Celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with 3 Diverse Books
In honor of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we found three books to recommend that celebrate AAPI authors and stories.
Diverse Children's Book
A Spoonful of Time by Flora Ahn
When You Reach Me meets Love Sugar Magic in this unforgettable middle-grade novel where time travel, family recipes, and family secrets collide.
Maya's grandmother, Halmunee, may be losing her memory, but she hasn't lost her magic touch in the kitchen. Whether she serves salty miyeok-guk or sweet songpyeon, her stories about Korea come to life for Maya.
Then one day, something extraordinary happens: one delicious bite transports Maya and Halmunee into one of Halmunee's memories. Suddenly they're in Seoul, and Halmunee is young.
This is just the first of many secrets Maya will uncover: that she and her grandmother can travel through time. As Maya eats her way through the past, her questions multiply--until a shocking discovery transforms everything she thought she knew about family, friendship, loss, and time itself.
Brimming with heart and interspersed with seven family recipes that readers can make themselves, this is a story to savor by rising Korean American author Flora Ahn.
“I've been a follower of Flora since I discovered her pug cartoons on social media years ago (I have two - Dilly and Stella) so I was excited to read this book. A Spoonful of Time takes the way so many of our memories center around meals shared and turns it into a wonderful story of friends, family, and tradition both past and present in such a clever way. I don't read many middle grade novels, but I loved this one! And bonus: It had a pug with an adorable name in it!” – Alana Haley from Schuler Books in Grand Rapids, MI
Diverse Teen/Young Adult Book
Throwback by Maurene Goo
A Gen Z Korean American girl gets stuck in the '90s with her teenaged mother in this fresh, funny adventure full of heart, humor, and time-crossed romance. Perfect for fans of Mary H.K. Choi, Morgan Matson, and Nicola Yoon.
"No one can blend family, humor, satire, and love into a single perfect story like Maurene Goo can." --Marie Lu, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Skyhunter
"Funny and big-hearted, romantic, and delightfully unexpected in the best way." --Nicola Yoon, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Instructions for Dancing
Being a first-generation Asian American immigrant is hard. You know what's harder? Being the daughter of one.
Priscilla is first-generation Korean American, a former high school cheerleader who expects Sam to want the same all-American nightmare. Meanwhile, Sam is a girl of the times who has no energy for clichéd high school aspirations. After a huge blowup, Sam is desperate to get away from Priscilla, but instead, finds herself thrown back. Way back.
To her shock, Sam lands in the '90s . . . alongside a 17-year-old Priscilla.
Now, Sam has to deal with outdated tech, regressive '90s attitudes, and her growing feelings for sweet, mysterious football player Jamie, who just might be the right guy in the wrong era.
With the clock ticking, Sam must figure out how to fix things with Priscilla or risk being trapped in an analog world forever. Sam's blast to the past has her questioning everything she thought she knew about her mom . . . and herself. One thing's for sure: Time is a mother.
Brimming with heart and humor, Maurene Goo's Throwback asks big questions about what exactly one inherits and loses in the immigrant experience.
“What if a rideshare app took you back in time? Could it help bridge the divide between a Korean immigrant mother and her rebellious daughter? Maureen Goo takes a big, high concept premise and turns it into a story of family, as well as the immigrant experience and the fallout of generational trauma. From the 90s to the 2020s, I wasn't expecting this Back to the Future-esque set up to have so much heart--while also making me laugh out loud. A compelling, emotional read with a high stakes sci fi element that kept me turning pages and rooting for both mother and daughter.” – Mackenzie Van Engelenhoven from King's English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, UT
Diverse Adult Book
Yellowface by R. F. Kuang
Read an excerpt from Yellowface.
White lies. Dark humor. Deadly consequences... Bestselling sensation Juniper Song is not who she says she is, she didn't write the book she claims she wrote, and she is most certainly not Asian American--in this chilling and hilariously cutting novel from R.F. Kuang, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Babel.
Authors June Hayward and Athena Liu were supposed to be twin rising stars. But Athena's a literary darling. June Hayward is literally nobody. Who wants stories about basic white girls, June thinks.
So when June witnesses Athena's death in a freak accident, she acts on impulse: she steals Athena's just-finished masterpiece, an experimental novel about the unsung contributions of Chinese laborers during World War I.
So what if June edits Athena's novel and sends it to her agent as her own work? So what if she lets her new publisher rebrand her as Juniper Song--complete with an ambiguously ethnic author photo? Doesn't this piece of history deserve to be told, whoever the teller? That's what June claims, and the New York Times bestseller list seems to agree.
But June can't get away from Athena's shadow, and emerging evidence threatens to bring June's (stolen) success down around her. As June races to protect her secret, she discovers exactly how far she will go to keep what she thinks she deserves.
With its totally immersive first-person voice, Yellowface grapples with questions of diversity, racism, and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. R.F. Kuang's novel is timely, razor-sharp, and eminently readable.
“I think the hardest part about finishing this book is writing the review. Put simply, Yellowface is a brilliant and scathing satire. It reveals the insidiousness that does, indeed, exist in the publishing industry, as well as tell you a story that you can't look away from. It's a trainwreck, and you're along for the ride, forced to watch June make mistake after mistake. I honestly don't think I've hated a character more. Juniper is vile, and the way in which Kuang reveals who this person is is not only genius, but it's SO well done. It's subtle yet explicit, in a way that feels realistic. For folks that have issues with this book due to its content, I ask you to reflect inward. Why did the book make you uncomfortable? Why do you think you're having a strong reaction? Perhaps you're the one who needs this book the most. This book offers an excellent chance to reflect on our own biases whether we're consciously aware and unlearning, or even unconscious, and forcing us to reflect upon what might be lurking within society. It shows you the mind of someone who doesn't think they're all that bad, when they are, quite literally, incredibly racist and problematic, and how they try to twist their logic to make them seem like they aren't the bad guy. When obviously, they're doing a bunch of harmful stuff. Overall, I highly recommend this book. It's a genius satire and you won't be able to look away.” – Librarian, Zoe Stein, from Fremont Public Library in Mundelein, IL
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