Emma Brown
Three thoughtful books explore identity, belonging, and creativity
Disorientation, by Elaine Hsieh Chou
Disorientation is a perfectly chosen name for this equal-parts fascinating and frustrating debut novel from Elaine Hsieh Chou. It’s inspired by the author’s own very disorienting experience of stumbling across...
One family’s struggle for survival during the Khmer Rouge genocide
I opened this book intending to peek at the first pages, and ended up finishing it in one sitting. This graphic memoir about one family’s struggle for survival is set during the Khmer Rouge...
A graphic novel that explores what concepts of home and belonging mean for a...
Palimpsest is a challenging graphic novel and memoir about the struggle of a Korean-Swedish trans-racial adoptee to uncover her roots and come to terms with her identity – and unethical practices that the adoption...
With more library branches opening up for drop off and pick up, check out...
Days of Distraction, Alexandra Chang
The first thing to strike me about Days of Distraction was its structure: delivered in short, easily-digestible paragraphs, it mirrors the experience of online discourse. It also gives the book...
“Hokusai: Thirty-Six Views of Mount Fuji” is the next best thing to viewing the...
This art book simply delivers Hokusai’s famed series of woodblock print landscapes accompanied by brief but enlightening commentary. Balcou’s introduction gives context about early-19th-century Japanese history and philosophy, and provides insight on Hokusai’s influences...
Within the novel “The Factory”, the lives described feel meaningless, and this delivers...
In The Factory by Hiroko Oyamada, life dissolves into a strange fog for three characters who have accepted jobs for an enigmatic institution, known only by the book’s title. Each arrive at the Factory from...
“Things That Make And Break” is an energetic collection of short stories ...
May-Lan Tan’s book of short stories, Things That Make and Break, is an energetic collection, one that I find a bit uneven -- but with exhilarating highs. Loosely gathered by a theme of love,...
Themes of social justice, inclusion, and equity are plentiful in these young adult novels
My Fate According to the Butterfly
By Gail D. Villanueva
Villanueva’s novel gives young readers a colorful glimpse of life in Manila, capital of the Philippines, through the eyes of its heroine Sab. Just before her...
Children’s summer reading by API authors
Thank You Very Mochi
By Paul Matsushima, Sophie Wang, Craig Ishii, and Paul Matsushima, illustrated by Jing Zheng
Produced by Kizuna, a Los Angeles Japanese American community organization, Thank You Very Mochi invites us to New...
Valuable life lessons and stories of perseverance in children’s books by API authors
Where Will I Live?
This is a sobering book to read at any age, and not likely to be many parents’ first choice for an easy bedtime story. It’s made up of very simple, direct...