Best Teen & Young Adult Asian American Fiction eBooks
This stunning fantasy inspired by Chinese folklore is a companion novel to Starry River of the Sky and the New York Times bestselling and National Book Award finalist When the Sea Turned to Silver. A fantasy crossed with Chinese folklore, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a timeless story reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz and Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon . Every night, Minli's father tells her stories about the Jade Dragon that keeps the mountain bare, the greedy and mean Magistrate Tiger, and the Old Man of the Moon who holds everyone's destiny. Determined to change her family's fortune, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon, urged on by a talking goldfish who gives her clues to complete her journey. After her mother ridicules what she believes to be a foolish purchase, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon, who, it is told, may impart the true secret to good fortune. Stories, drawn from a rich history of Chinese folktales, weave throughout her narrative, deepening the sense of both the characters and the setting and smoothly furthering the plot.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I just read this book again yesterday, because my daughter borrowed When the Sea Turned to Silver from the library, and I figured out pretty quickly that it would be better if I refreshed my memory on Where the Mountain Meets the Moon first."
"This was a story with underlying themes that older readers will pick up on but younger ones may not initially but as the stories are told by the characters each are intertwined with in each other and woven together very nicely."
"Would make a good bedtime story to read to kids about 6-10, who have longer attention spans for chapter books with minimal pictures."
"This book is a family favorite I highly recommend you read this book."
"Purchased this book for my grand niece when she turned 8."
"A wonderful children's book that my children have highly enjoyed."
"It is simply the best Children's book I have ever read."
"I just LOVE Grace Lin's books. Starry River is like the beginning of Where the mountain meets the moon. one reason why my mom and i love where the mountain meets the moon is because the main characters name; Min-Lee."
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 .
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I did like the narrators for the most part, although the guy doing a female’s voice isn’t the greatest. It’s pretty early into the book, so if you’ve read it, you’ll probably know what I’m talking about. And as for the controversy, if you can call it that, surrounding this book, I think it’s blown out of proportion. Celia kind of drive me nuts through at least half the book, along with some of the other coding contestants. It was nice to see a bit of the Indian culture scattered throughout the book, so props for that."
"If I’m being honest, I still feel the way Dimple and Rishi do about the clash of cultures to how I feel now. There were some instances of abelist language that I think could have been avoided and I think that we should all work to remove such words (c*razy is the one I remember being used) from our usage. I’ve had some very similar interactions with people—both dealing with Desi people and their internalized biases or white people and their racism—and I think including them showed that racism isn’t something that just happens once in a while. It’ll make you laugh and swoon and angry and excited all at once. You’ll end up rooting for not only the main characters but the supporting characters as well (looking at you Ashish <3)."
"This is the book version of the dopey look you get on your face when you think about someone that you are falling in love with. I am glad that Sandhya Menon did not choose to write the book that way because of all too often the voices of the two characters aren't distinct enough. Dimple is buzzing, intense, and ready to go all the time while Rishi is relaxed and smooth. Dimple reacts and speaks before reflecting, and Rishi has thought it through so much that he forgets that he didn't say it out loud. There was a great balance between being Indian and having that be important to them and being two crazy kids falling in love. I googled a lot of the words and looked up a cheat sheet to Indian clothing just because I like knowing exactly what is being talked about. Dimple is pulled between her love and appreciation for her parents on one hand and her desire to figure out who she is on her own on the other. Maybe it is the marriage thing (although that is talked about in term of being ten years away even in theory) but the story seems more about that step into adulthood than going off to college."
But then an act of unimaginable cruelty provides her with an opportunity to escape, and with an indentured servant named Polly she flees to Fort Mose, Florida, in search of sanctuary at the Spanish colony. Although the narrative focuses alternately on Amari and Polly, the story is primarily Amari's, and her pain, hope, and determination are acute. Amari and her beloved, Besa, are shackled, and so begins the account of impossible horrors from the slave fort, the Middle Passage, and auction on American shores, where a rice plantation owner buys Amari for his 16-year-old son's sexual enjoyment. In brutal specifics, Draper shows the inhumanity: Amari is systematically raped on the slave ship and on the plantation and a slave child is used as alligator bait by white teenagers. And she adds to the complex history in alternating chapters that flip between Amari and Polly, an indentured white servant on Amari's plantation. But Draper builds the explosive tension to the last chapter, and the sheer power of the story, balanced between the overwhelmingly brutal facts of slavery and Amari's ferocious survivor's spirit, will leave readers breathless, even as they consider the story's larger questions about the infinite costs of slavery and how to reconcile history.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This book talks about the hardships of slavery and what men and women had to go through as slaves."
"I've read another book from this author and that is the only reason I decided to get it."
