AHS Reads - Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month

In honor of Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month, this week’s list features books that center Asian culture. All of these books are available as ebooks through the Alameda County (Albany) Library on their Overdrive/Libby or Hoopla platforms. They are also in print, available through Books Inc.

As always, please get in touch with me at criemer@ausdk12.org if you have questions or need more recommendations.

Ms. Riemer

Realistic Fiction

Frankly In Love, by David Yoon
Two first generation Korean American teens pretend to have a relationship in order to hide their real non-Korean partners from their parents. They have to deal with racism and classism within their own community as they try to balance the American culture they live in with the expectations of their families. (Overdrive/Libby)

This Time Will Be Different, by Misa Sugiura
CJ Katsuyama loves working in her family’s flower shop. A developer swindled her grandparents out of the business when they were sent to the camps during World War Two. After years of work, the shop is back in the Katsuyama’s hands.The business is struggling but CJ is determined to fight back when the same developer’s family tries to buy the building out from under them. (Overdrive/Libby)

I Believe in a Thing Called Love, by Maurene Goo
Desi Lee accomplishes whatever she sets out to do because she always has a plan. The one thing she’s failing at is relationships. In an effort to find love she creates a strategy based on the plots of Korean dramas where, no matter what, the girl always gets the guy. (Overdrive/Libby)

Darius the Great Is Not Okay, by Adib Khorram
Half-Persian Darius Kellner travels to Iran to spend time with his mother’s side of the family. While there, he gets steeped in Iranian culture, something he missed while living in the US. Though dealing with depression, he’s able to connect with a new friend through playing soccer. (Overdrive/Libby)

Fantasy/Science Fiction

The Three Body Problem, by Cixin Liu
Set during China’s cultural revolution, an alien civilization captures signals sent by the military and makes plans to invade the earth. Conflicts arise between those who want to welcome the aliens, believing they will make the world better, and those who want to fight them. (Overdrive/Libby)

Monstress, by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda
In an ancient, matriarchal reimagined Asia, Maika Halfwolf is trying to survive in a world of war, prejudice, and mysterious dangers in this exciting comics series. She works to overcome the trauma of violence while trying to understand her psychic link to an immortal monster. (Hoopla)

Ronin Island, by Greg Pak and Giannis Milonogiannis
After a catastrophe changes 19th century Japan, Korea and China, survivors from the three countries find refuge on a hidden island. They overcome their differences and work together, but their existence is threatened when an army invades with a promise of more dangers to come. An absorbing, beautifully drawn graphic novel series. (Hoopla)

Historical Fiction

Outrun The Moon, by Stacey Lee
In 1906 San Francisco, Mercy Wong is determined to be admitted to a private school that usually accepts only wealthy white girls. She manages to get in only to have everything upended when the 1906 earthquake wrecks the town. Now on her own she must find a way forward for herself and other survivors. (Overdrive/Libby)

Butterfly Yellow, by Thanhha Lai
Hang is separated from her little brother as they try to escape Vietnam during the last days of the war. When she makes it to Texas 6 years later, she finds him but struggles to reconnect when she realizes he doesn’t remember her. (Hoopla)