Year of the Asian Readathon Progress

So I hit my goal for Year of the Asian Readathon. I’d signed up for lowest tier which was the cute little Philippine tarsier which represented reading 1-10 books by Asian authors. I didn’t think I’d get there since I was so far from hitting the goal last year but I did a really good job of focusing on Asian author among other diverse authors this year.

I’m already on the next level which is the awesome Indian cobra it represents 11-20 books, not sure I’ll get past this level considering how much of the year we have left but I’ll try.

The Books

Here are some of the books I read to get to my goal.

Skyhunter

So I’ve never been able to get interested in any of Marie Lu’s other books. Nothing against her the plots just never spoke to me. Skyhunter made up for it.

Summary

The central character is Talin, who is a refugee from another nation, she’s also a Striker. A member of an elite force of fighters. They are the last defense for the only nation that has managed to stay free from the the Federation: Mara.

Talin might not be exactly welcome in Mara but she knows first hand to horrors of the Federation, they are a war machine with technology way beyond anything the other nations have, they leave nation after nation at their feet and are the architects of a terrifying army of mutant beast known only as Ghosts.

But when a mysterious prisoner is brought from the front to Mara’s capital, Talin senses there is more to him than he’s letting on. He may be a spy, but she thinks he’s something else and is willing to go toe to toe with her fellow Strikers about it.

But only one thing is clear the Federation is coming for a fight, and Talin is ready to fight to the death alongside her fellow Strikers. But will this new prisoner be the key in saving them all? Or destroying them?

Amazon: Skyhunter

Measuring Up

Summary

Twelve year old Cici loved her life back in Taiwan, especially the time she spent with her grandmother, or A-má. But when her family moves to Seattle so she can have better opportunities she has to leave her grandmother and friends behind.

It’s difficult and she has the usual problems fitting in at school, she quickly makes friends. Though she’s not sure how much of her Taiwanese life to show them.

Now she only needs one thing to make her happy being with her A-má on her seventieth birthday. It doesn’t seem possible. It’s too much money for them all to visit her, but Cici cooks up a plan to bring A-má to her by winning the grand prize in a kids’ cooking contest to pay for A-má’s plane ticket! There is just one problem Cici only knows how to cook the Taiwanese food she learned with her grandmother.

But after her pickled cucumber is mocked at lunch she is determined to learn to cook the American way by channeling her inner Julia Child? Through cooking can Cici find a winning recipe to reunite A-má, while also showing both sides of her new self.

This is Lily LaMotte’s debut graphic novel.

Illustrator An Xu an Ignatz-nominated cartoonist and illustrator working in Baltimore. 

Amazon: Measuring Up

Three Keys

So it would be fair to say that I loved Front Desk by Kelly Yang. This book would get 6 stars if I could give them out, it has the heart, importance, and love of Front Desk like times a million and its issues are timely with the world today. It’s going to be one of my favorite books of the year I can already tell, another feat of brilliance by Kelly Yang.

Summary

Mia thinks she’s going to have the best year ever. She and her parents are finally out from under the thumb of the controlling Mr. Yao and get to run the Calivista Motel the way they see fit, which includes helping out immigrants.

She also gets to run the front desk with her best friend Lupe, and she’s finally getting somewhere with her writing. But sixth grade it turns out isn’t exactly what she expected. It’s an election year and her teacher openly supports the anti-immigrant candidate who is running to the point she asks them to write about things like why immigration is bad.

Plus the teacher doesn’t think her writing is all that great, and unlike her teacher last year she finds herself receiving Cs instead of the As she thinks she rightly deserves.

But school isn’t Mia’s only problem, she’s a businesswoman too and the motel is struggling, in part because they are helping immigrants. The investors are threatening to pull back and sell their shares if Mia doesn’t do something, but Mia doesn’t want to give up on her values.

Especially with a new immigration law that is looming that if it passes will threaten the everything and everyone in Mia’s life.

Amazon: The Three Keys

Other books include:

Newsprints by Ru Xu

The Science of Breakable Things by Tae Keller

Midsummer Mayhem by Rajani Laroca

Lalani and the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly

Endgames by Ru Xu

Pippa Park Raises Her Game by Erin Yun

Stargazing by Jen Wang

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

Image by Dung Tran from Pixabay