May is Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month – a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. According to the AAPI government webpage: “A rather broad term, Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, and Easter Island).”
Below are some book selections from the Deerfield Public Library’s Adult and Youth Services Librarians. Be sure to visit the Library to check out our AAPI Heritage Month displays for even more suggestions!
Fiction
Dirty Laundry by Disha Bose
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
Deep as the Sky, Red as the Sea by Rita Chang Eppig
The East Indian by Brinda Charry
The Double Life of Benson Yu by Kevin Chong
The Night Tiger by Yangsze Choo
The Comeback by Lily Chu
All That You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
The Vibrant Years by Sonali Dev
Twelve Hours in Manhattan by Maan Gabriel
Nuclear Family by Joseph Han
Kamila Knows Best by Farah Heron
Clark and Division by Naomi Hirahara
Minor Feelings by Cathy Park Hong
Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang
The Fortunes of Jaded Women by Carolyn Huynh
The Kinship of Secrets by Eugenia Kim
The Last Story of Mina Lee by Nancy Jooyoun Kim
Babel by R.F. Kuang
Yellowface by R.F. Kuang
Serena Singh Flips the Script by Sonya Lalli
Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee
Vanessa Yu’s Magical Paris Tea Shop by Roselle Lim
The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu by Tom Lin
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
The All-American by Joe Milan Jr.
Island of a Thousand Mirrors by Nayomi Munaweera
Welcome Me to the Kingdom: Stories by Mai Nardone
Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng
The Swimmers by Julie Otsuka
The Do-Over by Suzanne Park
The Verifiers by Jane Pek
Sugar, Spice, and Can’t Play Nice by Annika Sharma
Happy for You by Claire Stanford
Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers by Jesse Q. Sutanto
Dear Chrysanthemums: A Novel in Stories by Fiona Sze-Lorrain
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
Circling Back to You by Julie Tieu
Honor by Thrity N. Umrigar
Late Bloomers by Deepa Varadarajan
The Covenant of Water by Abraham Verghese
After Lambana by Eliza Victoria
Joan is Okay by Weike Wang
Kaleidoscope by Cecily Wong
The Circus Infinite by Khan Wong
Making a Scene by Constance Wu
I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita
We Measure the Earth with Our Bodies by Tesring Yangzom Lama
Interior Chinatown by Charles Yu
Nonfiction & Poetry
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing from Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo
Stay True by Hua Hsu
Return Flight by Jennifer Huang
We Were Dreamers: An Immigrant Superhero Origin Story by Simu Liu
Ma and Me by Putsata Reang
That Was Now, This is Then by Vijay Seshadri
A Nail the Evening Hangs On by Monica Sok
Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong
Beast at Every Threshold by Natalie Wee
Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life by Alice Wong
Asian America: A Primary Source Reader by Bryan Thao Worra
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Fiction
Queen of Tiles by Hanna Alkaf
Dauntless by Elisa Bonnin
When You Wish Upon a Lantern by Gloria Chao
We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
Once Upon a K Prom by Kat Cho
Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi
The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi
Chloe and the Kaishao Boys by May Coyiuto
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
Throwback by Maurene Goo
Boys I Know by Anna Gracia
The Ones We’re Meant to Find by Joan He
The Silence That Binds Us by Joanna Ho
A Million to One by Adiba Jaigirdar
Meet Me in Mumbai by Sabina Khan
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
Butterfly Yellow by Thanhhà Lai
The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
If You Could See the Sun by Ann Liang
Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim
A Magic Steeped in Poison by Judy I. Lin
Night of the Raven, Dawn of the Dove by Rati Mehrotra
Gearbreakers by Zoe Hana Mikuta
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea Axie Oh
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings by Ellen Oh et al.
