I’m a big fan of books by authors of Asian descent; middle grade Asian books are no exception. this list has been on my mind for a while now. I’ve already shared 51 novels by authors of Asian descent, so I thought it was officially time for middle grade Asian books.
To the best of my ability, I tried to ensure that all of the authors on this list met the criteria for being of Asian descent. I’ve also included some graphic novels and chapter books for new readers. In addition, I took the liberty of including some favorite Indian and Middle Eastern authors. Although I don’t read fantasy, I’ve included a few books in the genre for anyone who might be interested. here are 83 middle grade asian books to add to your tbr.
You are reading: Aapi middle grade books
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here are the 83 best middle grade asian books:
best middle grade asian books on immigration
reception
the author is of Chinese descent
(I read and loved it!) mia tang has many secrets.
Number 1: You live in a motel, not a big house. Every day, while her immigrant parents clean the rooms, ten-year-old Mia manages the reception of the Calivista motel and attends to her guests.
number 2: their parents hide immigrants. and if the wicked motel owner, mr. yao find out they’ve been letting them stay in the empty rooms for free, the tangs are doomed.
number 3: she wants to be a writer. but how can she do it when her mother thinks she should stick to math because english is not her first language?
It will take all of Mia’s courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year. Will he be able to keep his job, help immigrants and guests, escape from mr. yao, and go for your dreams?
unstable
When her family moves from Pakistan to the town of Peachtree, all Nurah wants is to be a low profile, but she sticks out for all the wrong reasons. Nurah’s accent, floral-print kurtas, and tea-colored fur make her feel left out, until she meets Stahr at swim trials.
and in the water, nurah doesn’t want to mix. he wants to win medals like his brother his star athlete, owais, who is going through his own struggles in the united states. however, when sibling rivalry gets in the way, she makes a split-second decision of betrayal that changes her fate.
Finally, nurah gradually gains confidence in the form of strong arms and swimmers, and also gains the courage to stand up to bullies, stand up for what she believes in, and find her place.
other words for home
The author is of Middle Eastern descent
jude never thought she would leave her beloved older brother and father behind, across the ocean in syria. But when things in his hometown start to get volatile, Jude and his mom are sent to live in Cincinnati with relatives.
At first, everything in the US seems too fast and too noisy. The American movies that Jude has always loved haven’t quite prepared her to start school in the United States, and her new “Middle Eastern” label, an identity she’s never known before.
But this life also brings unexpected surprises: there are new friends, a whole new family, and a school musical Jude could be in. maybe America is also a place where jude can be seen for who he really is.
we belong
stella and luna know that their mom, elsie, came from the philippines when she was a child, but they don’t know much else. so one night they ask him to tell them her story. As they get ready for bed, her mom tells two stories: her youth as a middle child and a strong-willed immigrant; and that of the young life of mayari, the mythical daughter of a god. both are stories of sisterhood and motherhood, and the difficult experience of trying to fit into a new culture and having to fight for a home and acceptance. glorious and layered, this is a portrait of family and the strength of the ages.
best middle grade asian math book
danny chung sums it up
Eleven-year-old Danny’s life is turned upside down when his Chinese grandmother comes to live with her family in England. things take a turn for the worse when danny finds out that he will have to share her room with her, and she took the top bunk! Danny is initially frustrated that he can’t communicate with her because he doesn’t speak English and because he is about to fail math and Nai Nai was actually a math champion in the past. he feels like he and his grandmother have nothing in common. her parents insist that danny help them, so when he stays to take care of nai nai, he drops her off at the bingo hall for the day to get her off his back. but he soon discovers that not everyone is as welcoming as he hoped. . . Through the universal languages of math and art, Danny realizes that he has more in common with his Nai Nai than he thought. Full of heart and humor, Danny Chung sums it up and shows that traversing two cultures is possible and worth the effort, even if it’s not always easy.
best middle grade asian book about the war in japan
a place to belong
the author is of Japanese descent
World War II is over, but even though the United States won the war, twelve-year-old Hanako feels lost. to her, the world, and her world, seems irrevocably broken.
The United States, the only home she has ever known, imprisoned and then shunned her and her family, and thousands of other innocent Americans, because of her Japanese ancestry, because Japan had bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
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japan, the country they were forced to move to, the country they hope will be the savior of the family, where they were supposed to start a new and better life, is in ruins because the united states dropped its own bombs, a in hiroshima like no other in history. and hanako’s grandparents live in a small town on the outskirts of the devastated city.
The country is starving, black markets are rampant, and countless orphans beg for food on the streets, but how can hanako help them when there isn’t even enough food for her own brother?
hanako feels like she might crack under the pressure, but just because something is broken doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed. cracks can make room for gold, her grandfather explains when he tells her about the tradition of kintsukuroi: fixing broken objects with gold lacquer, making them stronger and more beautiful than ever. As she struggles to adjust to find her place in a new world, Hanako will discover that gold can come in many forms, and family can be hers.
under the broken sky
the author is of Japanese descent
Twelve-year-old Natsu and his family live a quiet life on a farm in Manchuria, near the border with the Soviet Union. But the life they’ve known begins to unravel when her father is drafted into the Japanese army, leaving Natsu and her little sister Asa orphaned and destitute. In a desperate move to keep his sister alive, Natsu sells Asa to a Russian family in the aftermath of the Soviet occupation of 1945. Natsu’s journey toward redemption for Natsu’s broken family is fraught with struggle, but Natsu is tenacious and will not stop at nothing to get her little sister back.
best asian high school book on pakistan
unbound amal
the author is of Pakistani descent
Life is quiet and ordinary in the Pakistani village of Amal, but she has no complaints and is busy pursuing her dream of becoming a teacher one day. her dreams are temporarily dashed when she, as her eldest daughter, must stay home from school to care for her siblings. Amal is upset, but she doesn’t lose hope and looks for a way to continue learning. Then the unimaginable happens: after an accidental encounter with the son of the corrupt landlord of her town, she amal must work as a servant for her family to pay off her own family’s debt.
Life on the opulent khan estate is filled with heartbreak and struggle for love, especially when she inadvertently makes enemies with a girl named nabila. More troubling, however, is Amal’s growing awareness of the khans’ nefarious dealings. When it becomes clear how far they will go to protect her interests, Amal realizes that she will have to find a way to work with others if they are ever to bring about change in a cruel status quo, and if she will ever achieve dreams of her .
best middle grade asian books on music
amine’s voice
the author is of Pakistani descent
A Muslim Pakistani-American girl struggles to stay true to her family’s vibrant culture while integrating into school after tragedy strikes her community in this sweet and poignant middle-grade novel from the award-winning author of It’s Ramadan. , curious george and golden domes and silver lanterns.
amina has never felt comfortable being the center of attention. she is happy just hanging out with her best friend, soojin. except now that she’s in high school everything feels different. Soojin suddenly dates Emily, one of the “cool” girls in class, and even talks about changing her name to something more “American.” does amine need to start changing too? or hide who she is to fit in? As Amina grapples with these questions, she is devastated when her local mosque is vandalized.
barakah beats
Twelve-year-old Nimra Sharif has spent her entire life in an Islamic school, but now it’s time to go to the “real school.”
nimra is nervous, but as long as she has her best friend jenna who is already in public school, she thinks she can handle just about anything.
