In honor of Asian Pacific American Heritage Month, I’m spotlighting a few books worth adding to your May reading list!
Picture Books:
The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story, Tina Cho and Jess Snow
This stunning picture book highlights Korean haenyeo, women from the island of Jeju who free dive for seafood. (You really should go watch this video to learn more about what they do! I promise you’ll be impressed.)
Dayeon wants to be a haenyeo just like her grandmother, but fear keeps her close to the shore. With her grandmother’s guidance, Dayeon ventures into the sea in search of the treasures it contains.
The Fearless Flights of Hazel Ying Lee, Julie Leung and Julie Kwon
I’ve been itching to create a mini unit to explore women in aviation around a few spectacular biographies I’ve read this year. This is just one of them! (Stay tuned!)
The Fearless Flights of Hazel Ying Lee features the first Chinese-American woman to fly for the United States military. Following her first flight, Hazel decided to become a pilot in a time when women were not welcome in the skies. Hazel became a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) and “test-flew” planes straight off the assembly line during World War II.
Middle Grade:
They Called Us Enemy, George Takei and Justin Eisinger
Have you heard of George Takei? If yes, you likely know him best from Star Trek (Sulu).
They Called Us Enemy explores Takei’s childhood experience in Japanese internment camps following the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Though you and your students may have heard the textbook history of internment camps, this gripping graphic novel powerfully humanizes the injustices that were endured by Japanese Americans at the hands of the US Government in the not-so-distant past. I’m keeping this post short and sweet so that you can get out there and do some reading! Now what are you waiting for?
Your turn! What books are on your list for Asian Pacific Heritage Month?