While You Were Dreaming by Alisha Rai
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
The Love Match by Priyanka Taslim
Crossing the Farak River by Michelle Aung Thin
This Place is Still Beautiful by Xixi Tian
House of Yesterday by Deeba Zargarpur
Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao
Graphic Novels
Himawari House by Harmony Becker
Messy Roots by Laura Gao
Almost American Girl by Robin Ha
Piece by Piece by Priya Huq
In Limbo by Deborah Lee
The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki
The Magic Fish by Le Nguyen Trung
Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker
Hungry Ghost by Victoria Ying
Nonfiction
Days of Infamy by Lawrence Goldstone
Tamamo the Fox Maiden and Other Asian Stories by Misc
From a Whisper to a Rallying Cry by Paula Yoo
Picture Books and Board Books
The Yellow Áo Dài by Bui Hanh
I Am Golden by Eva Chen
Wei Skates On by Nathan Chen
Eyes That Speak to the Stars by Joanna Ho
Sumo Counting by Sanae Ishida
Kimchi, Kimchi Every Day by Erica Kim
I’ll Go and Come Back by Rajani LaRocca
Everyone Loves Lunchtime but Zia by Jenny Liao
A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin
Drawn Together by Minh Le with illustrations by Dan Santat
‘Ohana Means Family by Ilima Loomis
Bee-Bim Bop! By Linda Sue Park
Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed
When Lola Visits by Michelle Sterling
Love in the Library by Maggie Tokuda-Hall with illustrations by Yas Imamura
Punky Aloha by Shar Tuiasoa
Watercress by Andrea Wang with illustrations by Jason Chin
Kapaemahu by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang
Early Readers and Early Chapter Books
The Geraldine Pu series by Maggie P. Chang
The Yasmin series by Saadia Faruqui
The Marya Khan series by Saadia Faruqi with illustrations by Ani Bushry
The Gigi and Ojiji series by Melissa Iwai
The Mindy Kim series by Lyla Lee
The Ling and Ting series by Grace Lin
Juvenile Fiction and Comics
It’s Boba Time for Pearl Li! by Nicole Chen
Troublemaker by John Cho
Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen by Debbi Michiko Florence
The Flamingo by Guojing
Ahmed Aziz’s Epic Year by Nina Hamza
Jennifer Chan is Not Alone by Tae Keller
Fly on the Wall by Remy Lai
Ruby Lu, Brave and True by Lenore Look
Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh
Nikhil Out Loud by Maulik Pancholy
Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park
Any Day with You by Mae Respicio
A First Time for Everything by Dan Santat
The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat
Momo Arashima Steals the Sword of the Wind by Misa Sugiura
Parachute Kids by Betty C. Tang
Finally Seen by Kelly Yang
Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee
The Many Meanings of Meilan by Andrea Wang
Stargazing by Jen Wang
Nonfiction
Fall Down Seven Times, Stand Up Eight: Patsy Takemoto Mink and the Fight for Title IX by Jen Bryant
Tammy Duckworth by Stephanie Cham
An Asian American A to Z: a Children’s Guide to Our History by Cathy Linh Che and Kyle Lucia Wu
The Boy Who Became a Dragon: a Bruce Lee Story by Jim Di Bartolo.
Playing at the Border: a story of Yo-Yo Ma by Joanna Ho
Paper Son by Leung, Julie with illustrations by Sasaki, Chris
Seen and Unseen: What Dorothea Lange, Toyo Miyatake, and Ansel Adams’s Photographs Reveal about the Japanese American Incarceration by Elizabeth Partridge
The ABCs of Asian American History by Renee Macalino Rutledge
How to Solve a Problem: The Rise (and Falls) of a Rock-Climbing Champion by Ashima Shiraishi
All Thirteen: The Incredible Cave Rescue of the Thai Boys’ soccer team by Christina Soontornvat
Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando by Andrea Wang
Shapes, Lines, and Light: My Grandfather’s American Journey by Katie Yamasaki
Yes We Will: Asian Americans Who Shaped This Country by Kelly Yang
