by Megan Klein-Hewett

Each May the Library honors Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Heritage months provide us with an opportunity to reflect on our own cultural experiences, or learn from experiences that are unlike our own. Here are some great books to help you navigate the Asian American experience through literature. Take some time this month to explore the world through these titles!

You are probably familiar with Celeste Ng, author of “Little Fires Everywhere,” but you may not have read her debut novel, “Everything I Never Told You.” Set in the 1970s in small-town Ohio, the novel follows a Chinese American family whose favorite daughter, Lydia, has recently died. “Everything I Never Told You” explores cultural divisions, and the ways in which families struggle to understand one another.

“On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong is an epistolary novel, written in the form of a letter. The letter, written by Little Dog to his mother—both of whom are Vietnamese refugees—outlines Little Dog’s life in America as well as the life of his grandmother, Lan, and his mother Rose. Exploring race, class and masculinity, this debut novel is a must read.

Looking at historical fiction, “The Fortunes” by Peter Ho Davies explores multiple generations of American history, with each story based on a real person’s experience of being Chinese American. The stories follow Ah Ling, a Chinese immigrant in the 1850s, Anna May Wong, the first Chinese-American film star, Vincent Chin, a young man murdered in a hate crime, and John Smith, whose story is based on the author’s life.

If political thrillers are your genre of choice try, “A Burning” by Megha Majumdar. Set in contemporary India, the novel follows Jivan, a Muslim girl who is accused of executing a terrorist attack after she makes a comment on Facebook. Jivan’s fall is inexorably linked with the rise of PT Sir, a right-wing political party follower. This compact novel is a fast, compelling read.

If graphic novels are more your style, “The Best We Could Do” by Thi Bui is a beautifully written and illustrated graphic memoir that documents the Bui’s family escape after the fall of South Vietnam. Bui artfully ties together her own experience as a new mother with her parent’s experience emigrating to the United States as young parents in the 1970s, finding commonalities of motherhood that transcend place and time.

“They Called Us Enemy” written by George Takei and illustrated by Harmony Becker, shares Takei’s childhood experience as a prisoner in an American internment camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. Takei’s first-person experience provides a vital perspective to this dark period in recent American history.

If nonfiction is what you prefer, “The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down” by Anne Fadiman provides a moving portrait of the refugee experience in the United States. The book follows the Lee family, who are Hmong refugees, and their experiences navigating the American healthcare system when their daughter Lia is diagnosed with a severe form of epilepsy. Though this book was originally published in 1997, it continues to provide insight into Hmong culture, the refugee experience, and shines a light on the continued need for cultural competency training.

“Crying in H Mart,” a memoir by Michelle Zauner, chronicles her life growing up as one of a few Asian American students in her community, losing her “Koreanness”, and then finding it again with her mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis. Zauner explores the complicated relationship that identity and family weave in our lives.

If you’re looking for more great reads for Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month—or any time—stop by the Library or try our online Personalized Picks service!