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We have picked our favorite children's books that celebrate Southeast Asian culture. These books are located in the Easy, Juvenile, and Teen sections of the library. Please note that the teen books contain both Teen Middle and Teen High titles.
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Kalamata's Kitchen
by Sarah Thomas
Tomorrow is Kalamata's first day at a new school, and she's nervous! If only Kalamata and Al Dente could go back to the Indian spice market they visited this summer, then maybe she'd remember how to feel brave when new experiences seem scary. Luckily for Kalamata, all the magic required for her journey is right in her own kitchen! As Kalamata and her alligator friend, Al Dente, transport themselves to a magical land filled with tasty ingredients, she realizes being brave is exciting!.
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Eyes That Speak to the Stars
by Joanna Ho
A young Asian boy, who notices that his eyes look different from his friends’, realizes that his eyes—like his father’s, grandfather’s, and younger brother’s—rise to the skies, speak to the stars and are visionary.
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Wishes
by Muon Van
In a tale featuring artwork by an award-winning illustrator, a youngest member of a Vietnamese refugee family finds her perspectives on immigration, family and belonging profoundly changed by her relocation to a new home on the other side of the world.
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Home Is in Between
by Mitali Perkins
Immigrating to America, a young girl navigates between her family's Bengali traditions and her new country's culture.
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Laxmi's Mooch
by Shelly Anand
After Laxmi's friend Zoe points out the hairs on her lip, Laxmi is very self-conscious until her East Indian parents help her to accept and celebrate her appearance.
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A Sari for Ammi
by Mamta Nainy
Ammi weaves the most beautiful saris but never gets to wear any of them. Her two little daughters decide to do something about it--break their piggy bank! But when there isn't enough money to buy Ammi a sari, the two girls must work together to find a solution. Will they be able to buy Ammi the gift she so deserves? With a text full of heart, and bright, cheerful artwork, this story brings readers into the home of a weaver's family in Kaithoon, India, where the creation of saris is an art form. The book includes a glossary of Indian terms and a note about the saris made in this region.
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My First Day
by Nguyen Quang Phung
Originally published in Singapore, a latest collaboration by the award-winning creators of The First Journey follows the metaphorical travels of a determined young Vietnamese boy who embarks on a boat voyage marked by a single oar, giant waves, eerie forests and heavy rainfall.
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Hair Twins
by Raakhee Mirchandani
Loving to have her hair arranged in waves and braids, just like the joora her father wears every day under his turban, a young Sikh girl reveals that her favorite style is having her hair combed into a tight bun on top of her head, in a picture book that celebrates the bond between father and daughter as they proudly share their family tradition.
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How to Wear a Sari
by Darshana Khiani
Determined to prove to her family that she can do ANYTHING, a little girl decides to put on a beautiful sari all by herself, with hilariously chaotic results.
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Bilal Cooks Daal
by
Aisha Saeed
Helping prepare his favorite dish from South Asia, 6-year-old Bilal invites a growing number friends to join his family for a meal and wonders if they will like slow-cooked lentil daal as much as he does.
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Judy, prisoner of war
by Laurie Calkhoven
Born in Shanghai, China, in 1936, Judy is an English pointer who finds her place on a English gunboat patrolling the Yangtze River, battling pirates, contending with the Japanese occupiers, and protecting her human shipmates--until they all end up in a Japanese prison camp in Sumatra at the beginning of World War II, where every day is a struggle to survive
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American as Paneer Pie
by Supriya Kelkar
Feeling like she lives two lives as the only Indian American girl in her school, Lekha Divekar is excited to meet a Desi newcomer only to discover that her proud new friend has just relocated to America and is not content to be quiet about bullying.
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Samira Surfs
by Rukhsanna Guidroz
After months rebuilding a new life in Bangladesh with her family, Samira decides to become a Bengali surfer girl of Cox’s Bazar, in this novel in verse about a young Rohingya girl’s journey from isolation and persecution to sisterhood, and from fear to power.
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Born Behind Bars
by Padma Venkatraman
Growing up in prison because his mother is serving time for a crime she didn’t commit, Kabir is forced into the outside world and goes on the run in a place that cares little for homeless, low-cast children.
