It’s Asian American Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month so we wanted to share some of our favorite books that feature amazing Asian protagonists! Sit back, relax, and read about some fantastic books that you’ll definitely want to add to your TBR.
I couldn’t make this list and not include Jenny and Lara Jean! I especially love this series because of Lara Jean’s identity as a half-Korean, half-Caucasian young woman and how she introduces others to her culture (Korean yogurt, anyone?)
Stevie and Nora had a love. A secret, epic, once-in-a-lifetime kind of love. They also had a plan: to leave their small, ultra-conservative town and families behind after graduation and move to California, where they could finally stop hiding that love.
But then Stevie has a terrible fall. And when she comes to, she can remember nothing of the last two years—not California, not coming to terms with her sexuality, not even Nora.
Penny's awkwardness is deeply relatable, as is her trouble figuring out an IRL relationship when it’s so much easier to keep in touch with her new friend, Sam, over text. It's great being able to see her grow, though, not only into a good friend, but into her own person as the story progresses.
Dimple struggles with following her parents’ traditions while paving her own path as an aspiring web developer in this hilarious and romantic book. Both Dimple and Rishi figure out how to follow their dreams while also embracing a connection that their family can see, even if they don’t.
Jason Zhou, his friends, and Daiyu are back in the sequel to Cindy Pon’s sci-fi thriller Want.
After the events of the last book, Jin, the ruthless billionaire and Daiyu’s father, is out for blood and has Jany, a childhood friend of Linyi, murdered and steals the tech that Jany refused to sell him. Lingyi is now the only one who has access to the encrypted info, putting her own life is now in jeopardy.
Mei has a master plan, at least according to her parents: become a doctor, marry a preapproved Taiwanese Ivy Leaguer, and have kids. When she meets Darren Takahashi (and accepts that she hates germs), she decides she has to forge her own path towards a future that’s more her own.
Crazy Rich Asians meets Gossip Girl by way of Jenny Han in this knock-out debut about a Korean American teen who is thrust into the competitive, technicolor world of K-pop, from Jessica Jung, K-pop legend and former lead singer of one of the most influential K-pop girl groups of all time, Girls Generation. After you’ve read Shine, check out the must-read sequel, Bright!
From New York Times bestselling author Mary H.K. Choi comes a funny and emotional story about two estranged sisters and how far they’ll go to save one of their lives—even if it means swapping identities.
From William C. Morris Award Finalist S.K. Ali comes an unforgettable romance that is part The Sun Is Also a Star mixed with Anna and the French Kiss, following two Muslim teens who meet during a spring break trip.
The Weight of Our Sky is a beautiful and heart wrenching story that takes place during the 1969 race riots in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Beatles-loving Melati Ahmad is just like any other teenager at the movies when violence erupts between the Chinese and the Malay. Her entire world shifts as tensions escalate in this heart-pounding debut.
They Wish They Were Us meets The Queen’s Gambit in the world of competitive Scrabble when a teen girl is forced to investigate the mysterious death of her best friend a year after the fact when her Instagram comes back to life with cryptic posts and messages.
Pablo Rind is a half-Korean, half-Pakistani young man living in Brooklyn when he meets pop star Leanna Smart. One of the best things about Pablo’s character is that he works in a bodega and runs a fairly popular junk food Instagram account. His own heritage inspires many of the food choices he describes in the book and, let me tell you, they are mouthwatering.
Westworld meets Warcross in this high-stakes, dizzyingly smart sci fi book about a teen girl navigating an afterlife in which she must defeat an AI entity intent on destroying humanity, from award-winning author Akemi Dawn Bowman. After you’ve read The Infinity Courts, read the sequel, The Genesis Wars!