Boos of interest
The following list of books may be of interest to parents and youth of Asian descent. Some are specifically about Asian American families while others speak generally about youth development. We do not endorse or have any intention of promoting any particular book. We also do not endorse any particular ideas contained in the books below. Rather, we suggest that you consider reading multiple perspectives. For instance, if you choose to read Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, we suggest you also read The Hybrid Tiger, which was written in response to the former. Reading both will provide contrasting viewpoints and experiences. Summaries of the books below are taken from Amazon.com.
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother
Amy Chua
At once provocative and laugh-out-loud funny, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother ignited a global parenting debate with its story of one mother’s journey in strict parenting. Amy Chua argues that Western parenting tries to respect and nurture children’s individuality, while Chinese parents typically believe that arming children with skills, strong work habits, and inner confidence prepares them best for the future. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother chronicles Chua’s iron-willed decision to raise her daughters, Sophia and Lulu, the Chinese way – and the remarkable, sometimes heartbreaking results her choice inspires. Achingly honest and profoundly challenging, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is one of the most talked-about books of our times.
How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character
Paul Tough
Why do some children succeed while others fail? How Children Succeed introduces us to a new generation of researchers and educators, who, for the first time, are using the tools of science to peel back the mysteries of character. Through their stories—and the stories of the children they are trying to help—Tough reveals how this new knowledge can transform young people’s lives. He uncovers the surprising ways in which parents do—and do not—prepare their children for adulthood. And he provides us with new insights into how to improve the lives of children growing up in poverty. This provocative and profoundly hopeful book will not only inspire and engage readers, it will also change our understanding of childhood itself.
Home Bound: Filipino American Lives across Cultures, Communities, and Countries
Yen Le Espiritu
Filipino Americans' life in the U.S. as immigrants, colonized nationals, and racial minorities, have been little studied, though they are one of our largest immigrant groups. Based on her in-depth interviews with more than one hundred Filipinos in San Diego, Espiritu investigates how Filipino women and men are transformed through the experience of migration, and how they in turn remake the social world around them. Her analysis reveals that Filipino Americans confront U.S. domestic racism and global power structures by living transnational lives that are shaped as much by literal and symbolic ties to the Philippines as they are by social, economic, and political realities in the U.S..
The Hybrid Tiger: Secrets of the Extraordinary Success of Asian-American Kids
Quanyu Huang
Why do Asian and Asian-American students excel academically? This comparison of American and Chinese education systems explores this question. Quanyu Huang highlights the strengths and weaknesses of each culture's approach. Asian students master lessons and tests early, while American students show more creativity and independence. Despite these differences, American innovation often leads to award-winning discoveries, unlike China's emphasis on conformity and rote learning, which hasn't yet produced a Nobel Prize winner in science.
The Hybrid Tiger: Secrets of the Extraordinary Success of Asian-American Kids
Quanyu Huang
Interpreter of Maladies is a book collection of nine short stories by Indian American author Jhumpa Lahiri published in 1999. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award in the year 2000 and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. It was also chosen as The New Yorker's Best Debut of the Year and is on Oprah Winfrey's Top Ten Book List. The stories are about the lives of Indians and Indian Americans who are caught between the culture they have inherited and the "New World."
Family Tightrope
Nazli Kibria
In recent years, the popular media has described Vietnamese Americans as the quintessential American immigrant success story, attributing their accomplishments to the values they learn in the traditional, stable, hierarchical confines of their family. Questioning the accuracy of such family portrayals, Kibria draws on in-depth interviews and participant observation with Vietnamese immigrants in Philadelphia to show how they construct their family lives in response to the social and economic challenges posed by migration and resettlement.
Crying in H Mart
Michelle Zauner
In this bittersweet memoir, the multi-hyphenate talent behind pop group Japanese Breakfast delivers a story of grief and identity. Raised in the largely white town of Oregon, then ascendant in an industry far from home, Zauner often felt distanced from her Korean heritage. After her mother’s death following a long battle with cancer, she cooked her way through grief, returning to her roots by way of ancestral dishes like jjigae and tteokbokki. In Crying in H Mart, she recounts her heartbreak and healing, celebrating her mother’s life while reclaiming her gifts of food, language, and cultural identity.