Asian Americans in Story: Context, Collections, and Community Engagement with Children’s and Young Adult Literature

This title will be available Fall 2026. You may place an order and the item will be shipped when it becomes available.

ALA Member
$44.99
Price
$49.99
Item Number
978-0-8389-3786-0
Published
2026
Publisher
ALA Editions
Pages
176
Width
6"
Height
9"
Format
Softcover

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  • Description
  • Table of Contents
  • About the authors

This important guide will help LIS instructors, educators, librarians, students, and scholars better understand Asian American children’s and young adult literature in a historical, geographical, and political context.

According to the Pew Research Group, Asian Americans are the fastest-growing racial group in the U.S.; simultaneously, hate incidents directed at Asian American individuals and groups are on the rise. Asian American children’s and young adult literature, one of the most vibrant yet underexamined bodies of works in the larger body of literature, constitutes an important means of both encouraging inclusivity and celebrating Asian American children’s heritage. In this pathbreaking guide, the authors delve into the context and content of Asian American stories for youth by

  • tracing the development of Asian American youth literature and the ways in which these titles continue to diversify, with a historical overview chronicling how Asians were viewed and situated politically and socially from the first instances of immigration through the rippling consequences of changes in immigration policies;
  • drawing on AsianCrit and the APALA Evaluation Rubric to critically analyze the complex issues surrounding the representations of Asian Americans in youth literature;
  • exploring key themes in Asian American lit, including folktales and folklore, immigration, intergenerational relationships, cultural conflicts, multiracial characters, and binary/hybrid visions of culture;
  • surveying notable titles, authors, and illustrators, valuable for collection development, readers’ advisory, and courses in English and Asian American Studies;
  • recommending numerous Asian American titles on specific topics for different ages;
  • discussing publishing and programming with Asian American literature; and
  • pointing out additional resources for further study.

Examination copies are available for instructors who are interested in adopting this title for course use.

​Foreword    

CHAPTER 1. Asian American Histories and Context    

​CHAPTER 2. Asian American Writers and Illustrators in the Publishing Industry

​CHAPTER 3. Othering and Resistance in Asian America

​CHAPTER 4. Visual Representations from Board Books to Comic Books

​CHAPTER 5. Adopted Asians, Undocumented Asians, and Asian Refugees

​CHAPTER 6. Multiracial Asian Americans and LGBTQ+ Asian Americans

​CHAPTER 7. Asian American Youth Literature Through Library Services and Programming    

​Appendix: APALA Rubric to Evaluate Asian American and Pacific Islander Youth Literature

Sarah Park Dahlen

Dr. Sarah Park Dahlen is an Associate Professor at the School of Information Sciences at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and affiliate faculty in the Department of Asian American Studies and Center for East Asian & Pacific Studies. Her research is on Asian American youth literature and transracial Korean adoption. Sarah co-founded and co-edits Research on Diversity in Youth Literature, co-created the Diversity in Children’s Books infographics, and co-edited the anthology Harry Potter and the Other: Race, Justice, and Difference in the Wizarding World. She is a board member of the International Research Society for Children’s Literature and is represented by Tricia Toney Lawrence of Aevitas Creative Management.

Paul Lai

Paul Lai is a librarian in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a background in Asian American literary studies and librarianship. He has worked in both public and academic libraries.