Fighting to Belong! Volume 1: Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander History from the 1700s Through the 1800s by Amy Chu and Alexander Chang illustrated by Louie Chin

“Why aren’t there more books that introduce AANHPI history to students?”

Sammy, Tiana, Joe and Padmini have a school project due on AAPI history and get lucky when Tiana’s neighbor, Kenji, agrees to give them a special tour of their local American History museum.  It turns out Kenji is not only deeply knowledgeable about Asian American and Pacific Islander history, he also has a few tricks up his sleeve which enable time travel.  

First stop is St. Malo, Louisiana where the crew learns about the Manilamen and their settlement in the American South over two hundred years ago.  Next is the Chinese American history of California, followed by the colonization of Hawai’i and an explanation of the term “Pacific Islander.”  

All told, the full-color comic is slim and fast-paced at 28 pages and followed by a 10 page curriculum guide and an afterword by Norman Chen who begins with the question “Why aren’t there more books that introduce AANHPI history to students?” 

The book may feel a bit didactic to casual readers but teachers will certainly cheer and eagerly anticipate the promised future volumes.  Overall this book is indispensable to educators of 5th  through 7th  graders.--Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Chang, Alexander, and Amy Chu.  Fighting to Belong Vol. 1.  San Francisco:  Third State Books, 2024.

Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present by Adrienne Keene, illustrated by Ciara Sana

Did you know that Billy Frank Jr. was arrested for fishing as an act of civil disobedience?  That tattooing has been part of Inuit culture for millennia?  That Lili’uokalani was the first woman to rule Hawai’i and the last sovereign monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom before the US illegally overthrew the monarchy?  That baller Kyrie Irving has been “welcomed home” by the Lakota Sioux?  

This book about 50  “notable natives” interweaves historical context with short sections on topics like “settler colonialism 101,”  “whose land are you on?” and  “who belongs?”   

Highly accessible short biographies of 2-4 paragraphs each,  and portraits of the 50 subjects make this book a good choice for readers at middle school level or above.  Students will likely find something to whet their appetite to learn more,  and the index makes topics,  locations,  as well as biographical subjects easy to find.  --Jessica Fenster-Sparber

Keene, Adrienne.  Illustrated by Ciara Sana.  Notable Native People: 50 Indigenous Leaders, Dreamers, and Changemakers from Past and Present. New York: Ten Speed Press, 2021.  Print.