Immigration Archives - Page 21 of 42

This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz

04 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Caribbean American, Fiction, Short Stories

Thus far, mega-award winning Junot Díaz (also recently bestowed the "Genius" moniker by the MacArthur Foundation) hasn't written a book without his sort-of autobiographical stand-in Yunior de las Casas. Díaz's 1996 fiction debut, Drown, introduced Yunior through interlinked short stories; a decade-plus later, Díaz turned over full narrative control to his...

The Book of Jonas by Stephen Dau

03 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Middle Eastern, Nonethnic-specific, Young Adult Readers

Need the verdict first? READ THIS. Stephen Dau's The Book of Jonas is one of those rare, shattering, lingering, breathtaking-at-unexpected-moments debut novels that arrive so perfectly formed you're left both haunted (wondering what you could possibly read next to dispel the terror) and grateful (utterly so, that...

Chopsticks by Jessica Anthony and Rodrigo Corral

30 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Nonethnic-specific, South American, Young Adult Readers

The words "A Novel" adorn the top of the cover of Chopsticks – but that's definitely a debatable label. No such limits necessary here! A hybrid creation by novelist/short story writer Jessica Anthony and book designer/creative director (for Farrar, Straus, Giroux, who is not Chopsticks' publisher, in case you...

The Spy Lover by Kiana Davenport

26 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Hawaiian, Native American/First Nations/Indigenous Peoples

The Spy Lover lingered on the top of my must-read pile for months, mainly because I just needed a break from the death and destruction of war (seems to be my reading theme for too much of this year!). I wasn't wrong to be afraid: set during...

Astray by Emma Donoghue

24 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Canadian, Fiction, Irish, Nonethnic-specific, Short Stories

Maybe it's the craziness of the season, but I've really been appreciating short story collections. This latest title from Emma Donoghue – the author of the phenomenal Room – is an intriguingly composed compilation: Donoghue presents a story introduced with a specific city and year, then gives the 'ripped-from-the-headlines'...

The Newlyweds by Nell Freudenberger

05 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Bangladeshi, Fiction, Nonethnic-specific

Here's my 'why-I-read-this-book-scenario': a 21st-century equivalent to the mail-order bride from Bangladesh, her middle-class white American engineer sponsor hubby, the suburban New York life they attempt to share ...

Escape to Gold Mountain: A Graphic History of the Chinese in North America by David H.T. Wong

30 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian Asian Pacific American, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Canadian eco-architect David H.T. Wong's debut defies simple categorization: while clearly a graphic work for younger readers (much of the language is soooo totally tweenage vernacular), Escape covers some 200 years of history through the fictional story of a Chinese Canadian American family, also named Wong, whose experiences...

The Rose Hotel: A True-Life Novel by Rahimeh Andalibian

29 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Iranian, Iranian American, Memoir

In the genre of memoirs (which includes based-on-a-true-story, autobiographical novels), I've noticed two distinct categories: the titles you read for the importance of the story, and the memoirs that also turn out to be fabulous examples of great literature. Psychologist Rahimeh Andalibian's writing debut represents the former;...

Soul Calling: A Photographic Journey through the Hmong Diaspora by Joel Pickford, foreword by Kao Kalia Yang

26 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Hmong, Hmong American, Nonfiction, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American, Young Adult Readers

Joel Pickford's titular journey took him through an 8,000-mile trek to some of the most remote villages in Laos, five years of interviewing Hmong refugees, and five years of reading Hmong history and ethnography. The result is a gorgeous, startling, intimate portrait of an ethnic...

The Revolution of Evelyn Serrano by Sonia Manzano

21 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Caribbean, Caribbean American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Puerto Rican, Young Adult Readers

Not to confuse anyone, but I have to start with p. 177 because that's where you'll find a reference to "that cool new show Sesame Street" (which debuted 1969), because first-time novelist Sonia Manzano has been playing Sesame Street's Maria for the last 30+ years! While the title...

Message to Adolf (Part 1) by Osamu Tezuka, translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian

12 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Graphic Title/Manga/Manwha, Japanese, Translation

Considered the "godfather of manga," Osamu Tezuka is internationally renowned for his iconic Astro Boy. Introduced in Japan in 1951 as Tetsuwan Atom (Mighty Atom), Tezuka's signature creation remains an international phenomenon across multiple platforms, rising off the page and landing in television, films, video games, and...

Dreams of Joy by Lisa See

03 Sep, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Chinese, Chinese American, Fiction

As I look back on my post for Dreams of Joy's prequel, Shanghai Girls, I was clearly, quickly aware then that Janet Song was not the best choice for narrator. That I was somehow fooled into listening to Song again is surely a 'shame on...

Ru by Kim Thúy, translated by Sheila Fischman [in Library Journal]

15 Aug, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Memoir, Repost, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American, Translation, Vietnamese, Vietnamese American

* STARRED REVIEW The recipient of international accolades – including Canada’s coveted Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction (2010) for its original Canadian debut in French – this extraordinary first novel unfolds like ethereal poetry. The enigmatic title means “a small stream and, figuratively, a flow, a discharge—of...

Money Boy by Paul Yee

24 Jul, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian Asian Pacific American, Fiction, Young Adult Readers

'Gritty' is the first word that comes to mind after finishing this slim young adult novel about a teenage Chinese immigrant's struggles with his conservative father over his sexuality. Ray Liu is new to the West. He's left behind half his family in China, including his...

People Are Strange: Stories by Eric Gamalinda

18 Jun, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Filipina/o, Filipina/o American, Short Stories, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American

Eric Gamalinda and I overlapped in New York City in the 1990s, when I knew (of) him more as a poet. I should know better (blame it on youth!) than to label him by genre, because clearly Gamalinda is a multi-faceted writer (as well as a playwright,...

Peiling and the Chicken-Fried Christmas by Pauline Chen

03 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Chinese American, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Taiwanese American

Don't let the seasonal title fool you ...

Monstress: Stories by Lysley Tenorio

01 May, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Filipina/o American, Short Stories

Sometimes I need three major reminders to get me to open a book I've been anxiously waiting to read. Who knows why, but I admit to being lost and misdirected often! So first the inimitable Mz. Jessica Hagedorn had to tell me (almost a year...

Sông I Sing: Poems by Bao Phi

09 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Poetry, Southeast Asian American, Vietnamese American, Young Adult Readers

April is National Poetry Month. Every once in a long while, even a poetry-dullard like me has a poetic WOW!-moment. Certainly I'm not alone ...

Return to Sender by Julia Alvarez

08 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Audio, Caribbean American, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Middle Grade Readers, Young Adult Readers

Here's a rather unique literary coincidence: Julia Alvarez's Finding Miracles ends with an uncle missing the grandmother's wedding because of hemorrhoid surgery. Return to Sender begins with the mention of another uncle (in a totally unrelated story) suffering through a hemorrhoid operation. Try and find two...

What Is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng by Dave Eggers

05 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Audio, Black/African American, Fiction, Memoir

First things first: Let's try to clear up some of the oxymoronic labels. Although this title is classified as a novel written by Dave Eggers (he of bad boy-genius fame for his debut, A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius, and, of course, the mini-empire that is McSweeney's),...

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