"Coppersun takes you on a journey about a girl in a village in Ghana.It talks about her whole life and how her life has changed.In this aspiring story you learn about Amari and her challenges as a slave in an aspiring way.Throughout the story Amari finds peace and strenth through the Sun that she looks at.She learns what true courage and bravery is and she overcome her challenges.Readers get to see first hand how she survives her voyage to America and how she finds strength and courage as a slave.Readers will experience her steady quest for freedom and redemption."
"I loved the thought put in to the book it's self and how it was fictional but every thing was true as well!!"
"As a history teacher, I shy away from historical fiction."
"I feel sorry for all those slaves that were injured and killed senselessly."
Best Teen & Young Adult Asian Historical Fiction eBooks
This stunning fantasy inspired by Chinese folklore is a companion novel to Starry River of the Sky and the New York Times bestselling and National Book Award finalist When the Sea Turned to Silver. A fantasy crossed with Chinese folklore, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a timeless story reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz and Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon . Every night, Minli's father tells her stories about the Jade Dragon that keeps the mountain bare, the greedy and mean Magistrate Tiger, and the Old Man of the Moon who holds everyone's destiny. Determined to change her family's fortune, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon, urged on by a talking goldfish who gives her clues to complete her journey. After her mother ridicules what she believes to be a foolish purchase, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon, who, it is told, may impart the true secret to good fortune. Stories, drawn from a rich history of Chinese folktales, weave throughout her narrative, deepening the sense of both the characters and the setting and smoothly furthering the plot.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I just read this book again yesterday, because my daughter borrowed When the Sea Turned to Silver from the library, and I figured out pretty quickly that it would be better if I refreshed my memory on Where the Mountain Meets the Moon first."
"This was a story with underlying themes that older readers will pick up on but younger ones may not initially but as the stories are told by the characters each are intertwined with in each other and woven together very nicely."
"Would make a good bedtime story to read to kids about 6-10, who have longer attention spans for chapter books with minimal pictures."
"Where the Mountain Meets the Moon has questions at the end of the book that I could ask my 7 year old after each chapter. Our 7 year old needed a few reminders on what had happened during previous chapters."
"This book is a family favorite I highly recommend you read this book."
"Purchased this book for my grand niece when she turned 8."
"Even as an adult I could not stop reading the chapters as we follow the characters on this interesting journey."
"A wonderful children's book that my children have highly enjoyed."
Best Teen & Young Adult Asian Geography & Cultures Fiction eBooks
This stunning fantasy inspired by Chinese folklore is a companion novel to Starry River of the Sky and the New York Times bestselling and National Book Award finalist When the Sea Turned to Silver. A fantasy crossed with Chinese folklore, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon is a timeless story reminiscent of The Wizard of Oz and Kelly Barnhill's The Girl Who Drank the Moon . Every night, Minli's father tells her stories about the Jade Dragon that keeps the mountain bare, the greedy and mean Magistrate Tiger, and the Old Man of the Moon who holds everyone's destiny. Determined to change her family's fortune, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon, urged on by a talking goldfish who gives her clues to complete her journey. After her mother ridicules what she believes to be a foolish purchase, Minli sets out to find the Old Man of the Moon, who, it is told, may impart the true secret to good fortune. Stories, drawn from a rich history of Chinese folktales, weave throughout her narrative, deepening the sense of both the characters and the setting and smoothly furthering the plot.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I just read this book again yesterday, because my daughter borrowed When the Sea Turned to Silver from the library, and I figured out pretty quickly that it would be better if I refreshed my memory on Where the Mountain Meets the Moon first."
"This was a story with underlying themes that older readers will pick up on but younger ones may not initially but as the stories are told by the characters each are intertwined with in each other and woven together very nicely."
"Would make a good bedtime story to read to kids about 6-10, who have longer attention spans for chapter books with minimal pictures."
"This book is a family favorite I highly recommend you read this book."
"Purchased this book for my grand niece when she turned 8."
"A wonderful children's book that my children have highly enjoyed."
"It is simply the best Children's book I have ever read."
"I just LOVE Grace Lin's books. Starry River is like the beginning of Where the mountain meets the moon. one reason why my mom and i love where the mountain meets the moon is because the main characters name; Min-Lee."
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.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It seemed like a great story for my granddaughter who likes to read."
"My great-grand daughter enjoyed this book because it coincide with their studying about immigrants in school."
"Got the narrative with the story and it was great."
"Beautiful, haunting story."
"bought the kindle and hard cover."
"Such a nice story, recommend it to anyone."
