Inclusive Teen Reads: Asian/Pacific Islander

A joyful and tearful graphic memoir about one girl being uprooted when she moves to Hong Kong, a place where her family fits in but, for her, it's nothing like home.

Seventeen-year-old Taiwanese American Olivia joins forces with a secret society of students intent on ending the school's culture around bullying--all while making friends and falling in love along the way.

Once, the war was fought with kindlings--elite, magic-wielding warriors whose devastating power comes at the cost of their own young lives. Now the war is over, and kindlings have been cast adrift--their magic outlawed, their skills outdated, their formidable balar weapons prized only as relics and souvenirs. Violence still plagues the countryside, and memories haunt those who remain. When a village comes under threat of siege, it offers an opportunity for seven kindlings to fight one last time. But war changed these warriors. And to reclaim who they once were, they will have to battle their pasts, their trauma, and their grim fates to come together again--or none of them will make it out alive.

Struggling with emotional problems and an eating disorder, Jayne, a Korean American college student living in New York City, is estranged from her accomplished older sister June, until June gets cancer.

Seventeen-year-old Chinese-Filipina Chloe's father sets her up on a marathon of arranged dates in hopes of convincing her to stay close to their Manila home for college.

Stevie and Nora's plan to abandon their conservative small town for California so they can be together is shattered when a terrible fall steals every trace of Stevie's relationship with Nora from her memory.

Guangdong, 1954 Sixteen-year-old Mei Laan longs for a future of freedom, and her beauty may be the key to getting it. Can an arranged marriage in Hong Kong be the answer to all her problems? Hong Kong, 1972 Sixteen-year-old Lydia wants nothing more than to dance and to gain approval from her mother, who is largely absent and sharply critical, especially about the way she looks. Maybe her way to happiness is starting over in Toronto? Toronto, 2000 Sixteen-year-old Roz is grappling with who she wants to be in the world. The only thing she is certain of is that if she were thinner, things would be better. How can she start living her life, instead of just photographing it? When Roz’s estranged por por abruptly arrives for a seemingly indefinite visit, three generations are now under one roof. Delicate relationships are suddenly upended, and long-suppressed family secrets begin to surface.

Knowing that the friendships she depends on will change when her parents split up, Beth witnesses a private act of violence in her crush's home before forging a pact with her friends to offer support in the face of a life-altering decision.

Priscilla is first-generation Korean American, a former high school cheerleader who expects Sam to want the same all-American nightmare. Meanwhile, Sam is a girl of the times who has no energy for clichéd high school aspirations. After a huge blowup, Sam is desperate to get away from Priscilla, but instead, finds herself thrown back. Way back. To her shock, Sam lands in the '90s...alongside a 17-year-old Priscilla. Now, Sam has to deal with outdated tech, regressive '90s attitudes, and her growing feelings for sweet, mysterious football player Jamie, who just might be the right guy in the wrong era. With the clock ticking, Sam must figure out how to fix things with Priscilla or risk being trapped in an analog world forever. Sam's blast to the past has her questioning everything she thought she knew about her mom...and herself. One thing's for sure: Time is a mother.

Nhika, a young woman hiding in the fringes of society, must use her forbidden healing ability to cure the only witness to a murder.

Dylan Tang wants to win a Mid-Autumn Festival mooncake-making competition for teen chefs--in memory of his mom, and to bring much-needed publicity to his aunt's struggling Chinese takeout in Brooklyn. Enter Theo Somers: charming, wealthy, with a smile that makes Dylan's stomach do backflips. Their worlds are sun-and-moon apart, but Theo keeps showing up. He even convinces Dylan to be his fake date at a family wedding in the Hamptons. In Theo's glittering world of pomp, privilege, and crazy rich drama, their romance is supposed to be just pretend...but Dylan finds himself falling for Theo. Then Theo's relatives reveal their true colors--but with the mooncake contest looming, Dylan can't risk being sidetracked by rich-people problems. Can Dylan save his family's business and follow his heart--or will he fail to do both?

