Kelly Yang
Ages 8–12
Mia Tang has a lot of secrets. Number 1: She lives in a motel, not a big house. Number 2: Her parents hide immigrants. Number 3: She wants to be a writer. It will take all of Mia's courage, kindness, and hard work to get through this year.
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We keep this on the shelf for moving, home, and belonging somewhere new — a story kids can feel, not just a lesson adults want to teach.
Ages 8–12. Especially helpful for families navigating a move — or kids meeting that story for the first time.
Ask: What did this family bring with them that wasn’t in a bag?
Classroom tip: pair a chapter with a short journal prompt — no grades, just honest noticing.
Two titles that deepen the same conversation.
Ages 3–8
A Different Pond"As a young boy, Bao Phi awoke early, hours before his father's long workday began, to fish on the shores of a small pond in Minneapolis. Unlike many other anglers, Bao and his father fished for food, not recreation.
Ages 3–8
A song for BaIn the Chinese opera, men traditionally sing both male and female parts. Wei Lim's father, Ba, however, usually plays masculine characters and sings in a deep bass voice. But Wei's grandfather played female roles, and has secretly taught Wei to sing these difficult parts. When the New World's entertainments begin to cause a shrinking audience for the opera company, and Ba is forced to play female characters, which can help him learn to sing in such high tones? Color illustrations help bring Wei's tale, and this ancient art form, to life.
Ages 13+
Almost American GirlThis nonfiction graphic novel with four starred reviews is an excellent choice for teens and also accelerated tween readers, both for independent reading and units on immigration, memoirs, and the search for identity.
Ages 3–8
Banquet for CeciliaRelish in the savory, tangy, and sometimes spicy dishes of Cecilia Chiang, a revolutionary who changed the way Americans viewed Chinese food. From an early age, Cecilia Chiang could be found delighting in the sounds and smells from her favorite room in her home—the kitchen. Little did Cecilia know that she would one day have to escape war and travel to a faraway country, destined to change Chinese cuisine in the United States forever. Experience the dishes Cecilia Chiang enjoyed throughout her life as the seventh daughter in a large family to the owner of the famous Mandarin restaurant in San Francisco.
Ages 3–8
Grandfather's journeyIn this Caldecott Medal–winning picture book, master storyteller Allen Say chronicles his family’s history between Japan and California.
Ages 3–8
Here I am"Tells the story in pictures of an Asian family newly immigrated to the United States and the challenges of starting a life in a new place"--Provided by publisher.
Ages 8–12
Inside Out and Back AgainInside Out & Back Again is a verse novel by Thanhha Lai. The book was awarded the 2011 National Book Award for Young People's Literature and one of the two Newbery Honors. The novel was based on her first year in the United States, as a ten-year-old girl who spoke no English in 1975.
Ages 3–8
Kai's Journey To Gold MountainIn 1934, twelve-year-old Kai leaves China to join his father in America, but first he must take a long sea voyage, then endure weeks of crowded conditions and harsh examinations on Angel Island, fearing that he or his new friend will be ...
