The Novel Project was proposed as a fun and interesting way to learn about diversity. Division 42’s Committee on Cultural Diversity in Practice suggests:

Garcia, C. (1992). Dreaming in Cuban. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN: 0-345-38143-2. A novel about Cuba, and three generations of del Pino women who are seeking spiritual homes for their passionate, often troubled souls.

Eugenides, J. (2002). Middlesex. New York: Picador. ISBN: 0-312-42215-6. This is the story of a Greek-American family that includes one Cal Stephanides a 41 year old hermaphrodite raised as Calliope. The book spans 80 years of family history beginning in the 1920’s in Asia Minor through the 1970’s. The book is intelligent, insightful, and, at times, humorous.

Hosseini, K. (2003). The Kite Runner. New York: Riverhead Books. ISBN: 1-57322-245-3. A remarkable account of the Amir, the privileged son of a wealthy businessman in Afghanistan and Hassan, the son of Amir’s father’s servant, the story begins in pre-Taliban Kabul and follows Amir as he and his father re-locate to the United States without Hassan and his father. It is an engaging, reflective work offering a close look at pre- and post-Taliban Afghanistan and covering a variety of major issues including classism, racism, immigration, acculturation, and sexism, to name a few.

Lahiri, J. (1999). Interpreter of Maladies. New York: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN: 0-395-92720-X. In this Pulitzer Prize winning epic, Lahiri’s characters suffer on an intimate level the dislocation and disruption brought on by India’s tumultuous political history and includes the stories of a second generation in the United States.

Rosner, E. (2003). The Speed of Light. New York: Ballantine Books. ISBN: 0-345-44225-3. An eloquent story about the adult children of a holocaust survivor learn about grief, forgiveness and the power of bearing witness from a Latina housekeeper who has also been victimized by government-sponsored genocide.

The Committee on Cultural Diversity in Practice would like to invite Division 42 members to submit their own recommendations with a short summary.

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