Seven Books That Explore a Sense of Place

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In this day and age, when boundaries between locations are fluid, feeling a sense of place could be the result of either a physical or emotional connection. In this book roundup, we’re exploring how characters develop a sense of place — whether on a college campus (“If You’ll Have Me”), a grocery store or other place of employment (“Tomb Sweeping”), a familiar and caring neighborhood (“Laolao’s Dumplings”), or a city that becomes a new home (“I Am Kavi”). Our experiences and observations shape our sense of place and define how we view and engage with life. The fact is that having been somewhere, regardless of whether we stay or not, alters a part of us.

“Tomb Sweeping” by Alexandra Chang (Aug. 8, 2023)

This collection of short stories explores a gradient of connections, some so fleeting that the attention Alexandra Chang took to write about them alone makes it worth reading. She writes about scenarios that are so present and specific that the reader can picture them instantly. There are the archetypal child-and-parent stories, but also less obvious ones like housesitter-and-homeowner and self-and-algorithm. Each story has the feeling of being wistful for a connection that no longer exists, or is on the brink of passing. Some stories span the course of one day, while others span more than a decade. 

One that stands out is “Cure for Life,” about two employees at an upscale grocery store. Chang shows how their brief time as coworkers ended with a misunderstanding; in turn, one moves on and the other stays, seemingly stuck on something that he isn’t able to resolve. Their encounter at another upscale grocery store is a surprising and satisfying end to the short story.

Some of the stories such as “Farewell, Hank” border on the surreal. The Orchid Lady, renowned for the garden she cultivates, grows vibrant flowers because she feeds them the ashes of her loved ones. Other stories speak to our age of Ring cameras and empty-nest parents who hear and see more from YouTube vloggers than from their children. In “Persona Development” we meet 31-year-old Patricia, a soon-to-be mother and a child of aging and lonely parents. She works as a senior vice president in advertising, tasked with convincing people that a camera can fill the gaps in our relationships. Even with smarter devices than ever, there still isn’t one that meets our basic need to be with people and to be needed. 

The theme in “Tomb Sweeping” is that we are all fringe characters in other people’s stories, and that’s okay. Home is a place but it is also people — some who stay with us even when they are no longer physically present.— Yvonne Su

“Chinese Menu” by Grace Lin (Sept. 12, 2023)

Feast and fiction come together in “Chinese Menu,” a delectable collection of legends compiled by Grace Lin, author of “Where the Mountain Meets the Moon.” The book is full of Lin’s rich and colorful illustrations, similar to those in her middle grade fantasy novels, but “Chinese Menu” is a nonfiction book tracing the origins of Chinese American food that readers ages 8 and up will enjoy. Organized like its title, the book serves readers a whole course of Chinese American fare, from the humble chopsticks and tea in the beginning to the oranges and fortune cookies at the end. Lin includes her personal connection to each dish before telling the story of how it came to be, adding that most Chinese food in America is Cantonese in origin. She traces the variations of the dishes and how they’ve evolved as wars and famines came and went, people migrated, and the tastes of an American clientele demanded new flavors (and substitutions!). 

While the menu is as varied as there are regions and dynasties in China, some common themes stand out among the tales. People are creative and scrappy, making do with whatever they find — soldiers finding birds’ nests on a scraggly cliff, peasants making chicken into phoenix. The making of delicious food includes a lot of history and difficult circumstances. 

My favorite is the story of knife-cut noodles: Because Mongol rulers were afraid that Chinese people would rebel, they allowed only one knife for every 10 households. Not able to cook using an actual knife, one couple got creative with a piece of iron and shaved strips off a block of dough. Reading these stories makes me appreciate Chinese food more for the creativity and history behind each combination of meat, vegetables, and wheat/rice that has made its way to a land thousands of kilometers from home — and stayed. — Y.S.

“I Am Kavi” by Thushanthi Ponweera (Sept. 19, 2023)

Thushanthi Ponweera’s love of her home shines through in this middle grade novel-in-verse about Kavi, a 10-year-old girl trying to find her place in 1998 Sri Lanka during a civil war between the Tamils and the Sinhalese. Kavi feels ignored at home when her father dies and her mother remarries; Kavi is not ready to move on and resents her mother for doing so. When she is accepted to an elite school in Colombo, away from her home village, it seems like a golden opportunity. But few things can really be normal or good during a war, as Kavi finds out.

In the city, she is eager to be like the cool, rich girls who have maids, drivers, fashionable clothes, and leisure time. Kavi soon weaves a web of deceit around the lie that the wealthy family her aunt works for is her family. She tries to erase the village life she left behind to fit in, like her wealthy classmates do so easily. But it comes at a cost. 

The strength of “I Am Kavi” is in narrating the Sri Lankan Civil War through a young person who still wants to be loved by her parents and be accepted by her peers. Ponweera does this effectively through the novel-in-verse format, which is like reading Kavi’s diary as she rationalizes her lies. Making flawed choices to fit in, like Kavi does, is part of growing up. Young readers may relate to Kavi and draw ties from the Sri Lankan Civil War to contemporary conflicts. — Y.S.

“The Hive and the Honey” written by Paul Yoon (Oct. 10, 2023)

Every once in a while, a short story collection comes along where each story shines like a perfectly polished pearl on a strand of gems, individually expertly crafted and collectively balanced and breathtaking. Paul Yoon’s “The Hive and the Honey” is one such collection, each piece of short fiction placing the reader in a gripping moment in a Korean diaspora character’s life. The diaspora in Yoon’s conception spans centuries and continents, from a community in rural Russia to North Korean defectors in the United Kingdom, to an ex-convict trying to make a new life in upstate New York.

In the titular story, a Russian policeman assigned to a small Korean settlement in Primorsky Krai struggles to exert his authority in the face of supernatural occurrences. In “At the Post Station,” a Japanese samurai in Edo period Japan is responsible for returning a Korean orphan to Korean emissaries. And in “Valley of the Moon,” a man displaced by the Korean War returns to his home on a mountain, where he lives in isolation until a fateful visitor arrives.

Yoon does a phenomenal job exploring his characters and themes with gorgeous prose and poignant narrative arcs. This is a collection to savor and a great one to try for delectable bite-sized fiction. — Kristin T. Lee

“If You’ll Have Me” by Eunnie (Oct. 17, 2023)

Illustrator Eunnie has created a warm sapphic graphic novel for young adults in “If You’ll Have Me.” The digital illustrations depict romance on a college campus as seen through characters dealing with roommates, missing lectures and borrowing notes, and coming across mutual friends in the cafeteria. The place also highlights a memorable time in the main characters’ lives: As young adults who are reinventing themselves in college, they are unsure of themselves and are grappling with past relationships, or lack of! 

One character, PG, has a reputation for being a player and not serious about relationships; Momo is the friend all her friends count on for everything, from reminders to use sunscreen to a shoulder to cry on. When the two meet, their past relationships get the best of them. Insecurities and miscommunication test the beginning of a sweet relationship between PG and Momo. 

The dialogue and texts between main characters effectively show how much they like each other but are hesitant. Eunnie’s illustrations are clear and engaging, with the characters’ expressions and gestures showing emotions they are too shy to say. While the story is predictable and relies on certain tropes, it is undeniably sweet and wholesome. Curl up with this graphic novel and a cup of hot cocoa for a cozy winter afternoon. — Y.S.

“Same Bed Different Dreams” written by Ed Park (Nov. 7, 2023)

In her seminal book “Minor Feelings,” Cathy Park Hong writes to the United States about Korea: “I am here because you vivisected my ancestral country in two…Don’t talk to me about gratitude.” That act of American hubris, cleaving a breathing country in half by slashing a pen across a map, fueled a war that technically hasn’t ended since South Korea never signed the Korean War Armistice. In “Same Bed Different Dreams,” Ed Park blends fact and fiction to explore this historical gap. What if the Korean Provisional Government (KPG), a government-in-exile organized by expat Koreans while Korea was under Japanese occupation during the first half of the 20th century, never disbanded, but instead has been working behind the scenes all these years to reunite Korea?

From this central conceit, Park’s novel spools out in a thousand directions. Structurally creative, “Same Bed Different Dreams” intersperses books-within-books to follow three different storylines. In the modern narrative, a tech company employee named Soon Sheen has been given a book named — not confusing at all — “Same Bed Different Dreams” by a mysterious Korean author named Echo. That book in turn is made up of numbered lists of significant or arcane historical events, directly or tangentially related to Korea. The final book follows a Korean War veteran and sci-fi author, Parker Jotter, as his books and life intersect with those of several other characters.

The sheer ambition of this work is admirable, as Park’s compulsively thorough research means the reader gets an incredible lesson on Korean history while also exploring fascinating trivia, from the background of President McKinley’s assassin to the travails of the Buffalo Sabres hockey team. There are 14-sided die-based drinking games, paper-eating dogs, typewriters, missing fingers, anagrams, and a boatload of real-life characters such as Korean President Syngman Rhee among the fictional ones. It’s zany, visionary, surreal, hilarious, imaginative, and absolutely serious about centering Korea’s history, which most Americans, including myself, were never taught in school, despite our country’s brazen meddling in Korea’s affairs. 

For lovers of inventive literary fiction and readers willing to trust the journey Park takes us on, the layers of meaning only slowly made apparent as more pieces fall into place near the end, “Same Bed Different Dreams” is an unforgettable ride. — K.T.L.

“Laolao’s Dumplings” written by Dane Liu and illustrated by Shinyeon Moon (Dec. 5, 2023)

For many Asian Americans, family and food are synonymous. Family gatherings aren’t the same without auntie’s sticky rice, uncle’s custard tarts, or — in Millie’s case — her grandma’s dumplings. In the new children’s book “Laolao’s Dumplings,” Millie and her Laolao (Mandarin for “maternal grandma”) connect over their love for homemade dumplings. 

“Laolao’s Dumplings” demonstrates how Laolao is passing down the tradition of community and care. While they’re out shopping for ingredients, Millie calls familiar vendors “auntie” and “uncle,” as she is taught by Laolao, which “makes our friends feel like family,” Millie says. The concept of community comes full circle when Millie leads the cooking process, and the vendors contribute gifts to care for an aging Laolao. 

As Millie observes physical changes in Laolao, the story skillfully and subtly addresses the reality of aging — in age-appropriate ways — and the resulting generational shift in who gives and receives care. The narrative and dialogue are simple and fitting for an early elementary audience, with more mature emotions and experiences relayed through the drawings. I could see parents pointing their children back to this book when they need to explain the aging of a loved one. 

Shinyeon Moon’s pastel-toned illustrations offer a touch of whimsy and playfulness to a somewhat common story. My daughter’s favorite page showed Millie gleefully eating fresh lychees while lychees with arms and legs danced throughout the scene. We also see smiling garlic chives sprouting graceful limbs and doughy dumplings with pillowy bellies and rosy cheeks. Neighborhood scenes show a wide range of family: interracial couples, queer couples, a father with a child, a woman with a dog. Moon clearly recognizes that representation matters.  

For many parents — and likely for writers and illustrators of similar books — this story reflects our own upbringing or the relationship we wish for our children. Regardless of generation and personal experience, “Laolao’s Dumplings” beautifully and sweetly reminds us that the gift of connection strengthens our family bonds, community, and sense of place. — Melody Ip

Cover Photo by Porapak Apichodilok/Pexels