Hoping for a fresh start via her Aunt Paula and buying into the American dream, they’re shocked by the immense poverty awaiting them. In the 1990s, Kimberly Chang and her mother move to Brooklyn from Hong Kong before it returns to China. Why Read: Highlights modern day sweatshops hidden away in the US This SUCH a good read and a great way of highlighting a number of situations – being Asian-American in academia in the 1950s, the struggles of a mixed race family, passing on generational trauma and fears… Also just a good reminder that in real life, communication is key to relationships! In Marilyn, James finds his chance to feel fully assimilated into white American culture.Īnddddd so starts a relationship of assumptions and poor communication, which comes to a head when their seemingly popular, smart daughter, Lydia, shows up drowned in a lake after going missing days earlier. In James, Marilyn finds what she thinks is a kindred spirit and an outsider like herself. James, a first generation Chinese-American, has spent his whole life just wanting to fully assimilate into the only country he’s ever known. She scorns her mother’s homemaker wishes as she pursues becoming a doctor at Harvard in the 1950s.

Marilyn wears her feelings of being an outsider as a badge of pride.

Why Read: Highlights the challenges of a mixed-race family in 1980s Ohio If you have an e-reader (I have a Kindle), then most libraries team up with the Libby app which lets you borrow e-books easily! And if you live in NYC, Yu & Me Books is the first female Asian-American owned bookstore and just a fun spot in general! 14 Must Read Asian-American Books Reading Tips: As always, I highly recommend utilizing your local library and/or bookstores before resorting to Amazon. I guess it feels like I’m finding kindred spirits while also discovering new definitions of “Asian-American Pacific Islander.”Īnyway, this one is for my fellow AAPIs as well as anyone curious about our experiences! There’s something familiar in all these stories even if they’re all also so very, very different from each other and even from my own story.

I’ve read a lot of Asian-American books.Ĭonsidering I am Asian-American, specifically adopted Chinese-American, I guess I just gravitate towards these novels without realizing it. So a little while ago I began organizing all the books I’ve read into where they take place, and I noticed a small trend.

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