As we celebrate AAPI Heritage Month, we want to explore all facets of AAPI storytelling here at Bookstr. An important part of all literature is exploring oneself through other characters and their growth. This is the crux of YA novels, yet coming-of-age narratives are not limited to that genre. AAPI young adults and adolescents often grapple with their cultural heritage and identity, thus, coming-of-age novels can serve as an important stepping stone for young AAPI to feel that they aren’t alone. Here are ten of the best AAPI coming-of-age novels you’ll want to read next!
First Love Language by Stefany Valentine
First Love Language is a new 2025 debut release following Catie Carlson, a young Taiwanese American who feels like the black sheep of her all-white family. She longs to connect with her heritage and find her birth mother, so when her coworker Toby offers to teach her Mandarin, it’s the perfect opportunity. In exchange, she’ll teach Toby how to date, except she’s never dated, but she can fake it. This fun romance tackles first love, grief, and transracial adoption. Perfect for fans of Tokyo Ever After and Frankly in Love!
Afterparties by Anthony Veasna So
In this anthology, So explores the lives of the Cambodian emigrant community in California and their American children in nine short stories. At the heart of the stories is the exploration of generational trauma as the immigrant parents have lived through the Khmer Rouge, and how that trauma and death can seep into later generations. Every story stands on its own, but they also intersect to create the interconnected community grappling with sexuality, masculinity, and a shared, haunted past.
American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
Told with a three-fold narrative, we follow three different stories that merge in a shocking twist. When Jin Wang moves to a new neighborhood, he desperately wants to fit in because he’s the only Chinese American student at school. He’s getting bullied at school and has a massive crush on an all-American girl. Meanwhile, the Monkey King is adored by all his subjects, but desires to be a god. Danny’s life is ruined when his cousin Chin-Kee, the manifestation of negative Chinese stereotypes, comes to visit. How do all these seemingly disparate narratives connect? Read the graphic novel to find out.
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily E.R. Pan
Leigh Chen Sanders, who’s half white and Asian, is convinced her mother was turned into a bird after she committed suicide. She’s determined to find her mother as a bird when she visits her maternal grandparents in Taiwan. While there, she forges a new relationship with her grandparents, uncovers family secrets, and chases ghosts. E.R. Pan’s stunning debut is heartbreaking, yet full of love and beautiful prose. And it has a touch of magic!
Severance by Ling Ma
Severance is a post-apocalyptic satire about an isolated millennial, Candace Chen, who’s so absorbed in her routine that she doesn’t notice the plague devastating New York. As it spreads, families flee the city, and soon the whole city is a ghost town. A group of survivors comes to rescue Candace and make their way to Falicity, an alleged promised land where they can restart society. Candace has a secret of her own that she knows Bob will exploit if he discovers it. How will she escape her rescuers?
All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir
Told with a dual timeline, we follow Misbah in the past, who is engaged in an arranged marriage to Toufiq. After an unexpected tragedy, they move to the States and open a motel. In the present, we follow Salahudin — Misbah’s son — and Noor, both close childhood friends who aren’t on speaking terms after a big fight. The motel is struggling to stay afloat on top of Misbah’s poor health and increasing medical bills. Sal takes drastic measures to save the motel, but it soon sets off a chain of events that might ruin Noor’s chance to escape their small town and her abusive uncle. Sabaa Tahir’s contemporary debut is first love, past regrets, and learning how to redeem oneself.
Yolk by Mary H. K. Choi
Two estranged sisters, Jayne and June, must come together again after June is diagnosed with uterine cancer. Jayne’s finally escaped Texas for NYC, but things aren’t so glamorous as it seems with her eating disorder and deadbeat boyfriend. On the other hand, June is rich and successful until her diagnosis changes everything. Yolk is an NA novel that captures the complex nuances of sisterhood and the pressures of Asian immigrant daughters and self-identity.
To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han
This coming-of-age trilogy is a YA staple everyone should read! It follows Lara Jean, who writes letters to every boy she’s ever had a crush on instead of openly admitting them. She stores them away, but when her letters get mailed out to her crushes by accident, suddenly she must face all the boys she’s loved. This trilogy has a Netflix film for each book in the series and has even spawned a spin-off series.
Boys I Know by Anna Gracia
“Just good enough” seems to sum up June Chu’s life. Third-place trophies line her shelves, but it’s not enough to impress her Taiwanese mother. Not when her sister has a full-ride scholarship to Northeastern, studying pre-med. As she makes her peace with falling short of her mother’s expectations, she sets her sights on Rys, her crush, to make their relationship official. But after an epic scheme fails, June must ask herself, who is she living for?
Everything We Never Had by Randy Ribay
Everything We Never Had spans four generations of Filipino Americans. Francisco is barely making ends meet in 1930 Watsonville. In Stockton, 1965, Emil is determined not to follow in his father’s footsteps despite the racism he’s facing at school from white teachers and students, and working at his aunt’s restaurant at night. What will Emil sacrifice to pave his own way? In Denver in 1983, a school assignment about ancestral history leaves Chris wanting to learn about his Filipino heritage despite his father’s insistence that it’s unimportant. In 2020, Enzo’s abrasive grandfather moved in after the COVID-19 pandemic kept everyone locked away at home. But this may be the perfect opportunity to heal the rift between his father and lolo.
We hope you check out these amazing books and explore the coming-of-age genre even further, as well as dive more into AAPI books.
Looking for more AAPI reading recs? Click here!
Check out our Inclusive Representation of BIPOC Mental Health shelf on Bookshop for more!
