Written in collaboration with youth librarians Crystal Chen, Woodstock Library; Michelle Lee, Riverside Library; and Susen Shi, Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library.

"There are so many qualifications weighing the ‘we’ in Asian America. Do I mean Southeast Asian, South Asian, East Asian and Pacific Islander, queer and straight, Muslim and non-Muslim, rich and poor?" ―Cathy Park Hong, Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning

Since the 1968 coinage of "Asian American," a multitude of phrases have sprung up in an attempt to describe the diversity of cultures from more than 40 countries in Asia and the Pacific Ocean.

We've centered Asian Pacific Islander Desi Americans, or APIDA, titles for kids and teens as a focal point to prominently display identities that are often sidelined. Like Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop, the "mother" of multicultural children's literature, says, our youth deserves to read books that are mirrors into their own life, as well as windows into the lives of their neighbors. They don’t just need “diverse” or “multicultural” books; they need to have stories that self-affirm, stories that represent authentic voices, and stories told by authors that identify with those experiences. 

Can one phrase truly capture the scope of complex identities? Probably not, but this list and its complementary list of adult titles is a good start.

 

Young Adult

96 Words for Love by Rachel Roy and Ava Roy

When her grandmother passes away, Raya decides to spend her summer at the Indian ashram where her grandparents fell in love and where she hopes to find answers to her future.

 
 
 
 

 

After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay

Nazir and Bunny were best friends before Bunny’s move to a private school on an athletic scholarship. Now, Bunny is heading to a basketball championship title while Nazir is struggling to help his cousin facing eviction. When a bet throws their lives into disarray, both must decide who they are as people and who they want to be.

 

 

Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir by Robin Ha

Ha’s graphic memoir explores her journey to a new country and her struggles with culture shock and loneliness. It delves into the idea of straddling two cultures and simultaneously feeling a part of both and neither.

 

 

 

Blue Boy by Rakesh Satyal

In this sharp novel about coming-of-age/coming-out and growing sexuality, makeup and ballet-loving Ohio tween Kiran Sharma tries to shed his outcast status by performing in his school's fall talent show as Krishna, the Hindu god of compassion and love. 

 

 

 

Bugs by Whiti Hereaka 

Jez and Bugs have been friends their entire life. One was never far without the other. When a new girl moves to their small town during their senior year, the duo becomes an uneasy trio filled with assumptions, perceptions, and friendship.

 

 

 

 

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

In the city of Noor, Fatima is surrounded by a riot of cultures that live peacefully with one another. She is protected by the Ifrit, djinn of order, after a long-ago attack on the city by the tribe of Shayateen djinn. When a secret of Fatima’s is brought to light, she is whisked away to the palace of the Maharaja where politics is a dangerous game and danger lurks around every corner.

 

 

Displacement by Kiku Hughes

While on vacation in San Francisco, Kiku finds herself transported back to 1940s America—a time when her maternal grandmother was being placed into a Japanese incarceration camp. This “displacement” eventually becomes permanent and Kiku ends up in the same incarceration camp as her grandmother and experiences the anger, hopelessness, perseverance, and resistance of the Nisei and Issei. 

 

Flamer by Mike Curato

Aidan is spending the summer before the start of high school at a Boy Scouts camp. On top of growing feelings for his roommate, Aidan is also dealing with racism, bullying, and self-esteem issues. As the summer progresses, he finds himself with a lot of questions and compounding emotions, culminating in his self-discovery.




 

Isle of Blood and Stone by Makiia Lucier

This historical fantasy follows royal explorer Elias on a quest to solve the mystery of what really happened to the long-lost princes during a fateful royal picnic. Amidst intrigue and danger, Elias will follow a dangerous map to find the truth.
 

 

 

Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali

Zayneb is angry. She’s angry at the injustice she and her friends face just for being Muslim. Adam is scared. He has yet to tell his family of his diagnosis—the same one that took his mother away. When they meet in the airport on their way to Doha, a connection forms between two teens struggling to find their place in a world that doesn’t want them.