Unfortunately, high school is hard. The teachers are mean, the schedule is confusing, and Jenna starts treating Nimra, who wears a hijab, coldly with the other kids.
Desperate to fit in and win back Jenna’s favor, Nimra accepts an unlikely invitation to join the school’s popular eighth-grade boy band, Barakah Beats. the only problem is that nimra was taught that music is not allowed in islam and she knows that her parents would be disappointed if they found out about her. so she devises a simple plan: join the gang, get jenna back, and then quietly abandon her before her parents find out about her.
but leaving the band is more difficult than expected. her plan is not just to get jenna back to work, but nimra really likes hanging out with the band – they value her contributions and respect how important her faith is to her. Then, Barakah Beats signs up for a talent show benefiting refugees, and Nimra’s lies begin to unravel. With the show just weeks away and Jenna’s friendship hanging in the balance, Nimra has to decide whether to betray her bandmates or herself.
generation of misfits
Millie attends a real school for the first time and dreams of finally having friends and a bit of freedom. She finds her chance when she joins an imitation band of her favorite j-pop group, where she is thrilled to meet a group of misfits who quickly become a close-knit group of friends who are like a family.
but millie soon realizes that one of them is dealing with bigger problems than the notes to play when it comes time for her performance. Can Millie help her friend, even when her problem seems too big to say out loud?
that bollywood thing
you know how in bollywood when people are in love, they sing and dance from the tops of the mountains? eleven-year-old sonali wonders if they do the same thing when they break up. The truth is that Sonali’s parents don’t get along and it seems that they are separating.
ronak, sonali’s little brother, is not taking the news well and cries constantly. sonali would never do that. it’s embarrassing to let out so many feelings, to show the world how bad you are. but then something strange happens, something magical, maybe. When Sonali gets upset during an outing, he can’t hide her feelings from him like usual; Instead, she suddenly bursts into a bollywood song-and-dance routine about why she’s mad.
The next morning, to her dismay, Sonali’s reality has changed. things seem brighter, almost too bright. Her parents have had bollywood makeovers. Her friends also begin to sing and dance. and somehow, everyone acts like this is totally normal.
sonali knows something has gone wrong and suspects it has something to do with her own mismanaged emotions. Will she be able to find out before it’s too late?
blackbird fly
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the author is of Filipino descent
apple has always felt a bit different from its classmates. she and her mother moved to louisiana from the philippines when she was little, and her mother still cooks filipino food and berates apple for becoming “too american.” When Apple’s friends turn on her and everything in her life begins to seem strange and embarrassing, Apple turns to music. if she can save enough to buy a guitar and learn to play, she might be able to change herself. it could be the music that saves her. . . or it can be hers two new friends of hers, who show her how special she really is.
best middle grade asian space books
see you in the cosmos
the author is of Chinese descent
Alex Petroski, 11, loves space and rockets, his mother, his brother, and his dog Carl Sagan, named after his hero, the real-life astronomer. All he wants is to launch his golden iPod into space the same way Carl Sagan (the man, not the dog) launched his gold record on the Voyager spacecraft in 1977. From Colorado to New Mexico, from Las Vegas to L.A. , alex records a trip on his ipod to show other life forms what life is like on earth, his earth. but his fate keeps changing. and the funny, lost, and remarkable people he meets along the way can only partially prepare him for the secrets he will uncover, from the truth about his long-dead father to the fact that, for a boy with a troubled mother and a majority as a brother who is not around, he has much more family than he ever knew.
clues of the universe
the only thing rosalind ling geraghty likes more than watching nasa launches with her dad is building rockets with him. When she unexpectedly dies, all she is left with is an unfinished model rocket they had been working on together.
Benjamin Burns doesn’t like science, but he never tires of Spacebound, a popular comic book series. when he finds a sketch that suggests his father created the comics, he gets excited. It’s a pity that his father left years ago and Benji has no way of contacting him.
Although Ro and Benji were only supposed to be science classmates, the pair become unlikely friends, with Ro even discovering a way to reunite Benji and his father. but benji hesitates, which angers ro. Doesn’t she realize how much I wish I could be in her place?
As the two deal with bullying, pain, and their own differences, Benji and Ro try to piece together clues to some of the biggest questions in the universe.
we dream of space
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the author is of Filipino descent
Cash, Fitch and Bird Thomas are three brothers who are in seventh grade together in Park, Delaware. In 1986, as the country eagerly awaits the launch of the challenging space shuttle, each wrestles with their own personal anxieties.
Cash, who loves basketball but has a recently broken wrist, is in danger of failing seventh grade for the second time. Fitch spends every afternoon wreaking havoc in the main arcade, struggling with an explosive temper he doesn’t understand. and bird, her twelve-year-old twin, dreams of being the first female commander of a nasa shuttle, but she feels that she is disappearing.
The Thomas children exist in their own orbits, spinning around in a tense and unpredictable household, with little in common except an enthusiastic science teacher named Ms. living room as the challenger’s release draws near, mrs. salonga gives her students a project: they are separated into spaceship crews and must create and complete a mission. when the fated day finally arrives, it changes everyone’s life and brings them together in unexpected ways.
Told in three alternating points of view, We Dream of Space is an unforgettable and thematically rich novel for middle grade readers.
Best Middle Grade Asian Verse Novel
red, white and whole
reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she is the only American Indian student, and home, with her family’s traditions and festivities. But Reha’s parents don’t understand why she is conflicted: they only notice when Reha doesn’t meet their strict expectations. reha feels disconnected from her mother, or amma, although her names are related (reha means “star” and punam means “moon”), but they are a separate universe.
then reha finds out her amma is sick. very sick.
Reha, who dreams of becoming a doctor even though she can’t bear to see blood, is determined to get her amma back on her feet. she will be the perfect daughter, if it means saving her mom’s life.
best middle grade asian book on animals
the manatee’s best friend
becca wong walker may be so shy that most people at school think she doesn’t speak at all, but why should she care? she has more important things to worry about. missy, the manatee who visits the dock in becca’s backyard, and becca’s only friend, hasn’t been seen in a while. When Missy finally returns, he has a new baby with her! Becca wants to be excited, but more than ever, inconsiderate boaters are speeding across the river, putting Missy’s life and her baby in danger.
One day, Becca also sees a dolphin in the river! Bonding with the dolphins and manatees, Becca finally begins to make friends at school. But when Becca makes a video that goes viral, it looks like it’s going to be harder than ever to save the manatees…and trying to do so could tear Becca’s newfound friendships apart.
best Asian high school book on tigers
iris and the tiger
the author is of Japanese descent
Twelve-year-old Iris has been sent to Spain on a mission: to ensure that her elderly and unusual aunt, Ursula, leaves her fortune – and extensive estate – to Iris’s scheming parents.
but from the moment iris arrives at the cloud forest, she realizes something is wrong. there is a strange feeling in the house, where time passes slowly and iris eyes play tricks on him. while outside, in the wild and untamed forest, a mysterious animal moves in the shadows.
what is aunt ursula hiding?
but when iris discovers a painting called iris and the tiger, she sets out to discover the animal’s true identity, putting her life in grave danger.
