May Reads
Learn Chinese calligraphy and ink painting from the Kennedy Center.
Explore the National Museum of Asian Art's virtual exhibits.
Listen to the music of Hawai'i.
Learn about the Asian American experience through the PBS series Asian Americans.
Aspiring journalist Safiya Mirza investigates the murder of a 14-year-old boy who was wrongfully arrested, labeled a terrorist and eventually killed, seeking to tell the whole truth about the boy and those who killed him because of their hate-filled beliefs.
Genre: Thrillers and suspense; Multiple perspectives
Character: Complex; Muslim
Storyline: Intricately plotted; Issue-oriented
Pace: Fast-paced
Tone: Suspenseful; Thought-provoking
Maya Aziz, seventeen, is caught between her India-born parents world of college and marrying a suitable Muslim boy and her dream world of film school and dating her classmate, Phil, when a terrorist attack changes her life forever.
Genre: Realistic fiction
Character: Authentic; Well-developed; Muslim
Storyline: Own voices
Writing Style: Compelling; Thoughtful
Fifteen-year-old Janna Yusuf, a Flannery O'Connor-obsessed book nerd and the daughter of the only divorced mother at their mosque, tries to make sense of the events that follow when her best friend's cousin--a holy star in the Muslim community--attempts to assault her at the end of sophomore year.
Genre: Realistic fiction; Canadian fiction
Themes: Exploring faith; Surviving sexual violence
Character: Muslim; Multiracial; Asian
Storyline: Character-driven; Own voices
Tone: Angst-filled
Chloe Wang is nervous to introduce her parents to her boyfriend, because the truth is, she hasn’t met him yet either. She hired him from Rent for Your ’Rents, a company specializing in providing fake boyfriends trained to impress even the most traditional Asian parents. When Chloe rents Drew, the mission is simple: convince her parents fake Drew is worthy of their approval so they’ll stop pressuring her to accept a proposal from Hongbo, the wealthiest (and slimiest) young bachelor in their tight-knit Asian American community. But when Chloe starts to fall for the real Drew—who, unlike his fake persona, is definitely not ’rent-worthy—her carefully curated life begins to unravel. Can she figure out what she wants before she loses everything?
Genre: Contemporary romances; Romantic comedies
Themes: Fake relationship
Character: Likeable; Asian
Storyline: Own voices
Tone: Amusing
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.
Genre: Realistic fiction; Coming-of-age stories; Books for reluctant readers; Debut title
Themes: Being a friend; Dealing with mental illness
Character: People with mental illness; Multiracial; Southwest Asian and North African (Middle Eastern); LGBTQIA
Storyline: Issue-oriented; Own voices
Tone: Bittersweet
Ok, a Korean American boy, tries a get rich quick scheme of starting a hair braiding business and winning the school talent competition to hide the fact that he is struggling with the loss of his father and the financial hardships he and his mother must now bear.
Genre: Humorous stories; Realistic fiction; Debut title
Themes: Coping with death; Immigrant experiences
Character: Relatable; Asian
Storyline: Own voices
Tone: Funny; Moving
After hacking into the Warcross Championships' opening game to track illegal betting, bounty hunter Emika Chen is asked by the game's creator to go undercover to investigate a security problem, and she uncovers a sinister plot.
Genre: Science fiction; STEM fiction
Themes: Press play to start
Character: Asian
Storyline: Own voices; Action-packed; Plot-driven
Told through letters, aspiring filmmaker and wallflower Twinkle Mehra learns a lesson about love while directing a movie for the Midsummer Night arts festival, in which her longtime crush and his twin brother are also participating.
Genre: Romantic comedies; Epistolary novels
Themes: Falling for a friend
Character: Authentic; Relatable; Asian
Storyline: Own voices
Tone: Funny
Teenager Viola Li and her sister Roz are selling bean buns at a science fiction gathering in Seattle when she suddenly collapses--she wakes up in the hospital to find that somehow she has developed an extreme case of photosensitivity (so bad that even ordinary lights can cause blisters), and somehow, in her senior year of high school, she has to craft a new life that will still include journalism school, activism, and the new guy who caught her as she fell.
Genre: Contemporary romances
Themes: Living with invisible disability
Character: Sympathetic; Asian
Growing up together in the community of Japantown, San Francisco, fourteen second-generation Japanese American teens find their bond tested by widespread discrimination and the mass incarcerations of people of Japanese ancestry during World War II.
Genre: Historical fiction; Multiple perspectives; First person narratives
Themes: Facing racism
Character: Large cast of characters; Authentic; Asian
Storyline: Own voices; Unconventional
Tone: Moving; Haunting
In 1935, ten-year-old Alex Maki of Bainbridge Island, Washington, is horrified to discover that his new pen pal, Charlie Lévy of Paris, France, is a girl, but in spite of his initial reluctance, their letters continue over the years and they fight for their friendship even as Charlie endures the Nazi occupation and Alex leaves his family in an internment camp and joins the Army.
