Books With Messy Family Dynamics and AAPI Histories

The mixed native Hawaiian and Japanese women in Kamalei Kakimoto’s set of debut stories live in modern times, but walk among the wisdom of their elders, and the hauntings of imperialism. The sexuality and the memory of generations in this fabulist collection directly contradict the picture-perfect image of paradise so often associated with Hawai’i. An elderly woman sees her dead lover in a giant flower, a childhood encounter with a native wild pig foretells one woman’s troubled pregnancy, and a writer’s pages shake in their container.

Here’s another debut, this time a YA graphic novel from social media influencer Jyoti Chand. Before we get to the premise, just know that there are some content warnings needed.

This follows Nitasha, who’s used to battling the constant disappointment coming from her parents since it seems like she’ll never quite measure up to her perfect doctor older brother. But now there’s something new: her best friend and her crush both seem to be more interested in the new rich girl than her. So, she takes to alcohol, which seems to help at first. Then, cutting when she needs something more, all the while she wonders if she is enough for anyone in her life.

Wei is taking it back in her debut, to turn-of-the-millennium Singapore. It’s then that Genevieve Yang’s existence as an only child comes to a halt once Arin appears. Now, Arin is there because of a trifling grandfather, but soon, the two girls grow so close they end up blocking others out. As they both contend with the pressures of achievement—in school and life in general—they enclose themselves in a grind-minded bubble. Then it pops. A betrayal changes everything between them and leads Genevieve to reassess what family, success, and self means to her in a quickly modernizing world.