Favorite Asian American YA from 2022 | The Kansas City Public Library

by Keller, Tae

Book - 2022

In my opinion this was one of the top books of 2022. A book about aliens and alienation. It is middle school in a book. For the entire month after I first...Show more In my opinion this was one of the top books of 2022. A book about aliens and alienation. It is middle school in a book. For the entire month after I first read it I just could not stop telling people about how much I loved it. Tae Keller is a masterful writer with the way she layers her themes of bullying, complicity, difference, and... aliens. While Jennifer Chan, the bullied character, is definitely the coolest character in the book, she is not the main character. This deliberate choice by Keller allows the book to be uncomfortable, real, and important without veering into being moralistic or preachy. Towards the big reveal in the story there are some beautiful passages that I re-read at least 4 times and I felt the emotional gut punch every time. Shannon Tyo and Carolyn Kang do an incredible job voice acting for the audiobook. Show less

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American Fever

A Novel

by Aziz Amna, Dur E

Book - 2022

This is a book that the publishers have labeled as "adult" (maybe someone saw it as too literary for YA) that follows a teenaged girl from Pakis...Show more This is a book that the publishers have labeled as "adult" (maybe someone saw it as too literary for YA) that follows a teenaged girl from Pakistan during her one year student exchange trip to Oregon. It's a funny, subversive, coming-of-age novel that I think is perfect for teens. Show less

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Not Here to Be Liked

by Quach, Michelle

Book - 2021

This book is about an overqualified woman losing out on a club presidency to an underqualified man. I think it might have missed its moment being publishe...Show more This book is about an overqualified woman losing out on a club presidency to an underqualified man. I think it might have missed its moment being published in 2021 rather than 2016. Also, since this is YA, they fall in love... so maybe the book wasn't a commentary. Hmm. I loved the worldbuilding here. It is so effortlessly Asian American without ever really being about racism. There are some casual scenes or descriptions that are very relatable or nostalgic, especially the scenes with her family. Quach is also spot-on in portraying how confusing activism and feminism can be for teenagers, and how messily the personal and political blend together. I love this book and think it needs more love! Show less

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Beating Heart Baby

by Min, Lio

Book - 2022

A love letter to being young and queer (and anime). This atmospheric book captures it all so well with some of the most beautiful lyrical writing that I'v...Show more A love letter to being young and queer (and anime). This atmospheric book captures it all so well with some of the most beautiful lyrical writing that I've seen in YA. There's some uneven pacing that we see often in most YA debuts, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of what Lio Min comes up with! Show less

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This Place Is Still Beautiful

by Tian, XiXi

Book - 2022

Going to be honest- the summary of this book really turned me off. I don't think anyone actually likes reading about hate crimes and these topics are rare...Show more Going to be honest- the summary of this book really turned me off. I don't think anyone actually likes reading about hate crimes and these topics are rarely handled with care or nuance. I think a common pitfall with these books is that they come across a bit rote or preachy. What I appreciated with Tian's writing is that I found the discussion of "hate crime" to be more nuanced: the act was not particularly violent or sensational. This choice allows the book to focus on how racism changes the sisters' perception of themselves and how it affects their relationships with others. The protagonists do not know everything, which is both more realistic and also makes for a more vulnerable and satisfying character arc. As with most YA debuts, this book is also a bit uneven, but I was so pleasantly surprised by this book and I look forward to seeing more from Tian! Show less

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If You Could See the Sun

by Liang, Ann

Book - 2022

This book is such genre-blendingly fun! A basic summary: the main character discovers that she can turn invisible and immediately decides to monetize it b...Show more This book is such genre-blendingly fun! A basic summary: the main character discovers that she can turn invisible and immediately decides to monetize it by using her powers to accomplish petty tasks involving her rich classmates... until soon enough her tasks start to get not so petty. It's giving me Crazy Rich Asians but in prep school story meets supernatural slice-of-life anime meets detective/heist movie. The moral of the story- that filthily rich people have feelings too- feels a bit unnecessary, but the book was just so fun that I'm willing to ignore that. Show less

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Azar on Fire

by Abtahi, Olivia

Book - 2022

I love Abtahi for writing fluffy school romances for teens that are 13-15 (a neglected group in the world of YA!) Moreover, all her books are set in my &q...Show more I love Abtahi for writing fluffy school romances for teens that are 13-15 (a neglected group in the world of YA!) Moreover, all her books are set in my "hometown" of Northern Virginia and I recognize every single landmark casually name-dropped in the story so maybe I'm biased in saying that we should all support her career forever. I think she does a great job in depicting the multicultural public schools that I grew up in. I also love that Parvin from Perfectly Parvin makes a cameo in this book! Show less

