May is AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) Heritage Month. (See AAPI Heritage Month events and history athttps://asianpacificheritage.gov.)
It’s the perfect time to support the AAPI community in your area, and across the U.S. One way to do that is to read and buy books by AAPI authors. I’ll tell you about three of my favorites to get you started. All of these authors are amazing writers.
Stacey Lee (http://www.staceyhlee.com)writes YA (young adult) historical fiction featuring Chinese American characters. In Outrun the Moon, Mercy Wong talks her way into a private girls’ school, then learns to use her leadership skills to help San Francisco recover from an historic earthquake. In The Downstairs Girl, Jo Kuan finds her voice as an anonymous advice columnist and solves the mystery of her past. I’ve ordered a copy of Luck of the Titanic, coming out this week.
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. I’m looking forward to reading The Forest of Stolen Girls to be published this month.
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 YA retelling of the story set in 5thcentury China.
I highly recommend anything written by Stacey Lee, June Hur, and Sherry Thomas.
There are so many talented AAPI authors out there. Can you add to my list in a comment below?