May marks Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, and it seems almost unfair to try to fit so many unique cultures, stories, and voices into just one month. Such is the way with any of the many “celebratory months,” I suppose, so it falls on all of us to bring a thoughtful consciousness to whose stories are only celebrated at specific times of year (and whose seem to be omnipresent), and strive to honor as diverse an array of voices as possible, at all times.
This month carrys a particular weight in 2021, a year that has seen the spectre of white supremacy turn increasingly – and violently – on Asian Americans. And so we take a moment, brief though it may be, to uplift a few of our favorite recent books that feature Asian American authors and characters.
For Kids
Watercress by Andrea Wang
A beautiful new picture book about a young girl who feels embarrassed by her family, until she learns a bit more about their history, based on the author’s own childhood.
But as a kid, Wang remembers feeling disconnected from her history — “unmoored.” Her greatest hope for Watercress is that it inspires families to have these difficult conversations.
“I think it’s really important for families to share what they can,” she says. “So that kids know that history and can feel a sense of pride in their culture. No matter where they’re from.”
Samantha Balaban, NPR
Bindu’s Bindis by Supriya Kelkar
Thao by Thao Lam
Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho
Middle Grades / Young Adult
Last Night at the Telegraph Club
by Malinda Lo
I was stopped by the cover and title of this book. San Francisco , Chinatown and North Beach. This is a story broke my heart and re-stitched together and made it whole in an entirely new way. YA first love has never been portrayed finer for me than in these pages. SF in 1954 is not the city I love, McCarthy and fear of different looms as the Hu family pushes against the white norms of the time. The reader will find the parallels within our country today. Beautiful, smart girls fall in love against the back drop of distrust, family, honor and science. It is the story of truth and identity. Simply wonderous.
—Cheryl
Amina’s Song by Hena Khan
Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh
Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi
Non-Fiction
Crying in H-Mart by Michelle Zauner
Likely best known to the public as the singer and guitarist Japanese Breakfast, Zauner spends Crying in H Mart detailing the disorientation that her grief gave rise to, weaving food into her process of mourning… Food is more than an anchor for Zauner as she navigates loss. She also uses it to construct her identity as a biracial woman, one she experienced in fractured terms being raised by a white American father and Korean mother in the States. Grief seems to split this internal crisis open…
Mayuk Sen, The Atlantic
Food can teleport us to a lost moment from the past, a version of the world where we can find those we’ve lost.
Every Day Is a Gift by Tammy Duckworth
Heart of Fire by Mazie K. Hirono
From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry by Paula Yoo
Fiction
Gold Diggers
by Sanjena Sathian
This book is an absolute delight! It’s got a bit of everything — teenage insecurity, a wedding expo jewelry heist, and a twist of alchemy. Gold Diggers follows Neil Narayan, a second-generation Indian-American, as he comes of age in Atlanta and later as he pursues (well, grudgingly inches toward) a history PhD in the Bay Area. Sathian explores themes of ambition, family loyalty, guilt, and identity, in this debut novel that is funny and smart, with tinges of sorrow and mysticism.
—Sally
Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q Sutanto
Things We Lost to the Water by Eric Nguyen
Swimming Back to Trout River by Linda Rui Feng
This post just barely scratches the surface of brand-new books we love by AAPI authors! Browse more selections on our featured tables: at Bookbug and this is a bookstore
Also, for a collection of audiobooks featuring Asian American and Pacific Islander authors, visit: https://libro.fm/aapi
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