Welcome to the Internet School Library
Media Center young adult Asian American booklist. Titles included
are for ages 12 and up. For titles for younger children, see Children's Literature Bibliography: Asian American,
Asian & Pacific Islands. The ISLMC is a meta-site for librarians,
teachers, parents and students. You can search
this site, use an index or sitemap.
This genre includes many
national, cultural and
religious
heritages. Works can be subdivided into some major groups: East Asian
[Chinese, Japanese and Korean]; South Asia [India and Pakistan]; Southeast
Asia [primarily Vietnamese and Pacific Islanders]; and Middle East. Most
Asian Americans are concerned about being human [Lenz]. Caught between a
fast-paced world of progress and a mysterious world of mythology and
legends, many books in this genre focus on a perpetual search for one's
self.
[Media Selection Aids]
[Fiction & Short Stories]
[Nonfiction]
[Criticism]
[Biography]
[Poetry]
Media Selection Aids
Bishop, Rudine Sims. Kaleidoscope; A Multicultural Booklist for Grades
K-8 National Council of Teachers of English, 1994.
Annotates some 400 books published between 1990 and 1992 about
Asian
Americans and other groups.
Jenkins, Esther and Austin, Mary C. Literature for Children about
Asians and Asian Americans; Analysis and Annotated Bibliography, With
Additional Readings for Adults Greenwood Press, 1987.
Gives an overview of literature and bibliographies for
children and young
adults.
Peck, David R. American Ethnic Literatures; Native American, African
American, Chicano/Latino, and Asian American Writers and Their
Backgrounds; An Annotated Bibliography Salem Press, 1992.
Authors and their works; study and teaching.
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Fiction & Short Stories
Carlson,
Lori M. American Eyes; New Asian-American Short Stories
for Young Adults Edited by Lori Carlson. 1st ed. New York: H. Holt,
1994; Econo-Clad Books, 1999.
A Best Book for YAs 1996.
These ten short stories reflect the conflict Asian Americans
face in
balancing an ancient heritage and an unknown future. Includes Taiwan,
China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam & Philippines
Hagedorn,
Jessica. Charlie Chan Is Dead Penguin Books, 1993. Rec. in LJ.
A varied collection of stories by 48 Asian American authors. Includes
short author biographies. Varied themes.
Irwin, Hadley. Kim/Kimi. pa. Penguin Putnam, 1988. Age 12
up by one reviewer; publishers ages 9 to 12
Despite a warm relationship with her mother,
stepfather, and half-brother, sixteen-year-old Kim feels the need
to find answers about the Japanese American father she never knew.
Reviews at Barnes &
Noble
Karlin, Wayne. The Other Side of Heaven: Post-War Fiction
by Vietnamese and American Writers. Edited by Le Minh Khue and Vu
Truong. pa. Curbstone Press, 1995.
These stories represent the "second wave" of fiction--works
about the aftermath of the Vietnam conflict as it moved into both
countries, touching and forever changing not only the veterans, but also
their families and their societies. Contributors include John Edgar
Wideman, Larry Brown, Robert Olen Butler, Philip Caputo, Bobbie Ann Mason,
Ngo Tu Lap, Tim O'Brien, and others. Reviews at Barnes & Noble
Lee, Lauren. Stella: On the Edge of Popularity. 1st ed. 1994.
Ages 12 up
Hoping to be accepted by a popular seventh-grade clique, a
Korean American girl is embarrassed by her family's heritage--until a
series of events gives her a better sense of who she is. Reviews at Barnes & Noble
Lee, Marie.
F Is for Fabuloso. William Morrow, 1999. Ages 12 up
Seventh grader Jin-Ha finds her adjustment to life in
America complicated by her mother's difficulty in learning to speak
English. Reviews at Barnes &
Noble
Lee,
Marie. If It Hadn't Been for Yoon Jun. pa. Avon, 1995. Grades
8 up
Alice, who is Korean but who was adopted as a baby, considers
herself 100 percent American. So, when her father insists that she be
friends with Yoon Jun, a geeky-looking Korean kid who's just come to
America from Korea, Alice is very upset. How can she risk her friends and
popularity by befriending Yoon Jun? Reviews at Barnes & Noble
Lee, Marie. Finding My Voice. pa HarperCollins; Boston: Houghton
Mifflin, 1992.
As she tries to enjoy her senior year and choose which college
she will attend, Korean American Ellen Sung must deal with the prejudice
of some of her classmates and pressure from her parents to get good
grades.
