Asian/Pacific Islander Books

Banana Dream by Hasan Namir: Eleven-year-old Iraqi, Mooz, yearns to taste the bananas that have been made unavailable by warfare. (2023)

A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin: Reimagines the cycles of the moon as a mother bakes a Big Moon Cookie and, despite Mama's request to wait, Little Star begins nibbling at it every night. (2018, video)

Chloe's Lunar New Year by Lily LaMotte: It's almost Lunar New Year, and Chloe can't wait to celebrate! But first, Chloe and her family must prepare for the new year. They buy new shoes, lay out good-luck oranges in a bowl, decorate the red envelope, and make a crispy turnip cake. Everyone comes together to cook a fantastic feast, saving a plate for A-má, of course. Chloe enjoys the festive celebration and yummy food, but most of all, she loves spending time with her family. (2023) 

Danbi Leads the School Parade by Anna Kim: Danbi is thrilled to start her new school in America. But a bit nervous too, for when she walks into the classroom, everything goes quiet. Everyone stares. Danbi wants to join in the dances and the games, but she doesn't know the rules and just can't get anything right. Luckily, she isn't one to give up. With a spark of imagination, she makes up a new game and leads her classmates on a parade to remember! (2020, video)

A Different Pond by Bao Phi: As a young boy, Bao and his father awoke early, hours before his father's long workday began, to fish on the shores of a small pond in Minneapolis. Unlike many other anglers, Bao and his father fished for food, not recreation. A successful catch meant a fed family. Between hope-filled casts, Bao's father told him about a different pond in their homeland of Vietnam. (2017, video)

Dim Sum, Here We Come! by Maple Lam: A Chinese American girl and her younger sister attend their weekly dim sum family gathering. It's a celebration of the traditional Chinese customs passed on from generation to generation: togetherness, love, family and food! (2023, video)

Drawn Together by Minh Le: A boy and his grandfather cross a language and cultural barrier using their shared love of art, storytelling, and fantasy.  (2018, video)

Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho: An Asian girl takes pride in the beauty of her eyes and of her family's heritage. (2021, video)

Gigi and Ojiji: What's In a Name? by Melissa Iwai: Gigi wants to go by something besides her baby name-but her full name, Geraldine, is too long to write and Hanako, her middle name, doesn't feel quite right. Will Gigi find the perfect name? (2023, video)

Lolo's Sari-Sari Store by Sophia N. Lee: After recently moving to the United States, a young girl reminisces about her time spent helping her Lolo run his sari-sari store in the Philippines, and uses some of his wisdom to make herself feel more at home. (2023)

Marya Khan and the Incredible Henna Party by Saadia Faruqi: With her eighth birthday coming up, Marya claims she is having an epic henna party, so now she must convince her family to make it happen and work to pull it off, but everything Marya does seems to end in disaster. (2022, video)

Meet Yasmin! by Saadia Faruqi: Pakistani American second grader Yasmin learns to cope with the small problems of school and home, while gaining confidence in her own skills and creative abilities. (2018, video 1, video 2)

Quiet Time With My Seeya by Dinalie Dabarera: Sometimes, the moments that Sona spends with her Sinhalese grandfather, her seeya, are quiet. They speak different languages and don't always use words. But they do communicate in other ways. (2023)

Spicy Spicy Hot! by Lenny Wen: Lintang is determined to embrace the spice of sambal in order to connect with her Indonesian grandmother and heritage. (2023)

This Is Not My Home by Vivienne Chang: Lily is upset when her mother announces the family will be moving back to Taiwan to care for her Ah Ma, but when her mother explains Taiwan is her home, Lily agrees it is her home too. (2023, video)

Ahmed Aziz's Epic Year by Nina Hamza:  An Indian-American boy endures a family move from Hawaii to frigid Minnesota and, with the help of three life-changing books he reads in school, learns to like reading, and ultimately, himself. (2023, audiobook) 

