Books From Around the World (YA): Asia

It’s often interesting to get a different perspective on the world. Here are some books set in some far-flung places – and some places close to home – grouped by continent/large body of water with islands in it. The books on this list are (mostly) written by authors from the countries they are about, and in many cases have been translated into English from their mother tongues (the book we’ve chosen for Madagascar, Return to the enchanted island by Johary Ravaloson, is only the second book to have ever been translated from Malagasy into English!).

Not all of the books are in the Young Adult collection, but we’ve tried to make sure that they all at least feature kids or teens in prominent places in the story. Our eventual goal is to have at least one book for every country in the world! Help us out by sending in recommendations if you’ve found one we’ve missed!

This list contains books written by authors from Asia. Check out our lists for authors from Africa, Europe, North and Central America, Oceania, and South America for even more recommendations!

Updated June 19, 2024
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In the sea there are crocodiles : the story of Enaiatollah Akbari
Geda, Fabio
Paper Book
One night before putting him to bed, Enaiatollah's mother tells him three things: don't use drugs or weapons, don't cheat, don't steal. The next day he wakes up to find she isn't there. Ten-year-old Enaiatollah is left alone at the border of Pakistan to fend for himself. In a book that...

Afghanistan | Italian author; based on his interviews with Afghan child refugee Enaiatollah Akbari

Patron saints of nothing
Ribay, Randy
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE CILIP CARNEGIE MEDAL 2020 "A heartbreaking and original novel." - Guardian A powerful coming-of-age story about grief, guilt and the risks a Filipino-American teenager takes to uncover the truth about his cousin's murder. ...

Philippines | Filipino author

Three apples fell from the sky
Abgari?a?n, Narine?
Paper Book
  The Russian bestseller about love and second chances, brimming with warmth and humour In the tiny village of Maran nestled high in the Armenian mountains, a place where dreams, curses and miracles are taken very seriously, a close-knit community bickers, gossips and laughs,...

Armenia | Armenian-Russian author

The henna wars
Jaigirdar, Adiba
Paper Book
Nishat and Flávia are rivals at school, but Nishat can't help the secret crush burning in her heart - even though her parents disapprove of the fact she likes girls. Can she possibly find her happy ever after? A gorgeous, heart-warming, queer YA love story for fans of Becky Albertalli.<...

Bangladesh | Bangladeshi-Irish author

The love & lies of Rukhsana Ali
Khan, Sabina
Ebook
Seventeen-year-old Rukhsana Ali tries her hardest to live up to her conservative Muslim parents' expectations, but lately she's finding that impossible to do. She rolls her eyes when they blatantly favour her brother and saves her crop tops and makeup for parties her parents don't know about. If she...

Bangladesh | Bangladeshi-Canadian author

In the shadow of the banyan
Ratner, Vaddey.
Paper Book
For seven-year-old Raami, the shattering end of childhood begins with the footsteps of her father returning home in the early dawn hours bringing details of the civil war that has overwhelmed the streets of Phnom Penh, Cambodia's capital. Soon the family's world of carefully guarded royal privilege...

Cambodia | Khmer-American author

Year of the rabbit
Tian
Paper Book
One family's quest to survive the devastation of the Khmer Rouge "Striking and moving... The comics form allows readers [to] understand through chronological progression and a close view how horror can become the stuff of the everyday."--The New York Times

Cambodia | Khmer author

The mountains sing : a novel
Nguye??n, Phan Que?? Mai
Paper Book
  THE BESTSELLING STORY OF TWO GENERATIONS OF WOMEN WHOSE LIVES ARE CHANGED FOREVER BY THE VIET NAM WAR 'An epic account of Viet Nam's painful 20th-century history, both vast in scope and intimate in its telling... Moving and riveting.' Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-winning...

Vietnam | Vietnamese author

The three-body problem
Liu, Cixin.
Paper Book
Read the award-winning, critically acclaimed, multi-million-copy-selling science-fiction phenomenon - now a major Netflix Original Series from the creators of Game of Thrones. 1967: Ye Wenjie witnesses Red Guards beat her father to death during China's Cultural Revolution. This...

China | Chinese author

Aero [1] : before the storm
Liefen, Zhou
Paper Book
Catch the wave with two breakout stars of War of The Realms: New Agents of Atlas! It's the English-language debut of the first appearance of Aero, the high-flying Chinese super heroine! When she's not fighting monsters with her wind powers, Aero is the Shanghai based architect Lei Ling, who...

China | Chinese author

A hero born
Jin, Yong
Paper Book
"China. The year is 1200. The Song Empire has been defeated in the north by invading Jurchen forces. Pushed further south, the empire is in danger of collapse and the Chinese population is furious. Now it falls to lone patriots trained in the martial arts to save China. Guo Jing's father was one...

