Asian Pacific Islander Adult Fiction

Three immigrants are struggling to survive in America amidst trauma, abuse, racism, homophobia, addiction, and yet the dark core alternates with light and humorous moments. Absolutely stunning prose from a wildly talented (and absurdly young) poet.

Yu plays with literary form in new and interesting ways as he tells a story about a Chinese American bit part actor while simultaneously investigating concepts of assimilation, the history of Asian immigration, and how the self fits into society.

Disowned by her family for her revolutionary activities in the Philippines of the 1990s, Hero de Vera travels to Milpitas, California, where she is taken in by her aunt and uncle and given the job of caring for their seven-year-old daughter, Roni.  Haunted by her past and disturbed by her life as an American immigrant, Hero finds some solace in her relationship with Roni–and through a passionate affair with makeup artist Rosalyn.  

As the Vietnam War, and U.S. involvement, comes to an inconclusive end in 1975, Viet Thanh Nguyen skillfully portrays the conflicts which existed within the Vietnamese people. There were those who supported the United States and those who supported the North Vietnamese, but how they did this was not always clearly evident.

A collection of eight short stories exploring the Vietnamese American diaspora.

2017-2018 Asian Pacific American Award for Literature, Honor, for Adult Fiction.

Cambodia

Eight stories of Korean-American families and the indignities, compromises, and sacrifices they endure as part of the Asian minority in their adopted homeland.