when you catch a tiger
The author is partly of Korean descent
When Lily and her family move in with her ailing grandmother, a magical tiger straight from Halmoni’s Korean folktales arrives, leading Lily to unravel a secret family history. A long, long time ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers. now they want it back. And when one of the tigers approaches Lily with a deal: return what her grandmother stole in exchange for Halmoni’s health, Lily is tempted to accept. But dealings with tigers are never what they seem! With the help of Ella’s sister and Ella’s new friend Ricky Ella, Lily must find her voice…and the courage to take on a tiger.
best selection of books for grandparents
peter reads notes from the field
Eleven-year-old Peter Lee has one goal in life: to become a paleontologist. well, maybe two: getting his genius little sister, l.b., to leave him alone. But his summer falls apart when his real-life dinosaur expedition turns out to be a flop, and he watches his dreams vanish in an asthma-inducing cloud of dust. Even worse, his grandmother, Hammy, is sick and no one wants to talk to Peter or L.B. about that perhaps his days as a scientist are not yet behind him. Armed with notebooks and pens, Peter puts his observation and experimentation skills to the test to see what he can do for Hammy. If he can just make his sister shut up for once, he needs time to come up with a plan.
any day with you
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the author is of Filipino descent
kaia and her family live near the beach in california, where the fun of making movies surrounds them. Kaia loves to play with makeup and create special effects, turning her friends into mermen and other magical creatures.
This summer, Kaia and her friends are part of a creative arts camp, where they are working on a short film to enter a contest. The film is inspired by Filipino folk tales told by her beloved tatang, her great-grandfather. tatang lives with her family and is like the shine of her special effects makeup. When Tatang decides it’s time to return to his homeland in the Philippines, Kaia will do anything to talk him out of leaving.
more high school books about grandparents
best middle grade asian book on adoption
half a world away
the author is of Japanese descent
Eleven-year-old Jaden is adopted and knows he’s an “epic fail.” that’s why his family travels to kazakhstan to adopt a new baby, to replace him, he is sure. and he gets it. he is unable to stop his thefts, hoardings, lighting fires, running around aggressively, and his obsession with electricity. he knows that his parents love him, but he doesn’t feel… anything.
When they arrive in Kazakhstan, it turns out that the baby they traveled for has already been adopted, and literally within minutes they are faced with choosing between six other babies. As his parents die, Jaden is more interested in the little boys. one, a little guy named dimash, spies on jaden and runs to him whenever he sees him. Jaden becomes increasingly intrigued and worried about Dimash. dimash, now three years old and barely able to speak, will soon be released from the orphanage, and then his life will be as hopeless as he feels jaden now. For the first time in his life, Jaden actually feels something other than blinding rage, and there’s no way to control it or his power.
best middle grade asian fantasy & folklore books
glass ribbon
the author is of Chinese descent
in the town of huanan, in medieval china, the ruling deity is the great huli jing. Although twelve-year-old Li Jing’s name is a completely different character from Huli Jing, the sound is close enough to provide constant teasing, but perhaps also a source of greater destiny and power. Jing’s life is not easy. His father is a poor tea grower and his family has come to the conclusion that in order for everyone to survive, the jing must be sacrificed for the common good. she is sold as a bride to the koh family, where she will be the wife and nanny of her three-year-old son, ju’nan. It’s not fair, and jing feels this bitterly, especially when the koh treat her poorly and sell her once again to a worse situation that leads jing to believe that her only option is to run away from her and find her home. again. With the help of a spider who weaves Jing a means of escape, and a nightingale who helps her find her way, Jing embarks on a quest back to Huanan and herself.
the land of the forgotten girls
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the author is of Filipino descent
soledad has always known how to escape the stories she creates. just like her mother always could. and loneliness has needed that escape more than ever in the five years since her mother and her sister died, and her father moved with sol and her younger sister from the philippines to louisiana. after her father leaves, all they have sun and ming is her evil stepmother, see. Sol has protected Ming all this time, but then Ming begins to believe that Aunt Jove, her mythical world-traveling aunt, will really come to their rescue. can sol protect ming from this impossible hope?
best asian high school summer books
a thousand questions
the author is of Pakistani descent
mimi isn’t thrilled about spending the summer in karachi, pakistan, with grandparents she’s never met. She secretly wishes to find her long-absent father and plans to write her in her beautiful new diary.
the cook’s daughter, sakina, still hasn’t told her parents that she will be accepted into school only if she can improve her english test score, but then how could her family afford to lose the money you earn working? with her abba in the kitchen of a rich family?
Although the girls seem totally incompatible at first, as the summer progresses, Sakina and Mimi realize that they have a lot in common and that they need each other to get what they want most.
the emperor’s riddle
the author is of Chinese descent
mia chen is on what her mom calls a big adventure. she’s not sure what to do with this family trip to china and she didn’t want to leave her friends for the summer, but she’s excited about the prospect of exploring with ella lin’s aunt, the only adult she really has. understands it.
Then Aunt Lin disappears, just after her old nemesis, a man named Ying, comes to visit. Mia knows that years ago, when Aunt Lin and Ying were sent to the Fuzhou countryside to work as laborers, the two of them searched together for an ancient treasure, one that has yet to be found. She suspects that the shared history of hers could be related to Aunt Lin’s disappearance.
When Mia discovers an old map full of puzzles in Aunt Lin’s room, she quickly puts together her mission: find the treasure, find her aunt. Now, Mia, along with her older brother, Jake, must solve the clues to rescue the person she knows best in the world, and perhaps uncover a treasure greater than her wildest dreams.
best middle grade asian humor book
the year of the dog
the author is of Chinese descent
When Pacy’s mom tells her that this is a good year for friends, family, and “finding herself,” Pacy immediately starts looking. As the year progresses, she struggles to find her talent, deals with disappointment, makes a new best friend, and discovers why the year of the dog is a lucky year for her after all.
This fun and insightful book is a wonderful debut novel from bestselling, award-winning author and illustrator Grace Lin, and young readers are sure to love and treasure it for years to come.
best middle grade asian book on vietnam
listen, slow down
the author is of Vietnamese descent
A Californian born and raised girl, Mai is eager to spend her vacation at the beach. Instead, she has to travel to Vietnam with her grandmother, who returns to find out what really happened to her husband during the Vietnam War.
mai’s parents believe this trip will be a great opportunity for their out-of-touch daughter to learn more about her culture. but for mai, those are her roots, not hers. vietnam is hot, smelly and the last place she wants to be. In addition to barely speaking the language, she does not know the geography, the local customs, not even her distant relatives. To survive her journey, Mai must find a balance between her two completely different worlds.
best mid-grade Asian teams on sports
the way home looks now
the author is of Chinese descent
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12-year-old peter lee and his family are baseball lovers, joining together at games and talking about the pittsburgh pirates. But when tragedy strikes, the family falls apart and baseball no longer seems to matter. That’s right? Peter wonders if maybe the game they love can unite them and bring them back, safely home.
lupe wong will not dance
anauthor is partly of Chinese descent
My gym shorts dig into my butt crack like a startled groundhog.
don’t you want to read a book that starts like this?
lupe wong will be the first female pitcher in the major leagues.
He has also championed causes throughout his young life. some worthy…like expanding career options on school tests beyond a few bubbles. and some not so much… like complaining to the bbc about the duration between doctor who seasons.
lupe needs an a in all of her classes so she can meet her favorite pitcher, fu li hernandez, who is chinese/mexican like her. So when does the horror that is square dancing rear its head in the gym? obviously she’s not going to let that go.
