Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Resources

Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month this May with our selection of books, movies, and e-resources. You can also check out our 2021 Stop Asian Hate resource list.

At the Library

Children

A is for Asian American: An Asian Pacific Islander Desi American Alphabet by Virginia Loh-Hagan
American as Paneer Pie by Supriya Kelker
Amina’s Voice by Hena Khan
Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang
Amy Wu and the Warm Welcome by Kat Zhang
The Best at it by Maulik Pancholy
Bhai for Now by Maleeha Siddiqui
Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed
The Blur by Minh Lê
Brown is Beautiful by Supriya Kelkar
Chinese Kite Festival by Rich Ho
City of the Plague God by Sarwat Chadda
The Comeback by E.L. Shen
Dragon Noodle Party: A Story of Chinese Zodiac Animals by Ying Chang Compestine
Drawn Together by Minh Lê
Enemy Child: The Story of Norman Mineta, a Boy Imprisoned in a Japanese American Internment Camp During World War II by Andrea Warren
Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho
Eyes That Speak to the Stars by Joanna Ho
Front Desk by Kelly Yang
Gigi and Ojiji by Melissa Iwai
Gigi Shin is Not a Nerd by Lyla Lee
Goldy Luck and the Three Pandas by Natasha Yim
How to Win a Slime War by Mae Respicio
I Am Golden by Eva Chen
Inside Out and Back Again by Thanhha Lai
Kapaemahu by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu
The Last Princess: the Story of Princess Ka`iulani of Hawai`i by Fay Stanley
The Legend of Auntie Po by Shing Yin Khor
A Life of Service: The Story of Senator Tammy Duckworth by Christina Soontornvat
Little Owl’s Love by Divya Srinivasan
Maizy Chen’s Last Chance by Lisa Yee
Maya Lin by Grace Lin
Measuring Up by Lily LaMotte and Ann Xu
The Midnight Library by Kazuno Kohara
Mother Goose Goes to India by Sehgal Surishtha
My Diwali Light by Raakhee Mirchandani
New From Here by Kelly Yang
Nikhil Out Loud by Maulik Pancholy
Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham
Queen of the Hanukkah Dosas by Pamela Ehrenberg
Remixed: A Blended Family by Arree Chung
A Sari for Ammi by Mamta Nainy
Stargazing by Jen Wang
The Secret Battle of Evan Pao by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
Shad Hadid and the Alchemists of Alexandria by George Jreije
Stand Up, Yumi Chung! by Jessica Kim
Surfer of the Century: the Life of Duke Kahanamoku by Ellie Crowe
Ten Blocks to the Big Wok: A Chinatown Counting Book by Ying-Hwa Hu
That’s Not My Name by Anoosha Syed
This is (Not) Enough by Anna Kang
Tomorrow is New Year’s Day: Seollal, a Korean Celebration of the Lunar New Year by Aram Kim
The Turtle of Michigan by Naomi Shihab Nye
The Unbeatable Lily Hong by Diana Ma
Vietnamese Children’s Favorite Stories by Phước Thị Minh Trần
Wingbearer by Marjorie Liu
Winnie Zeng Unleashes a Legend by Katie Zhao

Teens

Almost American Girl by Robin Ha
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Azar on Fire by Olivia Abtahi
Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram
The Darkening by Sunya Mara
Displacement by Kiku Hughes
The Downstairs Girl by Stacey Lee
I Am Malala: How One Girl Stood Up for Education and Changed the World by Malala Yousafzai
Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malinda Lo
Love From A to Z by S.K. Ali
Love, Hate & Other Filters by Samira Ahmed
The Magic Fish by Trung Le Nguyen
More Than Just a Pretty Face by Syed M. Masood
Parachutes by Kelly Yang
A Pho Love Story by Loan Le
Queen of the Tiles by Hanna Alkaf
Red Scarf Girl: a Memoir of the Cultural Revolution by Ji-li Jiang
Super Fake Love Song by David Yoon
These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong
They Called Us Enemy by George Takei
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings: 15 Retellings of Asian Myths and Legends ed. Ellen Oh
A Thousand Steps into Night by Traci Chee
The Tiger at Midnight by Swati Teerdhala
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee
Uprooted: The Japanese American Experience During World War II by Albert Marrin
Vietnamerica: A Family’s Journey by G.B. Tran
When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