China | Chinese author

Hard by a great forest
Vardiashvili, Leo
Paper Book
* AN OBSERVER BEST NEW NOVELIST FOR 2024 ** SHORTLISTED FOR THE WILBUR SMITH ADVENTURE WRITING PRIZE 2024 *'A spellbinding achievement' FINANCIAL TIMES'Poignant and often painfully comic' OBSERVER'I gasped, laughed, and wept my way through it'...

Georgia | Georgian author

Q and A
Swarup, Vikas.
Paper Book
Eighteen-year-old Ram Mohammad Thomas is in prison after answering twelve questions correctly on a TV quiz show to win one billion rupees. The producers have arrested him, convinced that he has cheated his way to victory. In his warm-hearted tale lies all the comedy, tragedy, joy and pathos of India

India | Indian author

Anita and me
Syal, Meera
Paper Book
The debut novel from the award-winning screenwriter of Bhaji on the Beach. The story of nine-year-old Meena, growing up in the only Punjabi family in the Black Country mining village of Tollington. It's 1972. Meena is nine years old and lives in the village of Tollington, 'the jewel of...

India | British-Indian author

The wandering : a red shoes adventure
Paramaditha, Intan
Paper Book
*The most unusual novel you will read all year, where you create your own story* 'An ingenious choose-your-own-adventure challenge... Questions such as: "Where am I going?"... "Which choice will make my life worthwhile?" feel existential and urgent... Who can travel, and on what...

Indonesia | Indonesian author

Well, that was unexpected
Sutanto, Jesse Q
Paper Book
"A DELIGHTFUL, HILARIOUS, CAPTIVATING LOVE LETTER TO INDONESIA, AND COMING OF AGE IN A LARGE MEDDLESOME FAMILY, AND THE THRILL OF FINDING YOUR PERSON WHERE YOU LEAST EXPECT IT!" - ALI HAZELWOOD, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS Crazy Rich Asians meets To All the...

Indonesia | Indonesian author

The enlightenment of the greengage tree
Azar, Shokoofeh
Ebook

Iran | Iranian author

Daughter of the Tigris
Ramli?, Muh?sin
Paper Book

Iraq | Iraqi author

The Baghdad clock
Ra?wi?, Shahd
Paper Book
  Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2018 This number one best-selling title in Iraq, Dubai, and the UAE is a heart-rending tale of two girls growing up in war-torn Baghdad Baghdad, 1991. The Gulf War is raging. Two girls, hiding in an air raid...

Iraq | Iraqi author

Frankenstein in Baghdad : a novel
Sa?da?wi?, Ah?mad
Paper Book
  WINNER OF THE INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR ARABIC FICTION A SATIRICAL REIMAGINING OF MARY SHELLEY'S FRANKENSTEIN SET IN MODERN-DAY BAGHDAD, BRILLIANTLY CAPTURING THE HORROR OF A CITY AT WAR From the rubble-strewn...

Iraq | Iraqi author

The forest of wool and steel
Miyashita, Natsu
Paper Book
Million-copy bestselling winner of the Japan Booksellers Award, selected by bookshop staff as the book they most wanted to hand-sell: A tender and uplifting novel for fans of A WHOLE LIFE by Robert Seethaler. ''A mesmerising reading experience for all of us seeking a...

Japan | Japanese author

The cat who saved books : a novel
Natsukawa, So?suke
Paper Book
Grandpa used to say it all the time: books have tremendous power. But what is that power really?Natsuki Books was a tiny second-hand bookshop on the edge of town. Inside, towering shelves reached the ceiling, every one crammed full of wonderful books. Rintaro Natsuki loved this space that his...

Japan | Japanese author

Lonely castle in the mirror
Tsujimura, Mizuki
Paper Book
For fans of BEFORE THE COFFEE GETS COLD, fairy tale and magic are weaved together in sparse language that belies a flooring emotional punch. 'Strange and beautiful. Imagine the offspring of THE WIND-UP BIRD CHRONICLE with THE VIRGIN SUICIDES' GUARDIAN

Japan | Japanese author

The pact we made
Alammar, Layla
Paper Book
Featured on BBC Radio 4's Open Book * Featured on BBC Radio 3's Free Thinking * An ELLE Magazine cultural pick * Reviewed in the Observer 'Beautifully written' Joanna Cannon 'Fascinating ... full of personality' Guardian 'Brilliant ... What a...

Kuwait | Kuwaiti author

We, the survivors
Aw, Tash
Paper Book
A murderer's confession - devastating, unblinking, poignant, unforgettable - which reveals a story of class, education and the inescapable workings of destiny. Ah Hock is an ordinary, uneducated man born in a Malaysian fishing village and now trying to make his way in a country that...

