Asian Heritage Month
Read one of these books to celebrate Asian Heritage Month with us!
Asian children's favorite stories : folktales from China, Japan, Korea, India, the Philippines and other Asian lands
Conger, David, author
2019
For thousands of years, children all over the world have listened to popular folktales. Each country has its own set of fascinating stories, and learning those from another part of the world is both entertaining and educational.
Asian civilisations
Morris, Neil, 1946-
2009
A detailed overview of the early history of American and Pacific peoples, including Native Americans, Maya, Aztecs, Inca, Aborigines, and the Maori, up to 1200 CE.
Asian kites : from the Thai cobra to the Japanese octopus : make & fly your own Asian kites : easy step-by-step instructions for 15 colorful kites
Hosking, Wayne, author
2022
Kids will learn how to make colorful kites while exploring Asian culture and history with this easy-to-follow craft book for kids.-- Amazon.com.
Bruised
Boteju, Tanya, author
2021
Daya Wijesinghe sees a bruise as a mixture of comfort and control, but joining a roller derby team pushes her toward big truths about love, loss, strength, and healing.
Crossing the Farak River
Aung Thin, Michelle, author
2020
For Hasina and her younger brother Araf, the constant threat of Sit Tat, the Myanmar Army, is a way of life in Rakhine province. As Rohingyas, they know that when they hear the helicopters there is one thing to do -run, and don't stop. So when soldiers invade their village one night, run is what they do. Hasina races deep into the Rakhine forest to hide with her cousin Ghadiya and Araf. When they emerge some days later, it is to a smouldering village. With so many Rohingyas driven out, Hasina must figure out who she can trust for help and summon the courage to fight for her family amid the escalating conflict that threatens her world and her identity.
Do not say we have nothing : a novel
Thien, Madeleine, 1974- author
2016
Thien takes us inside an extended family in China, showing us the lives of two successive generations—those who lived through Mao's Cultural Revolution in the mid-twentieth century; and the children of the survivors, who became the students protesting in Tiananmen Square in 1989, in one of the most important political moments of the past century. At the centre of this epic tale are enigmatic Sparrow, a genius composer who wishes desperately to create music yet can find truth only in silence; his mother and aunt, Big Mother Knife and Swirl, survivors with captivating singing voices and an unbreakable bond; Sparrow's ethereal cousin Zhuli, daughter of Swirl and storyteller Wen the Dreamer, who as a child witnesses the denunciation of her parents and as a young woman becomes the target of denunciations herself; and headstrong, talented Kai, best friend of Sparrow and Zhuli, and a determinedly successful musician who is a virtuoso at masking his true self until the day he can hide no longer.
Eyes that kiss in the corners
Ho, Joanna, author
2021
A young Asian girl notices that her eyes look different from her peers'. They have big, round eyes and long lashes. She realizes that her eyes are like her mother's, her grandmother's, and her little sister's. They have eyes that kiss in the corners and glow like warm tea, crinkle into crescent moons, and are filled with stories of the past and hope for the future. Drawing from the strength of these powerful women in her life, she recognizes her own beauty and discovers a path to self love and empowerment. This powerful, poetic picture book will resonate with readers of all ages and is a celebration of diversity.
Eyes that speak to the stars
Ho, Joanna, author.
2022
A young Asian boy notices that his eyes look different from his peers' after seeing his friend's drawing of them. After talking to his father, the boy realizes that his eyes rise to the skies and speak to the stars, shine like sunlit rays, and glimpse trails of light from those who came before-in fact, his eyes are like his father's, his agong's, and his little brother's, and they are visionary. Inspired by the men in his family, he recognizes his own power and strength from within. This extraordinary picture book redefines what it means to be truly you.
Hana Khan carries on
Jalaluddin, Uzma, author.
2021
When Hana's mysterious aunt and her teenage cousin arrive from India for a surprise visit, they draw Hana into a long-buried family secret. A hate-motivated attack on their neighbourhood complicates the situation further, as does Hana's growing attraction for Aydin, the young owner of the rival halal restaurant - who might not be a complete stranger after all. As life on the Golden Crescent unravels, Hana must learn to use her voice, draw on the strength of her community and decide what her future should be.
How to pronounce knife : stories
Thammavongsa, Souvankham, 1978- author
2020
In her stunning debut, Souvankham Thammavongsa captures the day-to-day lives of immigrants and refugees in a nameless city, illuminating hopes, disappointments, love affairs, and above all, the pursuit of a place to belong. An ex-boxer turned nail salon worker falls for a pair of immaculate hands; a mother and daughter harvest earthworms in the middle of the night; a country music-obsessed housewife abandons her family for fantasy; and a young girl's love for her father transcends language. Uncannily and intimately observed, written with prose of exceptional precision, the stories in How to Pronounce Knife speak of modern location and dislocation, revealing lives lived in the embrace of isolation and severed history - but not without joy, humour, resilience, and constant wonder at the workings of the world.
The last exiles
Shin, Ann, author
2021
Jin and Suja meet and fall in love while studying at university in Pyongyang. She is a young journalist from a prominent family, while he is from a small village of little means. Outside the school, North Korea has fallen under great political upheaval, plunged into chaos and famine. When Jin returns home to find his family starving, their food rations all but gone, he makes a rash decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Meanwhile, miles away, Suja has begun to feel the tenuousness of her privilege when she learns that Jin has disappeared. Risking everything, and defying her family, Suja sets out to find him, embarking on a dangerous journey that leads her into a dark criminal underbelly and tests their love and will to survive.