Not since millicent min has the girl genius presented a debut novel with such a memorable character, with such humor and emotional insight. even square dancing fans will agree…
the return
Twelve-year-old Maxine Chen is just trying to pull off that perfect landing — on the ice, in high school, and at home, where her parents worry competitive skating is too much pressure for a budding tween. However, Maxine is not worried: she is determined to plan for victory. But then a bully at school starts making fun of Maxine for her Chinese heritage, leaving her speechless and stunned. And at the rink, she meets a new star skater named Hollie, whose grace and skill threaten to knock Maxine out of the competition. With everything she knows about jagged ice, will Maxine crash under the pressure? Or can she push her way to a comeback?
Set in Lake Placid, New York, this is a gritty yet poignant middle-grade story that examines racism, female rivalry and friendship, and the enduring, universal need for love and support.
pippa park raises her game
the author is of Korean descent
Life is full of high expectations for Korean American Pippa Park. it seems that everyone, from his family to the other kids at school, has a plan for how his life should be. So when Pippa lands a mysterious basketball scholarship to Lakeview Private, she jumps at the chance to reinvent herself by following the “rules of cool.”
In Lakeview, Pippa juggles old and new friends, an unrequited crush, and the pressure to perform academically and athletically while keeping her past and her family’s laundry a secret from her new elite classmates. But when Pippa begins receiving a series of hateful anonymous messages through social media, her carefully constructed persona is threatened.
As things start to spiral out of control, Pippa discovers the real reason she was admitted to Lakeview and wonders if she can keep her old and new lives separate, or even if she should try.
more middle grade sports books
best middle grade Asian books on video games/online games
anybody’s game (cross ups series)
the author is of Chinese descent
what about cali? why does he keep changing his player tag?
It’s summer, and even though her good friend Cali has moved to another city, Jaden can connect with her online almost every day to play her favorite game, Traverses. His mom has relaxed her rules on how often he can play, and he has an amazing new controller that will make him even better in tournaments. But then he gets tied up at some silly summer camp with Ella Hugh’s friend, and Cali starts acting really weird. . . So when a last-minute tournament spot opens up in the city of Cali, Jaden jumps at the chance to go.
but things go wrong from the start. Jaden loses his controller on the train and his meeting with Cali is awkward. She’s not happy, and Jaden can’t figure out why, especially when she’s getting better and better at matchmaking, and even she can win the tournament.
With its crisp dialogue and relatable characters, Anyone’s Game, the second book in the Cross Ups series, chronicles the highs and lows of high school with a relevant, contemporary twist.
you go first
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the author is of Filipino descent
twelve-year-old charlotte lockard and eleven-year-old ben boxer are separated by more than a thousand miles. On the surface, their lives seem very different: Charlotte lives near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, while Ben lives in the small town of Lanester, Louisiana.
charlotte wants to be a geologist and she has a collection of rocks in her room. Ben is obsessed with Harry Potter, presidential history, and recycling. But the two have more in common than they think. both are very gifted. both are experiencing family problems. and they both sit alone to eat lunch.
Over the course of a week, charlotte and ben, friends connected only by an online game of scrabble, will cross paths in unexpected ways as they struggle to navigate the turmoil of high school. the new york times bestselling novel you go first reminds us that no matter how hard it is to keep our heads above rough water, we never fight alone.
best middle grade asian books on identity
the way of being
the author is of Chinese descent
Seventh grade is not off to a great start for Beatrix Lee. bea used to have friends… and now she doesn’t. she was an only child…and now she’s going to be a big sister. she used to fit in…and now she stands out for all the wrong reasons.
She consoles herself by writing poems in ink that is as invisible as she feels, and hiding them in a secret place. but then something incredible happens: someone starts responding. Is the ex best friend of hers? the editor of the school newspaper? the caring librarian who always offers the perfect book? Or the boy whose obsession with mazes is as intense as Bea’s love of words? By solving the mystery, Ella Bea might find out where she belongs.
lucy wu’s great wall
the author is of Chinese descent
lucy wu, aspiring basketball star and interior designer, is about to have the best year of her life. she’s ready to rule the school as a sixth grader, stand as captain of the school basketball team, and take over the room she’s always shared with her sister. However, in an instant, her plans are shattered when she finds out that Yi Po, the sister of her beloved grandmother, is coming to visit for several months and staying in Lucy’s room.
Lucy’s vision of a perfect year begins to unravel, and in her place comes an unwanted roommate, thwarted birthday plans, a bully trying to scare Lucy out of the basketball team and school. china with the annoying know-it-all talent. changing lucy’s year is screwed, isn’t it?
get up yumi chung
the author is of Korean descent
On the outside, yumi chung suffers from #shygirlproblems, a perm gone wrong and kids call her “yu-meat” because it smells like her family’s Korean BBQ restaurant. Inside, Yumi is ready for her Netflix stand-up special. her notebook is full of mortifying memories that she has reworked into golden comedy. all she needs is a stage and courage.
Instead of spending the summer studying her favorite YouTube comedians, Yumi is signed up for test prep tutoring to qualify for a private school scholarship, which will help her through a difficult time at the restaurant. one day after class, yumi stumbles upon an opportunity that will change her life: a comedy camp for kids taught by one of her favorite youtube stars. the only problem is that the instructor and all the students think that she is a girl named kay nakamura, and yumi doesn’t correct them.
As this case of mistaken identity unfolds, Yumi must decide to stand up and reveal the truth or risk losing her dreams and disappointing everyone she cares about.
read my interview with the author, jessica kim.
best middle grade asian books on activism
book me and uncle
the author is of Indian descent
Every day, nine-year-old Yasmin borrows a book from her uncle, a retired teacher who has set up a free lending library next to his apartment building. But when the Mayor tries to close the rickety lectern, Yasmin has to stick her nose out of her book and do something.
but what can she do? local elections are coming up, but she is just a girl. She can’t even vote!
still, yasmin has friends: her best friend, reeni and anil, who is even a black belt in karate. And she has an adult family and neighbors who, no matter how worried, care about what’s going on in her community.
then yasmin remembers a story the book guy selected for her. is an old folk tale about a flock of pigeons caught in a hunter’s net. the birds realize that if they all flap their wings at the same time, they can pick up the net and fly to safety, where they seek help from a friendly mole who chews through a hole in the net and frees them.
And so the kids get to work, launching a campaign to make sure the voices of the community are heard.
an energetic, fun, and quirky story that explores the themes of community activism, friendship, and a love of books.
American cake like paneer
the author is of Indian descent
as the only american indian girl in her small town, lekha divekar feels like she has two versions of herself: homebody lekha, who loves watching bollywood movies and eating indian food, and schoolgirl lekha, who holds her hair up with hairpins over her bindi birthmark and avoids confrontation at all costs, especially when someone makes fun of her for being Indian. When a girl Lekha’s age moves in across the street, Ella Lekha is thrilled to learn that her name is Avantika and that she is Desi too! eventually, there will be someone else around who understands. But as soon as Avantika speaks, Lekha realizes that she has an accent. she is new to this country and looks nothing like lekha. To Lekha’s surprise, Avantika doesn’t feel the same way as Lekha about having two separate lives or being bullied at school. Avantika does not take bullying in stride. and she proudly displays her culture no matter where she is: at home or at school. When a racist incident rocks Lekha’s community, Lekha realizes she must make a choice: remain silent or find her voice before it’s too late.
three keys (reception #2)
the author is of Chinese descent
mia tang thinks she’s going to have the best year of her life.