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Word Travelers and the Taj Mahal Mystery
by Raj Haldar
Eddie and MJ are suddenly transported to India where they must use their word knowledge to solve a mystery and help their new friend Dev save his school.
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That Thing About Bollywood
by Supriya Kelkar
An Indian American girl who would bury her feelings about her parents’ separation involuntarily breaks into a Bollywood song-and-dance routine before waking up to an alternate reality where everyone is behaving like a Bollywood character.
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A Wish in the Dark
by
Christina Soontornvat
Escaping from the prison where he was born, Pong discovers harrowing truths about the gap between the world’s privileged ruling class and impoverished laborers, while the prison warden’s daughter who is hunting him uncovers other daunting secrets.
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When Heaven Fell
by Carolyn Marsden
When her grandmother reveals that the daughter that she had given up for adoption is coming from America to visit her Vietnamese family, nine-year-old Binh is convinced that her newly-discovered aunt is wealthy and will take care of all the family's needs.
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The Bee Tree
by Stephen L. Buchmann
In the rain forests of Malaysia, Nazam waits anxiously to climb the bee tree, proving that he is capable of succeeding his grandfather as leader of the traditional honey-hunting clan.
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The Buddha's Diamonds
by Carolyn Marsden
Longing for his cousin's fancy toys despite his spiritual beliefs and early sense of responsibility, Vietnamese youth Tinh proudly catches fish to support his family until a dangerous storm causes him to lose his father's boat and confidence.
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Tamarind and the star of Ishta
by Jasbinder Bilan
Sent to India to stay with her estranged family, Tamarind is met with culture shock, secrets and unanswered questions about her late mother as she searches for her own identity with the help of a mysterious mountain girl named Ishta. Simultaneous eBook.
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American Betiya
by Anuradha D. Rajurkar
Secretly dating a boy her mother deems unsuitable, a young artist struggles with family boundaries, her evolving sense of identity and the complexities of a mixed-heritage relationship in the wake of her boyfriend’s home troubles and a visit to India.
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Radha & Jai's Recipe for Romance
by Nisha Sharma
While attending the Princeton Academy of the Arts, dancer Radha is determined to invent herself from scratch and, after much convincing, helps Jai, the captain of the Bollywood Beats dance team, have a show-stopping senior year.
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Counting Down with You
by Tashie Bhuiyan
Karina Ahmed has a plan. Keep her head down, get through high school without a fuss, and follow her parents' rules...Tutoring the school's resident bad boy was already crossing a line. Pretending to date him?...But Ace Clyde does everything right, he brings her coffee in the mornings, impresses her friends without trying, and even promises to buy her a dozen books (a week) if she goes along with his fake-dating façade.
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Amina's Song
by Hena Khan
A companion to the award-winning Amina’s Voice finds Amina discouraged by the lack of interest her Greendale friends show in her visit to Pakistan before giving a class presentation about Malala Yousafzai.
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Sister of the Bollywood Bride
by Nandini Bajpai
Seventeen-year-old Mini plans a magnificent Indian wedding--from their deceased mother's jewelry to a white wedding horse--for her older sister Vinnie, a medical resident, but a hurricane threatens to destroy it all.
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Barakah Beats
by Maleeha Siddiqui
Leaving Islamic school to attend public school, 12-year-old Nimra Sharif, joins the school’s popular 8th grade boy band, Barakah Beats, in an attempt to fit in. Nimra is forced her to make a difficult decision.
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The Marvelous Mirza Girls
by Sheba Karim
Accompanying her mother on a gap-year visit to New Delhi after a beloved aunt’s death, Noreen rediscovers her cultural heritage alongside a handsome youth before their growing feelings trigger a family scandal.
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Sway with Me
by Syed Masood
After his grandfather dies, leaving him alone in the world, Arsalan asks the step-daughter of a prominent matchmaker to find him a future life partner and gets more than he bargained for when she makes him a deal he cannot refuse.
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Bone Talk
by
Candy Gourlay
A coming-of-age story set at the end of the 19th century in a remote village in the Philippines finds a young man confronting a separation from his reluctant best friend before unknown American enemies bring war and destruction.
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