Asia

Materials from Asia

Something for School

On the first day of kindergarten, a teacher asks the boys and girls to line up, and Yoon lines up with the other girls. But when some children mistake Yoon for a boy because of her short hair, Yoon bursts into tears.  At home, Yoon finds a solution. Her sister s special headband is perfect! When she wears it to kindergarten, no one teases or mistakes her for anything but who she is! Yoon has a lovely time with her new friends.But Yoon’s sister has been missing her special headband so when Yoon has to go back to school without it, she s worried all over again. Thankfully, her friends like Yoon exactly the way she is.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume 4, Issue 1

Grandfather’s Journey

A Japanese American man recounts his grandfather’s journey to America which he later also undertakes, and the feelings of being torn by a love for two different countries.

See the review at WOW Review, Volume VII, Issue 4

Korean Children’s Favorite Stories

Korean Children’s Favorite Stories is a captivating collection of Korean folk tales that have thrived for generations. Some are unique to Korea, while others echo those told in other countries. Written with wit and pathos, they reveal the follies of people everywhere and expose the human-like qualities of animals and the animal-like qualities of humans.

Snow Falling in Spring: Coming of Age in China During the Cultural Revolution

Moying Li is twelve-years-old when Cultural Revolution sweeps China. In 1966 Moying, a student at a prestigious language school in Beijing, seems destined for a promising future. Everything changes when student Red Guards begin to orchestrate brutal assaults, violent public humiliations, and forced confessions. After watching her teachers and headmasters beaten in public, Moying flees school for the safety of home, only to witness her beloved grandmother denounced, her home ransacked, her father’s precious books flung onto the back of a truck, and Baba himself taken away. From labor camp, Baba entrusts a friend to deliver a reading list of banned books to Moying so that she can continue to learn. Now, with so much of her life at risk, she finds sanctuary in the world of imagination and learning.This inspiring memoir follows Moying Li from age twelve to twenty-two, illuminating a complex, dark time in China’s history as it tells the compelling story of one girl’s difficult but determined coming-of-age during the Cultural Revolution.

Bindi Babes

Amber, Jazz, and Geena Dhillon, a.k.a. the Bindi Babes, are three fabulous sisters with a reputation for being the coolest, best-dressed girls at their school. But their classmates don’t know that the sisters miss their mom, who died a year ago. An interfering auntie from India invites herself into their household to cramp their style and soon the sisters’ pushover dad is saying no to designer clothes and expensive sneakers. There’s only one way to be rid of Auntie: marry her off to some unsuspecting guy. Will Amber, Jazz, and Geena find a man who can put up with Auntie before she completely ruins their lives? Or are Auntie’s new rules doomed to make the fabulous Dhillon sisters just average?

The Closet Ghosts

With help from Hanuman, the Hindu monkey god, Anu finds a way to cope with going to a new school, living in a new home, and even dealing with the mischievous ghosts in her closet.

Divali Rose

Ricki is looking forward to Divali, the Hindu Festival of Lights. He’s also waiting for two special rosebuds to bloom. The buds are on the bush that his grandfather had planted in the front yard. His grandfather promises that the roses will be the color of Divali. One morning, on his way to school, Ricki bends one of the rosebuds to get a closer look and accidentally snaps it off. When his grandfather believes the new neighbors have stolen his rosebud, Ricki must summon the courage to confess what he has done.