She and her parents are the proud owners of the Calivista Motel, Mia runs the front desk with her best friend, Lupe, and she’s finally getting somewhere with her writing!
but it turns out that sixth grade is not easy at all…
- mia’s new teacher doesn’t think her writing is that good. And her whole class finds out that she lives and works in a motel!
- The motel is in trouble, and Mia has to answer to the many, many concerned investors of Calivista.
- a new immigration law is coming and, if passed, it will threaten everything, and everyone, in mia’s life.
It’s a roller coaster of challenges and it takes all of Mia’s determination to resist. but if anyone can find the key to get through turbulent times, it’s mine tang!
best asian high school book about hiroshima
the last cherry blossom
the author is of Japanese descent
yuriko was happy growing up in hiroshima when it was just her and dad. but her aunt kimiko and her cousin genji are living with them now, and the family is only getting bigger with talk of a double marriage! And while things are changing at home, the world beyond their doors is even more unpredictable. World War II is drawing to a close, and since Japanese newspapers don’t report lost battles, the Japanese aren’t entirely sure where Japan stands. Yuriko is used to sirens and air raid drills, but things start to feel more real when neighbors who have gone off to fight stop coming home. When the bombs fall on Hiroshima, it is through the eyes of twelve-year-old Yuriko that we witness the devastation and horror.
best middle grade asian book on divorce
just be cool jenna sakai
When Jenna Sakai is dumped for winter break, she confirms what she’s learned from her parents’ messy divorce: relationships are risky and only lead to disappointment. So even though she has yet to see Ella Elliott’s ex-boyfriend at the Newspaper Club, Jenna is going to be totally ruthless this semester: no boys, just books.
But staying calm isn’t always easy. Jenna’s main competitor for a big journalism scholarship is none other than Elliott. her best friend keiko always seems busy with her own boyfriend. And the cute but incredibly annoying Rin Watanabe keeps stealing her stall at the restaurant she’s been hiding out at every day after school. Rin is just as stubborn and aloof as Jenna. And the more Jenna gets to know him, the more intriguing a mystery he seems. Soon Jenna begins to realize that being a loner is a bit, well, lonely. and letting people in could be a risk worth taking.
best middle grade asian book with biracial protagonist
cilla lee-jenkins series
Author is of Chinese descent
priscilla “cilla” lee-jenkins is on a tight deadline. Ella’s little sister is about to be born, and Cilla needs to become a successful author before her family forgets about her completely. she so she writes about what she knows best: herself! Stories from Ella’s best-selling memoir, Cilla Lee-Jenkins: Future Author Extraordinaire, include:
– how he coped with baldness up to the age of five – how he overcame his difficulties with reading – how the family traditions with his grandmother and grandfather jenkins and his Chinese grandparents, nai nai and ye ye, are so different
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best Asian high school book on bereavement
all the ways home
the author is of Japanese descent
Sometimes, home isn’t where you expect to find it.
After losing her mother in a fatal car accident, Kaede Hirano, now living with a grandfather who is stranger than family, developed anger issues and spent her senior year of high school acting out.
Without best friends and critically endangered by repeating seventh grade, kaede is given a summer assignment: to write an essay about what home means to him, which will be even more difficult now that he’s on his way to japan. to reconnect with his estranged father and older half brother. Still, if there’s a chance Kaede can finally build a new family out of an old one, he’s willing to give it a try. But building new relationships isn’t as easy as destroying old ones, and one last desperate act will change the way Kaede sees everyone, including himself.
This is a book about what home means to us, and that there are many different right answers.
more middle grade books on death and grief
best middle grade asian book on writing and science
mulberry project
the author is of Korean descent
julia song and her friend patrick would love to win a blue ribbon, maybe even two, at the state fair. They have always done projects together and work well as a team. this time, however, they have trouble finding the right project. Then Julia’s mother offers a suggestion: they can raise silkworms, like she did when she was a child in Korea.
patrick thinks it’s a great idea. Of course there are obstacles, for example, where will they get mulberry leaves, the only thing silkworms eat, but nothing they can’t handle.
Julia isn’t so sure. the club where the kids do their projects is all about traditional American stuff, and raising silkworms just doesn’t fit. In addition, the author, Mrs. Park seems determined to make Julia’s life as difficult as possible, no matter how hard Julia tries to talk her out of it.
In this contemporary novel, Linda Sue Park tells a fun and lively story that illuminates both the process of writing a novel and what it means to grow up as an American.
best middle grade asian book on family
the many meanings of meilan
Meilan Hua’s world is made up of a few key ingredients: her family’s beloved matriarch, Nai Nai; the bakery her parents, aunts and uncles own and run in Boston’s Chinatown; and her favorite Chinese fairy tales.
After Nai Nai passes away, the family has a fight that sends Meilan, her parents, and her grieving grandfather on a road trip in search of a new home. They take a winding road across the country before landing in Redbud, Ohio. Everything in Redbud is the opposite of Chinatown, and Meilan isn’t quite sure who she is; the name change at the school only makes things worse. she decides that she has many meilans, each inspired by a different Chinese character with the same pronunciation as her name. sometimes it is mist, refreshing and invisible; other times, she is the basket, carrying her parents’ hopes and dreams and her guilt for not living up to them; and occasionally she is bright blue, the way she feels about her new friend logan of hers. Meilan keeps her facets separate until an injustice at school shows her the power of uniting her many personalities.
how to win a slime war
alex manolo and his father just returned to sacramento to help with his extended family’s struggling philippines market. While Alex likes to help out in the store, her true passion is making slime! he creates his own recipes and plays with the ingredients, the colors and the different irregular or shiny parts that make his slime really special. A new friend encourages Alex to sell his creations at school, leading to a payoff battle with a girl who previously owned a slime-opoly. The winner gets bragging rights and the right to be the only slime game in town.
but alex’s dad thinks alex should focus more on “traditional” kids’ hobbies and less on slime. As the new soccer coach, Dad gets Alex to join the team. Even though he hates sports, Alex gives up.
alex is struggling on several fronts: with his new friends at school and with his father at home. It will be a tough race to the finish to see who comes out on top.
best middle grade book set in china
space to dream (reception #3)
mia tang goes for her dreams!
After years of hard work, Mia Tang is finally able to go on vacation with her family – to China! all a dream come true! mia is looking forward to seeing all her cousins and grandparents again, especially her cousin shen de ella. as she wanders around beijing, witnessing some of the big changes she’s going through china, ella mia thinks about the changes in her own life, like. . .
1. lupe is taking classes in high school! and mia’s own plans to be a great writer are . . . stuck.
2. something happened with jason and mia has no idea what to do about it.
3. new buildings are springing up around the motel and small businesses are disappearing.
Can the Calivista survive? seat belt! Mia is more determined than ever to get through the turbulence, now that she finally has. . . room to dream!
best middle grade asian book set in japan
while I was away
When twelve-year-old waka’s parents suspect that she cannot understand the basic Japanese they speak to her, they make the drastic decision to send her to Tokyo to live for several months with her strict grandmother. Forced to say goodbye to her friends and what would have been their summer vacation, Waka is torn from her student life in rural Kansas and travels around the world, where she faces the culture shock of life. of her.
