Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Reading List for Teens

30 Books Found

  • 96 Words for Love

    When her grandmother passes away, Raya decides to spend her summer at the Indian ashram where her grandparents fell in love and where she hopes to find answers to her future.
    Cover of 96 Words for Love
  • After the Shot Drops

    Nazir and Bunny were best friends before Bunny left for private school on an athletic scholarship. Now, Bunny plays basketball while Nazir struggles to help his cousin facing eviction. With their lives in disarray, both must decide who they are as people and who they want to be.
    Cover of After the Shot Drops
  • Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir

    Ha’s graphic memoir explores her journey to a new country and her struggles with culture shock and loneliness. It delves into the idea of straddling two cultures and simultaneously feeling a part of both and neither.
    Cover of Almost American Girl: An Illustrated Memoir
  • Blue Boy: A Novel

    In this sharp novel about coming of age, coming out, and growing sexuality, makeup and ballet-loving Ohio tween Kiran Sharma tries to shed his outcast status by performing in his school's fall talent show as Krishna, the Hindu god of compassion and love.
    Cover of Blue Boy: A Novel
  • Born Confused

    Dimple Lala's conflicted feelings about her Indian heritage come to a head when her best friend wants to learn more about Indian culture to catch the eye of attractive college student Karsh Kapoor, a friend of the Lala family.
    Cover of Born Confused
  • The Cartographers

    Seventeen-year-old Ocean Wu moves to New York City to start college, but she defers her enrollment, keeping it a secret from her immigrant mother, and instead uses the time to deal with her ambivalence about her place in the world.

    Cover of The Cartographers
  • Chloe and the Kaishao Boys

    Seventeen-year-old Chinese Filipina Chloe's father sets her up on a marathon of arranged dates to convince her to stay close to their Manila home for college.

    Cover of Chloe and the Kaishao Boys
  • Displacement

    While on vacation in San Francisco, Kiku finds herself transported back to 1940s America—to the same Japanese incarceration camp her grandmother was relocated to. She experiences the anger, hopelessness, perseverance, and resistance of the Nisei and Issei.
    Cover of Displacement
  • An Echo in the City

    Two star-crossed teenagers fall in love during the Hong Kong protests in this searing contemporary novel about coming of age in a time of change. 

    Cover of An Echo in the City
  • Flamer

    Aidan is at Boy Scouts camp for the summer. On top of growing feelings for his roommate, Aidan also deals with racism, bullying, and self-esteem issues. As the summer progresses, he finds himself with a lot of questions and compounding emotions, culminating in his self-discovery.
    Cover of Flamer
  • Gloria Buenrostro Is Not My Girlfriend

    As one of only two Asian Americans in his school and often left out, Gary jumps at the chance to break into the school's popular clique by befriending the most beautiful girl in school. But as he comes closer to achieving his goal, Gary also risks losing the only person who sees the real him.

    Cover of Gloria Buenrostro Is Not My Girlfriend
  • I Believe in a Thing Called Love

    Star student Desi Lee is at the top of her game, but is unlucky is love. Will the K-dramas she and her father watch obsessively help her figure out the steps to getting her one true love?
    Cover of I Believe in a Thing Called Love
  • I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir

    Gharib depicts her experience growing up as a first-generation American, the daughter of a Catholic Filipino mother and Muslim Egyptian father, and her struggles to stay true to herself as she moves from a diverse high school to a predominantly white university.
    Cover of I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir
  • Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim

    Alejandra Kim doesn't feel like she belongs anywhere. At her wealthy Manhattan high school, her super Spanish name and super Korean face do not compute to her mostly white "woke" classmates and teachers. In her Jackson Heights neighborhood, she's not Latinx enough. Even at home, Ale feels unwelcome.

    Cover of Imposter Syndrome and Other Confessions of Alejandra Kim
  • Isle of Blood and Stone

    This historical fantasy follows royal explorer Elias on a quest to solve the mystery of what really happened to the long-lost princes during a fateful royal picnic. Amidst intrigue and danger, Elias will follow a dangerous map to find the truth.
    Cover of Isle of Blood and Stone
  • The Karma Map

    A youth group's temple road trip through India is a liberating escape for former mean girl Tara Bajaj and aspiring photojournalist Silas D'Souza-Gupta to explore their past and feelings for each other.