Set between New Jersey and Seoul, this coming-of-age story follows the author as she goes to South Korea, where she realizes something that changes her perspective on her family, her heritage and herself.

Seventeen-year-old musician Xue faces a lifetime of servitude until Duke Meng offers her freedom in exchange for serving as a musician in residence, but Xue soon discovers the Duke is a celestial ruler with ulterior motives and she must unlock her past to prevent an impending war in the Six Realms.

Hanalei of Tamarind is the cherished daughter of an old island family. But when her father steals a seadragon egg meant for an ailing princess, she is forced into a life of exile. In the years that follow, Hanalei finds solace in studying the majestic seadragons that roam the Nominomi Sea. Until, one day, an encounter with a female dragon offers her what she desires most: a chance to return home, and to right a terrible wrong. Samahtitamahenele--Sam--is the last remaining prince of Tamarind. But he can never inherit the throne, for Tamarind is a matriarchal society. With his mother ill and his grandmother nearing the end of her reign. Sam is left with two choices: to marry, or to find a cure for the sickness that has plagued his mother for ten long years. When a childhood companion returns from exile, she brings with her something he has not felt in a very long time: hope.

A Japanese American college student reconnects with her roots in Tokyo, Japan, while wrestling with feelings of loneliness, depression, and cultural identity confusion,

Bullied by her classmates, Sarah, a Korean American girl growing up in a rural community with few Asian neighbors, channels her rage into her art and cosplay until it threatens to explode.

In Sài Gòn, Lan is always trying to be the perfect daughter, dependable and willing to care for her widowed mother and their bánh mì stall. Her secret passion, however, is A Bánh Mì for Two, the food blog she started with her father, but has stopped updating since his passing. Meanwhile, Vietnamese American Vivi Huynh, has never been to Việt Nam. Her parents rarely even talk about the homeland that clearly haunts them. So Vivi secretly goes to Vietnam for a study abroad program her freshman year of college. She's determined to figure out why her parents left, and to try everything she's seen on her favorite food blog, A Bánh Mì for Two. When Vivi and Lan meet in Sài Gòn, they strike a deal. Lan will show Vivi around the city, helping her piece together her mother's story through crumbling photographs and old memories. Vivi will help Lan start writing again so she can enter a food blogging contest. And slowly, as they explore the city and their pasts, Vivi and Lan fall in love

Jackie Oh is done being your model minority. She’s tired of perfect GPAs, PSATs, SATs, all of it. Jackie longs to become a professional chef. But her Korean American parents are Ivy League corporate workaholics who would never understand her dream. Just ask her brother, Justin, who hasn’t heard from them since he was sent to Rikers Island. Jackie works at her grandparents’ Midtown Manhattan deli after school and practices French cooking techniques at night—when she should be studying. But the kitchen’s the only place Jackie is free from all the stresses eating at her—school, family, and the increasing violence targeting the Asian community. Then the most unexpected thing happens: Jackie becomes a teen contestant on her favorite cooking show, Burn Off! Soon Jackie is thrown headfirst into a cutthroat TV world filled with showboating child actors, snarky judges, and gimmicky “gotcha!” challenges. All Jackie wants to do is cook her way. But what is her way?

An incredible true story in graphic novel form that lays bare the tortured and triumphant history of Taiwan, an island claimed and fought over by many countries, through the life story of a man who lived through its most turbulent times.

Thien's first memory isn't a sight or a sound. It's the sweetness of watermelon and the saltiness of fish. It's the taste of the foods he ate while adrift at sea as his family fled Vietnam. After the Pham family arrives at a refugee camp in Thailand, they struggle to survive. Things don't get much easier once they resettle in California. And through each chapter of their lives, food takes on a new meaning. Strawberries come to signify struggle as Thien's mom and dad look for work. Potato chips are an indulgence that bring Thien so much joy that they become a necessity. Behind every cut of steak and inside every croissant lies a story. And for Thien Pham, that story is about a search-- for belonging, for happiness, for the American dream.

