Our middle grade book spotlight this week is all about books which have been written by Asian American and Pacific Islander authors!!! May is Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage month and we are showcasing some amazing and talented individuals. Each author brings their own unique viewpoint and background to each of these titles, providing a point of view which is a must read. There is an incredible mix of realistic, historical, and some science fiction providing options for many tastes and preferences. These books and more can be found by searching the catalog using the search tag #youthaapiauthors as well as on Libby and Hoopla. Check back next week for a new middle grade book spotlight and if you have any book suggestions, please let us know!!
I’m OK by Patti Kim--Ok Lee, a twelve-year-old Korean American boy, tries a get rich quick scheme of starting a hair-braiding business and winning the school talent competition to hide the fact that he is struggling with the loss of his father and the financial hardships he and his mother must now bear.
The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang--Eleven-year-old aspiring basketball star and interior designer Lucy Wu is excited about finally having her own bedroom, until she learns that her great-aunt is coming to visit and Lucy will have to share a room with her for several months, shattering her plans for a perfect sixth-grade year.
The Night Diary by Veera Hiranandani--Shy twelve-year-old Nisha, forced to flee her home with her Hindu family during the 1947 partition of India, tries to find her voice and make sense of the world falling apart around her by writing to her deceased Muslim mother in the pages of her diary.
The Prairie Lotus by Linda Sue Park--Fourteen-year-old Hanna, who is half Chinese, settles with her father in the frontier town of LaForge, in Dakota Territory in 1880. She hopes she can attend school before becoming a dressmaker in her father's dry goods shop, but first she must deal with racism from the local townspeople who are afraid to have their children attend class with her, grief from the loss of her mother, and a yearning to belong as she and her father struggle to find a place where they will be accepted.
See You In the Cosmos by Jack Cheng--Alex Petroski, 11, absolutely loves space, rockets, stars—anything and everything having to do with astronomy—as well as his mom, brother, and dog, Carl Sagan (named after the scientist). His lifelong dream is to launch his golden iPod into space, the same way Sagan launched the Golden Record on the "Voyager" spacecraft in 1977, to show extraterrestrials what the world is like now. So Alex sets off on a road trip, from Colorado to New Mexico, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles, recording all the funny, lost, and extraordinary people he meets along the way. And in the process, Alex learns a secret about his long-dead father.
The Grand Plan To Fix Everything by Uma Krishnaswami--Eleven-year-old Dini loves movies. Because of this, her discovery that her family will move to India for two years is a bittersweet revelation. On the one hand, she isn't sure she'll be able to manage her devastation over leaving her best friend behind in Maryland. On the other, this thought is tempered by the possibility of meeting her favorite actress, Bollywood film star Dolly Singh. Inevitably, the day comes when Dini must leave for India, but thankfully she and her friend keep up their friendship via long-distance correspondence. Even better, a series of fortuitous events end up giving Dini the chance to fulfill her long-awaited dream.