 

The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen 

Young Tiến wants to tell his mother he’s gay, but he doesn’t quite know how. His mother struggles with English, and he doesn’t know the right words in Vietnamese. But through the language of fairy tales, Tiến and his mother find a way to connect and create their own happy endings. Each fairytale is beautifully rendered, speaking to broader themes of immigration, displacement, and grief.

 

A Map to the Sun by Sloane Leong 

Five teenage girls form a basketball team and a reluctant friendship as they navigate major life changes and difficult choices. Saturated in bright neons, this beautiful graphic novel captures the pain, messiness, and joy of teenage girlhood.

 

Rani Patel in Full Effect by Sonia Patel 

MC Sutra is booming, powerful, and feminist in her raps and persona. Rani Patel is a Gujarati Indian in a broken home that holds dark secrets. MC Sutra and Rani Patel are one and the same.

 

 

 

 

Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Grief feels like a never-ending wave of guilt, pain, and sorrow. When her younger sister dies in a car accident, Rumi Seto feels like she lost part of herself and wonders if the wrong person died. She learns that while grief feels insurmountable, there are ways to navigate it. 

 

 

 

 

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed

According to Naila’s parents, Naila is welcomed to make her own decisions except when it comes to romantic relationships. When Naila falls in love with Saif, someone not of their choosing, they travel to Pakistan to remind Naila of her cultural roots and traditions. The trip takes on another meaning however, when it comes to light that an arranged marriage is in the works—something Naila did not consent to.

 

 

 

CHILDREN

Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan

Pakistani American Amina Khokar is grappling with a lot of changes as she enters middle school, all while balancing her family’s traditional culture and customs. This is a heartfelt story about bringing a diverse community together and finding the courage in your own (musical) voice. 

 

 

Any Day With You by Mae Respicio

When Kaia’s great-grandfather Tatang resolves to move home to the Philippines, Kaia desperately tries to convince him to stay. She hatches a plan: win the local filmmaking contest inspired by the traditional Filipino folktales that Tatang has shared over the years.

 

 

Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed, illustrated by Anoosha Syed

Bilal loves chana daal, a South Asian lentil stew. But it takes a long time to cook and the young Pakistani American boy isn’t sure if his non-Asian American friends would appreciate the dish or understand all the love that goes into making it. This picture book won the 2020 Asian Pacific American Librarians Association honor book award.   
 

A Different Pond by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui

A young Vietnamese boy and his father head off to a nearby pond to fish for dinner before dawn. This is a powerfully quiet, yet joyfully bleak, intimate slice of life filled with important aspects of one Vietnamese refugee's experience. 

 

 

Drawn Together by Minh Lê, illustrations by Dan Santat

There's an abundance of awkward silences and cultural differences as an English-speaking boy visits his Thai-speaking grandfather. When the boy draws himself as a wizard, his grandfather jumps in excitedly, drawing himself as a traditional Thai warrior. The two use their passion for art to bridge the barriers between them in this beautifully moving picture book.

 

Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan, illustrated by Lillian Hsu-Flanders

Hawaiian Korean Marisa Yang can’t wait to celebrate New Year’s Eve with her big “chop suey” family. She loves taking part in their traditions, and this year, Marisa gets to make dumplings for the very first time. 

 

Home is East by Many Ly

This middle grade coming-of-age novel follows three years in the life of Amy Lim, a Cambodian American girl who struggles with culture shock and unstable home life when she suddenly relocates from Florida to California to live alone with her father after her mother abandons the family. 

 

 

Eva Evergreen: A Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe, illustrated by Shan Jiang

Twelve-year-old Eva dreams of becoming a witch. Unfortunately, she only has a pinch of magic in her blood, and overusing her magic has disastrous outcomes. Can Eva summon courage and confidence to prove her witchy worth? A whimsical and heartwarming read for those with a love of adventure. 

