8 Books to Read from the Millburn Library for Asian Pacific American Month
Unmarriageable
Soniah Kamal
In this one-of-a-kind retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in modern-day Pakistan, Alys Binat has sworn never to marry—until an encounter with one Mr. Darsee at a wedding makes her reconsider.
Access Unmarriageable on eBCCLS here or on the Libby app.
Green Island
Shawna Yang Ryan
Taipei, February 28, 1947: As an uprising rocks Taiwan, a young doctor is taken from his newborn daughter by Chinese Nationalists, on charges of speaking out against the government. Although he eventually returns to his family, his arrival is marked by alienation from his loved ones and paranoia among his community. Years later, this troubled past follows his youngest daughter to America, where she too is forced to decide between what is right and what might save her family.
Access Green Island on eBCCLS here or on the Libby app
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Balli Kaur Jaswal
Nikki, the daughter of Indian immigrants who has led a more Western life, impulsively takes a job teaching a 'creative writing' course at the community center in the beating heart of London's close-knit Punjabi community. The proper Sikh widows who show up are expecting to learn basic English literacy, not the art of short-story writing. When one of the widows finds a book of sexy stories in English and shares it with the class, Nikki realizes that beneath their white dupattas, her students have a wealth of fantasies and memories. As more women are drawn to the class, Nikki warns her students to keep their work secret from the Brotherhood, a group of highly conservative young men in the community. But when the widows' gossip offers shocking insights into the death of a young wife—a modern woman like Nikki—it sparks a scandal that threatens them all.
Access Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows on hoopladigital here or on the Hoopla Digital app.
They Called Us Enemy
George Takei
George Takei has captured hearts and minds worldwide with his captivating stage presence and outspoken commitment to equal rights. But long before he braved new frontiers in Star Trek, he woke up as a four-year-old boy to find his own birth country at war with his father's-and their entire family forced from their home into an uncertain future. In a stunning graphic memoir, Takei revisits his haunting childhood in American concentration camps, as one of over 100,000 Japanese Americans imprisoned by the U.S. government during World War II.
Access They Called Us Enemy on HooplaDigital here or on the Hoopla Digital app.
Dear Girls
Ali Wong
Comedienne Ali Wong shares the wisdom she's learned from a life in comedy and reveals stories from her life off stage, including the brutal single life in New York (i.e. the inevitable confrontation with erectile dysfunction), reconnecting with her roots (and drinking snake blood) in Vietnam, tales of being a wild child growing up in San Francisco, and parenting war stories. Though addressed to her daughters, Ali Wong's letters are absurdly funny, surprisingly moving, and enlightening (and gross) for all.
Access Dear Girls on eBCCLS as an audiobook, with Ali Wong's narration here or on the Libby app.
Good Talk
Mira Jacob
Like many six-year-olds, Mira Jacob's half-Jewish, half-Indian son, Z, has questions about everything. At first they are innocuous enough, but as tensions from the 2016 election spread from the media into his own family, they become much, much more complicated. Trying to answer him honestly, Mira has to think back to where she's gotten her own answers: her most formative conversations about race, color, sexuality, and, of course, love. Written with humor and vulnerability, this deeply relatable graphic memoir is a love letter to the art of conversation—and to the hope that hovers in our most difficult questions.
Access Good Talk on eBCCLS here or on the Libby app.
The Serpent's Secret
Sayantani DasGupta
(Grades 5-7) On the morning of her twelfth birthday, Kiranmala is just a regular sixth grader living in Parsippany, New Jersey...until her parents mysteriously vanish and a drooling rakkhosh demon slams through her kitchen.Turns out there might be some truth to her parents' fantastical stories-like how Kiranmala is a real Indian princess and how she comes from a secret place not of this world. To complicate matters, two crush-worthy princes ring her doorbell, insisting they've come to rescue her. Suddenly, Kiran is swept into another dimension full of magic, winged horses, moving maps, and annoying, talking birds.
Access The Serpent's Secret on eBCCLS here or on the Libby app.
The Night Diary
Veera Hiranandani
(Grades 4-7) It's 1947, and India, newly independent of British rule, has been separated into two countries: Pakistan and India. The divide has created much tension between Hindus and Muslims, and hundreds of thousands are killed crossing borders. Half-Muslim, half-Hindu twelve-year-old Nisha doesn't know where she belongs, or what her country is anymore. When Papa decides it's too dangerous to stay in what is now Pakistan, Nisha and her family become refugees and embark first by train but later on foot to reach her new home.
Access The Night Diary on eBCCLS here or on the eBCCLS app