The library of legends
Chang, Janie, 1960- author
2020
China, 1937: When Japanese bombs begin falling on the city of Nanking, nineteen-year-old Hu Lian and her classmates at Minghua University are ordered to flee. Lian and a convoy of more than a hundred students, faculty, and staff must walk a thousand miles to the safety of China's western provinces, a journey marred by hunger, cold, and the constant threat of aerial attack. And it is not just the student refugees who are at risk: Lian and her classmates have been entrusted with a priceless treasure, a 500-year-old collection of myths and folklore known as the Library of Legends. Her family's past has made Lian wary of forming attachments, but the students' common duty to safeguard the Library of Legends forms unexpected bonds. Lian finds friendship and a cautious romance with the handsome and wealthy Liu Shaoming. But after one classmate is murdered and another arrested, Lian realizes she must escape from the convoy before a family secret puts her in danger.
The not-so-uniform life of Holly-Mei
Matula, Christina, author.
2023
Moving to Hong Kong for her mother's job, Holly-Mei Jones couldn't be happier until she makes a frenemy at school and must use all of her determination, stubbornness, and sparkle to turn her life in this new city into the ultimate adventure.
The Pepper Thai cookbook : family recipes from everyone's favorite Thai mom
Teigen, Pepper, author
2021
Whether she's frying up a batch of her crispy-garlicky wings for John's football Sundays or making Chrissy her favorite afternoon snack--instant ramen noodles with ground pork, cabbage, scallions, and cilantro--Pepper Teigen loves feeding her famously fabulous family. Through these eighty recipes, Pepper teaches you how to make all her hits. You'll find playful twists on Thai classics, such as fried chicken larb, which is all crunch with lots of lime, chile, and fish sauce, and pad thai brussels sprouts, which bring the fun tastes and textures of pad thai to a healthy sheet of pan-roasted vegetables. And there are the traditional dishes Pepper grew up with, like khao tod crispy rice salad and tom zapp hot and sour soup.
Swimming back to Trout River
Feng, Linda Rui, 1975- author
2021
In the summer of 1986 in a small Chinese village, ten-year-old Junie receives a momentous letter from her parents, who had left for America years ago: her father promises to return home and collect her by her twelfth birthday. What Junie doesn't know is that her parents, Momo and Cassia, are newly estranged from one another in their adopted country. In order for Momo to fulfill his promise, he must make one last desperate attempt to reunite all three members of the family before Junie's birthday - even if it means bringing painful family secrets to light.
Two trees make a forest : in search of my family's past among Taiwan's mountains and coasts
Lee, Jessica J., 1986- author
2020
Jessica J. Lee embarks on a journey to discover her family's forgotten history and to connect with the island they once called home. After unearthing a hidden memoir of her grandfather's life, Lee seeks to piece together the fragments of her family's history as they moved from China to Taiwan, and then on to Canada. But as she navigates the tumultuous terrain of Taiwan, Lee finds herself having to traverse fissures in language, memory, and history, as she searches for the pieces of her family left behind.
Vi
Thúy, Kim, author
2019
The daughter of an enterprising mother and a wealthy, spoiled father who never had to grow up, Vi was the youngest of their four children and the only girl. They gave her a name that meant "precious, tiny one," destined to be cosseted and protected, the family's little treasure. But the Vietnam War destroys life as they've known it. Vi, along with her mother and brothers, manages to escape--but her father stays behind, leaving a painful void as the rest of the family must make a new life for themselves in Canada. While her family puts down roots, life has different plans for Vi. Taken under the wing of Hà, a worldly family friend, and her diplomat lover, Vi tests personal boundaries and crosses international ones, letting the winds of life buffet her. From Saigon to Montreal, from Suzhou to Boston to the fall of the Berlin Wall, she is witness to the immensity of geography, the intricate fabric of humanity, the complexity of love, the infinite possibilities before her. Ever the quiet observer, somehow Vi must find a way to finally take her place in the world.
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor
Zhao, Xiran Jay.
Percy Jackson meets Tristan Strong in this hilarious middle grade “edge-of-your-seat adventure” (James Ponti, New York Times bestselling author of City Spies) that follows a young boy as he journeys across China to seal the underworld shut and save the mortal realm.
Zachary Ying never had many opportunities to learn about his Chinese heritage. His single mom was busy enough making sure they got by, and his schools never taught anything except Western history and myths. So Zack is woefully unprepared when he discovers he was born to host the spirit of the First Emperor of China for a vital mission: sealing the leaking portal to the Chinese underworld before the upcoming Ghost Month blows it wide open.
The mission takes an immediate wrong turn when the First Emperor botches his attempt to possess Zack’s body and binds to Zack’s AR gaming headset instead, leading to a battle where Zack’s mom’s soul gets taken by demons. Now, with one of history’s most infamous tyrants yapping in his headset, Zack must journey across China to heist magical artifacts and defeat figures from history and myth, all while learning to wield the emperor’s incredible water dragon powers.
And if Zack can’t finish the mission in time, the spirits of the underworld will flood into the mortal realm, and he could lose his mom forever.