Spotlight on Asian American YA
Posted by Trisha Murakami on May 2, 2011 in Blog, Featured, Young Adult | 21 commentsIn honor of Asian American Heritage month, we’ve invited librarian and blogger Trisha Murakami to write about her thoughts on the state of Asian American young adult fiction.
I’ve complained a lot in the past about what I consider to be stereotypical elements in YA fiction about Asian-Americans. In fact, I think you could probably make the argument that there is actually a stereotype of Asian-American YA fiction:
- about a girl
- Chinese-American, Indian-American, or Korean-American
- whose parents immigrated to the United States
- and said parents are pretty strict
- so because the girls are good girls to begin with, “rebelling” against their parents generally means having a love interest of a different race or ethnicity, breaking their curfew, and/or lying about their grades (not actually as good as the girl pretends they are)
Okay, maybe stereotype isn’t the right word; perhaps prototypical is better. Either way, it’s always bothered me because this is not representative of my experience of growing up Asian-American, nor is it reflective of the experiences of millions of other Asian-Americans.
This is not to say that books that include one or more of the aforementioned characteristics aren’t valid or worthwhile. But to me, it also serves to highlight that wanting more diversity in books doesn’t just mean wanting more books with African-American, Asian-American, Pacific Islander, Hispanic-American, and/or GLBTQ protagonists in general — it also means that we need books with more diversity within these populations. Asian America is not a monolithic culture or race or experience, but it’s hard to tell based on the YA novels available.
Asia’s a big place, after all, and it’s not just comprised of China, India, Japan, and Korea. People of various Asian nationalities have been immigrating to the US for over 150 years, and not all immigrants or children of immigrants are straight, able-bodied females. Some families are wealthy and educated, some are not. Some are of multiple races or ethnicities, others are not.
So here’s a short list of some of my favorite titles that explore a bit of the diversity and variety that comprises Asian America.
Cheva, Cherry. She’s So Money. HarperTeen, 2008.
A rarity: a hilarious Asian-American YA novel. When Maya’s parents leave her in charge of the family restaurant for the first time ever, she is excited. Until one of her decisions leads to the Health Department fining the restaurant $10,000. Afraid her parents can’t afford the fine, Maya decides to find a way to earn the money herself and agrees to take part in what turns into a cheating ring.
Crutcher, Chris. Whale Talk. Greenwillow, 2001.
The Tao Jones, better known as TJ, is a standout athlete who refuses to join any of his high school’s sports teams until he reluctantly agrees to help start a school swim team. What better way to stick it to the letter jacket-obsessed jocks who rule the school than by fielding a team composed of students who “would look most out of place in a Cutter High School letter jacket”? Ignore the book’s cover and read Whale Talk in spite of the whitewashing.
Headley, Justina Chen. Girl Overboard. Little, Brown, 2007.
Girl Overboard stands out to me because of how it integrates a lot of specific cultural details in a story about a girl who just happens to be Asian-American. It’s easy to imagine a white girl dealing with the same problems in a book with the same basic storyline.
Kluger, Steve. My Most Excellent Year. Dial, 2008.
One of the happiest, most positive and exuberant YA novel you’ll find. Among the narrators is Augie Hwong, who finally realizes what practically everyone else has known for years: he’s gay.
Smith, Sheri L. Hot Sour Salty Sweet. Delacorte, 2008.
Ana Shen’s Chinese-American father’s parents and African-American mother’s parents will eat together, but cooking together is another story. In honor of Ana’s eighth grade graduation, her grandmothers, both accomplished cooks, insist on preparing special dishes in her honor. Does disaster loom or will food bring everyone together?
Yamanaka, Lois-Ann. Name Me Nobody. Hyperion, 1999.
Abandoned by her mother, Emi-Lou lives in Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii, with her grandmother. Self-conscious about her weight and an outsider at school, Emi-Lou has only friend. But as Von starts spending more time with another girl (and is the other girl her girlfriend?), what will happen to Emi-Lou and Von’s friendship? Although several of Yamanaka’s adult novels feature teenaged characters, this is her only novel for teens.
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Thank you for this great list! They are now ALL on my TBR list. (Oh boy, sorry wallet.)
As a young woman of Asian descent (mom’s from Taiwan, dad’s “plain old white bread” American) I really appreciate seeing these stories on the shelf. I also hope to add to them myself.