Lee,
Marie. Necessary Roughness. pa. HarperCollins, 1999. Grades 7 to 12
Sixteen-year-old Korean American Chan moves from Los
Angeles to a small town in Minnesota, where he must cope not only
with racism on the football team but also with the tensions in
his relationship with his strict father. Reviews at Barnes & Noble
Lee, Marie. Saying Goodbye. Houghton Mifflin, 1994. Ages
12 up
In this sequel to Finding My Voice, Ellen Sung
explores her interest in creative writing and in her Korean
heritage during her freshman year at Harvard. Reviews at Barnes & Noble
Watanabe, Sylvia & Bruchac, Carol, eds. Into
the Fire; Asian American Prose Greenfield Review Press, 1996
Adult. Includes many well known writers. Short stories;
novel excerpts, journals. Topics include interracial relationships,
internment of Japanese in WW II, etc.
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Nonfiction
The Asian American Almanac. Edited by Irene Natividad. Gale
Group, 1995. Reference
Chan, Sucheng. Asian Americans; An Interpretive
History Twayne, 1991.
Adult. General & academic audiences. Covers mid 1800s to
present; examines
hardships and discrimination experienced by Asian immigrants.
Making Waves; An Anthology of Writings
by and about Asian Women Beacon Press, 1989. Reviewed in SHLC.
Adult. General audiences. Essays focus on women. Includes
seven thematic
sections: immigration, war, work, generations, identity, injustice and
activism.
Straub, Deborah Gillan, ed. Voices of Multicultural America;
Notable Speeches Delivered by African, Asian, Hispanic and Native
Americans, 1790-1995 Gale Research, 1995
Anthology of speeches timeline. Recommended for secondary
libraries
Takaki, Ronald. Strangers from a Different Shore; A History of Asian
Americans Little, Brown, 1989. Reviewed in SHLC.
Popular history of Asian Americans based frequently on primary
sources.
Yep, Laurence, ed. American Dragons: Twenty-Five Asian American
Voices. pa. 1st ed. HarperCollins, 1995. Ages 12 up
The work of 24 Asian-Americans is presented in this
collection of short stories, poems, and one dramatic monologue. The
contributors represent...the following countries: China, Japan, Korea,
Vietnam, Thailand, and Tibet. Reviews at Barnes & Noble
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Criticism
Kim, Elaine H. Asian American Literature; An Introduction to
the Writings and Their Social Context Temple University,
1982.
Themes and patterns; literary criticism.
Reading
the Literature of Asian America Ed. by Shirley Geok-lin Lim
and Amy Ling. Philadelphia: Temple University, 1992.
Adult Title; Academic. Literary Criticism.
Wong, Sau-Ling Cynthia. Reading Asian American Literature; From
Necessity to Extravagance Princeton University Press, 1993.
Literary criticism based upon cultural context of Asian
American literature.
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Biography
Sinnott, Susan. Extraordinary Asian Pacific Americans Childrens
Press, 1993. Recommended in SLJ. YA literature
Brief biographies including Kristi Yamaguchi, Maxine Hong Kingston. Lots
of historical info as well.
Uchida, Yoshiko. The Invisible Thread. pa. William Morrow, 1995.
Ages 11 up
Ms. Uchida, a Nisei or second generation Japanese American,
describes growing up in Berkeley, and her family's internment in a
Nevada concentration camp during World War II. Ms. Uchida died in
1992. Reviews at Barnes &
Noble
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Poetry
The Open Boat: Poems from Asian Amerca. Ed. by Garrett Hongo. New
York: Anchor Books Doubleday, 1993. Recommended in SLJ
Adult Title. Anthology of 31 poets.
Wong, Janet S. Good Luck Gold, and Other Poems Margaret K.
McElderry Books, 1994. For grades 3-6. Rev. in Booklist.
Free verse, rhymed verse, haiku and cinquains. Simple
dramatic monologues
about growing up Asian American.
Wong, Janet S. A Suitcase of Seaweed, and Other Poems. Simon &
Schuster, 1996. Reviewer recommends Young Adult; Publisher Grades 3-6.
A collection of poems that reflect the experiences of Asian
Americans, particularly their family relationships. Primarily lyrical
poems. Reviews at Barnes & Noble
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to Top]
Reviewing Sources
Booklist
School Library Journal
Senior High School Library Catalog
Return to:
Asian Americans
Middle & Secondary English/Young Adult
Literature
Social Studies