Set in the 1930s to today, four generations of Filipino American boys grapple with identity, masculinity, and father-son relationships.

eventeen-year-old inseparable best friends Jia, Ariel, and Everett navigate first love, grief, racism, and Asian American consciousness during one life-changing summer apart.

Cara Tang doesn't want to be haunted. Look, the dead have issues, and Cara has enough of her own. Her overbearing mother insists she be the 'perfect' Chinese-American daughter--which means suppressing her ghost-speaking powers--and she keeps getting into fights with Zacharias Coleson, the local golden boy whose smirk makes her want to set things on fire. Then she stumbles across Zach's dead body in the woods. He's even more infuriating as a ghost, but Cara's the only one who can see him--and save him. Agreeing to resurrect him puts her at odds with her mother, draws her into a dangerous liminal world of monsters and magic--and worse, leaves her stuck with Zach.

Caroline Kim is feeling the weight of sophomore year. When she starts tutoring infamous senior Kimberly Park-Ocampo--a charismatic lesbian, friend to rich kids and punks alike--Caroline is flustered... but intrigued Their friendship kindles and before they know it, the two are sneaking out for late-night drives, bonding beneath the stars over music, dreams, and a shared desire of getting away from it all. A connection begins to smolder . . . but will feelings of guilt and the mounting pressure of life outside of these adventures extinguish their spark before it catches fire?

Told in alternating voices, awkward teenagers Bethany and Jacob must navigate blossoming feelings after agreeing to date each other as practice for the real deal.

Val is ready to give up on love. It's led to nothing but secrets and heartbreak, and she's pretty sure she's cursed--no one in her family, for generations, has ever had any luck with love. But then a chance encounter with a pair of cute lion dancers sparks something in Val. Is it real love? Could this be her chance to break the family curse? Or is she destined to live with a broken heart forever?

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.

Aromantic and asexual students Sophie and Jo, engaged in an online feud as the creators of popular relationship advice accounts "Dear Wendy" and "Sincerely, Wanda," unwittingly become real-life friends and navigate their shared aroace identities as they face the challenges of college life.

The boys of Huaxia dream of pairing up with girls to pilot Chrysalises, giant transforming robots that can battle the aliens that lurk beyond the Great Wall of China...When 18-year-old Zetian offers herself up as a concubine-pilot, it's to assassinate the ace male pilot responsible for her sister's death. But when she gets her vengeance, it becomes clear that she is an Iron Widow, a rare kind of female pilot who can sacrifice males to power up Chrysalises instead.

In an alternate Tang Dynasty China, aspiring royal alchemist Zilan, who has the ability to resurrect the dead, arrives in the capital to compete against the best alchemists in the country and becomes drawn into the dangerous political games of the royal family.

A romance about teens who devote themselves to granting other people's wishes, but are too afraid to let them selves have their own hearts' desires -- each other.

Selected by the royal matchmaker to marry the crown prince, Ying Yue finds her husband-to-be stoic and infuriating, leading her to escape into a secret parallel world through palace mirrors where a kinder prince awaits, but the two worlds have a long andbloody history and Ying has a part to play in the future of both.

MJ Rodriguez has spent her life hiding in the human world, keeping a heavy secret: She's half-encanto. As the only child of King Vivencio of the Sirena Court, she's also next in line for the throne. And now, upon her estranged father's sudden death, MJ must claim her place as rightful heir. In wondrous Biringan, the road to the throne is paved with thorns. Without a reigning monarch, the realm has spiraled into disarray. MJ has to win over a backstabbing council that objects to a half-human ruler. And when it looks like her father's passing wasn't natural but possibly inflicted by a curse, she must hunt down the sorceress behind this merciless magic. In a bind, MJ forges an unlikely alliance with the striking Sir Lucas of the feared Sigbin Court, and soon, she loses her heart to the mysterious knight. But with peril looming over Biringan, the princess must decide if she can both open herself to love and carry the weight of the crown.

Seamlessly toggling between past and present, this funny graphic memoir follows a queer Chinese American's immigration to Texas where she just wants to make the basketball team, escape Chinese school, and figure out why she is attracted to girls.