    Cover of The Karma Map
  • Lunar New Year Love Story

    Illustrated by LeUyen Pham | Val is ready to give up on love. It's led to nothing but secrets and heartbreak, and she's pretty sure she's cursed—no one in her family, for generations, has ever had any luck with love. But then, a chance encounter with a pair of cute lion dancers sparks something in Val. Could this be her chance to break the family curse?

    Cover of Lunar New Year Love Story
  • The Magic Fish

    Young Tiến wants to tell his mother he’s gay, but he doesn’t know how. His mother struggles with English, and he doesn’t know the right words in Vietnamese. But through the language of fairy tales, Tiến and his mother find a way to connect and create their own happily-ever-after.
    Cover of The Magic Fish
  • A Map to the Sun

    Five teenage girls form a basketball team and a reluctant friendship as they navigate major life changes and difficult choices. Saturated in bright neons, this beautiful graphic novel captures the pain, messiness, and joy of teenage girlhood.
    Cover of A Map to the Sun
  • A Match Made in Mehendi

    Simi's best friend Noah convinces her to follow in her mother's and grandmother’s footsteps and become a matchmaker. When they create an app based on the family business, it goes viral, and life at their suburban New Jersey high school is turned upside down.
    Cover of A Match Made in Mehendi
  • The Name Drop

    Discovering a mix-up due to their shared Korean name, interns Elijah Ri and Jessica Lee decide to stay switched so Elijah can escape his controlling father, while Jessica secures college recommendations—but the one thing they didn't count on was falling in love.

    Cover of The Name Drop
  • One Girl in All the World

    Blake returns to New Sunnydale in this sequel to In Every Generation, set in the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Hellmouth has been reawakened, inter-dimensional portals are opening, and an oracle warns of a new foe on its way: the Darkness.

    Cover of One Girl in All the World
  • The Perfect Sound: A Memoir in Stereo

    A poet’s audio obsession, from collecting his earliest vinyl to his quest for the ideal vacuum tubes. A captivating book that “ingeniously mixes personal memoir with cultural history and offers us an indispensable guide for the search of acoustic truth.

    Cover of The Perfect Sound: A Memoir in Stereo
  • Rani Patel in Full Effect

    Rani, a Gujarati Indian teen living on the island of Moloka'i, copes with predatory men (including her father), isolation at school, and a distant mother by becoming a bold feminist rapper named MC Sutra. But the path to finding her power is filled with dark detours.
    Cover of Rani Patel in Full Effect
  • She Is a Haunting

    Seventeen-year-old bisexual Jade Nguyen is spending the summer in Vietnam at the French colonial house her estranged father is fixing up as a vacation rental, but unbeknownst to her family, the house and its ghosts have other plans.

    Cover of She Is a Haunting
  • Stars and Smoke

    The story of a superstar tapped to become a secret agent and the reluctant young spy assigned to be his partner.

    Cover of Stars and Smoke
  • When Dimple Met Rishi

    To Dimple Shah, technology camp at Stanford is a breath of fresh air from her mother's obsession with finding her a husband. For Rishi Patel, it's a chance to woo his future wife. When opposites clash, love works hard to prove itself in the most unexpected ways.
    Cover of When Dimple Met Rishi
  • When You Wish Upon a Lantern

    A romance about teens who devote themselves to granting other people's wishes, but are too afraid to let them selves have their own hearts' desires—each other.

    Cover of When You Wish Upon a Lantern
  • Written in the Stars

    When Naila falls in love with Saif, someone not of her parents' choosing, they travel to Pakistan to remind Naila of her cultural roots. The trip takes on another meaning, however, when it comes to light that an arranged marriage is in the works—something Naila did not consent to.
    Cover of Written in the Stars
  • You Bring the Distant Near

    This multigenerational story follows five women as they move from India to England to America. They navigate their racial identity, cultural differences, and familial duty in a new world while attempting to discover their best selves.
    Cover of You Bring the Distant Near