Adults

Age of Vice by Deepti Kapoor
American Chinatown: A People’s History of Five Neighborhoods by Bonnie Tsui
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala
Best of Friends by Kamila Shamsie
Charlie Chan: the Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang
The Chinese Groove by Kathryn Ma
Cook Real Hawai’i by Sheldon Simeon
Counterfeit by Kirstin Chen
Cursed Bunny by Bora Chung
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Daughters of the New Year by E.M. Tran
The Evening Hero by Marie Myung-Ok Lee
The God of Small Things by Roy Arundhati
Gold Diggers: A Novel by Sanjena Sathian
Heart of Fire: An Immigrant Daughter’s Story by Mazie K. Hirono
The Heart Principle by Helen Hoang
Hiroshige’s Japan by Philippe Delord
Home is Where the Eggs are: Farmhouse Food for the People You Love by Molly Yeh
How Much of These Hills Is Gold? by C. Pam Zhang
I Am Malala: the Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai
The Impossible City: A Hong Kong Memoir by Karen Cheung
Indelible City by Louisa Lim
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
I Want to Die but I Want to Eat Tteokbokki by Baek Sehee
Last Boat Out of Shanghai: The Epic Story of the Chinese who Fled Mao’s Revolution by Helen Zia
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
The Leavers by Lisa Ko
Lucie Yi is Not a Romantic by Lauren Ho
Making a Scene by Constance Wu
The Making of Asian America: A History by Erika Lee
The Many Daughters of Afong Moy by Jamie Ford
Marie Kondo’s Kurashi at Home: How to Organize Your Space and Achieve Your Ideal Life by Marie Kondo
Minor Feelings: an Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
The Miraculous True History of Nommi Ali by Uzma Aslam Khan
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Li
Rise: A Pop History of Asian Americans From the Nineties to Now by Jeff Yang
Siren Queen by Nghi Vo
Stay True by Hua Hsu
The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
We Measure the Earth With Our Bodies by Tsering Yangzom Lama
What My Bones Know: A Memoir of Healing From Complex Trauma by Stephanie Foo
Which Side are You on by Ryan Lee Wong
The White Devil’s Daughters: the Women Who Fought Slavery in San Francisco’s Chinatown by Julia Flynn Siler
The Woks of Life: Recipes to Know and Love From a Chinese American Family by Bill Leung
Woman, Eating by Claire Kohda

Movies

Borrow Online

Overdrive

A Place for Us by Fatima Farheen Mirza (available as ebook or audiobook)
Arsenic and Adobo by Mia P. Manansala (available as audiobook)
The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo (available as audiobook)
Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan (available as ebook or audiobook)
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (available as ebook or audiobook)
Gold Diggers by Sanjena Sathian (available as audiobook)
How Much of These Hills is Gold by C. Pam Zhang (available as ebook or audiobook)
If I Had Your Face by Frances Cha (available as audiobook)
In the Country by Mia Alvar (available as ebook)
Interior Chinatown: a Novel by Charles Yu (available as audiobook)
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (available as ebook)
Last Boat Out of Shanghai by Helen Zia (available as ebook or audiobook)
Last Tang Standing by Lauren Ho (available as audiobook)
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (available as audiobook)
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong (available as ebook or audiobook)
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (available as ebook or audiobook)
Speak, Okinawa by Elizabeth Miki Brina (available as audiobook)
Time is a Mother by Ocean Vuong (available as ebook or audiobook)

Hoopla

The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan (available as audiobook)

Naturally Tan by Tan France (available as audiobook)

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang (available as audiobook)

Yellowface by R.F. Kuang (available as ebook or audiobook)

Kanopy

Check out Kanopy’s AAPI Month selection!