*cough* The library. *cough*
But more seriously, thanks for commenting and I would love to see more offerings on the Asian-American YA lit bookshelf. I hope you’ll be there soon, too.
Thanks for this great and necessary post.
I actually have a lot of problems with She’s So Money (not counting the irritating whitewashed cover). I don’t like that the two potential boyfriends but also neatly into stereotypes: tall, handsome, desirable white athlete who is the prize versus short, genius, sneaky, nerdy Chinese (as I recall) boy who is the villain. And I am exceedingly perturbed that there is no substantial fallout from the entire senior class having cheated all year. They still all graduate, they still all eventually go to college without retaking the year.
Hmm, this is interesting. I haven’t read SHE’S SO MONEY but I admit I chose the cover to feature on the front page of the website because I thought the girl was Asian. I mean, she looks like she could be Asian to me. Definitely not your typical Asian, but that’s partly what attracted me to it.
Just wanted to pop in for a quick sec and weigh in on She’s So Money. When I first saw this book I thought the girl was white but the title attracted me. Then I thought she could be Latina but I don’t recall ever thinking she was Asian but regardless I bought the book so yay!
And Whale Talk is one of my top 5 favorite books of all time. You need the original hardback cover (says the girl with the whitewashed paperback. hee).
Although I should add that I’m adding all of the other books here that I haven’t read to my TBR list as well, because My Most Excellent Year and Girl Overboard are absolutely two of my favorite books of the last several years.
Oh, no problem. I don’t mind people disagreeing with my choices; isn’t that part of the point of lists?
I do want to say, though, that I personally don’t mind villainous Asian-American characters. (See also: Haters by Valdes-Rodriguez) As for the consequences of cheating in She’s So Money, there were some for Maya and Camden, though as you point out, it wasn’t substantial.
I’m glad to discover this website. I’ve already added a link for my students on my class blog. I have not read any of these titles, but look forward to adding them to my TBR list.
Even though it’s not marketed toward YA, some of my stronger 8th grade students (and me!) have enjoyed Jean Kwok’s Girl in Translation. I’m also looking forward to sharing a historical ficiton told in poetry next year, All the Broken Pieces by Ann E. Burg.
I’ve heard so many good things about Girl in Translation that I need to read it.
These all sound good! I’m thankful I bought a Kindle recently, so I can download these! I read North of Beautiful by Justina Chen Headley, so I can’t wait to dive into Girl Overboard.
Hope you enjoy some, if not all, of them!
Excellent list thank you. Can you tell me a bit more about the authors? Are they all Asian? How do you feel about white authors writing with an Asian or other minority race protagonist?
I actually have a guest post about to go up here sort of about this issue. I’m really ultra-aware of white writers writing Asian (or other minorities I guess) and have been thinking about it for some time. My end take is that authors should be able to write who/what they want, as long as they are doing their research and not just throwing in a character to make it “different.” Generally I’ve looked into the author’s backgrounds to see where their perspective is coming from, but I’ve decided that this is trying to extrapolate and assume too much, and it generally does the same thing as being (potentially) shoe horned as a minority author.
Of the books I mentioned, Cherry Cheva, Justina Chen Headley, and Lois-Ann Yamanaka are of Asian descent. Sheri L. Smith is African-American, married to a Chinese-American. Chris Crutcher and Steve Kluger are white.
For the most part, I don’t have a problem with authors writing characters of a different race than themselves.
“Ingratitude: The Debt-Bound Daughter in Asian American Literature”
This isn’t YA but it explores the kinds of narratives written by second generation Asian American daugthers. A friend of mine wrote it and your post reminded me of some of the topics and themes touched upon!
http://www.amazon.com/Ingratitude-Debt-Bound-Daughter-American-Literature/dp/0814758452
Sounds interesting! Thanks for mentioning it.
Excellent list. I’m recommending this blog to some teacher librarians I know…
This is an excellent resource. Thank you!
A fantastic post beyond doubt!
She’s So Money id the only one I have on my list right now, so I’ll be adding the others soon.
* Thanks for your great post and list! I only read Whale Talk so I look forward to reading the others.
I never in a million years wouldve had the idea to look at things in that light. This should make my day a lot easier.