Celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month Display
In the month of May we take time to reflect and celebrate the important role that Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (AANHPIs) have played in our shared history. The Library of Congress, National Archives and Records Administration, National Endowment for the Humanities, National Gallery of Art, National Park Service, Smithsonian Institution and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum join in paying tribute to the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have enriched America's history and are instrumental in its future success. Here at the Chelmsford Public Library, we have a book display that features titles by AAPI authors or featuring AAPI characters. Check out one of these titles today:
The Washington Post named "The Rivals" by Jane Pek "one of the 10 best mystery novels of 2024". "Claudia Lin--mystery novel superfan and, until recently, clichéd underemployed English major--has scored her dream job: co-running Veracity, a dating detective agency for chronically online New Yorkers who want to know if their prospective partners are telling the truth. Unfortunately, along the way, she and her colleagues--tech savant Squirrel, and the elegant and intimidating Becks--have uncovered a far-reaching AI conspiracy. And the corporate matchmakers may be resorting to murder to protect their secrets. In the wake of a client's sudden death, Claudia convinces his ex, an industry insider, to turn on his employer and feed the verifiers information about what the powerful dating platforms are really up to. But even as Claudia starts to get a feel for this new genre--just call her Lin, Claudia Lin--she's distracted by the possibility of romance with both Becks and a very charming target. She also fears that her beloved older brother is unwittingly being drawn into the matchmakers' deadly web. And as Becks reminds Claudia: spy tropes dictate that someone you trust will betray you."
"The Great Reclamation" by Rachel Heng won The New American Voices Award and was longlisted for The Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence and The Joyce Carol Oates Prize. Set against a changing Singapore, this sweeping novel tells the story of one boy's unique gifts and the childhood love that will complicate the fate of his community and country.
"Ah Boon is born into a fishing village amid the heat and beauty of twentieth-century coastal Singapore in the waning years of British rule. He is a gentle boy who is not much interested in fishing, preferring to spend his days playing with the neighbor girl, Siok Mei. But when he discovers he has the unique ability to locate bountiful, movable islands that no one else can find, he feels a new sense of obligation and possibility--something to offer the community and impress the spirited girl he has come to love. By the time they are teens, Ah Boon and Siok Mei are caught in the tragic sweep of history: the Japanese army invades, the resistance rises, grief intrudes, and the future of the fishing village is in jeopardy. As the nation hurtles toward rebirth, the two friends, newly empowered, must decide who they want to be, and what they are willing to give up." An aching love story and powerful coming-of-age that reckons with the legacy of British colonialism, the World War II Japanese occupation, and the pursuit of modernity, "The Great Reclamation" confronts the wounds of progress, the sacrifices of love, and the difficulty of defining home when nature and nation collide, literally shifting the land beneath people's feet.
"Your Driver Is Waiting" by Priya Guns is a 21st century reboot of the film "Taxi Driver". "A ride share driver is barely holding it together on the hunt for love, dignity and a living wage . . . until she decides she's done waiting. Damani is tired. Her father just passed away and now she lives paycheck to paycheck in the basement of her parents' old house, caring for her mom, and driving for an app to (not even) pay the bills. Protests are all the rage--everybody's in solidarity with somebody-- and the city is roiling with them, but while she keeps hearing that they're fighting for change on behalf of people like her she's too broke to even afford to pay attention. And they're blocking the roads. That is, until she gives a ride to Jolene, and life opens up. Jolene seems like she could be the perfect girlfriend - attentive, attractive, liberal - and their chemistry is incredible. So maybe Damani can look past the one thing that's holding her back: She's never dated a white girl before. But Jolene's done the reading, she goes to every protest, and she says all the right things. Still, just as their romance intensifies, just as Damani is learning to trust, Jolene does something unforgivable, setting off an explosive chain of events. A wild ride brimming with dark comedy, piercing social commentary and propulsive writing, Your driver is waiting is a feverish take on our culture of modern alienation".
"Sharks in the Time of Saviors" by Kawai Strong Washburn is a groundbreaking debut novel that folds the legends of Hawaiian gods into an engrossing family saga. "In 1995 Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on a rare family vacation, seven-year-old Nainoa Flores falls overboard a cruise ship into the Pacific Ocean. When a shiver of sharks appears in the water, everyone fears for the worst. But instead, Noa is gingerly delivered to his mother in the jaws of a shark, marking his story as the stuff of legends. Nainoa's family, struggling amidst the collapse of the sugarcane industry, hails his rescue as a sign of favor from ancient Hawaiian gods--a belief that appears validated after he exhibits puzzling new abilities. But as time passes, this supposed divine favor begins to drive the family apart: Nainoa, working now as a paramedic on the streets of Portland, struggles to fathom the full measure of his expanding abilities; further north in Washington, his older brother Dean hurtles into the world of elite college athletics, obsessed with wealth and fame; while in California, risk-obsessed younger sister Kaui navigates an unforgiving academic workload in an attempt to forge her independence from the family's legacy. When supernatural events revisit the Flores family in Hawai'i--with tragic consequences--they are all forced to reckon with the bonds of family, the meaning of heritage, and the cost of survival."
You'll find these and lots of other titles in our "AAPI Heritage Month" display. For additional title suggestions, see the lists below:
