Immigration Stories - coming to the U.S.: East Asia

117 pages. This is a memoir written for older children. The author wrote about growing up in the Central Highlands of Vietnam. He has many exciting childhood adventures with his beloved pet water buffalo. The book tells about village life in a nostalgic way.

309 pages. Aisling Juanjuan Shen was the first person in her Chinese village to go to college. Assigned to a low-paying government job, she left for southern China to find success. Her story shows the recent changes in China. Aisling Juanjuan Shen moved to the United States in 2000. In 2005, she graduated from Wellesley College. She currently works for an investment management firm in Boston.

320 pages. The bittersweet story describes the Ung family's experiences moving from war-torn Cambodia to the state of Vermont in the U.S. The family had to leave a sister behind in Cambodia. They also struggled to start a new life in a very different country.

277 pages. Yang was born in a Hmong refugee camp in Thailand in 1980. Yang and her family, along with many other Hmong people, left Thailand and came to live in St. Paul, Minnesota. In this moving and inspiring book, Yang tells about her family's struggles and shares their Hmong folklore and culture.

233 pgs. This book tells three stories that are related. The first story is about Jin Wang and the problems he has in high school because he is the only Chinese-American student. The second story is about the Chinese fable of the Monkey King. The third is about Danny and the problems he has in high school because of his embarrassing cousin. This is a graphic novel, so it has pictures like a comic book.

260 pages. This novel is written in verse, like poetry. The year is 1975, and the place is Saigon, Vietnam. The main character, Ha, is ten years old. She has to flee Saigon because of the Vietnam War. She comes to the Unites States on a ship. The book is moving, honest, and full of hope.

304 pages. Just when twelve-year-old Summer thinks nothing else can possibly go wrong in a year of bad luck, an emergency takes her parents to Japan, leaving Summer to care for her little brother while helping her grandmother cook and do laundry for harvest workers.

214 pgs. April is a sixteen-year-old girl who grew up in the United States. She lives with her grandmother, who grew up in China. They struggle to understand each other because of their cultural differences, but compromise will bring them together. This story is inspired by the author’s own experiences.

301 pages. In 1841, fourteen-year-old Manjiro is rescued by an American ship after a terrible shipwreck leaves him and his four companions stranded on a remote island. Manjiro learns new laws and customs as he becomes the first Japanese person to set foot in the United States.

292 pages. Van and Linny Luong are Vietnamese sisters who don't talk to each other. They are worried about their own lives, careers, and romances. They are reunited at their father's American citizenship party, and develop a closer relationship.