In Japan, Waka has difficulty reading and writing kanji, doesn’t quite fit in with her complicated and aloof obaasama, and is teased by students in her Japanese public school classes. Even though this is the country her parents come from, Waka has never felt more like an outsider.
If she’s always been the “smart Japanese girl” in America but now she’s the “dumb foreigner” in Japan, where is home…and who will waka be when she finds it?
lanterns of the soul
Twelve-year-old Nozomi lives in the Japanese city of Hiroshima. she wasn’t even born when hiroshima was bombed. Each year, Ella Nozomi joins Ella’s family in the floating lantern ceremony to honor those who lost their lives in the bombing. people write the names of their deceased loved ones, along with messages of peace, on paper lanterns and float them in the river. This year, Ella Nozomi notices that Ella’s mother always throws a nameless lantern. She begins to ask questions, and as complicated stories of loss and loneliness unfold, Nozomi and her friends find a creative way to share the experiences of her loved ones. By opening people’s eyes to the struggles everyone keeps hidden, the project teaches the entire community new ways to show compassion.
soul lanterns is an honest exploration of what happened on August 6, 1945, offering readers a glimpse not only into japan’s rich cultural history, but also into the intimate lives of those they recognize, better than the most, the urgent need. for peace.
best picks on filipino culture
the house that lou built
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the author is of Filipino descent
lou bulosan-nelson has the latest DIY project for the summer. she’s going to build her own 100-square-foot “tiny house” all to herself. she shares a room with her mother at her grandmother’s house and longs for a place where she can escape from her crazy but lovable extended Filipino family. ella lou enjoys her carpentry class and creating projects, and she plans to build the house on land she inherited from her father, who died before she was born. but then she finds out that the land won’t be hers for much longer.
lou discovers that it’s not easy to save her land or build a house. but she won’t give up; With the help of friends and family, her dream begins to take shape and she learns the deeper meaning of home and family.
my destiny according to the butterfly
See Also: How Tall Is Harry Potter In The Books And Movies? – Improve Magic
the author is of Filipino descent
When the superstitious Sab sees a giant black butterfly, an omen of death, she knows she’s doomed! according to her legend, she has one week before her destiny catches up with her: on her 11th birthday, with time running out, all she wants is to celebrate her birthday with her whole family. but her sister, ate nadine, stopped talking to her father a year ago, and she doesn’t even know why.
If Sab is going to get Nadine and her father back together, she’ll have to overcome her fears (of her sister’s anger, of leaving the bubble of their sheltered community, of her coming doom) and discover the cause of their breakup.
So Sab and her best friend Pepper start spying on Nadine and digging into her family’s past to determine why, exactly, Nadine doesn’t talk to her dad. But Sab’s adventures in Manila reveal truths about her family that are more difficult and dangerous than she ever anticipated.
Was the butterfly right? maybe sab is doomed after all!
best pick on 9/11
yusuf azeem is not a hero
yusuf azeem has spent his entire life in the small town of frey, texas, and almost as long waiting for the chance to enter the regional robotics competition, that he just knows he can win.
only this year is going to be harder than I thought. because this year is the 20th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, an anniversary that has everyone in your Muslim community on edge.
With “never forget” banners everywhere and a hostile group of townspeople protesting the new mosque, Yusuf realizes that the country’s anger from two decades ago has not gone away. Will he be able to preserve his joy and his friendships in the face of anguish and prejudice?
best middle grade Asian book about moving to a new country
the great plan to fix everything
Author is of Indian descent 
eleven-year-old dini loves movies: watching them, reading about them, trying to write her own, especially those amazing bollywood movies where you don’t need to know the language to understand what’s going on. but when her mom reveals some big news about her, she doesn’t fit the script she dini had in mind at all. her family moves to india. And not even Mumbai, which is the “center of the filmi universe” (and home to Dini’s all-time favorite star, Dolly Singh). no, they’re moving to a tiny little town that she can’t even find on a map: swapnagiri. means dream mountain, a sleepy little place where nothing interesting can happen….
somewhere
the author is of Japanese descent
Eleven-year-old ema has always belonged to two worlds: her father’s Japanese heritage and her mother’s life in the United States. she has spent summers in california for as long as she can remember, but this year she and her mother are staying with her grandparents in japan while they await the arrival of ema’s little brother. her mother’s pregnancy has been complicated, making everyone nervous, but ema’s heart is singing: finally, there will be someone else who will understand what it means to belong and not belong at the same time.
but ema’s good humor is drowned out by her grandmother, who is cold, stingy and is quick to reprimand her for the slightest infraction. Later, when her stay is extended and she has to go to a new school, she grows concerned about not belonging. and when the tragedy of 9/11 occurs, ema, her parents and her world watch the twin towers fall…
while her mother cries for her country across the ocean, threatening the safety of her pregnancy, and her beloved grandfather falls ill, ema feels more helpless and hopeless than ever. and yet, surrounded by tragedy, ema sees for the first time the tender side of her grandmother, and the reason for the stinginess and severity makes sense: her grandmother has been preparing herself so that everyone can survive what worse.
best middle grade asian book on korean food & culture
krista kim-bap
the author is of Korean descent
krista and jason have been best friends since preschool. It never mattered that he was a boy with auburn hair and she was the “Korean girl” at school. now in fifth grade, everyone in her class is preparing their heritage month projects. Jason has always loved Krista’s Korean family, and particularly her mother’s cooking, but Krista is conflicted about being the “Korean ambassador” for her school. she is also worried about asking her intimidating grandmother to teach the class how to make her traditional kim-bap. Combine that with her new friends of hers keeping her away from Jason, and Krista has a lot to deal with this year!
best Asian high school book on mental illness
the science of fragile things
Author is partly of Korean descent 
When natalie’s science teacher suggests she enter an egg toss contest, natalie thinks this might be the perfect solution to all her problems. there’s a cash prize, and if she and her friends win, she gets to take her botanist mom to see the miraculous cobalt blue orchids, flowers that survive against all odds. Natalie’s mother has been suffering from depression and Natalie is sure that the magic of the flowers will inspire her mother to love life again. Which means it’s time for Natalie’s friends to step up to her and show her that talking about a problem is like taking a plant out of a dark closet and shining a light on it. With her help, Natalie begins an uplifting journey to discover the science of hope, love, and miracles.
more high school books on mental illness
best middle grade asian books on the vietnam war
house without walls
the author is of Vietnamese descent
For most people, home is a place with four walls. It is a place to eat, sleep, rest and live. For a refugee, the concept of home is constantly changing, constantly moving, constantly wavering. and often has no walls.
Eleven-year-old Lam escapes Vietnam with Dee Dee during the 1979 Vietnamese Boat People Exodus, when people from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fled their home countries in search of safety. For a refugee, the journey is long and perilous, filled with perilous encounters with pirates and greedy sailors, lack of food and water, and even the stench of a dead body on board. When they finally reach a refugee camp, Lam befriends Dao, a girl her age who becomes like a sister: a welcome flash of happiness after a terrifying journey.
backwards and backwards
Author is of Vietnamese descent 
Inspired by the author’s childhood experience as a refugee (fleeing Vietnam after the fall of Saigon and emigrating to Alabama), this first coming-of-age novel told in verse has been celebrated for its poignant childhood vision of family. and immigration. .
hà has only known saigon: the excitement of its markets, the joy of its traditions and the warmth of its close friends. but now the vietnam war has come to his house. hà and his family are forced to flee when saigon falls and they board a ship that is heading towards hope, towards america.
