Asian and Pacific American Books

Picture Books | Fiction | Nonfiction

Picture Books
Suggested grade level listed with each entry

The Pea Blossom written and illustrated by Amy Lowry Poole (Holiday)
A retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale of five impatient peas, set against a Chinese backdrop. Grade level: K–3. 32 pages.

My Mei Mei written and illustrated by Ed Young (Philomel)
After her family adopts a baby girl from China, the now-older sister learns to accept her. Grade level: K–3. 40 pages.

Fiction
Suggested grade level listed with each entry

The Trouble Begins by Linda Himelblau (Delacorte)
A Vietnamese refugee finally joins his family and adjusts to living in America. Grade level: 4–6. 210 pages.

Outside Beauty by Cynthia Kadohata (Atheneum)
Shelby is one of four close-knit sisters who follow their mom from man to man and place to place — until their mother’s critical injury forces the girls apart. Grade level: 7 and up. 265 pages.

Weedflower by Cynthia Kadohata (Atheneum)
After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, twelve-year-old Sumiko comes to terms with living in an internment camp. Grade level: 6–8. 260 pages.

The Year of the Dog by Grace Lin (Little)
Pacy, a Taiwanese-American grade-schooler, wonders what to be when she grows up while writing and illustrating a book for a national contest. Grade level: 2-5. 137 pages.

The Year of the Rat by Grace Lin (Little)
Pacy beings to doubt her resolution to become a writer/illustrator after her best friend moves away in the tumultuous Year of the Rat. Grade level: 4–6. 182 pages.

Alvin Ho: Allergic to Girls, School, and Other Scary Things written by Lenore Look, illustrated by LeUyen Pham (Schwartz & Wade/Random)
Fearful second-grader Alvin, who refuses to speak at school, finds ways to deal with his anxieties in this respectful but hugely amusing chapter book. Grade level: 1–3. 172 pages.

Ruby Lu, Empress of Everything written by Lenore Look, illustrated by Anne Wilsdorf (Atheneum)
When second-grader Ruby’s deaf cousin arrives from China, the changes in family dynamics are difficult but instructive. Grade level: 1–4. 164 pages.

Wait for Me by An Na (Putnam)
When the eldest daughter in a Korean American family lies about her academic achievements, family conflicts intensify. Grade level: 7 and up. 172 pages.

Archer’s Quest by Linda Sue Park (Clarion)
A twelve-year-old learns of his heritage when a Korean prince from two thousand years in the past appears in his bedroom, seeking aid. Grade level: 5–7. 167 pages.

Project Mulberry by Linda Sue Park (Clarion)
Seventh-grader Julia warms to her Korean heritage while raising silk worms for a school project, but faces a moral dilemma when she realizes she must kill the worms to reap the silk. Grade level: 5–7. 225 pages.

Eyes of the Emperor by Graham Salisbury (Lamb/Random)
A Japanese-American teenager and his friends face terrible indignities while serving in the U.S. Army following the attack on Pearl Harbor. Grade level: 7 and up. 230 pages.

Zen and the Art of Faking It by Jordan Sonnenblick (Scholastic)
Eighth-grader San Lee, having just moved to a new school, is happy with his self-proclaimed Zen master persona until the deception undermines his relationship with a girl he likes. Grade level: 6–9. 264 pages.

Skim written by Mariko Tamaki, illustrated by Jillian Tamaki (Groundwood)
This stunningly emotional graphic novel charts a season of change in the life of brooding misfit Kim through dialogue, internal narration, diary entries, and delicately lined art. Grade level: 7 and up. 143 pages.

The Bone Collector’s Son by Paul Yee (Marshall Cavendish)
Fourteen-year-old Bing reluctantly assists his father, whose job is to exhume skeletons from the Chinese cemetery for shipment back to China, in this unusual turn-of-the-twentieth-century ghost story. Grade level: 6-8. 139 pages.

The Earth Dragon Awakes: The San Francisco Earthquake of 1906 by Laurence Yep (HarperCollins)
The friendship of two young boys in the aftermath of the earthquake offers a sense of the underlying race relations at the time. Grade level: 4–6. 117 pages.

Dragon Road: Golden Mountain Chronicles: 1939 by Laurence Yep (HarperCollins)
Calvin Chin, a speedy basketball player with a hot temper, leaves Chinatown to travel the country with a Chinese basketball team on a physically and emotionally grueling tour. Grade level: 4–8. 291 pages.

Nonfiction
Suggested grade level listed with each entry

Surfer of the Century: The Life of Duke Kahanamoku written by Ellie Crowe, illustrated by Richard Waldrep (Lee & Low)
This respectful picture-book biography brings to light a seminal figure in the history of surfing and Olympic swimming: a native Hawaiian who overcame racism to become a three-time gold medalist for the United States. Grade level: 3–5. 48 pages.

Be Water, My Friend: The Early Years of Bruce Lee written by Ken Mochizuki, illustrated by Dom Lee (Lee & Low)
A picture-book biography of Bruce Lee shows his life before he became the movie star everyone remembers. Grade level: K–4. 32 pages.

Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration during World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference by Joanne Oppenheim (Scholastic)
An account of a librarian’s relationship with Japanese-American children before and after their incarceration in camps during World War II. Grade level: 6 and up. 288 pages.

Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story written by Paula Yoo, illustrated by Dom Lee (Lee & Low)
A Korean-American diver overcomes racial adversity and family pressure to medal in the 1948 Olympics. Grade level: K–4. 32 pages.

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