As the school year begins to wind down ever so slowly, the monstrous pile of “Need To Read” books I’ve acquired in the past few months has grown to unprecedented heights, begging me to begin on the journey to a thousand different lands and lives over the course of the summer season. And while social media is good for recommending 50 different books Sarah J. Maas has published in the past few years, AAPI Heritage Month makes this as good a time as any to introduce you to five AAPI literary phenomenons that are taking the YA world by storm.
Check out these talented women’s works if you want to have the best summer reading list BookTok has ever seen:
- Tahereh Mafi
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One of my favorite authors of all time, Tahereh Mafi has remained a publishing powerhouse for over a decade now with her eleven-book fantasy series Shatter Me and standalone interracial romance A Very Large Expanse of Sea. Her novels feature a wide variety of characters that earn her an A+ in ethnic and racial representation, plus the exciting plots and swoon-worthy dialogues will enrapture your heart and soul!
- Marie Lu
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Everybody say thank you to Marie Lu for creating best-selling series after best-selling series after best-selling series. Currently residing in Los Angeles after receiving a degree in poli-sci from the University of Southern California, Lu has come to publish over a dozen novels across several chart-topping series. My personal favorites are Legend and The Young Elites (dystopian and fantasy novels respectively), both of which have incredibly complex characters that face mind-bending obstacles along their journeys towards love, friendship, success and wealth.
- Chloe gong
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It’s giving…new-and-improved Romeo and Juliet. Chloe Gong tasked herself with the revamping of Shakespeare’s arguably most prevalent work in the literary world by taking the story to Shanghai, starring two rivaling gangs and an epic love story that will last the test of time. Her series These Violent Delights has also made appearances on Book-Tok and the New York Times Best Seller List (rightfully so), but you want to know what the coolest part is? She’s only 23!
- Swati Teerdhala
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If you’re on BookTok then you’ve definitely come across Swati Teerdhala’s legendary fantasy romance series, The Tiger at Midnight. Inspiration for the first novel rising from a fleeting experience while on vacation, Teerdhala developed an intriguing story intertwined with ancient Indian history and Hindu mythology to create a new series you definitely won’t want to miss.
- Jenny Han
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I’m sure you have swooned over the pocket-holding Peter Kavinsky for several years now, as the To All The Boys series has stood high and mighty over Netflix’s long list of original films ever since the original release in 2018. But have you taken the time to read the YA romance series from the extremely talented Jenny Han which started it all? Making history for AAPI representation in literature, Han has written many works with diverse representation so that all girls can see themselves in their favorite characters and stories—as they should!
Not only have these women inspired millions of readers around the world with their novel writing skills and stories, but they have given light to the serious issue of underrepresentation of AAPI writers and characters in the YA genre. Every young child deserves to have books they can see themselves in, rather than being forced to daydream about how their favorite stories would change if the main characters looked and lived more like them. Share the love with these AAPI advocates that are leaving their mark on the world right now, and please show some support by checking out their amazing publications this summer — you won’t regret it!