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Himawari House

by Becker, Harmony

Graphic Novel - 2021

This book has it all. It follows three students as they spend a year abroad at the Himawari House in Japan. In a way, the commitment towards the mundane i...Show more This book has it all. It follows three students as they spend a year abroad at the Himawari House in Japan. In a way, the commitment towards the mundane is what makes this diasporic story so fresh among the landscape of Asian American YA. There are coming-of-age themes that all teens will find relatable as well as culturally specific themes around diaspiric (and not just hyphenated American) identity. The artwork is stunning and if someone says that graphic novels aren't real novels, give them this book because Becker is so masterful with her storytelling techniques. The combination of languages (not just English!) and the illustrations combine to create an immersive experience that can't be replicated in any other format. Show less

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The Red Palace

by Hur, June

Book - 2022

This is such a good Joseon-era detective mystery that I think will appeal to a lot of teens who come in talking about their love of K-dramas. (It's amazin...Show more This is such a good Joseon-era detective mystery that I think will appeal to a lot of teens who come in talking about their love of K-dramas. (It's amazing that the hallyu wave has arrived at the land-locked Midwest!) I love the vibes, the aesthetic, and... the villian! I think this is an underrated gem because it's genre fiction but it does what it does very well. Jane Hur is now on my radar for authors to watch. Show less

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TJ Powar Has Something to Prove

by Deo, Jesmeen Kaur

Book - 2022

This book is an extremely straight forward Brown girl rom-com about loving yourself... and your body hair. Sometimes books with protagonists who come from...Show more This book is an extremely straight forward Brown girl rom-com about loving yourself... and your body hair. Sometimes books with protagonists who come from marginalized groups will include very long commentaries on social justice issues and then try to pass this off as dialogue. This book does it too... but the dialogue is actually in the context of the main character's debate competitions. Outside of debate club, the main pressing social issue is BODY HAIR, which I tought was kind of funny and subversive and let's be real, if you are a teenaged girl there are days where body hair really is the most important issue of the day regardless of any other marginalized facet of your identity. Rom-coms are rarely taken seriously when its award season but that's okay. What's more important is that I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. Show less

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Sunny G's Series of Rash Decisions

by Dhillon, Navdeep Singh

Book - 2022

This is another semi-fluffy end of senior year prom-rom-com type of book. However, we really dont get enough books with Sikh protagonists and even less bo...Show more This is another semi-fluffy end of senior year prom-rom-com type of book. However, we really dont get enough books with Sikh protagonists and even less books with a Hmong lead! I just wanted to highlight this book because when it comes to Asians in Kansas City, we have a lot of Southeast Asians and a lot of Asian families with refugee histories and yet this is almost never represented in YA. Come on big publishers! More Southeast Asian rep! Show less

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Wrong Side of the Court

by Khan, H. N.

Book - 2022

This is also a book that checks off a lot of boxes in terms of "books we need more of." The main character is a poor Pakistani-Canadian teenaged...Show more This is also a book that checks off a lot of boxes in terms of "books we need more of." The main character is a poor Pakistani-Canadian teenaged boy who loves basketball. This is one of the few Asian-American books that I read this year that was actually honest about class and featured a poor protagonist, despite the fact that there are many, many poor Asians across the US and Canada. Honestly, compared to some of the other books on this list the prose is ok but content and story-wise I think this book is a lot more meaningful and at the end of the day the writing is decent enough to get the job done. Also, I like sports stories. Show less

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Wicked Fox

by Cho, Kat

Book - 2019

ONCE UPON A K PROM BY KAT CHO. I'm using this box as a placeholder for Kat Cho's new book, Once Upon a K-prom, which is currently not in the system becaus...Show more ONCE UPON A K PROM BY KAT CHO. I'm using this box as a placeholder for Kat Cho's new book, Once Upon a K-prom, which is currently not in the system because all our copies were so beloved that they have gone missing, proof that I'm not the only one who enjoyed this book! (But also... please return your books so other people can enjoy them too!) Once upon a K-prom was such a surprising delight. It understands K-pop fans in a way that most K-pop books (and there are so many of them now) fundamentally do not: fans do not want to become a member of BTS, they want to date Junkook (or insert-your-crush-here). Once Upon a K-prom is not about the drama or hardships of K-pop. It is a Hallmark movie or maybe a Disney Channel Original movie in book format, which is tonally perfect for a lighthearted, fluffy romance between a civilian and a celebrity. Show less

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