Asian-American Books

This book is a collection of poetry telling about Asian Americans in the U.S. It talks not only about their struggle to get here, but also famous Asian Americans that have been very important in our nation! It is an EXCELLENT book with beautiful illustrations that reflect both the culture and the emotion being displayed. I think that all children should read it and all Elementary Teachers should have a copy.

Below the Line is a collection of short stories that moves you. These are Character driven tales that accentuate the happenings of daily life. Sara Chin's narratives are richly detailed, and well told. Join her, as she takes you on a journey from small apartments in Chinatown to the grand estates of China.

Eujin Kim Neilan illustrates this classic Korean folk story of a grandfather who follows the old customs and practices the ancient art of kite-making. He tries to show his reluctant grandson how to make a kite, but Jinho is more interested in video games or skateboards - still, he participates. But will he await the arrival of the `best winds' to fly it?

The result of a year-long study by researchers at UCLA's Urban Planning Program, Beyond Asian American Poverty focuses on the needs and conditions of "invisible" Asian Americans - the working poor, the unemployed and those dependent on welfare. Using data gathered from these Asian American communities in Los Angeles, Beyond Asian American Poverty provides invaluable documentation of the obstacles facing this population as well as a framework to guide community economic development efforts in other cities. Its recommendations will challenge existing policies and enlighten the discussion on Asian Americans and their role in revitalizing America's inner cities.
--- from book's back cover

This book is how to remain a Knight & Gentleman and to pursue your Life Mission against all the odds of life.

Dr. Kiyota had a dream since boyhood to educate college students about the Western and Asian cultures & philosophies. He successfully achieved his mission by having been teaching for over 30 years as a professor and as a sensei. I am taking his class, "Kendo: Integration of Martial and Liberal Arts" and I am happy to have finally found my Sensei. There is a lot to learn from him as an open-mind and objective individual!!!

The book is full of documented facts, critical thoughts, and beautiful language. I have invested about 15 hours of concentrated reading with only 3 breaks: to sleep and to eat. In overall, Dr. Kiyota is the person one should meet in life and to shake his hand!!!

Simha Flapan who is an Israeli of the MAPAM party debunks some of the most common spewed out myths of how the state of Israel was founded. Using the documentary record and declassified diaries of David Ben Gurion, the truth behind what really happened becomes clear. A must for anyone who wants to know the roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This collection of short stories by Talat Abbasi is a contemporary classic. Set in Pakistan and New York, the stories deal with the lives of ordinary people - rich and poor, master and servant, husband and wife, parents and children. But there is nothing mundane about these stories. In the hands of a master story teller, the ordinary turns into the extraordinary to surprise the reader at every step and reveal the psychological and sociological complexities of people's lives. This collection is a first rate addition to the worldclass literature emanating from South Asian writers.
Rating: 5 stars.

I am so sorry to see that this title is out of print . . . I bought it in a small bookshop a few years ago, and it has haunted me ever since. It is about the Chinese in California's Central Valley who developed and lived in their own town: Locke. As the work subsided and the next generation grew up, they moved away one by one, until by now it is almost a ghost town. A few of the original Chinese founders remain, however, and the author has interviewed them as well as others he has tracked down. So, the book is a compilation of autobiographical sketches by the day laborers who were, if nothing else, most certainly over-worked and under-paid. As an oral history, it is unsurpassed in honor, honesty and sweat of the brow. Each interview is accompanied by photos; some are "then and now", and are most interesting! I hope this returns to print soon so we can all know the hard work and injustices that so many of our minorities lived with.

This trenchant edited volume dissects a series of critical events that, while prominent in the public realm, have yet to receive adequate attention from students of social and political affairs -- the explosive scandals that rocked many nations after public health officials became aware of HIV contamination of domestic and international blood supplies. These events represent not only a fascinating and tragic historical episode in their own right, but also provide a revealing window into the response of national leaders to symbolically and politically potent crises under conditions of uncertainty, anxiety, and fear.

The essays in this volume, all written by country experts and notable social scientists, examine the comparative response to the tainted blood crisis in eight advanced industrial democracies: Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States. The questions asked in the case studies, in the fine opening chapter by Bayer and Feldman, and in the excellent concluding chapter by Marmor, Dillon, and Scher include:

* Should national leaders have responded more quickly to the evidence that hemophiliacs and other blood transfusion recipients were becoming infected with HIV?

* What accounts for the differences and similarities among nations in the speed and character of the eventual response?

* Why did the tainted blood crisis become high political scandal in some nations -- such as France -- and not others, especially since the severity of the scandals does not seem to correlate directly with the speed and effectiveness of national leaders' responses?

* What does this historical episode tell us about the influence of political institutions on policy outcomes? And what does it say about the relative performance of different national blood products regimes? Did it matter, for example, whether donors were paid or not, or whether nations were self-sufficient with regard to blood products rather than importing them from abroad?

* What was the process through which hemophiliac groups and other affected parties came to see their greivances as legal and political claims against their governments and, at times, against the very organizations that had once represented them?

* How can such tragedies be prevented in the future?

This is, in short, a vital book for all those interested in this important chapter in the history of the AIDs tragedy, as well as for those who wish to learn more about how nations with very different cultures and political institutions respond to a common medical disaster.

A wonderful collection of articles about the Chinese Americans of Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange County, Riverside, and even Mexicali. The history is supplemented by wonderful oral histories of the famous and infamous, as well as ordinary people. A really dynamic album by a grassroots historical society.