Fantasy Middle Grade by Asian Authors

Asian Americans, and really all people of color, are severely underrepresented in the fantasy department. There are starting to be more and more realistic and historical fiction books about the struggles and daily lives of Asians, but where are we when everyone else is learning magic and exploding stuff? Here are a few hidden gems of Asian middle-grade fantasy. 

 

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

Min is sick of her restricted life on the poverty-stricken, dusty planet where her family are some of the only remaining fox spirits. Especially since they must hide their fox spirit magic from society or risk being persecuted. Min longs to escape her home and follow her brother Jun, who travels with the Space Forces and is fulfilling their dream of seeing more of the Thousand Worlds. 

Then a messenger arrives with the news that Jun has deserted his post on the Space Forces to go search for the Dragon Pearl. Min is convinced that this can't be true: her brother would never leave his dream job, not even for a legendary object said to hold great power. So Min seizes a chance and runs away from home to clear Jun's name. 

On her journey she encounters an estranged aunt, space pirates, and even a ghost. To infiltrate her brother's ship, she is forced to use her fox magic--more than she's ever used before--to disguise herself. But will the outcome of her story be what she hoped for?

A sequel is being published in January! 

Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin 

 

Minli is the only happy person in her village, or at least that's how it seems sometimes. She longs for a way to rid her family of poverty, of saving every last grain of rice, of living under the shadow of Fruitless Mountain. If only she could ask the advice of the Old Man of the Moon, the wise man of her father's stories. But maybe she can. Minli leaves on a journey that will not only change her and the people around her, but possibly her family's fate as well.

 

Starry River of the Sky by Grace Lin

Rendi, who has run away from home and now works as a chore boy in an inn, seems to be the only one in the village who notices that the moon is missing. One day, however, a mysterious woman with a head full of stories arrives at the inn. Can her stories have the answers to all of Rendi's questions? Rendi will have to learn his own story to find out. 

When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin

Pinmei is satisfied with the peaceful, mountain-top life that she leads with her storytelling grandmother. But when the Emperor's soldiers raid her village, kidnapping Pinmei's grandmother, Pinmei's only choice is to join forces with her friend Yishan and follow the soldiers. She and Yishan know that the Emperor's one goal is to find the Luminous Stone That Lights the Night, and wonder how Pinmei's grandmother could be connected to the legendary object. Will they be able to get to the Emperor before it's too late?

 

When You Trap a Tiger by Tae Keller

When Lily and her family move in with her sick grandmother, a magical tiger just like those in her halmoni's Korean fairy tales starts to appear wherever Lily is. The tiger tells her that long ago, Halmoni took something that belonged to the tigers, and they want it back. Lily knows from Halmoni's stories that deals with tigers are always slippery things, but when the tiger offers Halmoni's health in exchange for the stolen item, Lily is sorely tempted. She will need the help of her new friend Rick and her older sister to trap and confront the tiger. 

Winner of the 2021 Newbery medal!

 

A Wish in the Dark by Christina Soontornvat

Two very different children. A city split in half. 

When Pong escapes from the prison he was born in, he learns that the outside world is even more unfair than what he experienced as a child prisoner. In Chattana, all light is created by the Governor. From inside the prison walls, the glowing walls of the cities looked beautiful and full of hope, but the truth is that the wealthy live on one side in a paradise of light, and the poor live on the other side, scrounging for whatever is left over. In Chattana, Pong is just as trapped as he was in prison, bound by the prison tattoo that forever brands him as a criminal. 

Nok, the daughter of the prison warden, is determined to track Pong down and restore her family's honor. But as her journey and Pong's intertwine, she begins to wonder whether everything she's ever been told about her city and her Governor was a lie.

A Newbery Honor 2021 book--in fact, three of the five Newbery winning authors this year were Asian American and all will be featured in this post!

Lalani of the Distant Sea by Erin Entrada Kelly 

For Lalani, life on the island of Sanlagita is simple but difficult. She cleans and cooks and mends and runs errands for her terrible stepfather and stepbrother, and when her mother falls ill with the dreaded mender's disease, Lalani is faced with a bleak future. Then, an accident causes the rain to come.

To save her island, Lalani must venture out on a quest that many men have failed at before--attempting to reach the legendary island that houses Mount Isa, a pinnacle of good fortune and prosperity. Will a quiet, ordinary girl be able to brave the dangers of the confusing ocean fog and the strange creatures that await her on Mount Isa?

(Is that cover not the most beautiful piece of artwork ever????)

Amulet (series) by Kazu Kibuishi

When Emily and Navin's dad is killed in a car accident, their family moves into an old house they inherited from their great-grandfather. However, the house isn't just old and dusty--it hides secrets. Emily and Navin's mom is kidnapped by a huge tentacled creature, leading the three of them into a world filled with things they never expected to be real: talking animals, robots, walking houses, and at the center of it all, the mysterious amulet that falls into Emily's care...

An eight-book graphic novel series, and the ninth volume is in fact coming out in four days! The main characters are white, and as most of the characters aren't human, there isn't too much representation in this series. However, it's still a good example of work by a talented Asian author who also illustrated 15th anniversary American editions of Harry Potter! 

Aru Shah (series) by Roshani Chokshi

Twelve-year-old Aru Shah lives with her mother in the Museum of Ancient Indian Art and Culture. So what if she doesn't go on fancy vacations like the rest of her classmates? She can tell them she does. But when some classmates show up on her doorstep one day, prepared to catch her in a lie, Aru is driven to light the Lamp of Bharata to prove that it's cursed. 

But the lamp really is cursed, a complication that Aru hadn't anticipated. By lighting the lamp, she unknowingly releases the Sleeper, a trapped demon who has been waiting to wreak havoc on the mortal and magical worlds. To save her mother, who was frozen in time when the Sleeper awoke, Aru has to find the legendary Pandava brothers and journey through the Kingdom of Death with a new friend. 

Currently a four-book series, the fifth and final installment will be published this spring, so keep your eyes open for that!

Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

On every witch's thirteenth birthday, they set off into the world to find their place. Kiki, a budding witch, is eager to set off on her coming-of-age journey. So with her faithful sidekick, Jiji the cat, Kiki flies off towards the sea to explore the world for herself. But making friends in her new town is harder than Kiki expected. Will she be able to prove herself to the village?

Pashmina by Nidhi Chanani

Priyanka Das wishes more than anything that her mother would open up to her about her father, and why she left India before Pri was born. But the only way she's getting answers is from a mysterious pashmina that she finds closed in a suitcase--a piece of cloth that transports her to a beautiful, vibrant, and colorful world: India. But in spite of Pri's love for her secret world, she can't help but wonder whether the pashmina is taking her to the real India. And what is that shadow that lurks in the background? Pri may need more than the magical pashmina to find the answers she's seeking. 

 

Séance Tea Party by Reimena Yee

Lora is determined not to let her imagination go. Her friends seem to be drifting away, becoming more interested in sports, fashion, and generally not her. When Lora's séance tea party brings her to discover Alexa, a ghost haunting her house, the two girls--one alive and one dead--become fast friends. But what happens when Lora starts to change--and Alexa can't?

 

Images from Amazon and Disney Books