Maydeebug Bookworms

 Our Book Club 

 China-Related Non-Fiction  Asian-American Non-Fiction  Chinese and Chinese-American Fiction 

 China Adoption  General Adoption  Parenting  Children's Books 
Asian-American Non-Fiction
A red diamond indicates that a book has received at least one Maydeebug "stamp of approval." If you would like to add a book to add to the list, please e-mail Kerri at buonacosa@yahoo.com.

Title: YELL-Oh! Girls: Emerging Voices Explore Culture, Identity, and Growing up Asian American 
Author: Vicky Nam
Description In this groundbreaking collection of personal writings, young Asian American girls come together for the first time and engage in a dynamic converstions about the unique challenges they face in their lives. Promoted by a variety of pressing questions from editor Vickie Nam and culled from hundreds of submission from all over the country, these revelatory essays, poems, and stories tackle such complex issues as dual identities, culture clashes, family matters, body image, and the need to find one's voice. With a foreword by Phoebe Eng, as well as contributions from accomplished Asian American women mentors Janice Mirikitani, Helen Zia, Nora Okja Keller, Lois-Ann Yamanaka, Elaine Kim, Patsy Mink, and Wendy Mink, Yell-Oh Girls! is an inspiring and much-needed resource for young Asian American girls. (editorial reviews)

Title: Leaving Deep Water: Asian American Women at the Crossroad of Two Cultures 
Author: Claire S Chow
Description:Integrating ethnic identity with mainstream American culture is a complex task. In Leaving Deep Water, Claire S. Chow deftly explores the many ways that women of Asian descent have forged a place for themselves in modern society. Drawing from the personal narratives of dozens of women from China, Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries, Chow analyzes such common themes as coming of age, parental expectations, marriage and divorce, career experiences, family relationships, and aging. These intimate reflections are deeply moving, the voices unique, and the stories eye-opening, bringing new perspectives to the multicultural experience. Leaving Deep Water offers guidance, inspiration, and a shared sense of struggle while breaking down myths and celebrating the ability to build a new sense of identity in a foreign place.

Title: Paper Daughter: A Memoir
Author: M. Elaine Mar
Description:When she was five years old, M. Elaine Mar and mother emigrated from Hong Kong to Denver to join her father in a community more Chinese than American, more hungry than hopeful. While working with her family in the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant and living in the basement of her aunt's house, Mar quickly masters English and begins to excel in school. But as her home and school life - Chinese tradition and American independence - become two increasingly disparate worlds, Mar tries desperately to navigate between them. From surviving racist harassment in the schoolyard to trying to flip her straight hair like Farrah Fawcett, from hiding her parents' heritage to arriving alone at Harvard University, Mar's story is at once an unforgettable personal journey and an unflinching, brutal look at the realities of the American Dream.

Title: Fifth Chinese Daughter
Author: Jade Snow Wong
Description:Reprint of the Harper edition of 1950. The narrative shows how members of a typical Chinese family in San Francisco adapt themselves to American conditions.