Stuff for the Teen Age, Biblio File

Recommendations for Lunar New Year!

Happy Lunar New Year! Also known as Chinese New Year and Spring Festival, the Lunar New Year begins on the night of the second new moon after the winter solstice, and is commonly celebrated by East Asian communities around the world. This year's celebration will commence on February 5th, ringing in the Year of the Pig! 

To celebrate, here are eight recommendations featuring Asian-American authors, organized by genre.

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Prophecy by Ellen Oh book cover

1. Prophecy by Ellen Oh

A demon slayer, the only female warrior in the King's army, must battle demon soldiers, an evil shaman, and the Demon Lord to find the lost ruby of the Dragon King's prophecy and save her kingdom.
 
 
 
 



 
Legend by Marie Lu book cover

2. Legend by Marie Lu


In a dark future, when North America has split into two warring nations, two fifteen-year-olds—Day, a famous criminal and prodigy, June, the brilliant soldier hired to capture him—discover that they have a common enemy.
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Dove Arising by Karen Bao book cover

3. Dove Arising by Karen Bao


On a lunar colony, fifteen-year-old Phaet Theta does the unthinkable and joins the militia when her mother is imprisoned by the Moon's oppressive government.

 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Huntress by Malinda Lo book cover

4. Huntress by Malinda Lo

Seventeen-year-olds Kaede and Taisin are called to go on a dangerous and unprecedented journey to Tanlili, the city of the Fairy Queen, in an effort to restore the balance of nature in the human world.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Modern-day

A week before high school graduation, Harvard-bound Higgs suddenly finds his life falling apart and the other students turning against him. Somehow, it all started with a hypothetical question about donating a kidney—but really it goes much deeper, all the way back to the death of Higgs' older brother.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Since You Asked by Maurene Goo book cover

6. Since You Asked by Maurene Goo

Fifteen-year-old Holly Kim, the copy editor for her San Diego high school's newspaper, accidentally submits a piece ripping everyone to shreds, suddenly finding herself the center of unwanted attention. When the teacher in charge of the paper then asks her to write a regular column, Holly's troubles really start.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Romance

Lara Jean writes love letters to all the boys she has loved and thides them in a hatbox. One day, those letters are accidentally sent.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 


Graphic Novel

American Born Chinese book cover

8. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
 

Three stories on the struggles of fitting in, bullying, and finding your place in the world. Story one: The only Chinese-American kid at his high school, Jin Wang has to deal with jocks, bullies, and no friends. Things only get worse when he falls in love with an American girl. Story two: The Monkey King, master of the arts of kung-fu, is not content with being the most powerful monkey on Earth, when he could be a God. Story three: When Danny’s cousin Chin-Kee, the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype, comes to visit, it always spells disaster. But this year, things go from bad to worse.