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Youth Non-Fiction Books
(Ages 8 & Up) 

All Inclusive:

  • Asian Pacific American Heroes By Mia Wenjen

  • Good Girls Marry Doctors: South Asian American Daughters on Obedience and Rebellion by Piyali Bhattacharya

Chinese American:

  • The 2nd edition of Voices From The Railroad: Stories by Descendants of Chinese Railroad Workers by Sue Lee & Connie Young Yu

  • Paper Son: The Inspiring Story of Tyrus Wong, Immigrant and Artist by Julie Leung

  • Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom (Volume 6) by Teresa Robeson

  • Fearless Flights of Hazel Ying Lee by Julie Leung

  • Good Fortune: My Journey to Gold Mountain by Li Keng Wong

  • Kai’s Journey to Gold Mountain: An Angel Island Story

  • Landed by Milly Lee

  • The Dragon’s Child: A Story of Angel Island by Laurence Yep and Dr. Kathleen Yep

  • We the People: Angel Island by Alice Flanagan

  • The Journal of Wong Ming-Chung: A Chinese Miner, California 1852 by Laurence Yep

  • Fighting on all Fronts - Operation: WWII Chinese American G.I by Montgomery Hom

Fiction
NF Japanese American

Japanese American:

  • Remembering Manzanar: Life in a Japanese Relocation Camp by Michael Cooper

  • Seventeen Syllables and Other Stories by Hisaye Yamamoto

  • They Called Us Enemy by George Takei (written in comic book style)

  • Heroes by Ken Mochizuki

  • We Are Not Free by Traci Chee, Traci (for middle school)

  • Fred Korematsu Speaks Up (Fighting for Justice series) by Laura Atkins and Stan Yogi (for middle school)

  • Fred Korematsu: All American Hero by Anupam Chander, Madhavi Sunder, and Angelia Loi (for middle school)

  • The Journal of Ben Uchida: Citizen 13559, Mirror Lake Internment Camp by Barry Denenberg (for middle school)

  • Sylvia & Aki by Winifred Conkling (for middle school)

Filipino American:

  • Growing Up Filipino: Stories for Young Adults by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard (for teens)

  • Growing Up Filipino II: More Stories for Young Adults by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard (for teens)

  • Her Wild American Self: Short Stories by M. Evelina Galang (for teens)

  • Cross Currents by Lee Cantwell (for middle school)

Korean American:

  • Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story by Paula Yoo

  • The Koreans in Hawai'i : A Pictorial History, 1903-2003 by Wayne Patterson and Roberta Chang

Mongolian American:

  • Almost American: A Mongolian Girl's American Story by Billie Tuvshinbaya

Malaysian American:

  • Jimmy Choo (Profiles in Fashion) by Kerrily Sapet

Samoan American:

  • A History of American Samoa by Amerika Samoa Humanities Council

Vietnamese American:

  • The Best We Could Do: An Illustrated Memoir by Thi Bui

Youth Fiction Books
(Ages 8 & Up) 
 

All Inclusive:

  • The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo (for teens)

  • From Twinkle, with Love by Sandhya Menon (for teens)

  • There Will Come a Time by Carrie Arcos (for teens)

  • How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao (for teens)

  • Operation Redwood by S. Terrell French (for middle school)

Afghan American:

  • Shooting Kabul by N.H. Senzai

Cambodian American:

  • Children of the River by Linda Crew (for middle school)

  • Home Is East by Many Ly (for middle school)

  • Roots and Wings by Many Ly (for middle school)

  • Trouble by Gary D. Schmidt (for middle school)

Chinese American:

  • Willy Wong, American by Vanya Oakes and Weda Yap* (*Willy Wong American is a children’s book published in 1951 focusing on the struggles of a Chinese American boy trying to fit in. This may be the first book ever published for Asian American children and is currently out-of-print, but a digital copy can by found here: https://archive.org/details/willywongamerica00oake)

  • Front Desk by Kelly Yang (middle school)

  • Dragonwings by Laurence Yep (historical fiction for middle school)

  • The Alvin Ho Super Collection: Books 1 – 4 by Lenore Look (middle school)

  • Sammy Wong, All-American by Charley Rosen (middle school)

  • In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson by Bette Bao Lord (middle school)

  • American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang (graphic novel for teens)

  • The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee (historical fiction for teens)

  • Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee (historical fiction for teens)

  • Outrun the Moon by Stacey Lee (historical fiction for teens)

  • Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee (historical fiction for teens)

Indian American:

  • Zombie Baseball Beatdown by Paolo Bacigalupi (for middle school)

  • Lowji Discovers America by Candace Fleming (for middle school)

  • When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon (for teens)

  • There's Something about Sweetie by Sandhya Menon (for teens)

  • 10 Things I Hate about Pinky by Sandhya Menon (for teens)

Hawaiian American:

  • The Legends and Myths of Hawaii by his Hawaiian Majesty David Kalakaua

  • Kaiulani: The People's Princess, Hawaii, 1889 by Ellen Emerson White (historical fiction for middle school)

Filipino American:

  • Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay (for teens)

  • Fresh Off the Boat by Melissa De la Cruz (for middle school)

  • The Language of Love by Kate Emburg (for teens)

Korean American:

  • Stand Up, Yumi Chung! by Jessica Kim (for middle school)

  • Almost American Girl by Robin Ha (for middle school)

  • Step from Heaven by An Na (for middle school)

  • Pippa Park Raises Her Game by Erin Yun (for middle school)

  • When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller (for middle school)

  • Frankly in Love by David Yoon (for teens)

  • I’m Ok by Patti Kim (for middle school)

Laotian American:

  • Vatsana's Lucky New Year by Sara Gogol (for middle school)

Japanese American:

  • I Am An American by Jerry Stanley (historical fiction for middle school)

  • Paper Wishes by Lois Sepahban (historical fiction for middle school)

  • Jasmine Toguchi: Mochi Queen series by Debbi Michiko Florence

  • The Bracelet by Yoshiko Uchidab (historical fiction)

  • A Jar of Dreams by Yoshiko Uchida (historical fiction)

  • Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata (historical fiction)

  • Heart of a Samurai by Margi Preus (historical fiction for middle school)

  • Dust of Eden by Mariko Nagai (historical fiction for teens)

  • Four-Four-Two by Dean Hughes (historical fiction for teens)

Pakistani American:

  • Amina’s Song by Hena Khan (middle school)

  • Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan (middle school)

  • Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream: Power Forward; On Point; Bounce Back by Hena Khan (middle school)

Taiwanese American:

  • Peiling and the Chicken-Fried by Pauline Chen

Vietnamese American:

  • Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhhà Lai (middle school)

  • Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories by Phuoc Thi Minh Tran (middle school)

  • Song of the Buffalo Boy by Sherry Garland (historical fiction)

Go back to AAPI Library

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