Asian and Pasifika Voices: Books for Middle Grade

"Twelve-year-old Amal's dream of becoming a teacher one day is dashed in an instant when she accidentally insults a member of her Pakistani village's ruling family. As punishment for her behavior, she is forced to leave her heartbroken family behind and go work at their estate. Amal is distraught but has faced setbacks before. So she summons her courage and begins navigating the complex rules of life as a servant, with all its attendant jealousies...

Original Series Now Available on Disney+

A tour-de-force by New York Times bestselling graphic novelist Gene Yang, American Born Chinese tells the story of three apparently unrelated characters: Jin Wang, who moves to a new neighborhood with his family only to discover that he's the only Chinese-American student at his new school; the powerful Monkey King, subject of one of the oldest and greatest Chinese fables; and

...

A genie informs twelve-year-old Amira and her younger brother Hamza that they are the chosen ones who must defeat a monstrous demon of Islamic folklore to save the Earth and a parallel dimension.

"Difficult child Maria Latif arrives in Long Island from Pakistan to live with the strange Clayborne family where she discovers an off-limits garden that becomes a place where she finally feels at home"-- Provided by publisher Growing up in Pakistan, Maria Latif has been bounced between reluctant relatives for as long as she can remember--first because of her parents' constant travel, and then because of their deaths. Maria has always been a difficult...

Life is harsh in Chennai's teeming streets, so when runaway sisters Viji and Rukku arrive, their prospects look grim. Very quickly, eleven-year-old Viji discovers how vulnerable they are in this uncaring, dangerous world. Fortunately, the girls find shelter--and friendship--on an abandoned bridge. With two homeless boys, Muthi and Arul, the group forms a family of sorts. And while making a living scavenging the city's trash heaps is the pits, the...

The only thing Rosalind Ling Geraghty loves more than watching NASA launches with her dad is building rockets with him. When he dies unexpectedly, all Ro has left of him is an unfinished model rocket they had been working on together. Benjamin Burns doesn't like science, but he can't get enough of Spacebound, a popular comic book series. When he finds a sketch that suggests that his dad created the comics, he's thrilled. Too bad his dad walked out...

"Prince Jin is running out of time. He must find a monster companion before his thirteenth birthday or lose the throne completely. And that means travelling to the only place where monsters still live: the legendary, dangerous Whisper Island. But untold perils await Jin there. The magical creatures he seeks are not so easily swayed, and an even greater threat looms on the horizon-one that could threaten everything Jin hopes to achieve."-- FantasticFiction.com....

When his Chinese grandmother comes to live with his family in England, an eleven-year-old aspiring comic book artist has to share his bedroom with Nai Nai, who does not speak English, but they soon share a bond through math and art.