Amina's Voice by Hena Khan: A Pakistani-American Muslim girl struggles to stay true to her family's vibrant culture while simultaneously blending in at school after tragedy strikes her community. (2017, video)

Any Day With You by Mae Respicio: During the summer before seventh grade, Kaia, who enjoys living in Southern California, visiting the beach with her family, and creating movie make-up effects, makes a film with her friends to win a contest and hopefully prevent her beloved great-grandfather from moving back to the Philippines. (2020, video)

Aru Shah and the End of Time by Roshani Chokshi: Twelve-year-old Aru, who lives with her mother in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture in Atlanta, stretches the truth to fit in at her private school, but when she is dared to prove an ancient lamp is cursed, she inadvertently frees an ancient demon.  (2018, audiobook)

Barakah Beats by Maleeha Siddiqui: It's Nimra Sharif's first time going to public school.  Unfortunately, middle school is hard. The teachers are mean, the schedule is confusing, and her best friend Jenna starts giving hijab-wearing Nimra the cold shoulder around the other kids. Desperate to fit in and save her friendship with Jenna, Nimra accepts an unlikely invitation to join Barakah Beats, a band made up of popular eighth-grade boys. The only problem is, Nimra was taught that music isn't allowed in Islam, and she knows her parents would be disappointed in her. So she devises a plan: join the band just until she wins Jenna back, then quit before her parents find out. But Nimra's lies quickly start to unravel. (2021, audiobook)

Brother's Keeper by Julie Lee: Twelve-year-old Sora and her eight-year-old brother, Youngsoo, must try to escape North Korea's oppressive Communist regime on their own in 1950. (2020, video)

Finally Seen by Kelly Yang: When ten-year-old Lina Gao leaves China to live with her parents and sister, after five years apart, she must reckon with her hurt, anger, and curiosity and find a way to get her bearings in this new country--and the almost-new family that comes along with it. (2023, audiobook)

The Floating Field: How a Group of Thai Boys Built Their Own Soccer Field by Scott Riley: After watching the World Cup on television, a group of Thai boys is inspired to form their own team. But on the island of Koh Panyee, in a village built on stilts, there is no open space. The boys can play only twice a month on a sandbar when the tide is low enough. Everything changes when the teens join together to build their very own floating soccer field. (2021, video)

Frazzled: Everyday Disasters and Impending Doom by Booki Vivat: Nervous about middle school because her family does not get her and her friends know exactly what they want to do, Abbie Wu searches for her own passion before discovering a knack for leadership when injustices in the cafeteria come to light. (2016, audiobook)

Freddie vs. the Family Curse by Tracy Badua: When he discovers a century-old amulet from the Philippines that's supposed to bring good luck, Freddie couldn't be more wrong and has thirteen days to break a curse or meet an untimely demise. (2022, video)

The Guardian Test by Christina Soontornvat: Young Plum is shocked to discover that she's been accepted to the Guardian Academy on Lotus Island, an elite school where kids learn how to transform into Guardians, magical creatures who are sworn to protect the natural world. But, to her dismay, Plum struggles at school. While her classmates begin to transform into amazing creatures, Plum can't even seem to magic up a single feather! If she can't embrace her inner animal form soon, she'll have to leave school and lose the first group of real friends she's ever known. ( 2023, video)

Troublemaker by John Cho: On the first night of rioting in the wake of the Rodney King verdict, Jordan's father leaves to check on the family store, spurring twelve-year-old Jordan and his friends to embark on a dangerous journey through South Central and Koreatown to come to his aid, encountering the racism within their community as they go. (2022, audiobook)

Winston Chu vs. the Whimsies by Stacey Lee: Winston Chu saves the owner of a curiosities shop from a robbery only to be gifted a broomstick and a dustpan for his trouble--items that turn out to be more a curse than a blessing when they sweep away important stuff, like his baby sister. (2023, audiobook)