forthcoming international novels.
Set against the backdrop of the Syrian war, Haya Saleh’s grim but hopeful Wild Poppies (Levine Querido, 2023), translated from Arabic by Marcia Lynx Qualey, sees two very different brothers attempting to protect their family after losing their home and their father. Fifteen-year-old Omar is dependable, if passive, while 12-year-old Sufyan’s willingness to take risks puts him in the path of a religious extremist group seeking child soldiers. Saleh writes with empathy for both protagonists as she explores how warfare forces young people to grow up far too quickly.
Recently named a Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book (an award given by the American Library Association for books in translation), Sachiko Kashiwaba’s The House of the Lost on the Cape (Yonder, 2023), translated from Japanese by Avery Fischer Udagawa and illustrated by Yukiko Saito, centers on an unlikely found family that forms in the wake of the 2011 Tōhoku tsunami and earthquake. After moving into a magical house by the sea, an orphan, a woman fleeing abuse, and an elder must work together to stop an ancient evil. With its superb sense of setting and deft incorporation of Japanese folklore, Kashiwaba’s dreamy, quietly potent work evokes a Hayao Miyazaki film.
Taras and Marjana Prokhasko’s Who Will Make the Snow? (Elsewhere Editions, 2023), translated from Ukrainian by Boris Dralyuk and Jennifer Croft, follows a mole family over the course of a year. Homey settings brought to life by Marjana Prokhasko’s striking illustrations result in a cozy chapter book reminiscent of the work of Maurice Sendak or Beatrix Potter. Don’t be fooled by the whimsy, though; amid the sled rides and leisurely strolls, characters confront harsh realities such as death (the title refers to the dead moles who create snow in the afterlife) and child abandonment. Adults may find the story off-putting—compared with most American kid lit, there’s more bitter mixed in with the sweet—but youngsters will adore it.
When Gen. Ioannis Metaxas assumes power over Greece in 1936, the grown-ups know dark times lie ahead, but for Melia, the protagonist of Alki Zei’s The Wildcat Behind Glass (Yonder, May 7), life seems as idyllic as ever—at least initially. Zei balances Melia’s thoughts about the rise of fascism with her observations of daily life and the stories told by her grandfather and her cousin Nikos. The novel’s publisher was recognized with a Batchelder Award in 1970, when it was first translated from Greek into English; Karen Emmerich’s new translation will ensure that this powerful, relevant work finds a new audience.
Mahnaz Dar is a young readers’ editor.
