Asian American Heritage

May is Asian American heritage month

—check out these great library books:

Children of the river Linda Crew. c1989

Sundara fled Cambodia with her aunt's family to escape the Khmer Rouge army when she was thirteen, leaving behind her parents, her brother and sister, and the boy she had loved since she was a child. Now, four years later, she struggles to fit in at her Oregon high school and to be "a good Cambodian girl" at home. A good Cambodian girl never dates; she waits for her family to arrange her marriage to a Cambodian boy. Yet Sundara and Jonathan, an extraordinary American boy, are powerfully drawn to each other.

Chinese Cinderella : the true story of an unwanted daughter Adeline Yen Mah. c1999

A riveting memoir of a girl's painful coming-of-age in a wealthy Chinese family during the 1940s. A Chinese proverb says, "Falling leaves return to their roots." In Chinese Cinderella, Adeline Yen Mah returns to her roots to tell the story of her painful childhood and her ultimate triumph and courage in the face of despair.

The dragon's child : a story of Angel Island Laurence Yep ; with Kathleen S. Yep. c2008

In 1922, ten-year-old Gim Lew reluctantly leaves his village in China to accompany his father to America, but before they go he must prepare for a grueling test that he must pass--without stuttering--at California's Angel Island, where strict officials strive to keep out unwanted immigrants. Includes facts about immigration from China and the experiences of the author's family.

Farewell to Manzanar : a true story of Japanese American ex Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston and James D. Houston. c2002

During World War II a community called Manzanar was hastily created in the high mountain desert country of California, east of the Sierras. Its purpose was to house thousands of Japanese American internees. One of the first families to arrive was the Wakatsukis, who were ordered to leave their fishing business in Long Beach and take with them only the belongings they could carry.

Haveli by Suzanne Fisher Staples. c1993

Having relented to the ways of her people in Pakistan and married the rich older man to whom she was pledged against her will, Shabanu is now the victim of his family's blood feud and the malice of his other wives. Sequel to "Shabanu, Daughter of the Wind."

I am an American : a true story of Japanese internment by Jerry Stanley. c1994

Young Shi Nomura was among the 120,000 American citizens who lost everything when he was sent by the U.S. government to Manzanar, an interment camp in the California desert, simply because he was of Japanese ancestry. "In clear and fascinating prose, Stanley has set forth the compelling story of one of America's darkest times--the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.

An ocean apart, a world away : a novel by Lensey Namioka. c2002

Despite the odds facing her decision to become a doctor in 1920's Nanking, China, teenaged Yanyan leaves her family to study at Cornell University where, along with hard work, she finds prejudice and loneliness as well as friendship and a new sense of accomplishment.

Shabanu : daughter of the wind by Suzanne Fisher Staples. c2003
When eleven-year old Shabanu, the daughter of a nomad in the Cholistan Desert of present-day Pakistan, is pledged in marriage to an older man whose money will bring prestige to the family, she must either accept the decision, as is the custom, or risk the consequences of defying her father's wishes.

A single shard Linda Sue Park. 2003
Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.

Under the blood-red sun Graham Salisbury. c1994

Tomikazu Nakaji's biggest concerns are baseball, homework, and a local bully, until life with his Japanese family in Hawaii changes drastically after the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

China's son : growing up in the Cultural Revolution Da Chen. c2001

A candid memoir about growing up during the Chinese Cultural Revolution...

Sword : a novel by Da Chen. c2008

When Miu Miu turns fifteen, she learns the truth about her father's violent death and discovers that she must avenge his murder before she can marry the man to whom she is betrothed. Based on a story told to the author by a former prisoner during China's Cultural Revolution.

Wandering warrior Da Chen. c2003

Eleven-year-old Luka, destined to become the future emperor of China, is trained in the ways of the kung fu wandering warriors by the wise monk Atami.

Young Fu of the upper Yangtze by Elizabeth Foreman Lewis ; reillustrated by Ed Young c1973
Young Fu is bound for seven years to be an apprentice to Tang the coppersmith, and his new life in the Chinese city Chungking is both exciting and terrifying. Young Fu endures the taunts of his coworkers, and must live by his wits on the streets, where restless soldiers will shoot a man if he does not carry a load for them, and beggars steal from those who pass them by. Yet for Young Fu, the pleasures of the bustling Chungking of the 1920s far outweigh its dangers. Little by little he learns the ways of the big city and plunges into adventure after adventure.

Deep in the mountains : an encounter with Zhu Qizhan Terrence Cheng. c2007

A haunting story about growing up and accepting life's challenges—and its joys The great Chinese artist Zhu Qizhan was born in 1892 and lived to be 105 years old. During his life, he witnessed the Boxer Rebellion, the fall of the Qing Dynasty, the civil war between the Nationalists and the Communists, the Sino-Japanese War, Japan's occupation of China during World War II, the Cultural Revolution...a full lifetime indeed, packed with struggle, love, conflict, and always, art.

Falling leaves : a true story of an unwanted Chinese daught Adeline Yen Mah. c1997

Although Adeline Yen Mah was born into a wealthy family in Tianjin, China in 1937, her childhood was an unhappy one. Born female in a culture that often devalues women, her situation was made worse by the fact that her family blamed Yen Mah for her mother's death, which occurred just after she was born.

The golden rat Don Wulffson. 2007

When sixteen-year-old Baoliu is wrongfully accused of murdering his stepmother, his father pays someone else to die in his place, leaving Baoliu to fend for himself on the streets of twelth-century China.

Sisters of the sword Maya Snow. c2008

Two aristocratic sisters in ancient Japan disguise themselves as samurai warriors to take revenge on the uncle who betrayed their family.

Nothing but the truth : and a few white lies Justina Chen Headley. 2006

Fifteen-year-old Patty Ho, half Taiwanese and half white, feels she never fits in, but when her overly-strict mother ships her off to math camp at Stanford, instead being miserable, Patty starts to become comfortable with her true self.

The fold An Na. c2008

Korean American high school student Joyce Kim feels like a nonentity compared to her beautiful older sister, and when her aunt offers to pay for plastic surgery on her eyes, she jumps at the chance, thinking it will change her life for the better.

The children of Topaz : the story of a Japanese-American in by Michael O. Tunnell and George W. Chilcoat. c1996

The diary of a third-grade class of Japanese-American children being held with their families in an internment camp during World War II.

The four immigrants manga : a Japanese experience in San Fr Henry (Yoshitaka) Kiyama ; translated with an introduction c1999

Kiyama visually chronicles his immigrant experience in the United States. Drawn in a classic gag-strip style, this heartfelt tale is a fascinating, entertaining depiction of early Asian-American struggles.

Hiroshima dreams Kelly Easton. c2007

Lin O'Neil, a talented but shy girl growing up in Providence, Rhode Island, develops a close relationship with her Japanese grandmother, who shares Lin's gift of precognition.

Kira-Kira Cynthia Kadohata. c2004

Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill.