AAWAA Bibliography

The Asian American Experience

This is by no means a totally complete list. It grew organically by following links and recommendations by people. If you know of another book that we should have, please let us know. aawaa2000@yahoo.com

Reviews by Amazon unless otherwise noted.

• Asian Americans: all, mixed or general
  
• Chinese American
  
• Filipino American
  
• India American
  
• Korean American
  
• Japanese American
  
• Laotian American
  
• Vietnamese American
  

Yellow Journalist : Dispatches from Asian America by William Wong. Paperback, 280 pages (February 2001) Temple Univ Press. Also in hardcover. Yellow Journalist is a tour-de-force collection of essays and stories that chronicle the Asian American experience with humor, pungent wit and astute perception. Yellow Journalist takes you on a kaleidoscopic journey -- from Angel Island to affirmative action, history to Hollywood, immigration to identity, Connie Chung to Tiger Woods.

Asian American Dreams : The Emergence of an American People by Helen Zia. Hardcover, MIT Press, 2000, 268 pgs. Hardcover - 256 pages 1 Ed edition (March 2000) Farrar Straus & Giroux. "(Dreams) explores the junctures that shocked Asian Americans into motion and shaped a new consciousness, including the murder of Vincent Chin, a Chinese American, by two white autoworkers who believed he was Japanese; the apartheid-like working conditions of Filipinos in the Alaska salmon canneries; the boycott of Korean American greengrocers in Brooklyn; the L.A. riots; and the casting of non-Asians in the Broadway musical Miss Saigon. The book also examines the rampant stereotyping of Asian Americans, which has an impact on key issues concerning all Americans, from affirmative action and campaign finance to popular culture and national security."

The Sum of Our Parts : Mixed-Heritage Asian Americans (Asian American History and Culture) by Teresa Williams-Leon (Editor), Cynthia L. Nakashima (Editor), Michael Omi. Paperback: 279 pages; (November 2001). In the U.S., discussions of race generally center on matters of black and white; mixed heritage Asian Americans usually figure in conversations about race as an undifferentiated ethnic group or as exotic Eurasians. The contributors to this book disrupt the standard discussions by considering people of mixed Asian ethnicities. They also pay particular attention to non-white multiracial identities to decenter whiteness and reflect the experience of individuals or communities who are considered a minority within a minority. With an entire section devoted to the Asian diaspora, The Sum of Our Parts suggests that questions of multiracial and multiethnic identity are surfacing around the globe. This timely and provocative collection articulates them for social scientists and students.

Yellow: Race in America Beyond Black and White by Frank H. Wu. Hardcover: 288 pages; 1st edition (December 24, 2001). "Yellow by Frank H. Wu is an eclectic, incisive investigation-cum-meditation that, though focusing on Asian Americans, recasts the United States' ongoing debate about racial identity in all forms. Wu suggests that the widespread stereotyping of Asian Americans, while "superficially positive," is inherently damaging. Mixing personal anecdotes, current events, academic studies, and court cases, Wu not only debunks the myth of a "model minority" but also makes discomfiting observations about attitudes toward affirmative action, what he calls "rational" discrimination, mixed marriages, racial profiling, and the "false divisions" of integration versus pluralism and assimilation versus multiculturalism. Though its conclusions are unremarkable, Yellow is thought provoking. The book's strength--besides its clarity and thoughtfulness--is a lack of tendentiousness. Wu prefers to suggest, not posit; muse, not shout; and ask questions, not necessarily answer them. " review by H. O'Billovitch

Legacy to Liberation: Politics & Culture of Revolutionary Asian/Pacific America by Fred Ho (Editor). Paperback - 320 pages 1st edition (March 1, 2000) AK PRESSFrom an Amazon reader: "...the contributors in this anthology are activists. They passionately discussed issues ranging from U.S. political prisoners to campus activism and revolutionary acts through the arts. They also revealed their commitment to a life of activism and improving the world we live in. ....Yet, the first person accounts of sacrifice, commitment and struggle distinguish Legacy to Liberation from the rest. Grassroots organizing and participation is more than a theory to these writers but a way of life. Their stories are refreshing, inspiring and humanistic.

Everybody Was Kung Fu Fighting : Afro-Asian Connections and the Myth of Cultural Purity by Vijay Prashad. Hardcover - 256 pages (November 2001) Beacon Press. Also by Vijay Prashad The Karma of Brown FolkPaperback - 253 pages (July 2001) Univ of Minnesota Press.

The State Of Asian America: Activism in the 90's by Karen Aguilar-San Juan, ed. Paperback - 394 pages (November 1993) South End Press. From an Amazon reader: "This was very much the first anthology that specifically addressed contemporary grass-roots orientated social movements of the Asian Pacific Islander American community. The essays are diverse and useful, allowing the reader a full picture of the issues that the APIA community have organized around. Glen Omatsu's essay is astounding clear, concise, and his ability to "tell it like it" is gives readers a true sense of what community-orientated leaders have to say. Not only does this anthology address struggles with other communities but also within the diverse APIA community itself. In a nut-shell, this anthology puts it all together."

The Deathly Embrace : Orientalism and Asian American Identity by Sheng-Mei Ma. Paperback: 208 pages; (September 18, 2000). Asian American Studies/Literary Theory. "Broad in scope, penetrating in insight, Ma's work exposes the myriad ways in which Orientalism, an integral part of American culture, speaks through the texts of Asian Americans and non-Asian Americans alike. The result is a startling lesson in the construction of cultural identity. "

A Part, Yet Apart : South Asians in Asian America (Asian American History and Culture) by Lavina Dhingra Shankar (Editor), Rajini Srikanth (Editor). Paperback - 320 pages (January 1998) Temple Univ Press.

Contours of the Heart : South Asians Map North America by Sunaina Maira (Editor), et al. .

Asian Americans : Comparative and Global Perspectives by Shirley Hune (Editor), Stephen S. Fugita (Editor), Amy Ling (Editor). Hardcover, MIT Press, 2000, 268 pgs. Paperback - 290 pages (August 1991) Washington State Univ Press
Other books by Shirley Hune:

• Asian Pacific American Women in Higher Education : Claiming Visibility & Voice by Shirley Hune. Paperback (January 1998) Assn of American Colleges and Universities.
• Reflections on Shattered Windows : Promises and Prospects for Asian American Studies by Gary Y. Okihiro, Shirley Hune, Arthur A. Hansen, John Liu (Editor). Washington State Univ Press.

Visions of America : Personal Narratives from the Promised Land by Wesley Brown (Editor), Amy Ling (Editor). Hardcover - 369 pages (November 1992) Persea Books.

Encounters by Roshni Rustomji-Kerns (Editor), et al( Hardcover - August 1999) Hardcover - 320 pages (August 1999) Rowman & Littlefield Publishing. Also in paperback. "People of Asian descent have lived for centuries in North and South America, where they have been actively involved in the creation of multicultural, multiethnic societies. This groundbreaking anthology explores their experiences among ethnic and cultural groups in a unique collection of works by and about Asian Americans. Utilizing a rich blend of analytical, autobiographical, biographical, and narrative essays, oral histories, fiction, photography, and artwork, the anthology focuses especially on the interactions of Asians with others outside the dominant culture. Contributors range from established scholars, writers and artists to little-known voices heard here for the first time. Scholars of Asian diasporas and all readers interested in Asia in the Americas will find this book an extraordinary resource."

Forever Foreigners or Honorary Whites? : The Asian Ethnic Experience Today by Mia Tuan. Hardcover, MIT Press, 2000, 268 pgs. Paperback - 192 pages (June 1999) Rutgers Univ Press

Orientals : Asian Americans in Popular Culture (Asian American History and Culture Series) by Robert G. Lee. Paperback - 288 pages (February 2000) Temple University Press. "In Orientals, Robert G. Lee analyses a broad range of artifacts of American pop culture--from silent films to blockbuster movies, popular magazines to pulp fiction, and stage dramas to 19th-century songs--to reveal the history of these definitions. Lee identifies six representations of Asian Americans--the pollutant, the coolie worker, the deviant, the yellow peril, the model minority, and the gook--and notes how, when, and why they emerged. As Lee notes, "each of these representations was constructed in a specific historical moment, marked by a shift in class relations accompanied by cultural crisis."

The Contemporary Asian American Experience : Beyond the Model Minority by Timothy P. Fong. Paperback (January 1998) Prentice Hall PTR.

Margins and Mainstreams : Asians in American History and Culture by Gary Y. Okihiro. Paperback (April 1994) University of Washington Press.

Strangers from a Different Shore : A History of Asian Americans by Ronald Takaki. Paperback - 640 pages Rev&Updtd edition (September 1998) Back Bay Books. "In an extraordinary blend of eloquent narrative history, vivid personal recollection, and oral testimony, Ronald Takaki relates the diverse 150-year history of Asian Americans. Through richly detailed vignettes--by turns bitter, funny, and inspiring--he offers a stunning panorama of a neglected part of Americanhistory. 16 pages of photographs. "

Asian Americans : Oral Histories of First to Fourth Generation Americans from China, the Philippines, Japan, India, the Pacific Islands, Vietnam and by Joann Faung Jean Lee. Paperback - 235 pages Reprint edition (December 1992) New Press.

Growing Up Asian American by Maria Hong (Editor). Paperback (January 1995) Avon Books (Pap Trd). "Growing up Asian-American tells their story through a collection of fiction and non-fiction pieces. Asian-Americans represent a diverse group of people who had a great impact on American life."

Asian/American : Historical Crossings of a Racial Frontier by David Palumbo-Liu. Paperback , Stanford University Press, (April 1999), 534 pgs.

Across the Pacific : Asian Americans and Globalization (Asian American History and Culture) by Evelyn Hu-Dehart(Editor). Hardcover - 232 pages (October 1999) Temple Univ Press. Also in paperback.

Contemporary Asian America : A Multidisciplinary Reader by Min Zhou(Editor), James V. Gatewood(Editor). Paperback - 705 pages (May 2000) New York Univ Press Contemporary Asian America is the first volume to integrate a broad range of multi-disciplinary research on the ways in which the intersection of Asian immigration, community development, and socialization affect Asian American communities. It exposes its readers to developments within the discipline, from its inception as part of the ethnic consciousness movement of the 1960s to the more contemporary theoretical and practical issues facing Asian America at the century's end.

Asian Americans : An Interpretive History by Sucheng Chan. Paperback (January 1991) Gale Research.

Frontiers of Asian American Studies : Writing, Research, and Commentary Gail Nomura (Editor), Stephen H. Sumida (Editor), Russell C. Leong (Editor), Russell Endo. Paperback - 341 pages (August 1989) Washington State Univ Press.

New Visions in Asian American Studies : Diversity, Community, Power Franklin Ng, Judy Yung, Stephens S. Fugita, Elaine H. Kim (Editor). Paperback -(July 1994) Washington State Univ Press. "Twenty essays from a May 1993 conference in Honolulu cover history and women's studies, social science, indigenous Hawaiians and Asian American literature. Specific topics include Hmong life stories, Nisei attitudes toward Japanese language schools, artistic and cultural mothering in the poetics of Cathy Song, and an ethnic relations model. No index. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or. "

In Other Worlds : Essays in Cultural Politics by Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Paperback - 309 pages (December 1988) Routledge Kegan & Paul.

Woman, Native, Other : Writing Postcoloniality and Feminism by Trinh T. Minh-Ha. Paperback - 173 pages (July 1989) Indiana Univ Press.

Q & A : Queer in Asian America David L. Eng (Editor), Alice Y. Hom (Editor). Paperback - 432 pages (October 1998) Temple Univ Press.

Asian American Sexualities : Dimensions of the Gay and Lesbian Experience by Russell Leong(Editor). Paperback (December 1995) Routledge. "Writing from an impressive array of interdisciplinary perspectives, the contributors discuss a variety of topics, including sexuality and identity politics; community activism and gay activism; transnational aspects of love between women in Thailand; queer South Asian culture in the US; gay and lesbian filmmakers; same-sex sexuality in Pacific literature; and Asian American male homosexuality and AIDS."

Cultural Curiosity: Thirteen Stories about the Search for Chinese Roots by Josephine M. T. Khu (Editor). Paperback - 318 pages (July 2, 2001) University of California Press. Seeking stories written by ethnic Chinese born or raised outside of China about journeys to their country of origin, Khu, a visiting scholar at the Centre of Asian Studies at Hong Kong University, required that the writers "include explanations of why they'd made the trip... and whether it had led them to assess or reassess their ethnic identity." She gathered these stellar essays from contributors in a dazzling range of locales, including the United States, China, England, Indonesia and Japan.

New York Before Chinatown : Orientalism and the Shaping of American Culture, 1776-1882 by John Kuo Wei Tchen. "Piecing together various historical fragments and anecdotes from the years before Chinatown emerged in the late 1870s, historian John Kuo Wei Tchen redraws Manhattan's historical landscape and broadens our understanding of the role of port cultures in the making of American identities. Tchen tells his story in three parts. In the first, he explores America's fascination with Asia as a source of luxury items, cultural taste, and lucrative trade. In the second, he explains how Chinese, European-Americans in Yellowface, and various caricatures became objects of curiosity in the expansive commercial marketplace. In the third part, Tchen focuses on how Americans' attitude toward the Chinese changed from fascination to demonization, leading to the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Acts beginning in 1882."

On Gold Mountain : The One-Hundred-Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family by Lisa See. Paperback - 394 pages (September 1996) Vintage Books. "Out of the stories heard in her childhood in Los Angeles's Chinatown and years of research, See has constructed this sweeping chronicle of her Chinese-American family, a work that takes in stories of racism and romance, entrepreneurial genius and domestic heartache, secret marriages and sibling rivalries, in a powerful history of two cultures meeting in a new world. 82 photos. "

sland : Poetry and History of Chinese Immigrants on Angel Island, 1910-1940 by Him Mark Lai, Genny Lim, Judy Yung. Paperback - 174 pages Reprint edition (June 1999) University of Washington Press. "This is a collection of poetry salvaged from the walls of the barracks on Angel Island, where Chinese immigrants were detained between 1910 and 1940. Poems are in both English and Chinese. In addition to the poems, the editors provide an introduction to early Chinese immigration, and there are several pages of quotes from various immigrants, on various subjects such as the voyage to America and their impressions of Westerners. The poetry speaks for itself -- poems of desperation, despair, homesickness, and anger. "

Bitter Melon : Inside America's Last Rural Chinese Town by Jeff Gillenkirk, James Motlow, Sucheng Chan (Introduction). Paperback - 144 pages Reprint edition (June 1993) Heyday Books. From the Midwest Book Review: " At the turn of the century, the Sacramento Delta was home to thousands of Chinese immigrants. By day, laborers engaged in the back-breaking work of building the levees and harvesting crops. After work, many of them returned to the bustling, safe town of Locke. Locke, with its single-family homes, stores, saloons, restaurants, boarding houses, school, five gambling dens, and two brothels was the only village in the United States built and inhabited exclusively by Chinese. Bitter Melon: Inside America's Last Rural Chinese Town is a collection of moving oral histories and stunning historical photographs (all printed in duotone), offers an unforgettable glimpse into this unique and vibrant community, and in doing so contributes significantly to our understanding of immigrant experience in California. "

Claiming America : Constructing Chinese American Identities During the Exclusion Era (Asian American History and Culture) by Kevin Scott Wong(Editor), Sucheng Chan(Editor). Paperback - 256 pages (January 1998) Temple University Press. Also in hardcover. "A fascinating collection of essays that recovers the lives and experiences of individuals who staked their claim to Chinese American identity. The first section of the book focuses on the in-coming immigrants. The second section looks at their children, who deeply felt the contradictions between Chinese and American culture, but attempted to find a balance between the two. "

Bury My Bones in America : The Saga of a Chinese Family in California 1852-1996 from San Francisco to the Sierra Gold Mines by Lani Ah Tye Farkas, Lani Ah Tye Farkas . Paperback - 200 pages 1 Ed edition (September 1998) Carl Mautz Pub. Also in hardcover.The first permanent Chinese community in the U.S. did not exist until the mid-nineteenth century. It was the 1849 California gold rush that initially brought a large number of Chinese to San Francisco and the gold mining areas. Eventually they were to migrate to all parts of the nation, constituting one part of its multicultural mosaic. Although the Chinese played an important role in developing the frontier, from mining to railroad construction, they have been to a large extent overlooked by historians. When acknowledged, they have invariably been portrayed as a faceless mass, largely because of the lack of available biographical material. Farkas' extensively researched and well-illustrated book is one of the very few published histories of a Chinese American family. It should inspire other similar efforts on such a neglected subject. Fred Egloff.

Tea That Burns : A Family Memoir of Chinatown by Bruce Edward Hall. Hardcover - 320 pages (August 1998) Free Press. From Booklist August 19, 1998: "New York's Chinatown from the mid-1800s through the current day is the scene for Hall's memoir of his family's emigration from China to the U.S. It is also the story of U.S. race relations throughout that period. Hall reconstructs the history of his family as well as others who were lured to the U.S. by the promise of fortunes to be made during the California gold rush and, later, the building of the railroads."

The Mississippi Chinese : Between Black and White , Second Edition by James W. Loewen. Paperback 2nd edition (January 1988) Waveland Press. "This scholarly, carefully researched book studies one of the most overlooked minority groups in America--the Chinese of the Mississippi Delta. During Reconstruction, white plantation owners imported Chinese sharecroppers in the hope of replacing their black laborers. In the beginning they were classed with blacks. But the Chinese soon moved into the towns and became, almost without exception, owners of small groceries. Loewen details their astounding transition from "black" to essentially white status with an insight seldom found in studies of race relationships in the Deep South. "

Surviving on the Gold Mountain : A History of Chinese American Women and Their Lives by Huping Ling. Paperback - 256 pages (September 1998) State Univ of New York Press. Also in hardcover.

Closing the Gate : Race, Politics, and the Chinese Exclusion Act by Andrew Gyory. Paperback - 384 pages (November 1998) University of North Carolina Press. Also in hardcover. "A fascinating collection of essays that recovers the lives and experiences of individuals who staked their claim to Chinese American identity. The first section of the book focuses on the in-coming immigrants. The second section looks at their children, who deeply felt the contradictions between Chinese and American culture, but attempted to find a balance between the two. "

Filipino American

Philip Vera Cruz : A Personal History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement by Craig Scharlin, Lilia V. Villanueva, Elaine H. Kim. Paperback - 208 pages 3rd edition (October 2000) University of Washington Press.

Almost Americans : A Quest for Dignity by Patricia Justiniani McReynolds. Paperback - - 264 pages 1 Ed edition (November 1997) Red Crane Books.

Filipino American Lives by Yen Le Espiritu. Paperback - 216 pages (April 1995) Temple Univ Press.

Meatless Days by Sara Suleri. Paperback (June 1991) University of Chicago Press. "A remarkable writer offers a remarkable look at the violent history of Pakistan's independence with the author's most intimate memories--of her Welsh mother, an English teacher of spare, abstracted eloquence; of her Pakistani father, a prominent and frequently jailed political journalist; of her tenacious grandmother; and of the friends who accompany her own passage to the West. A profoundly moving literary work. "

Desis in the House : Indian American Youth Culture in New York City (Asian American History and Culture) by Sunaina Maira. Hardcover - 256 pages (February 2002) Temple Univ Press. Also in paperback. "New York City, long the destination for immigrants and migrants, today is home to the largest Indian American population in the United States. Coming of age in a city remarkable for its diversity and cultural innovation, Indian American and other South Asian youth draw on their ethnic traditions and the city's resources to create a vibrant subculture...."

Passport Photos by Amitava Kumar. Paperback - 276 pages (May 2000) University of California Press. "Passport Photos, a self-conscious act of artistic and intellectual forgery, is a report on the immigrant condition. A multigenre book combining theory, poetry, cultural criticism, and photography, it explores the complexities of the immigration experience, intervening in the impersonal language of the state....Organized as a passport, Passport Photos is a unique work, taking as its object of analysis and engagement the lived experience of post-coloniality-- especially in the United States and India. The book is a collage, moving back and forth between places, historical moments, voices, and levels of analysis. Seeking to link cultural, political, and aesthetic critiques, it weaves together issues as diverse as Indian fiction written in English, signs put up by the border patrol at the U.S.-Tijuana border, ethnic restaurants in New York City, the history of Indian indenture in Trinidad, Native Americans at the Superbowl, and much more"

Korean American

East to America : Korean American Life Stories by Elaine H. Kim, Eui-Young Yu, Anna Deavere Smith. Paperback - 386 pages (September 1997) New Press. "In this collection of powerful, candid oral histories, a wide cross section of Korean Americans render a portrait of a community grappling with racial tensions, class and gender differences, and differing notions of family and honor. "

Home Was the Land of Morning Calm : A Saga of a Korean-American Family by K. Connie Kang. Hardcover - 307 pages (August 1995) Perseus Press. "A multigenerational portrait of a Korean family begins with the grandfather's participation in the resistance during the Japanese occupation and chronicles their often difficult journey to America. "

Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha. Paperback reprint edition (December 1999) Third Woman Press. Also Writing Self, Writing Nation : A Collection of Essays on Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha by Hyun Yi Kang (Editor), Norma Alarcon, Elaine H. Kim. Paperback (March 1994) Third Woman Press.

Last Witnesses : Reflections on the Wartime Internment of Japanese Americans by Erica Harth (Editor). Hardcover - 320 pages (November 2001) Palgrave.

Japanese American Internment During World War II : A History and Reference Guide by Wendy Ng. Hardcover - 232 pages (January 2002) Greenwood Publishing Group

Free to Die for Their Country : The Story of the Japanese American Draft Resisters in World War II by Eric L. Muller, Daniel K. Inouye. Hardcover - 256 pages (October 2001) University of Chicago Press.

Imprisoned Apart : The World War II Correspondence of an Issei Couple by Louis Fiset, Roger Daniels. Paperback -- 272 pages (February 1998) University of Washington Press.

Adios to Tears : The Memoirs of a Japanese-Peruvian Internee in U.S. Concentration Camps by Seiichi Higashide, C. Harvey Gardiner, Elsa H. Kudo (Preface). Paperback - 272 pages (May 2000) University of Washington Press.

Harvest Son : Planting Roots in American Soil by David Mas Masumoto. Paperback - 304 pages (September 1999) W.W. Norton & Company;. Also in hardcover. From Booklist: "Masumoto intersperses descriptions and observations of life on his family's farm in California's San Joaquin Valley with a history of the Masumotos in the U.S. His grandfather arrived from Japan in 1899 and established himself by working the vineyards. Yet, just when the growing Masumoto clan is feeling truly a part of this nation, World War II bursts onto the scene and they're driven into internment camps. Growing up in the 1950s, Masumoto has two clear goals: to embrace his Japanese heritage and to flee the valley as soon as possible. While in college, he visits Japan, but the experience forces him to admit that he is not really Japanese. Back home, he is a hyphenated American, balancing his life between disparate cultures. " . Other books by David Mas Masumoto:

• Epitaph for a Peach : Four Seasons on My Family Farm
• Country Voices : The Oral History of a Japanese American Family Farm Community, out of print. Paperback (June 1987) Inaka Countryside Pubn.
• Home Bound, out of print. Paperback - 68 pages (January 1989) Seven Buffaloes Press.

Growing Up Nisei : Race, Generation, and Culture Among Japanese Americans by David Yoo, Roger Daniels. Paperback - 288 pages (June 2000) University of Illinois Press (Pro Ref).

And Justice for All : An Oral History of the Japanese American Detention Camps by John Tateishi(Editor), Roger Daniels . Paperback - 288 pages (April 1999) University of Washington Press. "At the outbreak of World War II, more than 115,000 Japanese American civilians living on the West Coast of the United States were rounded up and sent to desolate "relocation" camps, where most spent the duration of the war. In this poignant and bitter yet inspiring oral history, John Tateishi allows thirty Japanese Americans, victims of this trauma, to speak for themselves. And Justice for All captures the personal feelings and experiences of the only group of American citizens ever to be confined in concentration camps in the United States. In this new edition of the book, which was originally published in 1984, an Afterword by the author brings up to date the lives of those he interviewed. "

Prisoners Without Trial : Japanese Americans in World War II (Critical Issue) by Roger Daniels, Eric Foner(Editor). Paperback - 146 pages (August 1993) Hill & Wang Pub. From Kirkus Reviews , June 1, 1993: "Daniels (Concentration Camp USA, 1972), for instance, writing about the incarceration of Japanese-Americans during WW II, states that ``this book has tried to explain how and why the outrage happened. That is the role of the historian and his book, which is to analyze the past. But this historian feels that analyzing the past is not always enough''--and so he takes on the question of ``could it happen again?'' and concludes that there's "an American propensity to react against `foreigners' in the United States during times of external crisis, especially when those `foreigners' have dark skins,'' and that Japanese-Americans, at least, would argue that what has happened before can surely happen again."