This heartwarming story of a girl’s year of change, dreams, pain, and healing received four outstanding reviews, including one from kirkus, who proclaimed it “illuminating, moving, and unexpectedly funny.”
best middle grade asian count
more to the story
the author is of Pakistani descent
When Jameela Mirza is chosen as Senior Editor of her high school newspaper, she is one step closer to becoming an award-winning journalist like her late grandfather. The problem is that her editor-in-chief keeps shooting down her article ideas. Jameela was assigned to write about the new kid in school, who has a cool British accent but doesn’t share much, and wonders how he’s going to make her story compelling enough to enter a national media contest. /p>
jameela, along with her three sisters, is devastated when her father needs to work abroad, away from his cozy home in georgia for six months. Missing him makes Jameela determined to write an epic article, one to make her father more proud of her. But when her younger sister becomes seriously ill, Jameela’s world is turned upside down. and as it seems that her hunger for fame could cost her a blossoming friendship, she wonders what is most important and if she is cut out to be a journalist…
read my interview with author hena khan
best middle grade asian books on friendship
save me a seat
one of the authors is of Indian descent
joe and ravi may be from very different places, but they’re both stuck in the same place: school.
Joe has lived in the same town his whole life and was doing just fine until his best friends moved out and left him alone.
Ravi’s family just moved to the US from India, and he’s having a hard time figuring out where he fits in.
joe and ravi don’t think they have anything in common, but soon they have a common enemy (the biggest bully of their kind) and a common mission: to take control of their lives in the course of a single madness. week.
stick together, keiko carter
the author is of Japanese descent
Fans of Wendy Mass and Lisa Greenwald are sure to fall head over heels for this sweet story about first crushes, the drama of friendship, and finding the courage to stand up for yourself. seventh grade is supposed to be a game changer. And Keiko thinks she’s got it all covered, especially with Audrey and Jenna by her side to shop for a new style, pick out a prime spot for lunch, and even hit that cute new bubble tea spot after school. her trio is ready to face life as they always have…together. But when Audrey decides they need boyfriends before they fall, it looks like things may be turning the wrong way. Jenna is sick of giving in to Audrey’s demands, and soon Keiko’s best friends barely talk about her, leaving her caught in the middle. While she’s been dreaming of triple dates, first kisses and a guy she really shouldn’t be in love with, the friendship she always thought was rock solid is starting to unravel. Keiko is pulled in two directions. Should she try to help her friends, even if it means losing one of them, or follow her heart? When it comes to flirting, friendships, and fights, how is Keiko supposed to keep everything under control?
paris bread dares
the author is of Chinese descent
So what if it’s a rite of passage for every seventh grade girl in town to spend a night in the woods? paris pan just moved here, the woods are super creepy, and she’s got enough weirdos to deal with in her own family. Finding out that a little girl mysteriously died years ago while she was daring, right near Paris’s new house, no less, is bad enough, but the unmistakable ghostly noises coming from the broken-down shed on the edge of the bread property? ultimate deciding factor.
all paris wants is to make friends, try to fit in and not have to deal with a dead girl. but everyone has to accept the challenge, and the new girl’s turn has come. . . .
a place at the table
one of the authors is Pakistani
Sixth graders sara, a pakistani american, and elizabeth, a white jewish girl, meet while taking a south asian cooking class taught by sara’s mother. sixth graders sara and elizabeth couldn’t be more different. Sara is in a new school that is huge and completely different from the small Islamic school she used to attend. elizabeth has her own problems: her british mother has been struggling with depression. The girls meet at a South Asian cooking class after school, which Elizabeth attends because her mother has stopped cooking, and which Sara, who hates cooking, is forced to attend because her mother is the teacher. The girls form an uneasy alliance that gradually deepens, making plans to create the most amazing and delicious cross-cultural dish together and win a spot on a local food show. They’re good kitchen buddies… but can they learn to trust each other enough to become true friends?
43 more middle grade books about friendships
best asian high school sister books
the truth about twinkie cake
Take as an example two sisters who are on their own: the smart twelve-year-old gigi and didi, who dropped out of high school and became a hairdresser. Add $1 million in prizes from a national cooking contest and a move from South Carolina’s trailer parks to the North Shore of Long Island. mix in a fancy new school, new friends and enemies, a first crush, and a generous amount of family secrets.
That’s the recipe for truth about twinkie pie, a voice-driven middle-grade debut about the true meaning of family and friendship.
best middle grade asian book on homelessness & poverty
eternal nora
Author is of Filipino descent 
After a family tragedy resulted in the loss of her father and her home, 12-year-old Nora lives with her mother in the North Manila Cemetery, which is the largest slum of its kind in the Philippines in today.
When her mother mysteriously disappears one day, nora is left alone.
With the help of her best friend Jojo and the support of her kind-hearted grandmother, Nora embarks on a journey fraught with danger to find her mother. Along the way, she also rediscovers the compassion of the human spirit, the resilience of her community, and eternal hope in the most unexpected places.
the bridge home
the author is of Indian descent
When Viji and her sister, Rukku, whose developmental disability makes her overconfident and vulnerable to the dangers of the world, run away to live alone, the situation couldn’t be more grim. Life on the streets of the bustling city of Chennai is harsh for girls considered outcasts, but the sisters manage to find refuge on an abandoned bridge. there they make friends with muthi and arul, two children in a similar situation, and the four children come together and form a kind of family.
viji starts working with the boys rummaging through the rubbish heaps while rukku makes bead necklaces and buys food with the little money they earn. They are often hungry and scared, but they have each other and Kutti, the best dog in the world. when the children are forced to leave their safe haven on the bridge, they take refuge in a graveyard. but now it is the rainy season and they are infested with mosquitoes, and rukku and muthu get sick. As their symptoms worsen, Viji and Arul must decide whether to risk seeking help, when most of the adults in their lives have proven untrustworthy, or continue to cling to their fragile, hard-fought freedom.
more middle grade books on homelessness and poverty
best middle grade Asian book series
millicent min, genius girl
the author is of Chinese descent
millicent min is having a bad summer. her high school classmates hate her for marking the curve. her 11 year old classmates hate her for going to high school. And her mom has arranged for her to tutor Stanford Wong, the Chinese geek poster boy. but then millie meets emily. Emily doesn’t know Millicent’s IQ. she really thinks millie is cool. and if millie can hide her awards, ignore her grandma’s advice, swear her parents to silence, blackmail stanford and keep all her lies in order from her, she just might be the first friend of hers What is she going to take? pure genius.
stanford wong fails big
the author is of Chinese descent
stanford wong is in big trouble, or as he would spell it, “trouble,” in this hilarious sidekick to this season’s award-winning millicent min, girl genius, and emily ebers.
stanford wong is having a rough summer. if she fails her summer school English class, she will fail sixth grade. if that happens, she won’t start on team a. If *that* happens, his friends will leave him and Emily Ebers won’t like him anymore. and if that happens, her life will be over. Soon his parents are fighting, his yin-yin grandma hates his new nursing home, he’s being “tutored” by the world’s biggest nerdball, millicent min, and he’s not sure his “emily” pen tattoo will go away. delete.
