Children's Book Suggestions | Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month

Celebrate Asian American & Pacific Islander Heritage Month with these chapter books for readers in Grades 2-7!

Updated February 15, 2024
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Mindy Kim and the yummy seaweed business
Lee, Lyla
Paper Book
Fresh Off the Boat meets Junie B. Jones in this first novel in an adorable new chapter book series about Mindy Kim, a young Asian American girl who is starting a snack business! Mindy Kim just wants three things: 1. A puppy! 2. To fit in at her new school ...

An elementary school students starts a seaweed snack business and helps her classmates learn to love a new-to-them food, perfect for fans of The Baby-Sitters Club. (Bridging Fiction Grades 2-4)

Much ado about baseball
LaRocca, Rajani
Paper Book
"Much Ado About Baseball is the best children's book I've read in the past 10 years!" -Brad Thor, New York Times bestselling author of the Scot Harvath series "A moving tale of baseball, magic, and former rivals who come together to solve a problem." -Kirkus...
Math nerds on their quirky Connecticut town's baseball team discover that the snacks provided by their sponsor are magically improving their sports skills. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)
The tryout
Soontornvat, Christina
Paper Book
STAND TALL. BE LOUD. GAME FACE ON. This pitch perfect graphic memoir about courage and competition, friendship and belonging is perfect for fans of Smile, New Kid, Rollergirl, and Real Friends. "A captivating...

Based on a true story from the author's childhood, this novel about trying out for the middle school cheerleading squad is a perfect fit for friends of Smile and Real Friends. (Young Teen Graphic Novel Grades 5-7)

Front desk
Yang, Kelly
Paper Book
Four starred reviews and over ten best-of-year lists!* "Many readers will recognize themselves or their neighbors in these pages." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred reviewWinner of the Asian / Pacific American Award for Children's Literature!* "Many readers will recognize themselves or their...

Mia, an aspiring writer and recent immigrant from China, helps her parents run an Anaheim motel in 1990s LA. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Maizy Chen's last chance
Yee, Lisa
Paper Book
NEWBERY HONOR AWARD WINNER . NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST . ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR YOUTH LITERATURE Twelve year-old Maizy discovers her family's Chinese restaurant is full of secrets in this irresistible novel that celebrates food, fortune, and family. NAMED...

After her grandfather falls ill, a young teen from LA spends a summer in the Midwest helping out at her grandparents' restaurant and learning more about her heritage. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Generation misfits
Bowman, Akemi Dawn
Paper Book
Generation Misfits by Akemi Dawn Bowman is a heartwarming, fish-out-of-water own voices story about an eleven-year-old Japanese-American girl who finds her true friends--through the power of J-Pop! Millie is attending a real school for the first time, and she...

A homeschooled girl makes friends with the power of J-Pop! (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Karthik delivers
Chari, Sheela
Paper Book
From Sheela Chari, the award-winning author of Finding Mighty, Karthik Delivers is a moving middle-grade novel about finding your place by following your heart. "A story about family, community, and the mango lassi sweetness of reaching for your dreams. Like...

A middle school boy spends his summer delivering groceries for his family's Indian market and secretly learning to shine on stage in a play about Leonard Bernstein. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

How to win a slime war
Respicio, Mae
Paper Book
Slime entrepreneurs face off in an epic battle to see who can sell the most slime, while navigating sticky situations with friends and family. From the award-winning author of The House That Lou Built comes another story about a creative kid with something to prove. Alex...

A Filipino middle schooler starts a slime business at his new school while managing his father's pressure to play soccer instead. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

The spirit glass
Chokshi, Roshani
Paper Book
Best-selling author Rick Riordan presents a standalone quest adventure based on Filipino mythology by Roshani Chokshi, author of the best-selling Aru Shah series. Corazon yearns to finally start training as a babaylan (a mystical healer and spirit guide) under her powerful...

A vengeful ghost steals the key that allows a Filipino girl to speak with the spirits of her parents in this fantasy adventure story based on Filipino mythology. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Haru, zombie dog hero
Oh, Ellen
Paper Book
"Tender character relationships between both pup and human, and the myriad fully realized animals Haru meets along his journey, combine for a multilayered and thoroughly heartfelt must-read."--Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Oh covers heavy, relevant topics in this tense middle-grade...

A beloved dog helps his human boy unmask the evil corporation bent on destroying their town. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)

Stargazing
Wang, Jen
Paper Book
Stargazing is a heartwarming middle-grade graphic novel in the spirit of Frizzy and Mexikid, from New York Times bestselling author-illustrator Jen Wang. Moon is everything Christine isn't. She's confident, impulsive, artistic . . . and though they...

Compulsive rule-follower Christine is drawn to impulsive, artistic Moon, but Moon's free-wheeling ways are related to a burgeoning health crisis. (Children's Graphic Novels Grades 3-5)

Pahua and the soul stealer
Lee, Lori M.
Paper Book
Pahua is a lonely 11-year-old Hmong girl with the unique ability to see spirits. She spends her summer days babysitting her little brother and playing with a cat spirit no one else can see. One day she accidentally untethers an angry spirit from the haunted bridge in her neighbourhood. When her...