Achieving the Impossible Dream : How Japanese Americans Obtained Redress (The Asian American Experience) by Mitchell T. Maki, et al . Paperback - 309 pages (June 1999) University of Illinois Press. "During World War II over 110,000 U.S. citizens and legal residents were incarcerated without charges or trial, not by a hostile enemy nation, but by their own country, the self-proclaimed beacon of liberty and justice. The Japanese attack on Pear Harbor, coupled with racism and wartime hysteria, generated widespread support for violating the civil rights of Japanese Americans living along the Pacific Coast of the United States. Following government orders, Japanese Americans took what belongings they could carry and left their homes to be incarcerated in remote, hastily constructed concentration camps. When they emerged from the camps, they faced humiliation, prejudice and economic ruin.Nearly fifty years later, the survivors of this ordeal received a written apology from the president of the United States and monetary compensation in accordance with the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. How this came about is both an inspiring story of wrongs made right and a practical guide to getting legislation through Congress. "

Personal Justice Denied : Report of the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians by United States Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of civil, Tetsuden Kashima (Editor), Wartime Relocation Commission. Paperback(March 1997) University of Washington Press.

Only What We Could Carry: The Japanese American Internment Experience by Lawson Fusao Inada (Editor), Patricia Wakida (Preface). Paperback - 448 pages (August 1, 2000) Heyday Books.

Years of Infamy : The Untold Story of America's Concentration Camps by James A. Michener (Introduction), Michi Nishiura Weglyn. Paperback -Updated edition (May 1996) University of Washington Press.

Desert Exile : The Uprooting of a Japanese-American Family by Yoshiko Uchida. Paperback Reprint edition (October 1984) University of Washington Press.

Divided Destiny : A History of Japanese Americans in Seattle (Critical Issue) by David A. Takami. Paperback - 94 pages (October 1999) University of Washington Press.

Issei Pioneers: Hawaii and the Mainland, 1885-1945 by Akemi Kikumura. Hardcover - 111 pages 1st edition (January 1993) Japanese American National Museum. This exhibition catalogue uses artifacts from the Museum's permanent collection to tell the story of the courageous first generation of Japanese Americans, the "Issei Pioneers." The book includes numerous color and black and white reproductions, with important insights into the early history of Japanese settlers in the United States.

Gaman a Generation in Hawaii : A Generation in Hawaii by Sharon Keiko Simmons. Paperback (September 1996) Booklines Hawaii, Ltd.

Japanese American Journey : The Story of a People by Florence M. Hongo (Editor), Miyo Burton. Paperback (June 1985) Aacp Inc/Asian Amer Curriculum.

Promises Kept : The Life of an Issei Man by Akemi Kikumura. Paperback (November 1991) Chandler & Sharp Pub.

In This Great Land of Freedom: The Japanese Pioneers of Oregon by Lawson Fusao Inada (Editor), Akemi Kikumura (Editor), Mary Worthington (Editor), Eiichiro Azuma (Contributor). Paperback - 48 pages 1st edition (1993) Japanese American National Museum. Published in conjunction with an exhibition developed collaboratively with the Oregon community. Includes original poetry by Japanese American poet laureate Lawson Fusao Inada and rare photographs of pre-war Issei life in the Northwest.

The Japanese American Experience by David J. O'Brien, Stephen S. Fugita (Contributor). Paperback - 178 pages (December 1991) Indiana Univ Press.

Japanese American Ethnicity : The Persistence of Community by David J. O'Brien, Stephen S. Fugita. University of Washington Press.

What Did the Internment of Japanese Americans Mean? by Alice Yang Murray (Editor), Alice Yang Murray, Roger Daniels (Editor). Hardcover - 192 pages (June 2000) Also available in paperback. Palgrave.

What Did the Internment of Japanese Americans Mean? by Alice Yang Murray (Editor), Alice Yang Murray, Roger Daniels (Editor). Hardcover - 192 pages (June 2000)

Laotian American

I Begin My Life All over : The Hmong and the American Immigrant Experience by Ghia Xiong (Contributor), Lillian Faderman. Paperback - 288 pages (April 1999) Beacon Press.

By Order of the President : FDR and the Internment of Japanese Americans by Greg Robinson. Hardcover - 320 pages (November 2001) Palgrave.

Vietnamese American

Hmong Means Free : Life Laos and America by Sucheng Chan (Editor)

The Dream Shattered : Vietnamese Gangs in America by Patrick Du Phuoc Long, Laura Ricard (Contributor), Patrick Du Phuoc Long. Paperback - 250 pages Reprint edition (April 1997) Northeastern Univ Pr;

This page grows organically from recommendations. If we don't have a book that you feel should be listed or if you notice that a book is now out-of-print, please let us know. aawaa2000@yahoo.com