May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, and this year we’re fortunate to be partnering with APANO (Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon) to share an APAHM reading list. APANO is a statewide, grassroots organization, uniting Asians and Pacific Islanders to achieve social justice and find solutions to the disproportionate gaps in education, health, and economic prosperity that Asian and Pacific Islander communities often face.
APANO is led and staffed by a dynamic group of community experts, seasoned advocates, and volunteers and the books they share below are as impassioned, riveting, and diverse as the individuals that comprise APANO and the families and communities the organization is dedicated to serving.
The Best We Could Do
by Thi Bui
Deeply gripping and poignant, this graphic novel memoir manages to be both epic and intimate in its recounting of one family's journey from Vietnam to America. I'm left in awe of what we do for those we love in the face of the impossible.
— Neil, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
I Think I Am in Friend-Love With You
by Yumi Sakugawa
Sakugawa's touching comic-turned-book captures the love in connections that defy easy categories. It's an essential read for anyone with friends, lovers, friend-lovers, and everything in between.
— Candace, APANO Staff Member
Iep Jaltok: Poems From a Marshallese Daughter
by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner
Take in the powerful words of a resilient Marshallese woman who shares reflections on the impact of climate change, colonization, forced migration, and the legacy of U.S. nuclear testing on her island home in Micronesia.
— Lilian, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
If They Come for Us
by Fatimah Asghar
A timely poetic articulation about immigration, sexuality, and class. It pushes us to think beyond now mainstream liberal parameters of understanding these identities.
— Shweta, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
Look
by Solmaz Sharif
The best poetic response to the dehumanizing, euphemistic language of the endless War on Terror. This book took the top of my head off.
— Jake, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
Oceanic
by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Luminescent, bold, and powerful, these poems find their inspiration not only in the sea, but also in the depths and tides of human interaction. I've been a fan of hers for years, and this book is transcendent.
— Neil, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
Pachinko
by Min Jin Lee
A multigenerational tale that follows the story of a Korean woman who migrates to Japan, this beautifully written book helped me reconnect with my heritage with nuance, exploring modern themes of femininity, migration, and identity in the time and space of my grandparents.
— Joe, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
Serve the People
by Karen L. Ishizuka
An important view of the beginnings of the Asian American movement.
— Chisao, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
A Tale for the Time Being
by Ruth Ozeki
In this metafictional novel, the stories of two characters are woven together with poetic and honest descriptions.
— Jillian, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
We Gon' Be Alright
by Jeff Chang
An essential book by a brilliant cultural critic, We Gon’ Be Alright adds much to our current discourse on race and equity with essays on the history of #BlackLivesMatter, the nuances of the #OscarsSoWhite movement, gentrification as seen through what Chang calls “resegregation,” and so much more.
— Toni, APANO Board Member
West of Kabul, East of New York
by Tamim Ansary
No book has ever immersed me so fully in another culture's — and country's — way of seeing the world, something we need now more than ever.
— Jessica, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
Poeta en San Francisco
by Barbara Jane Reyes
An operatic and bilingual tour de force of decolonizing literature, and so inspiring for me to find my own voice!
— Jake, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me
by Lorina Mapa
Heartfelt storytelling written and drawn by the author in a unique graphic memoir style, Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos, and Me is about the author's experience as an American Filipino immigrant who goes back to the Philippines for her father's funeral. The story goes back and forth between contemporary times and the ’80s. Even includes a ’80s discography!
— Toni, APANO Board Member
Overpour
by Jane Wong
This is poetry with raw edges, burnt tongues, and crystalline memories, all delivered with a punch to the gut. I felt Wong's words ripple through my very body — read and feel them roar!
— Candace, APANO Staff Member
America Is in the Heart
by Carlos Bulosan
It is the Grapes of Wrath for Filipino Americans. It details the struggle of immigrants wanting a place in America and shows how to be active in the creation of an America for all.
— Oliver, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
Pouliuli
by Albert Wendt
In this book, Wendt crafts a story true to the experiences of Samoan cultural norms and values, and to the experience of Samoan diaspora in New Zealand.
— Lilian, APANO Arts & Media Project Member
Arrival
by Ted Chiang
Ted Chiang's stories are beautiful, clever, haunting... tales that will stick with you for days. This collection includes “Stories of Your Life and Others,” which formed the basis for the movie Arrival; each story in the collection is just as good.
— Jessica, APANO Arts & Media Project Member