best mid-grade asian historical fiction
it’s not that horrible, falafel
Author is of Iranian descent 
zomorod (cindy) yousefzadeh is the new kid on the block. . . for the fourth time. California’s Newport Beach is the last perch in his family, and she’s determined to shed his smart, reclusive personality and start over with a new name for the Brady group: Cindy. We are in the late 1970s, and fitting in becomes harder as Iran makes headlines with protests, revolution, and eventually the taking of American hostages. Even mood rings and puka shell necklaces can’t distract Cindy from the anti-Iran feelings that come too close to home.
prairie lotus
prairie lotus is a powerful, moving, multi-layered book about a girl determined to fit in and make her dreams come true: get an education, become a dressmaker in her father’s shop, and make at least one friend. Acclaimed and award-winning author Linda Sue Park has placed a young half-Asian, Hanna, in a small town in the heartland of America in the 1880s. Hanna’s adjustment to her new surroundings, which primarily means negotiating the near-unanimous prejudice of the townspeople against the Asians, is at the heart of the story. Narrated by Hanna, the novel has poignant moments but shines with humor, introducing a captivating heroine whose wry, observant voice will resonate with readers. epilogue.
more middle grade historical fiction
graphic novels
Chinese born in the United States
the author is of Chinese descent
A tour-de-force from rising indy comics star Gene Yang, the American-born Chinese tells the story of three seemingly unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to find out that he is the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the mighty monkey king, the subject of one of the greatest and oldest Chinese fables; and Chin-kee, a personification of the latest negative Chinese stereotype, who is ruining his cousin Danny’s life with his annual visits. their lives and stories come together with an unexpected twist in this action-packed modern fable. American-born Chinese is one hell of a ride, all the way to amazing climax.
sold out
Author is of Chinese descent 
meet abbie wu. Abbie is in crisis, and not just because she’s starting high school or because she’s stuck in a family that doesn’t fully understand her or because everyone seems to have something except her. abbie wu is always in crisis.
From author and professional cartoonist Booki Vivat, Frazzled dives right into the mind of this hilarious and neurotic high school girl as she tries to figure out who she is and where she belongs. Similar to Raina Telgemeier’s smile, Frazzled is highly enlightened, embarrassingly honest, and is sure to appeal to anyone trying to figure out how to survive the everyday disasters of growing up.
cake in the sky
When jingwen moves to a new country, she feels like she’s landed on mars. school is torture, making friends is impossible because he doesn’t speak English, and he often gets stuck taking care of his (extremely annoying) little brother yanghao.
To distract herself from loneliness, Jingwen daydreams about making all the cakes on the menu for Pie in the Sky, the bakery her father had planned to open before he unexpectedly passed away. the only problem is that his mother has established an important rule: brothers should not use the oven while she is at work. As jingwen and yanghao bake elaborate cakes, they’ll have to come up with elaborate excuses to keep the cake a secret from mom.
In her hilarious and heartwarming high school debut, Remy Lai delivers a delightful mix of vibrant graphic art and flawless writing that will appeal to fans of Shannon Hale and Leuyen Pham’s true friends, Kelly Yang and Jerry’s Reception. craft. new guy.
fly on the wall
henry khoo’s family treats him like a baby. he is not allowed to go anywhere without his sister/escort/bodyguard. His (former) best friend knows to expect mafia-style interrogation from his family when Henry is allowed to hang out at his house. And he definitely can’t take a trip to the other side of the world alone! but that’s exactly his plan. After his family’s annual trip to visit his father in Singapore is cancelled, Henry decides he doesn’t want to be stuck at home with his overprotective family and bff turned nrff (not really friend forever). Furthermore, he is hiding a secret that your life is over if you get caught: he is the creator of an anonymous gossip cartoon and he is about to get caught. Determined to prove his independence and avoid punishment for his crimes, Henry embarks on the greatest adventure ever. . . hoping it doesn’t turn into the biggest disaster in history.
chapter books & series for beginning readers
sam wu
Author is of Chinese descent 
after the ghosts. . . come the sharks!
sam wu is not afraid of sharks. except . . . he’s. Can Sam conquer his fear before she misses out on the fun of his friends’ beach party?
On a field trip to the aquarium, certified ghost hunter sam wu encounters something even scarier than ghosts: crazy charlie, a giant shark, who tries to eat him whole. Sam has no intention of taking any more chances with these people-eating creatures. But then his classmates, Regina and Ralph, announce that they are having a birthday party. . . on the beach! Can Sam get over his terror of becoming shark bait? This second book in the Sam Wu series is a funny, heartwarming, and charming story about finding courage when the time comes, because courage is something you have to prove over and over again.
jasmine toguchi
the author is of Japanese descent
Eight-year-old Jasmine Toguchi is a flamingo fanatic, tree climber, and top-notch messer!
She’s also tired of her older sister, sophie, always doing things first. for once, jasmine wishes she could do something before sophie, something special, something different. The new year is coming, and as the toguchi family gathers in los angeles to celebrate, jasmine is jealous that her sister helps her make mochi balls by hand with the women. Ella’s mother says that Jasmine is still too young to join, so she hatches a plan to help the men pound mochi rice. surely her sister has never done that before.
but churning mochi is traditionally reserved for children. and the mochi hammer is heavier than it looks. Can Jasmine build her case and her muscles to make mochi in time for New Year’s Day?
alvin ho series
the author is of Chinese descent
Alvin, an Asian American second grader, is afraid of everything—elevators, tunnels, girls, and, most of all, school. He’s so afraid of school that, while he’ s there, he never, ever, says a word. But at home he’s a very loud superhero named Firecracker Man, a brother to Calvin and Anibelly, and a gentleman-in-training, so he can be just like his dad.
leuyen pham, new york times bestselling illustrator and lenore look, presents a touching and funny series with a truly unforgettable character.
farah rocks
the author is of Palestinian descent
farah and her best friend, allie liu, are excited to submit their applications to the magnet academy, where they both hope to attend sixth grade. But when new girl Dana Denver shows up, Farah’s world is turned upside down. When Dana starts bullying Farah’s little brother, Samir, Farah begins to second-guess her decision to drop him off at Harbortown Elementary/Middle School. Determined to handle it on her own, Farah comes up with a plan, a plan that involves lying to those closest to her. Will her lies of hers catch up to her or will farah be able to find a way to take down the bully and rock the fifth grade?
mindy kim series
the author is of Korean descent
mindy kim only wants three things:
- a puppy!
- to fit in at his new school
- to make his father happy again
But getting all three things on your list is a lot more complicated than I thought. On your first day of school, Mindy’s dried seaweed school snack isn’t exactly popular on the lunch table. Luckily, her new friend Sally makes the snacks look totally yummy for Mindy’s new classmates, so they decide to start the yummy seaweed business to try and raise money for that pup!
When another student decides to try to sabotage her business, mindy loses more than she bargained for and wonders if she’ll ever fit in. Can mindy overcome her uncertainty and find the courage to be herself?
p>Are you a fan of Asian literature? which of these middle grade asian books have you read or are you going to put in your tbr? I’d love to know!
more book lists
- 51 Asian books already
- 52 middle grade books to watch in 2020
- 91 middle grade books available in 2021
- 58 middle grade black books
- 25 chapter books for beginning readers