I've been meaning to post about Fusion Stories for a while now, and this weekend Justina Chen Headley from readergirlz kindly sent me the official press release.
Newton, MA, April 2, 2008 - Ten new contemporary novels by Asian Americans aren't traditional tales set in Asia nor stories about coming to America for the first time. They're written by authors who understand two-time Newbery Honor Book author Lawrence Yep's (Dragonwings and Dragon's Gate) removal of the ethnic qualifier before his vocation. "I think of myself principally as a writer," Yep told the International Reading Association's The Dragon Lode. "I often write about my experiences as a Chinese American, but I've also written about faraway worlds. Writing is a special way of seeing."
Without a doubt, an Asian American vision has moved into the mainstream of the children's literary world. In 1994, only 65 of the 5,500 children's books published featured Asian American authors. Last year, that number doubled. Some of these have become national bestsellers that are guaranteed a place on bookshelves for years to come. Linda Sue Park (A Single Shard) and Cynthia Kadohata (Kira Kira) each won the prestigious Newbery Medal, while Allen Say (Grandfather's Journey) took home a Caldecott Prize. An Na (A Step From Heaven) won the Printz, an award for young adult novels, and Gene Luen Yang garnered a National Book Award for his graphic novel, American Born Chinese.
In 2008, a wave of middle grade novels (ages 7-11) written by Asian Americans is already catching the attention of readers, teachers, librarians, and parents and not just within multicultural circles. Children's literature experts are calling Grace Lin's Year of the Rat (sequel to the popular Year of the Dog) a 'classic in the making' along the lines of Besty-Tacy. Janet Wong's forthcoming novel Minn and Jake's Almost Terrible Summer explores the joys of vacation and friendship, with Jake divulging that he's a "quarpa," or one-quarter Korean. Winner of the Sid Fleischman humor award, author Lisa Yee makes kids (and adults) laugh out loud with bestselling stories like Millicent Min: Girl Genius and her newest title, Good Luck, Ivy. When it comes to books like these, as Newbery winner Linda Sue Park told author Cynthia Leitich Smith (Tantalize) during an on-line chat: "At last it seems we're getting ready to go to stories where a person's ethnicity is a part but not the sum of them."
New releases for teens, too, aren't mainly immigrant stories or traditional tales retold. These YA novels deal with universal themes such as a straight-A teen struggling with a cheating scandal at her school (She's So Money by Cherry Cheva), a promising athlete coping with a snowboarding injury (Girl Overboard by Justina Chen Headley), and a Pakistani-born blogger whose father is about to become President (First Daughter: White House Rules by Mitali Perkins). An Na's The Fold, a novel about a teen considering plastic surgery to change the shape of her eyelids, speaks to all who long to be beautiful, and art-loving teens far and wide will connect with Joyce Lee Wong's novel-in-verse Seeing Emily. Paula Yoo, a one-time writer for People magazine and television hits like The West Wing, fuses her pop culture savvy and love of music in Good Enough, a novel about a violinist in rebellion. Her brother, David Yoo, connected with hormone-crazed nerds of every race in his funny novelGirls For Breakfast and is offering his fans the forthcoming Stop Me if You've Heard This One Before.
Founder of readergirlz, a literacy initiative for teens, award-winning author Justina Chen Headley notes that these books are relished by readers from many different backgrounds. "There are a ton of interesting cultural trends that make it cool to read about Asian American characters," she says. "Take manga and anime, for instance. Or Gwen Stefani's harujuku girls. Mainstream, popular celebrities from actors to athletes are Asian American, and this is filtering into YA and middle grade novels."
Dr. Sylvia Vardell, Ph.D., a professor at the School of Library and Information Services at Texas Woman's University, isn't surprised either by the growing appetite for books featuring protagonists of every race: "Most kids live with ethnic and cultural diversity everyday. It just makes sense that books for teens would reflect this too."
These stories continue to resonate with Asian American readers as well. Lisa Yee remembers the frustration of not finding many books about American girls like her. "When I grew up, there was no fiction featuring contemporary Asian Americans, unless of course the book was about the struggle of immigrants," she says. Thanks to exciting changes in children's book publishing, it's a different world for today's young readers of every cultural heritage with many choices when it comes to novels.
This year's Asian Pacific American Heritage Month begins May 1, 2008, and ten authors are banding together to offer FUSION STORIES, a menu of delectable next-gen hot-off-the-press novels for middle readers and young adults. FUSION STORIES' critically acclaimed authors so far include Cherry Cheva (Los Angeles, CA), Justina Chen Headley (Seattle, WA), Grace Lin (Boston, MA), An Na (Montpelier, VT), Mitali Perkins (Boston, MA), Janet Wong (Princeton, NJ), Joyce Lee Wong (Los Angeles, CA), Lisa Yee (South Pasadena, CA), David Yoo (Boston, MA), and Paula Yoo (Los Angeles, CA).
FUSION STORIES aims to be a helpful resource for parents, educators, and young readers, so if you know of a novel that (1) is for middle readers or teens, (2) was published in 2007-2008 by a traditional publishing house, (3) features an Asian American protagonist, and (4) is set primarily in contemporary America, please send a .jpg of the cover, a .jpg of the author, one or two reviews, and a brief description of the novel to mitali.perkins@verizon.net. FUSION STORIES would be delighted to add titles and authors to the site.
A press kit package (available at FUSION STORIES) includes downloads, bios of FUSION STORIES authors, information on their books, and conversations with experts about Asian American literature for young readers. For more information, review copies, or interview requests with any of the authors, please contact mitali.perkins@verizon.net.
Interesting reads. ^_^
Posted by: The Bookshelf | April 28, 2008 at 05:52 AM
Sooo glad to see you mention Lisa Yee. I teach fifth grade Language Arts in a Dual Language (ESL) program in East Texas. One of my students loved Lisa Yee's stories so much, I encouraged her to write to Lisa. She did, I messaged my student's letter to Lisa thru MySpace, and my student (and I) were thrilled to receive a hand-written response from Lisa, as well as two signed bookmarks. It was a big deal in our small town school, believe me. The thing that strikes me as most cool about this is that Lisa Yee's work accomplished what your post is about-- writers who just happen to be Asian writing stories that all kids can relate to. Awesome and so much of what I try to do in my mostly Hispanic classroom-- get my kids to see the world on a more global scale.
Great post and I love your site, too!
Beth Fehlbaum, author
Courage in Patience, a story of hope for those who have endured abuse
http://courageinpatience.blogspot.com
Chapter One is online!
Posted by: Beth Fehlbaum | April 28, 2008 at 08:58 AM