Authors for AAPI/AANHPI Heritage Month

May is AAPI/AANHPI or 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.

Sayantani DasGupta (http://www.sayantanidasgupta.com) wrote the wonderful Debating Darcy, a Bengali American homage to Jane Austen combined with high school drama, debate, and forensics (DDF) and fierce friendships.  She has another YA novel and several great MG books as well.

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 also feature stories from Korean history.

Sarah Kuhn (http://www.heroinecomplex.com) writes in more than one genre, including graphic novels and the Heroine Complex superheroine series. I really enjoyed her YA romcom I Love You So Mochi set in Japan.

Lyla Lee (https://lylaleebooks.com) has released two fun YA romances featuring bisexual characters, a K-pop reality show romance in I’ll Be the One, and a Korean TV show fake relationship in Flip the Script. She also writes the Mindy Kim and Gigi Shin books for younger readers, and has an adult romance coming out soon.

Stacey Lee (http://www.staceyhlee.com) writes YA (young adult) historical fiction featuring Chinese American characters. Her novels are some of my all-time favorites, so I’ll list a few here. Whether it’s 1906 San Francisco in Outrun the Moon, old Atlanta in The Downstairs Girl, or old Hollywood in Kill Her Twice, you’ll immerse yourself in history and love the heartwarming story.

Randy Ribay (https://www.randyribay.com) writes books for young people in several genres. I loved Everything We Never Had, a multi-point of view novel about four generations of Filipino-American sons and fathers.

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 amazing YA retelling of the story set in 5th century China. All her novels are brilliant.

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.