Zoe Tran is living her best life, designing plus-size lingerie for her clothing boutique, when her college best friend Derek Bui offers a tantalizing chance to recapture a forgotten dream: designing costumes for the musical they created together years ago. Derek has loved Zoe since freshman year but never confessed his true feelings. Now he’s directing the Vietnamese Cinderella rock musical they dreamed up in college — the first production with an all-Asian cast and creative team. If they can make it work, they’ll head to Broadway. But his real goal: to get Zoe back in his life.

A proud demisexual, Zoe only ever saw Derek as her best friend, but working together brings them closer than ever, causing sparks to fly. But when the theater’s artistic director pressures Derek to make the musical “less Asian,” he and Zoe clash on whether to stay true to their vision or compromise to keep the production alive. Will Zoe and Derek finally let love take center stage or will their creative differences close the curtains on them forever?

Seventeen-year-old Ridhi believes in magic and yearns to belong to the enchanted forest kingdom of yakshas, woodland spirits drawn from Hindu and Buddhist folklore. On the other hand, Nilesh is a skeptic searching to escape from the realization that his parents’ marriage is a sham. The two former friends reluctantly reconnect when a yakshini offers Nilesh the distraction of magic, the same magic he mocked Ridhi for believing in. 

Furious, Ridhi strikes a bargain with a noblewoman named Sulochana. In exchange for helping restore her reputation, Sulochana will turn Ridhi into a yakshini and teach her to divine the trees’ murmurs. But when Nilesh ends up trapped in the yakshas’ realm, Ridhi realizes the leaves might be telling a disturbing story about the forest her heart is rooted in — one that, even if the two of them band together, threatens to shred the future like so many thorns.

Julie Wu and Randall Hur used to be best friends, but a fateful incident tore apart their grandmothers’ — and ultimately, their families’ — tight friendship. Now, their only interactions involve shooting each other spiteful glances at the Pasadena Farmers Market where their families are food vendors. 

When a school project forces the two high schoolers to work together, warm memories from their childhood surface, breaking down the icy wall between them. The once-platonic friendship evolves into more as they go to lengths to avoid the wrath of their family members, who would surely disapprove. But just as the two are hopeful that they can reveal their secret romance and restore their families’ broken relationship, the connection is torn apart. 

Can their families look beyond past hurts and accusations in celebration of Julie and Randall’s love for one another? Set in the Year of the Dragon, an auspicious time to start anew, this novel highlights the loyalty and unbreakable bonds of family, irresistible first loves, and second chances.

After seven months on their own as undocumented immigrants, the Lin siblings have settled into their new lives in California. Jia-Xi (Jesse) has a new job, Ke-Gang (Jason) has a new crush, and Feng-Li (Ann) is excited to celebrate her 11th birthday with her new friends. Their parents still await visa approval in Taiwan, so the trio is trying to take better care of one another and stay under the radar of immigration authorities. When their stuck-up cousin Josephine arrives with her privilege and demands, suddenly their world is turned around. Will they have to give up the life they worked so hard to achieve?

“Outsider Kids,” the second book in the Parachute Kids series, speaks directly to kids and will be relatable to anyone who has ever felt different or alone. With beautiful full-color art throughout the entire book, the siblings jump off the page and come alive with problems and experiences that resonate with young readers. 

This warm-hearted picture book, created by a husband-and-wife duo, follows a single immigrant mother and her daughter, So-hee, who is struggling with allergies and making friends. She’s often picked last for school teams and feels the pain of being an outsider and of not fitting in. But when So-Hee encounters a big yellow snake named Lowy and brings him home to be her pet, she discovers the friendship she’s been dreaming about. Written with humor and warmth, this book highlights the ways friendship opens up our worlds in marvelous, unexpected ways, and connects us with a community that has always been in front of us. 

From the first page, “Don’t Cause Trouble,” inspired by the author Arree Chung’s life, immediately resonates with many children of immigrants who struggle to create an identity for themselves and who fight to be understood by their parents, even over something as simple as a haircut. Ming Lee wants a fresh start in middle school, but immediately feels self-conscious with his bowl haircut and thrifted clothes. On top of that, he is placed in ESL but doesn’t explain to his teacher that English is all he speaks. 

To survive, Ming befriends two other kids who are also children of immigrants, finding some solidarity in their experiences. Together, they navigate assimilation and acceptance while being raised by parents who are struggling to adapt to a new culture. At the same time, the characters wrestle with feeling protective of and loyal to their family and culture. One of the scenes that encapsulates this dichotomy is when Ming’s mother, a cleaner for an apartment complex, is harassed by a tenant. Ming defends his mother, only to get her fired. This rage leads to an incident that brings shame to Ming and his family and also threatens to tear apart his friendships. 

Chung’s ability to combine humor and the heart-wrenching experiences of not only teenagers, but teens of immigrants, makes this a graphic novel that will reflect the desire of many readers to fit in and be seen. It also showcases parental sacrifices and acts of love that often go unnoticed by children, as well as the hope that our authentic selves can be accepted and celebrated.