New and Notable Books

Nuclear North Korea: A Debate on Engagement Strategies

By Victor D. Cha and David C. Kang (Columbia University Press)

How timely, indeed: Two erudite Korean American professors offer multiple viewpoints on North Korea and the potential for nuclear proliferation not-so-contained within.

Screaming Monkeys: Critiques of Asian American Images

Edited by M. Evelina Galang (Coffee House Press)

There are no silent, subservient types in this newest anthology of fiction, poetry, essays and art that skewers stereotypes of Asian Pacific Americans. Also includes a section devoted to cringe-inducing media quotes (remember “American beats out Kwan”?), which can only grow in the next edition (and there should be one) with people like the now-fired Bill Singer running around.

Far From Home: Shattering the Myth of the Model Minority

By Mary Chung Hayashi (Tapestry Press)

Part memoir, part activist handbook, part medical advice column, Hayashi who is the founder of the National Asian Women’s Health Organization, “breaks the silence” of her own history, debunks the myth of the subservient Asian and advocates for self-reliance and community involvement.

The Legend of Fire Horse Woman

By Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston (Kensington Books)

Finally, the first (and much awaited!) novel from the co-author of Farewell to Manzanar, the classic memoir of the internment experience (written with hubby James Houston). Legend captures three generations of Japanese American women, led by proud, regal Sayo, who is sent from Japan to marry in America at the turn of the 20th century. Forty years later, she is interned with her daughter and teenage granddaughter, and in spite of their physical confinement, each of the three women find a sense of freedom and release that empowers not only themselves, but each other, as well.

The Guin Saga
Book Two: Warrior in the Wilderness

By Kaoru Kurimoto, translated by Alexander O. Smith with Elye J. Alexander (Vertical, Inc.)

The fantasy epic about the platinum-haired orphaned royal twins, protected by the mysterious man-beast Guin, continues into Nospherus, a no-man’s land into which the twins have fled. Heart-thumping adventures ahead.

Searching for Home Abroad:Japanese Brazilians and Transnationalism

Edited by Jeffrey Lesser (Duke University Press)

A unique collection of essays that explores the experience of being Japanese in Brazil (during the first half of the 20th century, tens of thousands of Japanese immigrated to Brazil during the first half of the 20th century) and, more recently, being Brazilian Japanese in Japan. Check out the tongue-in-cheek look at the concept of rules by Brazilian Japanese American novelist Karen Tei Yamashita.

Retribution: The Jiling Chronicles

By Li Yung-p’ing, translated by Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chung Lin (Columbia University Press)

An uncensored glimpse into the suffering lives within a rural Chinese community reeling from the utter violence that haunts the town as a result of a brutal rape, which results in a suicide by hanging, which leads to the bloody retribution wreaked upon the rapist’s wife and his favorite prostitute.

By Anita Pratap (Penguin Books)

The paperback edition of an important title that explores the frontline news happening in a complicated, troubled, often misunderstood part of the world where war, terrorism and endless ethnic conflict have ravaged the citizens’ lives for far too long.

By Amy Tan (Putnam)

In her first book of non fiction, Tan examines just about every aspect of her life — from her books, to relationships, to Hollywood, to furniture, to Cliff Notes (especially hysterical). Tan’s mother, who both exasperated and inspired her, looms large throughout.

By Osamu Tezuka (Vertical, Inc.)

This is second of eight installments that brings to life Siddhartha’s path from royal birth to enlightenment. A can’t-put-it-down read by the godfather of manga that follows Siddhartha as a sickly, bored youth to his decision as a young man to shed all things earthly (including his wife and newborn child, not to mention his flowing locks) and begin his life as a wandering ascetic.

Edited by Marianne Villanueva and Virginia Cerenio (Calyx Books)

An anthology of writings from a vast, diasporic group of women of Filipino descent, comprised mostly of new pieces from established authors and new voices.

The Invisible Seam

By Andy William Frew, illustrated by Jun Matsuoka (Moon Mountain Publishing)

Based on the experiences of the author’s great-grandmother-in-law in Japan, Seam is a touching tale about a young girl named Michi who is apprenticed to the House of Mistress Shinyo, once renowned for creating the most exquisite kimonos. In spite of the jealousy Michi must endure from the other apprentices who have talents in areas other than stitching, her patient, perfect work helps restore the Shinyo House to its former glory.

By Minfong Ho (Orchard Books/ Scholastic)

The latest in the First Person Fiction series, Goddess tells the story of a young dancer-in-training and her family living in Phnom Penh as the Khmer Rouge take over Cambodia, resulting in the destruction of almost a quarter of the national population. The family is scattered, some lost forever. When the Khmer Rouge are finally overthrown, the family travels to the refugee camps on the Thai border, in search of food and assistance. Eventually, they will travel across the oceans to America, and start once again, piecing their lives back together as a family in a strange new land.

We See the Moon

By Carrie A. Kitze, illustrated with Jinshan Peasant Paintings (EMK Press)

Filled with whimsical paintings by various Chinese peasants who work in Jinshan County near Shanghai, China, Moon is a comforting, poignant series of questions-without-answers that encourage adopted children to begin talking about their adoption experience. The moon becomes a comforting symbol as the moon that shines down on the adopted child is the same moon that glows for his or her birthparents, wherever they are: “I know you are always with me. / All I need is to look / at the moon in the night sky / and think of you.”

Ten Mice for Tet

By Pegi Deitz Shea and Cynthia Weill, illustrated by Tô Ngoc Trang, embroidery by Pham Viêt-Dinh (Chronicle Books)

A simple counting book to celebrate the Vietnamese new year, or Tet, which begins on the first day of the lunar calendar. At the book’s end is a section that explains the various preparations and traditions for the celebration. Illustrated with actual hand-embroidered cloths of amazing intricacy and detail that bring the playful mice to life.