Asians,+Latinos

Asian Americans, Latino Americans
** Alvarez, Julia //**How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents.**// Plume, 1991. This tale, told in reverse chronological order, follows the four Garcia sisters and their family as immigrants to New York from the Dominican Republic in the early 1960s amid political unrest. The challenges and embarrassments they suffer and their strong family ties are explored as we see the United States through Hispanic eyes. Grades 8 - 12. Recommended by Kim
 * __Fiction__

Kadohata, Cynthia. **//Kira, Kira.//** Atheneum Books, 2004. Katie's Japanese-American family moves from Iowa to Georgia when their Asian food market goes out of business. Set in the 1950's the story tells about Katie and her experiences growing up. Also, it deals with the illness of Lynn, Katie's older sister. At first Katie doesn't realize how serious her illness is until she looks up Lymphoma and realizes that her beloved sister Lynn might die. Awarded the 2005 Newbery Medal. Grades 5 - 8. Recommended by Emily.   Nye, Naomi Shihab. **//Habibi.//** Simon Pulse, 1997. One of the few young adult fiction books comparing life in the US to that in Israel Habibi tells the story of a girl, 14 year-old Liyana, who has been born and raised in the US and then moves with her family to Jerusalem, her Palestinian father’s boyhood home. While they had Jewish friends when they lived in the US their extended family and her father are opposed to friendships with Jews within Palestine/Israel, but Liyana befriends a Jewish boy anyway. This friendship, while awkward for the family initially, provides healing and promotes hope. Grades 7 - 12. Awarded the 1998 Jane Addams Award. Recommended by Amber.

Patneaude, David. //**Thin Wood Walls.**// Houghton-Mifflin, 2004. When the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor, Joe Hamada and his family face growing prejudice, eventually being torn away from their home and sent to a relocation camp in California, even as his older brother joins the United States Army to fight in the war. Grades 5 - 9. Recommended by Josh.

Uchida, Yoshiko. **//Journey to Topaz//**. Scribner's, 1971. This is a story told through the eyes of an 11-year old Japanese American girl in the days following the attack on Pearl Harbor, at the start of WWII. This girl and her family, who live on the west coast, are eventually sent to internment camps. This book outlines this embarrassing episonde in American history and details the horrible conditions that the interned Japanese Americans had to endure. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about this period in history, with events that are not always mentioned in the history books. Grades 5 - 8. Recommended by Bill.

Yang, Gene Luen. **//American Born Chinese.//** First Second, 2006. This //graphic novel// has three story lines - one with the Monkey King, the traditional Chinese folk hero; another with Jin Wang, an Asian-American boy who attends an all-white school; and the third about Chin-Kee, the embodiment of negative Chinese stereotypes. Winner of the 2007 Michael L. Printz Award for Young Adult Literature. Grades 7 - 12. Recommended by Dr. Berg

 Jacob, Iris. //**My sisters' voices : teenage girls of color speak out**//. H. Holt, 2002. This is a collection of writings from teenage girls of African American, Hispanic, Asian American, Native American, and biracial backgrounds. With candor and grace, they speak out on topics that are relevant not only to themselves and their peers but to anyone who is raising, teaching, or nurturing young women of color. Grades 9 - up. Recommended by: John G.
 * __Nonfiction__

Nam, Vicky, Ed //. // // YELL-Oh Girls! Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing Up Asian American. // Quill, 2001. This collection of stories and poetry is by Asian American girls aged 15-22. It explores what it is like to grow up in both the Asian and American cultures. There are also "mentor pieces" written by established Asian-American writers. This is an excellent book for exploring the cultural identity of Asian Americans. Grades 8 - up. Recommended by Kim. **