Best Children's Asia & Asia America Stories

This moving story of one girl's year of change, dreams, grief, and healing received four starred reviews, including one from Kirkus which proclaimed it "enlightening, poignant, and unexpectedly funny." Written in accessible, short free-verse poems, Hà’s immediate narrative describes her mistakes—both humorous and heartbreaking—with grammar, customs, and dress (she wears a flannel nightgown to school, for example); and readers will be moved by Hà’s sorrow as they recognize the anguish of being the outcast who spends lunchtime hiding in the bathroom. Eventually, Hà does get back at the sneering kids who bully her at school, and she finds help adjusting to her new life from a kind teacher who lost a son in Vietnam.

A New York Times bestseller. An NPR Best Book of 2017. A Buzzfeed Best YA Book of 2017. A Kirkus Reviews Best Teen Book of 2017. A School Library Journal Best Young Adult Book of 2017. A Bustle Best YA Novel of 2017. A PopSugar Best Young Adult Novel of 2017. A Book Riot Best Book of 2017. A Paste Magazine Best Young Adult Novel of 2017. Eleanor & Park meets Bollywood in this hilarious and heartfelt novel about two Indian-American teens whose parents conspire to arrange their marriage. A Summer 2017 Top Ten Indie Next Pick A Junior Library Guild Selection Teen Vogue ’s 10 Diverse Books by YA Authors of Color to Read in 2017 Bustle ’s 19 Best Young Adult Books of May 2017 Seventeen Magazine ’s 12 Life-Changing Books You Have to Read This SummerPopCrush.com’s 10 Most Anticipated Young Adult Books of May 2017 “ Effervescent .” —Chicago Tribune. “This book is a hug you can carry , but it's also a smart exploration of how hard it can be to hold onto who you are and what you want if you dare to let someone else in.” —Barnes and Noble Teen Book Blog. “ Heartwarming, empathetic, and often hilarious — a delightful read.” —Kirkus Reviews , starred review. —VOYA , starred review. Sandhya Menon is the New York Times bestselling author of the smash-hit When Dimple Met Rishi and From Twinkle, with Love .

“I haven't read anything that has moved me this much since Wonder .”. —Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places A space-obsessed boy and his dog, Carl Sagan, take a journey toward family, love, hope, and awe in this funny and moving novel for fans of Counting by 7s , Walk Two Moons, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time . 11-year-old Alex Petroski loves space and rockets, his mom, his brother, and his dog Carl Sagan—named for his hero, the real-life astronomer. — The New York Times Book Review “Irresistible.” — The Chicago Tribune “The best I've read in a long, long time.” —Holly Goldberg Sloan, author of Counting by 7s “Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.” —Kirkus , starred review “A propulsive stream-of-conscious dive.” — Publishers Weekly , starred review “A gift—a miracle.” —Paul Griffin, author When Friendship Followed Me Home “Exuberant.” —Booklist "Full of the real kind of magic." A Top 10 IndieNext PickWinner of the Great Lakes Great Reads Award “I love this book—the characters, the story, but most of all, the voice that writer Jack Cheng has created. It’s a story that changes the way you see the world.” —Holly Goldberg Sloan, author of Counting by 7s "Stellar." I wanted to stay forever in this funny, wise, beautiful world.” —Jennifer Niven, author of All the Bright Places. Alex’s strong voice drives this compelling personal journey with resonant themes of family, friendship, and resilience.” — Publishers Weekly , starred review. “What makes this novel irresistible is Alex himself, a boy who's at once brilliant, clueless and alive with wonder.” — The Chicago Tribune. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex . “[A] life-embracing, stream-of-consciousness tale of family lost and found.” —. The Wall Street Journal“This novel is a gift—a miracle. Alex fights with all of his magnificent, compassionate heart to remind us that we humans are first, last, and always creatures of hope. His novel made me want to be a better person.” —Paul Griffin, author When Friendship Followed Me Home “Beauty . this unique novel’s journey [is] one totally worth taking.” — The Christian Science Monitor. “Exuberant and utterly believable.”. — Booklist “I was absolutely mesmerized by this book! Mr. Cheng’s incredible storytelling reaffirmed my belief that creativity is still very much alive . His story is full of the real kind of magic—friends well-met, surprising journeys, and heartbreak and hope. "Full of innocence and unwavering optimism, leaving the reader incapable of not rooting for Alex. This book skillfully explores the many emotions of an eleven-year-old boy and shows how young and old alike can bond over a love of science." "Luminous and heartfelt, 11-year-old Alex Petroski’s story will grab your heart and expand it." “[ See You in the Cosmos ] reminded me a little of T he Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon . Jack Cheng was born in Shanghai, raised in Michigan, and lived in Brooklyn for a decade before settling in Detroit.