A Hmong teen discovers she's a legendary shaman warrior when she rescues her brother's spirit from the underworld in this Rick Riordan Presents fantasy adventure. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Living with Viola
Fung, Rosena
Paper Book
"unforgettable . . . will shake middle grade readers to the core"--School Library Journal, starred review "Beautifully illustrated, relatable, and genuine." --Molly Brooks, creator of Sanity & Tallulah "Everyone needs to buy this book now. ...

A graphic novel that explores anxiety and mental illness from the perspective of a Chinese Canadian middle schooler. (Young Teen Graphic Novel Grades 5-7)

More to the story
Khan, Hena
Paper Book
From the critically acclaimed author of Amina's Voice comes a new story inspired by Louisa May Alcott's beloved classic, Little Women, featuring four sisters from a modern American Muslim family living in Georgia. When Jameela Mirza is picked to be feature editor of...

A retelling of Little Women starring a Pakistani Muslim American family living in modern-day Georgia. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

The last fallen star
Kim, Graci
Paper Book
Riley can't wait to see her sister Hattie get initiated into a powerful lineage of Korean healing witches their family has belonged to for generations. Although Riley is desperate to follow in Hattie's footsteps, she's a saram - without magic. Then Hattie gets an idea: what if the two of them could...

A Korean American girl attempts to include her adopted sister in the family's magic with disastrous results. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Measuring up
LaMotte, Lily
Paper Book
An ALA Top 10 Graphic Novel of 2021 · A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection · Fall 2020 Kids Indie Next List · Featured in Today Show's AAPI Heritage Month List · Amazon Best Books November Selection · Cybils Awards Finalist · An NBC AAPI Selection · Featured in Parents...

A young cook and recent immigrant from Taiwan enters a cooking competition, where she hopes to use her Taiwanese culinary skills to win enough money to visit her grandmother. (Children's Graphic Novel Grades 3-5)

When you trap a tiger /
Keller, Tae,
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NEWBERY MEDAL . WINNER OF THE ASIAN/PACIFIC AMERICAN AWARD FOR CHILDREN'S LITERATURE . #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Would you make a deal with a magical tiger? This uplifting story brings Korean folklore to life as a girl goes on a quest to unlock the power of...

A young teen girl learns about her family history through the power of stories when she goes to stay with her aging halmoni. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Inside out & back again
Lai, Thanhha.
Paper Book
Inside Out and Back Again is a #1 New York Times bestseller, a Newbery Honor Book, and a winner of the National Book Award! Inspired by the author's childhood experience as a refugee--fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and immigrating to Alabama--this coming-of-age debut novel told...

A novel in verse inspired by the author's childhood, when her family settled in Alabama in 1975 following the Vietnam War. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Ghost book
Lai, Remy
Paper Book
Perfect for fans of Spirited Away, Coco, and Ghosts comes a spooky fantasy graphic novel about the friendship between a girl who can see ghosts and a boy who is stuck between the worlds of the living and the dead. An Indie Bestseller! An Amazon,...

A girl who can talk to ghosts befriends a spirit during Hungry Ghost month in this funny graphic novel from Chinese Australian author Remy Lai. (Young Teen Graphic Novel Grades 5-7)

Theo Tan and the fox spirit
Sutanto, Jesse Q.
Paper Book
After inheriting a grieving fox spirit, a Chinese American boy must learn to embrace his heritage to solve the mystery of his brother's death in Jesse Q Sutanto's magical, action-packed middle grade fantasy, Theo Tan and the Fox Spirit. Theo Tan doesn't want a spirit...

A magical fox spirit helps a Chinese American boy investigate his brother's mysterious death. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Troublemaker
Cho, John
Paper Book
An instant New York Times bestselller! An Indiebound bestseller! 12-year-old Jordan feels like he can't live up to the example his older sister set, or his parent's expectations. When he returns home from school one day hoping to hide his suspension, Los Angeles...

A Korean American middle schooler experiences the 1992 LA riots while crossing the city to help his dad at their family store in Koreatown. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)

Tamamo the fox maiden : and other Asian stories
Spike
Paper Book
"A must for myth-loving middle schoolers." -- SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL "And they lived happily ever after . . . I assume." Vengeful spirits, flying ogres, helpful teapots, ghost pepper ghosts, and trickster tigers? That's just the start of this lively...

Asian authors and illustrators team up for a graphic novel of short stories inspired by traditional Asian folktales. (Young Teen Graphic Novel Grades 5-7)

You are here : connecting flights
Oh, Ellen
Paper Book
A powerful and engaging exploration of contemporary Asian American identity through interwoven stories set in a teeming Chicago airport, written by award-winning and bestselling East and Southeast Asian American authors including Linda Sue Park, Grace Lin, Erin Entrada Kelly, Traci Chee, and...
Try a bunch of different Asian American authors in this book of short stories set in an airport, edited by We Need Diverse Books co-founder Ellen Oh. (Children's Fiction Grades 3-5)
Finding Junie Kim
Oh, Ellen
Paper Book
For fans of Inside Out and Back Again and Amina's Voice comes a breathtaking story of family, hope, and survival from Ellen Oh, cofounder of We Need Diverse Books. When Junie Kim is faced with middle school racism, she learns of her grandparents' extraordinary...

Learning about her Korean family history helps a bullied middle schooler gain confidence. (Young Teen Fiction Grades 5-7)


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