December 20th, 2020
Asian-Lead books that deserve the same treatment as "Crazy Rich Asians"
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Credits
Author: Marykate Wee
Editor: John Liu
Layout: Abigail Jung
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Credits
Author: Marykate Wee
Editor: John Liu
Layout: Abigail Jung
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This famous YA romance novel focuses on two teens named Dimple Shah and Rishi Patel. While Dimple is more focused on academics and tradition, Rishi is a hopeless romantic who wants to woo his future wife who's attending the same summer program as him. This cute novel focuses on not only the teenagers’ struggle of finding their own identities but it also focuses on accepting others' differences and embracing one’s uniqueness.
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The novel features Emika, a hacker and sci-fi bounty hunter who sets out illegal players within the virtual game. She’s a skilled player who's outspoken, determined, and fearless. She ends up accidentally making a name for herself as one of the best bounty hunters in the game. She becomes so popular to the point that the creator of the game invites her to do further work for him. The creator asked her to hunt down a hacker named Zero- a skilled hacker who plays in the Dark World. The novel has similar vibes to Ready Player One where rebels want to revolutionize a new and better society.
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This book centers around Mei, a smart, early-college entrant who felt pressured to enter into medical school by her mom (just like other Chinese-American daughters). The title implies the nickname her mother gave Mei, referencing her laziness and role poly appearance. Even though Mei tried to fit into her mother’s ideology, she finds herself not connected with the material. She would rather open her own dance studio than deal with germs. As she fights to create her own name as a dancer, she also restores her relationship with her exiled brother and feels that keeping this secret may be causing more harm than good.
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Parachutes focuses on Claire Wang- a teenager dropped off at California to study in the United States while her wealthy parents remained in Asia. She finds herself living in a stranger’s house with a new found freedom. Her new host sister, Dani De La Cruz isn’t as thrilled of this. With Dani being a straight A student focused on getting into Yale, her game plan is thrown off course. Even though they both have their own distinct paths, both Dani and Claire keep crashing into each other, changing their lives forever.
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This YA romance novel centers around 16 year old Sana Kiyohara who just moved from a mostly white community to California with predominantly minorities. She’s known for having multiple secrets but the biggest one of all is that she has a crush on her best friend, Jamie Ramirez. Sugiura thoughtfully explores intersecting issues of race, immigrant-family relationships, queer romance, and, less explicitly, class dynamics in a very charming and bittersweet way.
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This NY Times Bestseller centers around American born 17 year old, Maya Aziz. Throughout the book, she struggles with either pursuing her dreams of being a film maker in NYC or following her parents ideals of going to a college near Chicago and being paired off with an older Muslim boy her mom deems “suitable.” In addition to this, her world is turned upside down when a horrific crime occurs a thousand miles away from her, raising islamophobia in her neighborhood.
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The book centers around a Korean-American girl who travels to Seoul in hopes of debuting in her own girl group behind the same label as her favorite boy band. Candace Park is mainly known for playing the quiet, smart girl but she has a passion and talent for singing. When she wins a singing competition that basically grants her her wish, she wonders if the strict supervision from both her parents and the record label is worth risking her beliefs.
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Hunted by The Sky explores identity, class struggles, and includes a high-stakes romance. Gul has spent her life running and because of the star-shaped birthmark on her arm, her parents are killed in the hand of King Lohar’s ruthless soldiers. Gul is hunted by the soldiers, but is saved when a group of rebel women called the Sisters of the Golden Lotus rescue her and take her in. As she gets stronger in her warrior magic, Gul only wants revenge. On the other hand, Cavas, a non maji boy, is ready to sign his life over to the king's army. He’s called a dirt licker by those with magic but he doesn’t mind. All he wants is to save his dying father, but everything changed when he meet Gul. Dangerous circumstances bring Cave and Gul together and their lives are at risk under the king’s domain.
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This NY Best Seller is about the power of love and resilience. It centers around Jamie Goldberg and Maya Rehman. Jamie Goldberg was volunteering for his local state senate candidate behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers, Jamie gets nervous and chokes up. He wasn’t willing to meet up on anyone’s doorstep until he met Maya. In comparison, Maya had one of the worst Ramadans ever. Her best friend became distant, her summer trip was canceled, and her parents were considering having a divorce. Suddenly, a random boy knocks on her doorstep asking her to volunteer with him. The book focuses on their journey in mastering local activism and navigating a cross-cultural romance in the 21st century.
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