The Newbery Medal and Coretta Scott King Award-winning classic about a boy who decides to hit the road to find his father—from Christopher Paul Curtis, author of The Watsons Go To Birmingham—1963 , a Newbery and Coretta Scott King Honoree. Times may be hard, and ten-year-old Bud may be a motherless boy on the run, but Bud’s got a few things going for him: AN ALA BEST BOOK FOR YOUNG ADULTS. AN ALA NOTABLE CHILDREN'S BOOK. AN IRA CHILDREN'S BOOK AWARD WINNER. NAMED TO 14 STATE AWARD LISTS. “The book is a gem, of value to all ages, not just the young people to whom it is aimed.” — The Christian Science Monitor “Will keep readers engrossed from first page to last.” — Publishers Weekly , Starred. “Curtis writes with a razor-sharp intelligence that grabs the reader by the heart and never lets go. And, being 10, Bud-not-Buddy gets into all sorts of trouble along the way, barely escaping a monster-infested woodshed, stealing a vampire's car, and even getting tricked into "busting slob with a real live girl." As in his Newbery Honor-winning debut, The Watsons Go to BirminghamA1963, Curtis draws on a remarkable and disarming mix of comedy and pathos, this time to describe the travails and adventures of a 10-year-old African-American orphan in Depression-era Michigan. And even when he sets up a daunting scenario, he makes readers laughAfor example, mopping floors for the rejecting Calloway, Bud pretends the mop is "that underwater boat in the book Momma read to me, Twenty Thousand Leaks Under the Sea."

Bestselling author Sherman Alexie tells the story of Junior, a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian Reservation. He expects disaster when he transfers from the reservation school to the rich, white school in Reardan, but soon finds himself making friends with both geeky and popular students and starting on the basketball team. Arnold Spirit, a goofy-looking dork with a decent jumpshot, spends his time lamenting life on the "poor-ass" Spokane Indian reservation, drawing cartoons (which accompany, and often provide more insight than, the narrative), and, along with his aptly named pal Rowdy, laughing those laughs over anything and nothing that affix best friends so intricately together. He weathers the typical teenage indignations and triumphs like a champ but soon faces far more trying ordeals as his home life begins to crumble and decay amidst the suffocating mire of alcoholism on the reservation.

When their new life is threatened, Esperanza must find a way to rise above her difficult circumstances--Mama's life, and her own, depend on it. Told in a lyrical, fairy tale - like style, Ryan's (riding Freedom) robust novel set in 1930 captures a Mexican girl's fall from riches, her immigration to California and her growing awareness of class and ethnic tensions. Readers will be swept up by vivid descriptions of California dust storms or by the police crackdown on a labor strike ("The picket signs lay on the ground, discarded, and like a mass of marbles that had already been hit, the strikers scattered?"). (Oct.). Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. Grade 6-9-Ryan uses the experiences of her own Mexican grandmother as the basis for this compelling story of immigration and assimilation, not only to a new country but also into a different social class. Set against the multiethnic, labor-organizing era of the Depression, the story of Esperanza remaking herself is satisfyingly complete, including dire illness and a difficult romance.