Asian American Authors - Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month
Boat Baby: A Memoir by Vicky Nguyen is a memoir about the author and her family's harrowing trip from communist Vietnam in the mid-1970s to safety. Traveling by boat, the group is attacked by pirates on the ocean, but manage to reach the refugee camps in Malaysia before being sponsored to come to America.
In a brief biography, NBC News anchor and correspondent Vicky Nguyen also tells the story of her unlikely journey from refugee to award winning reporter and an NBC news anchor.
The Wanderer's Curse: A Memoir by Jennifer Hope Choi,
Description: An immigrant Korean mother runs off to Alaska, sparking a greater season of wandering. Could her daughter be destined for the same?
This probing memoir follows Choi through her many former homes, from a crumbling Chinatown tenement to a haunted museum in Georgia.
The memoir is an electric mother-daughter story, exploring ideas of belonging, self-determination, and possibility, leaving readers to wonder what we take with us generation to generation, what we wish we could leave behind, and how we move on.
Jennifer Hope Choi is also an award nominated senior editor at Bon Appetit.
Description: Returning to Kaua‘i after ten years as a national park ranger in Oregon, ranger Makalani Pahukula finds her family divided and their way of life at risk. But when hunters find a dead body in the Keālia Forest Reserve, Makalani fears something ominous is at play, and her search for her cousins is a mystery she must solve.
Tori Eldridge is the bestselling author of the Lily Wong mystery thrillers as well as a two-time Anthony Award nominee, Lefty and Macavity Awards finalist, and winner of the 2021 Crimson Scribe Award for Best Book of the Year.
Born and raised in Honolulu—of Hawaiian, Chinese, and Norwegian descent—she lived in New York and Los Angeles before settling in Portland, Oregon. She holds a 5th degree black belt in To-Shin Do ninja martial arts.
Have you read any books for AAPI Heritage Month?
The churches in my small town sponsored a Vietnamese family in the mid-1970s. They only stayed for a year or so and, then, moved to be closer to other family members. The Boat Baby book would give me a story that might give me the perspective of the sponsored family -- something that I've always been curious about.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful to you for highlighting books for us that would be great to read during AAPI Heritage Month. Thank you so much, Harvee.
ReplyDeleteRecently started 'How Civil Wars Start and How to Stop Them by Barbara F Walter. Next up will be 'The Infernal Device' by Michael Kurland.
ReplyDeleteFirst time that I remember seeing these authors except for Nguyen. I hope you enjoy all these books.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a nice mix of books, enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThe photo from Boat Baby grabbed me right away. I remember the refugees back in middle school. No one explained who they were or what was going on. So sad. I have this book on hold. Some of the books will require a deeper search, but they are ones I am wanting to explore! Thank you for sharing The Wanderer’s Curse! Eldridge’s books sound awesome as well! Thank you for sharing! I so appreciate you highlighting these authors! Hopefully more people will read them!
ReplyDeleteAll of these books sound really good! :D
ReplyDeleteInteresting assortment of books. Come see my week here. Happy reading!
ReplyDeleteThere is a book called The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do which tells his family's story of coming to Australia as boat people from Vietnam. He is now a household name, his brother was young Australian of the Year. It's an amazing story.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!