Malaysia | Malaysian author

Black water sister
Cho, Zen
Paper Book
A finalist for the 2022 World Fantasy Award for Best Novel One of BookPage's Best Science Fiction and Fantasy Books of 2021 One of Tor.com Reviewers' Choice Best Books of 2021 One of Book Riot's Best SFF Standalones of 2021 "Ghosts. Gods....

Malaysia | Malaysian author

The night tiger
Choo, Yangsze
Paper Book
THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | REESE BOOK CLUB PICK | BBC BIG JUBILEE BETWEEN THE COVERS READ 'It reminds me of Where the Crawdads Sing . . . it's an amazing book' Rhys Stephenson on BBC's Between the Covers 'You won't be...

Malaysia | Malaysian author

The girl with seven names : a North Korean defector's story
Lee, Hyeonseo
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An extraordinary insight into life under one of the world's most ruthless and secretive dictatorships - and the story of one woman's terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her family to freedom. As a child growing...

North Korea | North Korean author

Every falling star : the true story of how I survived and escaped North Korea
Lee, Sungju
Ebook
Every Falling Star, the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is the intense memoir of a North Korean boy named Sungju who is forced at age twelve to live on the streets and fend for himself. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting,...

North Korea | North Korean author

Celestial bodies
Alharthi, Jokha
Paper Book

Oman | Omani author

I am thunder
Khan, Muhammad (Teen fiction writer)
Paper Book
I Am Thunder is the Branford Boase Award-winning debut YA novel which questions how far you'll go to stand up for what you believe. Fifteen-year-old Muzna Saleem is used to being invisible. So no one is more surprised than her when Arif Malik, the hottest boy in...

Pakistan | British-Pakistani author

Other names for love
Soomro, Taymour
Paper Book
Discover this hypnotic novel about a boy's life-changing summer: an unmissable read for fans of Damon Galgut, Brandon Taylor and Hisham Matar. On the train from Karachi, as dusk begins to fall, Fahad's dreams of his summer in London are fading. He is headed to Abad, the family...

Pakistan | Pakistani author

Ishmael's Oranges
Hajaj, Claire.
Paper Book
  Shortlisted for the Jewish Quarterly-Wingate Prize 2016 A finalist for the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award 2015 It's April 1948, and war hangs over Jaffa. One minute seven-year-old Salim is dreaming of taking his first harvest from...

Palestine | Palestinian-British author

A little piece of ground
Laird, Elizabeth
Ebook
A Little Piece Of Ground will help young readers understand more about one of the worst conflicts afflicting our world today. Written by Elizabeth Laird, one of Great Britain's best-known young adult authors, A Little Piece Of Ground explores the human...

Palestine | Co-written with Sonia Nimr, a Palestinian author

Bone talk
Gourlay, Candy
Paper Book

Philippines | Filipina author

The green bicycle
Al-Mansour, Haifaa
Paper Book
Dreamer. Rebel. Hero. Wadjda has one simple wish - to race her friend Abdullah on her very own bicycle. But in Saudi Arabia, it is considered improper for girls to ride bikes and her parents forbid her from having one. Sick of playing by the rules, Wadjda schemes different ways to...

Saudi Arabia | Saudi author

In praise of hatred
Khali?fah, Kha?lid
Paper Book
1980s Syria, our young narrator is living a secluded life behind the veil in the vast and perfumed house of her grandparents in Aleppo. Her three aunts, Maryam the pious one; Safaa, the liberal; and the free-spirited Marwa, bring her up with the aid of their ever-devoted blind servant. ...

Syria | Syrian author

Loveboat, Taipei
Wen, Abigail Hing
Paper Book
Now a major movie, Love in Taipei, on Paramount+   "Exciting and authentic." Sabaa Tahir, New York Times bestselling author of An Ember in the Ashes "Surprising, original and intelligent. An intense rush of rebellion and romance."...

Taiwan | Chinese-American author

Bangkok wakes to rain : a novel
Sudbanthad, Pitchaya
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2020 EDWARD STANFORD 'FICTION WITH A SENSE OF PLACE' AWARD Places remember us... 'An important, ambitious, and accomplished novel. Sudbanthad deftly sweeps us up in a tale that paints a twin portrait: of a...

Thailand | Thai author

10 minutes 38 seconds in this strange world
Shafak, Elif
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE BOOKER PRIZE 2019 'Expect vibrant, vivid and eye-opening descriptions of Middle Eastern life propelled by a tender storyline, all in Shafak's haunting, beautiful and considered prose' Vanity Fair 'Incredibly sensuous and...

Turkey | Turkish author


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