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Read a Book Featuring an Asian-American or Pacific-Islander Protagonist!
Dragon Pearl, by Yoon Ha Lee (Grades 4-7) (Fantasy)
Min, a thirteen-year-old girl with fox-magic, stows away on a battle cruiser and impersonates a cadet in order to solve the mystery of what happened to her older brother in the Thousand World Space Forces.
Maizy Chen’s Last Chance, by Lisa Yee (Grades 4-7) (Realistic)
In Last Chance, Minnesota, with her family, Maizy spends her time at the Golden Palace, the restaurant that’s been in her family for generations, where she makes some discoveries requiring her to go on a search for answers.
Front Desk, by Kelly Yang (Grades 4-7) (Realistic)
After emigrating from China, ten-year-old Mia Tang’s parents take a job managing a rundown motel, despite the nasty owner, Mr. Yao, who exploits them, while she works the front desk and tries to cope with fitting in at her school.
Stand Up, Yumi Chung!, by Jessica Kim (Grades 4-7) (Realistic)
When eleven-year-old Yumi Chung stumbles into a kids’ comedy camp she is mistaken for another student, so she decides to play the part.
When You Trap a Tiger, by Tae Keller (Grades 4-7) (Magical Realism)
Moving with her parents into the home of her sick grandmother, young Lily forges a complicated pact with a magical tiger, in a story inspired, by Korean folktales.
Inside Out & Back Again, by Thanhha Lai (Grades 4-8) (Historical/Novels in Verse)
Through a series of poems, a young girl chronicles the life-changing year of 1975, when she, her mother, and her brothers leave Vietnam and resettle in Alabama.
Displacement, by Kiku Hughes (Grades 6-12) (Graphic Novel)
A teenager is pulled back in time to witness her grandmother’s experiences in World War II-era Japanese internment camps.
American Born Chinese, by Gene Luen Yang (Grades 7-12) (Graphic Novel)
Alternates three interrelated stories about the problems of young Chinese Americans trying to participate in the popular culture.
Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir, by Robin Ha (Grades 7-12) (Graphic Memoir)
A powerful and moving teen graphic novel memoir about immigration, belonging, and how arts can save a life.
Darius the Great is Not Okay, by Adib Khorram (Grades 7-12) (Realistic)
Clinically-depressed Darius Kellner, a high school sophomore, travels to Iran to meet his grandparents, but it is their next door neighbor, Sohrab, who changes his life.
Sway with Me, by Syed M. Masood (Grades 7-12) (Romance)
After his grandfather dies, leaving him alone in the world, Arsalan asks the step-daughter of a prominent matchmaker to find him a future life partner and gets more than he bargained for when she makes him a deal he cannot refuse.
These Violent Delights, by Chloe Gong (Grades 8-12) (Historical Fantasy)
In 1926 Shanghai, eighteen-year-old Juliette Cai, heir of the Scarlet Gang, and her first love-turned-rival Roma Montagov, leader of the White Flowers, must work together when mysterious deaths threaten their city.
A Thousand Steps into Night, by Traci Chee (Grades 8-12) (Fantasy)
When a girl who’s never longed for adventure is hit with a curse that begins to transform her into a demon, she embarks on a quest to reverse the curse and return to her normal life, but along the way is forced to confront her true power within.
Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim, by Patricia Park (Grades 8-12)
(Realistic) When a microaggression at her wealthy Manhattan high school thrusts her into the spotlight, half-Latinx/half-Korean Alejandra Kim, who feels like an outcast, must carve out a place for herself while dealing with the loss of her father.
Last Night at the Telegraph Club, by Malinda Lo (Grades 9-12) (Historical)
When Lily realizes she has feelings for a girl in her math class, it threatens Lily’s oldest friendships and even her father’s citizenship status and eventually, Lily must decide if owning her truth is worth everything she has ever known.
The Ones We’re Meant to Find, by Joan He (Grades 9-12) (Science Fiction)
In a near future when life is harsh outside of Earth’s last unpolluted place, Cee tries to leave an abandoned island while her sister, STEM prodigy Kasey, seeks escape from the science and home she once trusted.
The Silence that Binds Us, by Joanna Ho (Grades 9-12) (Realistic)
In the year following their son’s death, May Chen’s parents face racist accusations of putting too much pressure on their son and causing his death by suicide, and May attempts to challenge the racism and ugly stereotypes through her writing, only to realize that she still has a lot to learn and that her actions have consequences for her family as well as herself.
The Marvelous Mirza Girls, by Sheba Karim (Grades 9-12) (Romance)
Accompanying her mother on a gap-year visit to New Delhi after a beloved aunt’s death, Noreen rediscovers her cultural heritage alongside a handsome youth before their growing feelings trigger a family scandal
Loveboat, Taipei, by Abigail Hing Wen (Grades 9-12) (Realistic)
Ever Wong’s summer takes an unexpected turn: gone is Chien Tan, the strict educational program in Taiwan that Ever was expecting. In its place, she finds Loveboat: a summer-long free-for-all where hookups abound, adults turn a blind eye, snake blood sake flows abundantly, and the nightlife runs nonstop.
A Magic Steeped in Poison, by Judy I. Lin (Grades 9-12) (Fantasy)
Ning enters a cutthroat magical competition to find the kingdom’s greatest master of the art of brewing tea, but political schemes and secrets make her goal of gaining access to royal physicians to cure her dying sister far more dangerous than she imagined.
It All Comes Back to You, by Farah Naz Rishi (Grades 9-12) (Romance)
When their siblings start dating, exes Kiran Noorani and Deen Malik silently agree to keep their past a secret even though the chemistry between them is undeniable.
Iron Widow, by Xiran Jay Zhao (Grades 10-12) (Fantasy)
After her sister is killed in an air battle versus aliens, young Zetian avenges her death and becomes an Iron Widow, a much feared kind of female pilot.