From memoirs to short stories to young adult fiction, Emiko Jean reflects on how each book encapsulates the many facets of the Asian American experience.
Minor Feelings: An Asian American Reckoning by Cathy Park Hong
A collection of essays and a powerful book about Asian American identity told through history, psychology, and the author’s own personal accounts. It gives a voice to Asian Americans and deeply resonated with me, helping to articulate my feelings as a Japanese American woman. Hong also has a poetry background, and it shows while reading. The writing is honest, visceral, emotional, and well felt. It challenges perceptions and is a scorching anti-racist text that everyone should read.
We Are Not Free by Traci Chee
This is a book I wish existed while I was a teenager. It is told from multiple points of view of young Nisei, second-generation Japanese American citizens, living during World War II. When I went to school, Japanese internment was a few lines in a textbook, and I felt deeply conflicted over this. I simply wanted more. More of an explanation and exploration of how pivotal the incarceration was for Japanese Americans and Asian Americans. Although it’s a historical novel, it is relevant today. What we don’t learn from our past, we are doomed to repeat it.
The Making of Asian America by Erika Lee
An excellent, definitive non-fiction resource on the history of Asian Americans from the past to the present day. This is another text I wish had been available when I was growing up. It is a broad perspective on immigration, how many Asians ended up in the United States, and what they faced when they arrived. It sheds light on a blind spot in American history.
All You Can Ever Know by Nicole Chung
In this memoir, Nicole Chung recounts her adoption by a white couple and her search for her Korean birth mother. With insights into transracial adoption and motherhood, this book is as absorbing as it is thought provoking. Chung’s existentialism is keenly felt and gently written about. It is a beautiful account of family and identity.
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri
A truly gorgeous collection of short stories chronicling the everyday life of Indians and Indian Americans that I have read several times. It is both a study in the craft of writing and an experience outside of my own. The stories are loosely connected with themes of identity, displacement, and culture. It shows how even the simplest of lives are unique and special. Within the pages, I found an uplifting and hopeful read.
Last summer, we joined Emiko Jean for a heartfelt summer adventure in Tokyo Ever After. If you were hoping to make a return trip, we’ve got just the scoop for you. Our sources at the Tokyo Tattler say save the date, May 31st. There’ll be a royal wedding in the sequel, Tokyo Dreaming, and you’re invited. It’s the perfect celebration to close out Asian American Heritage Month.