Genre: War stories; Epistolary novels; Historical fiction; Multiple perspectives
Themes: Life during wartime
Character: Authentic; Jewish; Asian
Storyline: Own voices
Tone: Serious; Moving
"Lara Jean didn't expect to really fall for Peter. She and Peter were just pretending. Except suddenly they weren't. Now Lara Jean is more confused than ever. When another boy from her past returns to her life, Lara Jean's feelings for him return too. Can a girl be in love with two boys at once?"--.
Genre:Contemporary romances; Page to screen
Character:Multiracial
Storyline:Own voices
Shy twelve-year-old Nisha, forced to flee her home with her Hindu family during the 1947 partition of India, tries to find her voice and make sense of the world falling apart around her by writing to her deceased Muslim mother in the pages of her diary.
Genre: Historical fiction; Diary novels
Themes: Immigrant experiences
Character: Hindu; Muslim; Asian
Storyline: Character-driven; Own voices
Tone: Hopeful
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.
Genre: Realistic fiction
Themes: Dealing with suicide; Facing racism
Character: Likeable; Asian
Storyline: Character-driven; Issue-oriented; Own voices
Tone: Emotionally intense; Moving
In 1426 in Joseon, a year after her father vanishes while investigating the disappearance of thirteen girls, eighteen-year-old Min Hwani returns to the island of Jeju to pick up his trail with the help of her estranged sister.
Genre: Historical mysteries
Themes: Seeking lost parents
Character: Well-developed; Asian
Storyline: World-building
Tone: Atmospheric; Suspenseful
Twelve-year-old Hanako and her family, reeling from their confinement in an internment camp, renounce their American citizenship to move to Hiroshima, a city devastated by the atomic bomb dropped by Americans.
Genre: Historical fiction
Themes: Immigrant experiences
Character: Asian
Tone: Strong sense of place
A tale based on true events follows the coming-of-age of a girl who is motivated by an act of racism at school to learn about her ancestral heritage and her grandparents' experiences as lost children during the Korean War.
Genre: Realistic fiction; Multiple perspectives
Themes: Facing racism; Life during wartime
Character: Asian
Storyline: Nonlinear; Own voices
Tone: Moving; Hopeful
Navigating their families' enmity and secrets, Hunter and Luna find everything falling apart around them and must rely on their love to see them through, in this powerful story about the magic and mystery of the moon that connects us all.
Genre: Paranormal romances; Fairy tale and folklore-inspired fiction; Asian-influenced fantasy; Multiple perspectives; Classics-inspired fiction
Themes: Forbidden love
Character: Asian
Storyline: Own voices
Tone: Bittersweet; Romantic
After her mother's suicide, grief-stricken Leigh Sanders travels to Taiwan to stay with grandparents she never met, determined to find her mother who she believes turned into a bird.
Genre: Magical realism
Themes: Dealing with suicide
Character: Strong female
Storyline: Nonlinear; Own voices
Tone: Moving; Hopeful; Haunting
Twelve-year-old Amal, who lives in a small village in Pakistan, dreams of becoming a teacher despite being forced into indentured servitude after inadvertently insulting a member of the village's ruling family.
Genre: Realistic fiction; Books for reluctant readers
Themes: Life in small towns
Character: Sympathetic; Courageous; Believable; Asian
Storyline: Character-driven; Issue-oriented; Own voices
Tone: Serious; Moving
"High school senior Frank Li takes a risk to go after a girl his parents would never approve of, but his plans will leave him wondering if he ever really understood love--or himself--at all"--.
Genre: Romantic comedies
Themes: Fake relationship
Character: Authentic; Asian
Tone: Moving; Romantic; Funny
Nancy Luo, Krystal Choi, Akil Patel, and Alexander Lin, juniors at Manhattan's elite Sinclair Prep, are forced to confront their secrets after Jamie Ruan, once their closest friend, is found dead.
Genre: Thrillers and suspense
Themes: Dark academia
Character: Asian
Storyline: Character-driven
Pace: Fast-paced
Tone: Suspenseful
Trapped by her own lies, 12-year-old Aru Shah unwittingly unleashes an ancient demon whose duty it is to awaken the God of Destruction and must stop him before her beloved mother and classmates are frozen in time forever.
Genre: Comics and graphic novels; Fantasy comics; Mythological fiction; Asian-influenced fantasy
Themes :Hidden heritage
Character: Spirited; Asian
Storyline: Action-packed
Pace: Fast-paced
Tone: Amusing
Real life isn't a fairytale. But Tien still enjoys reading his favorite stories with his parents from the books he borrows from the local library. It's hard enough trying to communicate with your parents as a kid, but for Tien, he doesn't even have the right words because his parents are struggling with their English. Is there a Vietnamese word for what he's going through? Is there a way to tell them he's gay?
Genre: LGBTQIA comics; Comics and Graphic novels; Fairy tale and folklore-inspired fiction
Themes: Coming out experiences; Immigrant experiences
Character: Gay; LGBTQIA; Asian
Storyline: Own voices; Unconventional
Tone: Feel-good