VPL Picks: Asian Heritage Month - eBooks and Downloadable AudioLike this list

16 items

• Elevator in Sài Gòn

  Thuận, 1967-

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  Still banned in Vietnam, Elevator in Saigon is a suspenseful novel that is part detective story, historical romance, postcolonial ghost story, and a biting satire of life in a communist state.

• Dragon Springs Road

  Chang, Janie

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  This read is a fascinating adventure and a page turner. A rich story unfolds about the life of a seven year girl who is abandoned on an aristocratic estate in Shanghai.

• A History of Burning

  Oza, Janika

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  "Oza's debut novel, a family saga spanning four continents and nearly a century, begins in 1898...This striking epic combines powerful characters of different generations, compelling storytelling, dramatic settings and conflicts, and thoughtful…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Do Not Say We Have Nothing

  Thien, Madeleine, 1974-

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  Li-ling is living in Vancouver when Ai Ming, a young relative forced to flee China in the aftermath of the Tiananmen Square student protests, arrives on her doorstep. As the two talk, Li-ling begins to reconstruct her family history through the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Funny Boy

  a Novel in Six Stories

  Selvadurai, Shyam, 1965-

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  In this remarkable novel, a boy's bittersweet passage to maturity and sexual awakening is set against escalating political tensions in Sri Lanka, during the seven years leading up to the 1983 riots.

• Floating City

  Sakamoto, Kerri

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  Sakamoto's moving, award-winning novel follows the life of Frankie Hanesaka who was raised on a floating home in Port Alberni, was later sent to a Japanese internment camp, and begins a new life in Toronto under the mentorship famous architect…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Story of Us

  Hernandez, Catherine, 1977-

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  "“The Story of Us” is a novel that is at once bold and ambitious, while simultaneously hushed and intimate. It’s emotionally bare and astute, and frequently funny and utterly human, a reminder of the bonds that hold us, over generations and across…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Forbidden Purple City

  Stories

  Huynh, Philip, 1975-

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  In this accomplished short story collection Huynh offers a portrayal of the Vietnamese Canadian diaspora, marked by war and inter-generational tensions, adjusting to their new home and reinventing themselves.

• I Hope We Choose Love

  a Trans Girl's Notes From the End of the World

  Thom, Kai Cheng

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  For those who have lost trust and not felt the support of the larger community, Thom offers a thoughtful and impassioned plea for non-violent justice.

• Superfan

  How Pop Culture Broke My Heart

  Lee, Jen Sookfong

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  This memoir in pieces from award winning author Lee uses pop culture as a lens to explore family, grief, and the cost of choosing not to fall into the 'Chinese good girl' trap.

• Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related

  Wills, Jenny Heijun

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  Jenny Heijun Wills was adopted into a white family knowing very little about her biological Korean family and heritage. In this memoir, she describes her stay at a Korean guesthouse for adoptees in search of their birth families and then eventually…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• The Plague

  Chong, Kevin

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  This modern retelling of the Albert Camus classic documents a city and it's terrified citizens who have been quarantined following the outbreak of a virulent disease.

• Secrets From My Vietnamese Kitchen

  Simple Recipes From My Many Mothers

  Thúy, Kim

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  Award-winning novelist Kim Thuy shares recipes and anecdotes from the other part of her life, a Montreal based family run restaurant.

• This City Is a Minefield

  Chan, Aaron

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  Chan tackles the trials and tribulations of growing up queer and Asian in Vancouver.

• The Tiger Flu

  a Novel

  Lai, Larissa

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  Lai explores the dark and cruel underbellies of bio-politics in her science fiction novel. In "The Tiger Flu", pandemic apocalypse, genetic mutations, and extensive corruption have created a nightmare world where two strangers fight together for…Read moreRead more of this annotation

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