East Asia
Flame In the Mist
Author: Renée Ahdieh
Description: Flame In The Mist is a fantasy novel that follows the only daughter of a well respected samurai. Despite being a cunning alchemist, her life has been set out for her because she was born a woman. After an attempt to kill her goes wrong, she disguises herself as a man to find the culprit. When disguised as a man, she is finally accepted for her intelligence and strengths, which makes her question everything she has ever known about herself.
Includes: #asianamerican #femaleprotagonist #fantasy #historical
Citation: Ahdieh, R. (2017). Flame In The Mist. G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
American Panda
Author: Gloria Chao
Description: American Panda is a contemporary novel. The main character is a first generation American teen from a Chinese family. She is trying to live up to her family’s expectations while also being true to herself.
Includes: #asianamerican #chinese #firstgeneration #immigrant #identitypolitics #femaleprotagonist #contemporary
Citation: Chao, G. (2018). American Panda. Simon Pulse.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
The Reader
Author: Traci Chee
Description: The Reader is an Asian American fantasy novel. It follows a female protagonist, who after the death of her father and the kidnapping of her aunt, begins a search to rescue her aunt with the help of a book her father left behind. Books are unheard of in her illiterate society and she hopes to find out what happened the day that her father was killed.
Includes: #asianamerican #eastasian #fantasy #femaleprotagonist
Citation: Chee, T. (2016). The reader. G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Wicked Fox
Author: Kat Cho
Description: Wicked Fox is a fantasy novel about an 18-year-old Korean girl who has a secret. She is a nine-tailed fox who must consume the energy of men in order to survive. Few believe in the myth of the nine-tailed fox, so she has been able to hide in modern-day Seoul where she consumes the energy of evil men. When saving a teen boy’s life from an evil goblin, she is outed as a nine-tailed fox and the two begin a friendship that blossoms into something more.
Includes: #korean #asianamerican #eastasian #groundedfantasy #fantasy #magic #femaleprotagonist
Citation: Cho, K. (2019). Wicked Fox. G.P. Putnam’s Sons Books for Young Readers.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Emergency Contact
Author: Mary H.K. Choi
Description: Emergency Contact is a contemporary novel that alternates perspectives between a Korean American female protagonist and a white male protagonist. The love story centers around awkward people connecting over the Internet and through texts in a digital age.
Includes: #asianamerican #korean #contemporary #femaleprotagonist #maleprotagonist #interraciallove
Citation: Choi, M. H. K. (2018). Emergency Contact. Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
For Today I Am A Boy
Author: Kim Fu
Description: For Today I Am A Boy is a coming of age contemporary novel about a Chinese American transgender girl whose family has many expectations of her, most of which have to do with traditional forms of masculinity.
Includes: #transgender #transfeminine #LGBTQIA #transprotagonist #asianamerican #chinese #immigrant
Citation: Fu, K. (2014). For Today I Am A Boy. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
I Believe In A Thing Called Love
Author: Maurene Goo
Description: I Believe In A Thing Called Love is a contemporary love story about a Korean American female protagonist who is trying to find love by following the steps of a K-Drama love story.
Includes: #asianamerican #korean #contemporary #femaleprotagonist
Citation: Goo, M. (2017). I Believe In A Thing Called Love. Farrar, Straus and Grioux (BYR).
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before
Author: Jenny Han
Description: To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before is about the craziness that ensues when the biracial Korean protagonist’s former crushes all find out simultaneously that she was once in love with them.
Includes: #asianamerican #korean #biracial #contemporary #interraciallove #femaleprotagonist
Citation: Han, J. (2014). To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. Penerbit Spring.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
A Line In The Dark
Author: Malinda Lo
Description: A Line In The Dark a contemporary young adult novel about a Asian American girl who has unrequited feelings for her female best friend. When her best friends starts to have feelings for another girl from a nearby boarding school, trouble descends and the characters are sent into a thriller mystery.
Includes: #asianamerican #eastasian #LGBTQIA #lesbian #femaleprotagonist #contemporary
Citation: Lo, M. (2017). A Line In The Dark. Dutton Books for Young Readers.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Not Your Sidekick
Author: C.B. Lee
Description: Not Your Sidekick is a superhero story about a bisexual Asian girl and her internship with a horrible supervillain.
Includes: #bisexual #LGBTQIA #asianamerican #femaleprotagonist #superhero
Citation: Lee, C.B. (2016). Not Your Sidekick. Duet Books.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
Picture Us In The Light
Author: Kelly Loy Gilbert
Description: Picture Us In The Light is the story of an Asian American gay teen who is dealing with the issues of grief, unrequited love, and family mystery.
Includes: #asianamerican #LGBTQIA #gay #contemporary #maleprotagonist.
Citation: Loy Gilbert, K. (2018). Picture Us In The Light. Disney-Hyperion.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.
The Astonishing Color of After
Author: Emily X.R. Pan
Description: The Astonishing Color of After is a magical realism novel about a biracial Taiwanese and white teen whose mother commits suicide. The novel centers around the protagonist’s trip to visit her grandparents for the the first time in Taiwan and her belief that her mom has turned into a bird.
Includes: #asianamerican #taiwanese #femaleprotagonist #magicalrealism #magic #synesthesia #biracial #mentalhealth #suicide
Citation: Pan, E. X. R. (2018). The Astonishing Color of After. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers.
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It’s Not Like It’s A Secret
Author: Misa Sugiura
Description: It’s Not Like It’s A Secret is a contemporary coming of age novel about an Asian American female protagonist who is coming to terms with the fact that she might be a lesbian because she starts to realize that she might have feelings for her Latina friend.
Includes: #lesbian #LGBTQIA #femaleprotagonist #asianamerican #latinx #interraciallove #contemporary
Citation: Sugiura, M. (2017).It’s Not Like It’s A Secret. HarperTeen.
Image retrieved from: Goodreads.