Immigration Archives - Page 22 of 42

Escape from Camp 14: One Man’s Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West by Blaine Harden [in Christian Science Monitor]

02 Apr, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Korean, Nonfiction, North Korean, Repost

Escape from Camp 14 is the most devastating book I have ever read. Perhaps the resilience of youth got me through the aftermath of learning about slavery, the Holocaust, even Iris Chang’s now-classic The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust, the title I previously held...

Finding Miracles by Julia Alvarez

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

Sandwiched between sister Kate and brother Nate, Milly Kaufman is the only adopted child of their Jewish father and Mormon mother. She began life with the name Milagros (as in 'miracles'), until she was claimed as an infant by parents working with the Peace Corps...

Once Upon a Quinceañera: Coming of Age in the USA by Julia Alvarez

28 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Latina/o/x, Memoir, Nonfiction, Young Adult Readers

Somewhere buried in these almost 300 pages (or just over nine hours if you're listening to the husky voice of actress Daphne Rubin-Vega) is a really good book about the quinceañera – the 15th birthday celebration of a Latina which marks her maturity from little girl...

Tropical Fish: Stories Out of Entebbe by Doreen Baingana

18 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, Black/African American, Fiction, Short Stories

This interlinked story collection by Uganda-born, Stateside MFA-ed Doreen Baingana is a family affair that explores the lives of three sisters, their diverse paths, and their eventual return home. The two bookended stories introduce the family in the opening "Green Stones," only to end with...

Migrant by Maxine Trottier, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault

17 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Canadian, Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Latin American

Here's an immigration story that took me by total surprise: German-speaking Mennonites from Mexico who work as migrant laborers in Canada. To understand just how many levels of peripatetic displacement that involves, you have to read this fascinating (mega-award-winning!) book backwards. "Canada and the United States were...

Lovetorn by Kavita Daswani

14 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Fiction, Indian, Indian American, Middle Grade Readers, South Asian, South Asian American, Young Adult Readers

Ah, this day of mislaid Hallmark hearts ...

Forgotten Country by Catherine Chung [in Library Journal]

01 Feb, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Korean American, Repost

As Janie weeps over her first-ever separation from her mother, who is about to give birth, her grandmother admonishes her with the grave responsibility Janie must bear for her new sibling. "In our family ...

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats by Jan-Philipp Sendker, translated by Kevin Wiliarty

30 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, European, Fiction, Hapa/Mixed-race, Myanmarese (Burmese), Myanmarese (Burmese) American, Southeast Asian, Southeast Asian American, Translation

I think I will forever remember this book, perhaps not so much for the story, but for a single word: a blind young man sitting in the dark with hands running across the pages answers when asked what he's doing ...

The End of the World by Sushma Joshi

15 Jan, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Nepali, Short Stories

Few Nepali writers have thus far landed on western bookshelves, with only two exceptions who come immediately to mind – elegant Samrat Upadhyay (Arresting God in Kathmandu, The Royal Ghosts) and activist Manjushree Thapa (The Tutor of History, Seasons of Flight). So to find another Nepali author writing in English is a...

The Unforgotten Coat by Frank Cottrell Boyce, photography by Carl Hunter and Clare Heney

16 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in British, Fiction, Middle Grade Readers, Mongolian, Young Adult Readers

I know it says "Afterword" for a reason, but sometimes starting from the back of a book (must be an Asian thing!) feels just right. In this latest title from British author/screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce (Millions – which was also a pretty good film – and Framed), the...

Seasons of Flight by Manjushree Thapa

13 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Nepali, Nepali American, South Asian, South Asian American

Nepal-born Manjushree Thapa, herself a peripatetic hybrid of East and West with an American education and Canadian ties, is one of a handful of Nepali authors successfully writing in English. This, her latest novel (and only her second in her almost two-decade writing history with seven titles...

The Submission by Amy Waldman

07 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Fiction, Indian American, South Asian American

This is one of those spectacular titles that the less you know about it, the better your read. The amazing levels of meaning contained in the title alone makes it worth your utmost attention. Of course, if you haven't been hiding under a rock (like me),...

Author Interview: Luis Alberto Urrea [in Bookslut]

05 Dec, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Fiction, Latina/o/x, Repost

Earlier this year at that sprawling, unnavigable, kvetchfest known as AWP – the annual conference of the Association of Writers & Writing Programs – I got to introduce and moderate the very best panel of the long weekend (the title alone was the most memorable: "I Am Not...

My Korean Deli: Risking It All for a Convenience Store by Ben Ryder Howe

17 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Audio, Korean American, Memoir, Nonfiction

I swear this it not a spoiler because it's on the dedication page: Dwayne dies. His dates are right there before the book even starts: "1968-2009." Which is really quite sad, because inherited employee Dwayne Wright is one of the two most colorful Characters (capital...

On Black Sisters Street by Chika Unigwe

15 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, African, European, Fiction, Translation

Four women, living together in a house in Antwerp, Belgium, are "[t]hrown together by a conspiracy of fate and a loud man called Dele." They have escaped their lives in Africa, but only at the cost of their freedom; Dele, who orchestrated their immigration, now...

Drawing From Memory by Allen Say and The House Baba Built by Ed Young [in The New York Times]

11 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Chinese American, Japanese American, Memoir, Middle Grade Readers, Nonfiction, Repost

What formative experiences make a great children’s book illustrator? In the case of Allen Say and Ed Young, both Caldecott medalists, the journey begins with unusual childhoods in wartime Asia. Connecting the dots from those beginnings to what would become long and successful careers, Drawing...

The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka

10 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Absolute Favorites, Adult Readers, Fiction, Japanese American, Young Adult Readers

Almost 10 years after Julie Otsuka made her spectacular literary debut with When the Emperor Was Divine, I remain even more convinced that Emperor is the best book I've ever read about the Japanese American imprisonment during World War II. Truth be told, Emperor ranks so high on...

Whorled: Poems by Ed Bok Lee

09 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Korean American, Poetry

Timing is everything: I'm convinced my just-got-back trip from Korea gave me an especially empathetic appreciation for poetry slam artist/writer/playwright Ed Bok Lee's latest collection. I just wandered some of those same streets! And I definitely had to read it at 38,000-feet cruising altitude between there...

Tashi and the Tibetan Flower Cure by Naomi C. Rose

03 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Children/Picture Books, Fiction, Tibetan American

Tashi’s beloved grandfather – her Popola – has been sick in bed for two weeks. “’The doctor’s doing all she can,’” her mother assures Tashi. But Tashi soon realizes that what will help Popola most may not be medical at all. Tashi asks Popola about how...

Chocolate Chocolate: The True Story of Two Sisters, Tons of Treats, and the Little Shop That Could by Frances Park and Ginger Park

01 Nov, by Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Adult Readers, Korean American, Memoir, Nonfiction

On a long flight to Korea, I took the Park Sisters along to sweeten the tedious ride. I was barreling my way toward an international children’s literature festival where I was scheduled to talk about Korean American literature and, of course, the sisters and their...

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