Singaporean American Archives

Theo Tan and the Spirit Fox by Jesse Q. Sutanto [in School Library Journal]

18 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Chinese American, Fiction, Indian African, Indonesian American, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Singaporean American

Jesse Q. Sutanto makes her middle grade debut with a Chinese and Indian mythology-inspired epic examining identity politics, bullying, capitalist greed, and unblurring the lines of integrity. “I hate that I’m a Chinese American kid who lives in Chinatown,” Theo readily admits. But he’ll have...

Four Aunties and a Wedding by Jesse Q. Sutanto [in Booklist]

31 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese American, Fiction, Indonesian American, Repost, Singaporean American

As the photographer for the extended Chan clan’s wedding business, Meddelin (a well-intentioned approximation of Madeleine) is intimately familiar with all manner of nuptial celebrations, even when they include accidental murder, as witnessed in Dial A for Aunties (2021), Jesse Q. Sutanto’s rollicking debut, which introduced Big...

The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor [in Shelf Awareness]

04 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Repost, Singaporean American

The year is 1885 and Mei and her father, Ah Hao, work in a Sierra Nevada logging camp in this mesmerizing middle-grade debut by author/illustrator Shing Yin Khor (The American Dream?). The first few pages of Khor's clever graphic novel delineates underlying racial disparities: "Every night,...

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto [in Booklist]

15 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese American, Fiction, Indonesian American, Repost, Singaporean American

Murder is never funny, except when it is. In Jesse Q. Sutanto’s rollicking debut, which she describes in a “Dear reader” foreword as “a love letter to my family – a ridiculously large bunch with a long history of immigration,” a fatal accident begets family...

Sex and Vanity by Kevin Kwan [in Booklist]

02 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese American, European, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Repost, Singaporean, Singaporean American

Following the über-success of his three-part Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan returns with another over-the-top bestseller, this time contemporizing and diversifying E.M. Forster’s A Room with a View. Lydia Look, narrator for previous Kwan titles, ushers the characters through a (practically) royal East/West wedding in Capri, then a...

Sweet Time by Weng Pixin [in Shelf Awareness]

20 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Repost, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

In Singaporean artist Weng Pixin’s striking debut graphic collection, Sweet Time, the connecting theme throughout is clarified in the fourth story, "Ballad," using the commonly repeated "he loves me, he loves me not" refrain. As anonymous fingers peel a bloom's petals, the panels flip between...

An Ocean of Minutes by Thea Lim [in Booklist]

23 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Canadian, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Repost, Singaporean, Singaporean American

In 1981, Frank is about to fall victim to a deadly worldwide flu pandemic. In exchange for Frank’s recovery, girlfriend Polly time-travels 12 years into the future and commits to 32 months of bonded servitude. Their 1993 reunion plan goes awry when Polly lands in...

Rich People Problems [Crazy Rich Asians 3] by Kevin Kwan [in Library Journal]

25 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hong Kongese, Repost, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

*STARRED REVIEW Kevin Kwan’s third volume continues to expose – albeit with plenty of schadenfreudian humor – the outrageous excesses and over-the-top machinations that began with his debut, Crazy Rich Asians (currently in highly anticipated celluloid production). Lydia Look, who voiced book two, China Rich Girlfriend,...

Sarong Party Girls by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan [in Library Journal]

19 Oct, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Repost, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

Jazzy is still single at almost 27. When her BFF-quartet lost Sher to the dream they all aspire to – marrying an "ang moh," a wealthy Western expat, because local Singaporean men "are a bit fussy" about "older girls" – Jazzy decides she needs a...

China Rich Girlfriend [Crazy Rich Asians 2] by Kevin Kwan

31 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hong Kongese, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

Summer is waning way too quickly, but you still have a final week left to indulge in frothy reads: the over-the-top excesses of Singaporean Manhattanite Kevin Kwan’s novels might be just what you've been looking for as Labor Day looms. If you haven't yet relished Kwan's debut,...

Crazy Rich Asians [Crazy Rich Asians 1] by Kevin Kwan

29 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hong Kongese, Singaporean, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

You might consider duct-taping your jaw shut because Manhattan-based Singaporean author Kevin Kwan insists on the veracity of the excesses in his outrageous, hilarious, train-wreck tragic debut novel: "So many aspects of and stories in the book I actually had to tone down!" he told...

The Black Isle by Sandi Tan

23 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

She begins her life as Ling, the first-born twin of a well-to-do Shanghai family. Half the family is cleaved from the other, seeking new fortune on the British outpost called the Black Isle. During the sea voyage that takes Ling, her twin Li, and their father...

A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family by Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan

06 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Memoir, Nonfiction, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

A toothsome distraction from the recent Tiger Mother hunt, journalist Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan offers A Tiger in the Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family, which takes readers from Carnegie Hall into fragrant kitchens, trading threatened stuffed animals for pineapple tarts, Prokofiev for pandan. Tan's strong-willed...

The Hyphenated American: Four Plays by Chay Yew [in AsianWeek]

29 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Drama/Theater, Pan-Asian Pacific American, Repost, Singaporean American

Hyphenated American Memorable volume of collected plays by one of the most hard-working, prolific, talented, tenacious – not to mention incredibly charming – playwrights of our generation: Red, Scissors, A Beautiful Country, and Wonderland. Review: <a href="http://bookdragonreviews.wordpress.com/files/2009/05/2002-11-29-new-and-notable.pdf"...

The Scent of the Gods by Fiona Cheong [in What Do I Read Next? Multicultural Literature]

02 Mar, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Repost, Singaporean American, Southeast Asian American, Young Adult Readers

Scent of the Gods Eleven-year-old Esha comes of age in Singapore of the late 1960s, a time of growing political strife between the predominantly Chinese government and the local Singaporeans and their supporters. Esha’s...

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