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Books Highlight Asian American & Pacific Islander Experience

In honor of AAPI Heritage Month a look at some great authors

Books spotlighting the Asian American & Pacific Islander experience are topping the best-seller lists and being adapted into movies. Getty Images (AAPI) Heritage Month, to honor the rich history and accomplishments of AAPIs throughout the history of the United States. AARP is proud to celebrate AAPI Heritage Month with articles that showcase AAPI .
In this third installment of our series, we offer a list of the most influential and inspiring books — both fiction and nonfiction — that spotlight the AAPI experience.
Get instant access to members-only products and hundreds of discounts, a free second membership, and a subscription to AARP the Magazine.

Lucky

Henry Chang

This is the latest of five novels featuring NYPD detective Jack Yu that involve crime and community in New York's Chinatown. Author Chang, who was born and raised and still lives in Chinatown, evokes his neighborhood with loving detail. Lucky is about his childhood friend, gangster Lucky Louie, who comes out of a coma after being shot and goes on a crime spree to get revenge.

Asian American Dreams The Emergence of an American People br

Helen Zia

Zia is a journalist who came to prominence covering the murder of Chinese American Vincent Chin in Detroit in 1982 by two autoworkers who blamed the decline of the U.S. industry on Japanese cars. The book follows the subsequent rise of the pan-Asian movement.

The Making of Asian America

Erika Lee

This book by Lee, a professor of Asian American history, is a comprehensive yet conversationally written overview of the arrival of Asians in America, what brought them here and how their many communities have evolved. Flowers & Gifts 25% off sitewide and 30% off select items See more Flowers & Gifts offers >

The Leavers br

Lisa Ko

Lisa Ko's debut novel was a finalist for the 2017 National Book Award for Fiction. It's a complex portrait of a boy born to an undocumented Chinese immigrant mother, and their complicated family life. The plot revolves around the boy, Deming Guo, being left by and then reunited with his mother — more than once. One mysterious disappearance leads to his adoption by a white couple. He then goes back to China to find his destiny.

The Wangs vs the World br

Jade Chang

This best seller is about a Chinese American family's fall from riches to rags.

Bright Lines

Tanwi Nandini Islam

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