Best Teen & Young Adult African American Fiction eBooks
A National Book Award Longlist title with eight starred reviews! Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Some cops and the local drug lord try to intimidate Starr and her family. This story is important.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review) ). “Though Thomas’s story is heartbreakingly topical, its greatest strength is in its authentic depiction of a teenage girl, her loving family, and her attempts to reconcile what she knows to be true about their lives with the way those lives are depicted—and completely undervalued—by society at large.” (Publishers Weekly (starred review) ). “Pair this powerful debut with Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely’s ALL AMERICAN BOYS to start a conversation on racism, police brutality, and the Black Lives Matter movement.” (School Library Journal (starred review) ). “Thomas has penned a powerful, in-your-face novel that will similarly galvanize fans of Kekla Magoon’s How It Went Down and Jason Reynolds and Brendan Kiely’s All American Boys.” (Horn Book (starred review) ).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I had originally said I was not going to read this book, I didn't know how well I would like it, and I don't tend to get involved with things that can make life at work harder for me. I hated reading it, I cried my eyes out, Thomas did such an amazing job of making a horrible action into beautiful fiction that made you feel like you were right there. This was really refreshing to read because so many books, YA especially make parents out to be monsters that don't care, that aren't there for their kids. I mean it is like a troupe or something for these stories and it isn't actually the norm and gets annoying to read, so this book did an amazing job with the parents and family. All around though this story just floored me, it gave me a perspective I have never considered before, offered insights into a world I am not a part of, and I loved every minute of it."
"In January, uber popular author, John Green, tweeted that The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas would become a classic. I can see this book lasting, not because it’s timeless (hopefully the struggles addressed in THUG will be no more, as Starr prophesied), but because it’s a flashpoint in American history that shouldn’t be forgotten even if it’s rectified. Angie Thomas’ debut is the kind of transformative and accessible novel that can touch a variety of readers and have long-lasting effects. They’re vigorous and honest, Angie Thomas’ words giving them breath, blood, and life. If you’ve read the blurb, then you know the Black Lives Matter movement inspires this novel. Experiencing the effects of that moment from Starr’s perspective is gut wrenching, although, I can foresee some readers feeling numb. Her rage over her friend’s murder is the emotion that steals the show, never leading to traditional acceptance. I mean, with all the hype it’s impossible not to go into this book with some expectation and my greatest fear regarding THUG was that it would piss me off."
"This story follows high schooler Starr and how she deals with losing her friend who was shot by a police officer after being pulled over."
"It also portrays gangs, addiction, non-nuclear families, poverty, and low socioeconomic class (and why it exists)."
"I’m not the target audience for a YA book about the injustices suffered by mostly urban minority youth but I am moved by this story and saddened by the knowledge that it is replicated in news items around the US way too often."
"A young girl witnesses her childhood friend being shot by a police officer."
Best Teen & Young Adult Native American Fiction eBooks
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.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Overall, I feel that the author did a good job writing this, but only a mature reader should read this book."
"I believe all teens should read and see they are not alone in how they feel, how they see themselves."
"The book touches on a lot of sensitive and taboo topics for some people."
"While I would not suggest it for anyone not in high school (and possibly a worldly upperclassmen at least), I would recommend as eye opening look at the experiences of a population that live just below the radar of most Americans."
"It's raw, probably good to read before your teen or tween reads it or read it at the same time they do and do some discussing."
"Native American lives on reservations, has the guts to go to a "white" school outside the reservation, perseveres against bullies, wins over the prettiest girl in school, becomes friends with the popular kids -- but perhaps I have said too much. A nice parable, perhaps, certainly a feel-good story, but it doesn't feel like an "absolutely true diary"."
"One of my favorite YA books of all times."
"In a moment of rage over being issued an old textbook with his mother's name written in it, Junior hurls the book, accidentally hitting his teacher in the face. This proves to be a turning point, with Junior making the decision to attend a better supplied and equipped "white" high school miles from the reservation. Proclaimed a brave warrior by some, and a traitor, by others, Junior records his experiences, losses, and triumphs, through his writings and drawings, with hilarity, and gut-punching poignancy. "Oh, so they think you're a traitor". "Yep". I love Juniors determination and "spirit" despite of all that life throws at him; his brash and boisterous teenage voice is rings clear."
Best Teen & Young Adult Hispanic & Latino American Fiction eBooks
The winner of the Pen Center West Award for Fiction for his unforgettable novel Alburquerque , Rudolfo Anaya's rich and compassionate writing about the Mexican American experience has helped cement him as the father of Chicano literature in English. Besides winning the Premio Quinto Sol national Chicano literary award, this novel of a young boy in New Mexico in the 1940s has sold more than 300,000 copies in paperback since its 1973 debut.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The narrative voice is a young boy who experienced both evil and loss, but through the pain, he discovered the great mysteries of life."
"His struggle between the strict religious structure of his mother and her desire for him to become a priest and the magic of the curandera Ultima, a herbal healer, rang true."
"love this book, bought this copy for a friend."
"I personally find myself increasingly interested in the genre and other authors who write it given this read."
"Will he commit to his mother's way of life--living harmoniously with the farm land, or with his father's way of life--living the life of an always moving vaquero? As they read Anaya's novel, readers have to step into the shoes of a young Hispanic boy as they witness every one of Antonio's life and religious uncertainties."
"A coming of age story about a boy growing up in rural New Mexico and the woman who comes to care for him."
"Great product and price."