 

 

Frazzled: Everyday Disasters and Impending Doom by Booki Vivat, illustrated by Seo Kim

Middle child Abbie Wu is about to start middle school and her anxiety is through the roof! Follow along as Abbie tries to find her own voice and discover just where she belongs, all the while navigating some hysterical middle school disasters. 

 

 

A Map Into the World by Kao Kalia Yang

Follow Paj Ntaub and her Hmong family through the seasons as Paj experiences both birth and death in their new neighborhood. Paj hopes that her sidewalk drawings will be a source of comfort for her elderly neighbor. A quiet and tender story about immigration and loss. 

 

The Many Colors of Harpreet Singh by Supriya Kelkar, illustrated by Alea Marley

Harpreet uses his many-colored patkas (turbans) to express his feelings. After his family moves to a new home, Harpreet wears a lot of white because he’s shy and wants to be invisible. This rainbow-hued picture book shows how a simple conversation can spark a friendship. A brief afterword on Sikhism is provided.   

 

Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte, illustrations, Ann Xu, colors by Sunmi

Newly emmigrated from Taiwan, twelve-year-old Cici wants her grandmother to visit more than anything else. Cici resolves to win a junior cooking contest to pay for A-ma’s plane ticket! Channeling her inner Julia Child, Cici puts her cooking skills to the test, all the while dealing with microaggressions along the way. 

 

 

Snow Place Like Home (Diary of an Ice Princess Series) by Christina Soontornvat, illustrations by Barbara Szepesi Szucs 

Princess Lina has magical powers and lives in a palace in the clouds, but all she wants to do is go to a regular, non-magical “groundling” school. Can she keep her powers under wraps? This is a cute young reader series about family and friendship starring an #OwnVoices mixed-race character.

 

When You Trap A Tiger by Tae Keller

Lily and her sister have always loved her grandmother’s Korean folktales. When Halmoni falls ill, a magical tiger straight from those stories appears and offers Lily a deal to save her. Weaving Korean folklore and contemporary magical realism, this is a moving story about longing, connection, and finding your voice. 

 

​Your Place in the Universe by Jason Chin

Ever wonder how humans and Earth fit into the bigger picture of the universe? In this stellar picture book, four eight-year-old stargazers discover just how tiny we are and how expansive the cosmos can be, while learning some basic science facts about our planet, the solar system, and astronomy. 

 

 

For APIDA adult reading recommendations:

• Major Feelings: An Asian Pacific Islander Desi American (APIDA) Reading List by Crystal Chen, Christy Lau, Michelle Lee, and Susen Shi

For reading recommendations from the Chinese diaspora:

• Reading Beyond Chinatown: Books from the Chinese Diaspora by Michelle Lee, Christy Lau, Crystal Chen, and Susen Shi

For more reading recommendations and research resources, check out these blog posts:

• Asian Pacific American Heritage Month: Researching with NYPL’s E-Resources and Other Databases by Michelle Lee
• Beloved Asian American Literature You Have to Read by Karissa Chen
• Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month All Year With These Magazines by Tracey O’Neill
• Reading Stories that Define #OwnVoices: 20 Asian Pacific American Picture Books and Children’s Comics  by Michelle Lee 
• Hawaiian Steel Guitar as Resistance Music: Tracing a Hidden History by Tamar Barzel
• 10 Books to Read if You Love 'Never Have I Ever' by Susen Shi, Christy Lau, Crystal Chen, and Michelle Lee

Additional literature-oriented educational links:

• The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association’s Literature Awards
• The Association for Asian American Studies’ Book Awards
• Hawaii Book Publishers Association’s Ka Palapala Poʻokela Book Awards
• New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults 
• Talk Story Together: A Joint Project of the American Indian Library Association and the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association’s Asian Pacific American Book List