May is AAPI/Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. (Learn more about this at https://asianpacificheritage.gov/index.html.)
It’s a great time to celebrate Asian American authors. Here are a few of my favorites.
I came across author Sayantani DasGupta (http://www.sayantanidasgupta.com) through her wonderful Debating Darcy, a Bengali American homage to Jane Austen combined with high school drama, debate, and forensics (DDF) and fierce friendships. Her other YA and MG books, including Rosewood: A Midsummer Meet Cute are on my to-be-read list.
June Hur’s (https://junehur.wordpress.com) YA historical novels are set in Korea. Her debut The Silence of Bones is set in the Joseon Dynasty, where indentured servant Seol helps solve a murder mystery and searches for her lost brother. Her other novels The Forest of Stolen Girls and The Red Palace are on my to-be-read list.
Sarah Kuhn (http://www.heroinecomplex.com) writes in more than one genre, including the Heroine Complex superheroine series and graphic novels. I really enjoyed her YA romance I Love You So Mochi.
Lyla Lee (https://lylaleebooks.com) has released two fun bisexual YA romances. I enjoyed the K-pop reality show romance in I’ll Be the One, and the Korean TV show fake relationship in Flip the Script. She also writes the Mindy Kim books for younger readers.
Stacey Lee (http://www.staceyhlee.com) writes YA (young adult) historical fiction featuring Chinese American characters. Whether it’s the American West in Under a Painted Sky, 1906 San Francisco in Outrun the Moon, old Atlanta in The Downstairs Girl, or the famed ship in Luck of the Titanic, you’ll immerse yourself in history and love the heartwarming story.
Sherry Thomas (https://www.sherrythomas.com) writes in many different genres, so I’ll just mention a couple here. In her historical mystery Lady Sherlock series, Charlotte Holmes solves crimes in Victorian England. And The Magnolia Sword: A Ballad of Mulan is her brilliant YA retelling of the story set in 5th century China.
I highly recommend anything written by these AAPI authors. There are so many good books out there! Find at least one to read this month, and more to read into the future.