Kai Song dreams of being a warrior. She wants to follow in the footsteps of her beloved father, the commander of the Royal Legion. But while her father believes in Kai and trains her in martial arts, their society isn't ready for a girl warrior. Still, Kai is determined. But she is plagued by rumors that she is the granddaughter of Gumiho, the infamous nine-tailed fox demon who was killed by her father years before. Everything comes crashing down the day Kai learns the deadly secret about her mother's past. Now she must come to terms with the truth about her identity and take her destiny into her own hands. As Kai desperately searches for a way to escape her fate, she comes to find compassion, and even love, in the most unexpected places.

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.

As one of only two Asian Americans in his school and often left out, Gary jumps at the chance of breaking into the school's popular clique by befriending the most beautiful girl in school, but as he comes closer to achieving his goal, Gary also risks losing the only person who sees the real him.

Kiku is on vacation in San Francisco when suddenly she finds herself displaced to the 1940s Japanese-American internment camp that her late grandmother, Ernestina, was forcibly relocated to during World War II. These displacements keep occurring until Kiku finds herself stuck back in time. Living alongside her young grandmother and other Japanese-American citizens in internment camps, Kiku gets the education she never received in history class. She witnesses the lives of Japanese-Americans who were denied their civil liberties and suffered greatly, but managed to cultivate community and commit acts of resistance in order to survive.

In a kingdom gripped by turmoil, privileged seventeen-year-old Iseul defies danger to rescue her sister Suyeon from the absolute power of tyrannical King Yeonsan, while Prince Daehyun, desperate to overthrow his despotic half-brother, forms an uneasy alliance with Iseul, leading them to join forces in a perilous gamble against the oppressive regime.

High school seniors B̉ao and Linh, whose feuding families own competing Vietnamese restaurants, conceal their budding romance, as well as Linh's desire to become an artist.

In in 1930s Los Angeles Chinatown, the Chow sisters, May, Gemma, and Peony, suspect foul play in the death of Chinatown star Lulu Wong and take it upon themselves to solve the murder, revealing a conspiracy that threatens their Chinatown neighborhood.

Developing an algorithm to predict people's perfect matches, Grace Tang is confident it's accurate, but while trying to make things work with her own "perfect" match, she grows closer to co-worker Julia and questions who she's really attracted to.

When seventeen-year-old Eliza Lin's entirely fictional essay about meeting her perfect boyfriend goes viral at her international school in Beijing, she has to make a deal with the handsome and charming Caz Song to play the part--but when the relationship starts to feel real all her career plans are suddenly threatened.

Sadie Wen is perfect on paper: school captain, valedictorian, and a "pleasure to have in class." It's not easy, but she has a trick to keep her model-student smile plastered on her face at all times: she channels all her frustrations into her email drafts. She'd never send them of course -- she'd rather die than hurt anyone's feelings -- but it's a relief to let loose on her power-hungry English teacher or a freeloading classmate taking credit for Sadie's work. Sadie doesn't have to hold back in her emails, because nobody will ever read them . . . that is, until they're accidentally sent out. Overnight, Sadie's carefully crafted, conflict-free life is turned upside down. It's her worst nightmare -- now everyone at school knows what she really thinks of them, and they're not afraid to tell her what they really think of her either. But amidst the chaos, there's one person growing to appreciate the "real" Sadie -- Julius, the only boy she's sworn to hate.

The exiled Princess Shiori must unravel the curse that turned her six brothers into cranes, and she is assisted by her spurned betrothed, a capricious dragon, and a paper bird brought to life by her own magic.

Two sisters, one as beautiful as the moon and the other monstrous, must fight to save each other when a betrothal contest goes wrong.

Seventeen-year-old Lily Hu can't remember exactly when the question took root, but the answer was in full bloom the moment she and Kathleen Miller walked under the flashing neon sign of a lesbian bar called the Telegraph Club. America in 1954 is not a safe place for two girls to fall in love, especially not in Chinatown. Red-Scare paranoia threatens everyone, including Chinese Americans like Lily. With deportation looming over her father--despite his hard-won citizenship--Lily and Kath risk everything to let their love see the light of day.

Witches and lovers Caro Rabbit and Iccadora Alice Sickle's twisted past comes to light as they are once again thrust into each other's lives and beckoned back to Wonderland, the dark, monster-filled forest where it all began.

Cello prodigy Jenny's goal is to get into a prestigious music conservatory. When she meets Jaewoo in her uncle's Los Angeles karaoke bar, it's clear he is the kind of boy who would uproot her careful plans. In a moment of spontaneity she allows him to pull her out of her comfort zone for one unforgettable night of adventure-- before he disappears without a word. Three months later, when Jenny and her mother arrive in South Korea to take care of her ailing grandmother, she is shocked to discover that Jaewoo is a student at the same elite arts academy where she's enrolled for the semester. He is a member of one of the biggest K-pop bands in the world-- and he is strictly forbidden from dating. Just how much is Jenny willing to risk for love?

A lyrical and magical novel about two teens who fall in love despite their families being caught in a bitter rivalry.

A social media influencer is shipped off to a digital detox summer camp in this funny coming-of-age story.

After his imprisonment in Green Island, Kun-lin struggles to pick up where he left off ten years earlier. He reconnects with his childhood crush Kimiko and finds work as an editor, jumping from publisher to publisher until finally settling at an advertising company. But when manhua publishing becomes victim to censorship, and many of his friends lose their jobs, Kun-lin takes matters into his own hands. He starts a children's magazine, Prince, for a group of unemployed artists and his old inmates who cannot find work anywhere else. Kun-lin's life finally seems to be looking up... but how long will this last? Forty years later, Kun-lin serves as a volunteer at the White Terror Memorial Park, promoting human rights education. There, he meets Yu Pei-yun, a young college professor who provides him with an opportunity to reminisce on his past and how he picked himself up after grappling with bankruptcy and depression. With the end of martial law, Kun-lin and other former New-Lifers felt compelled to mobilize to rehabilitate fellow White Terror victims, forcing him to face his past head-on. While navigating his changing homeland, he must conciliate all parts of himself--the victim and the savior, the patriot and the rebel, a father to the future generation and a son to the old Taiwan--before he can bury the ghosts of his past.

When Bobby is unwillingly outed he turns to boxing, finding a hero in Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, but when Pacquiao publicly denounces homosexuality, Bobby must discover a hero within himself.

It's time for the annual winter camp at Anjeon University. A full weekend, deep in the mountains, with no parental supervision. But this is no ordinary getaway. It is 1980s South Korea where the police are always watching and even the slightest bit of self-expression can lead to arrest. Luckily, it's the only night of the year when generations of Koreans had no curfew, no obligations, and no rules: Christmas Eve. In the snowy mountains, everyone has a different plan for their one night of freedom. Hyun Sook is trying to restart her banned book club but has to hide from a boy she suspects of being a spy. Taehee and Kiwoo are trying to build up the nerve to confess their feelings for one another, while Suji pines after her crush, ready to risk it all and finally tell someone the secret she's been hiding for her entire life.

When Korean American teens Bobby and Winter reluctantly go on a college visit road trip together, the sworn mortal enemies discover they might actually be a perfect pair.

Seventeen-year-old Sid lives in a tourist town where magic lies buried beneath the earth, but other than that, has a completely ordinary existence, until one day her brother goes missing and the ground opens up, unleashing the magic and zombies within.

Tan Lee finds himself embroiled in an unusual love triangle, all while trying to defuse a heist, unravel a conspiracy, and navigate the most complicated babysitting assignment ever.

After the sudden death of her father, sixteen-year-old Valerie Chu, who is hiding an eating disorder from her friends and family, reevaluates her life, her choices and her own body as she tries to find the strength to seek help.

Two deceased teens find themselves together in a white room--one that exists outside of time and space, allows them to communicate with their families, and ultimately reveals an unexpected connection between their lives and deaths.