Bookworm Celebrates AANHPI Heritage Month With Recommended Reads

For Arts Today, I’m Carl Erickson, Event and Community Outreach Coordinator at The Bookworm.

Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month is observed each May to honor the generations of Asian and Pacific Islanders who have shaped America’s history and continue to play a vital role in its future. While May has just wrapped up, it is never too late to continue celebrating with meaningful stories and powerful voices.

One standout is the new novel by bestselling author Lisa See, who brings post Civil War Los Angeles vividly to life in Daughters of the Sun and Moon. The story follows three Chinese women, Dove, Petal, and Moon, each shaped by different circumstances of class, tradition, and survival.

Dove is the bound footed daughter of an imperial scholar. Petal arrives in Gold Mountain after being sold into servitude by her peasant parents. Moon, married to a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, carries the lasting effects of a failed foot binding that diminishes her standing in society.

Set against the backdrop of the real life Night of Horrors, a little remembered but violent chapter in American history, their stories intersect through hardship, resilience, and unexpected friendship as they search for freedom and dignity.

Daughters of the Sun and Moon releases June 4, and The Bookworm is proud to present An Evening with Lisa See later this month.

Another powerful release is Mother Mary Comes to Me, the first memoir from Booker Prize winning author Arundhati Roy, known for The God of Small Things. The book is deeply personal, tracing Roy’s complex and formative relationship with her mother, Mary.

Roy writes with a rare intimacy, moving between child and adult perspectives, reflecting on how her mother shaped both her life and her identity as a writer. The memoir has been widely praised for its emotional depth, political clarity, and literary power.

Also featured is Kevin Nguyen’s novel My Documents, newly available in paperback. The story follows four Vietnamese American cousins whose lives are upended when a wave of violence and fear leads the U.S. government to detain Vietnamese Americans in internment camps.

Ursula, Alvin, Jen, and Duncan each find their paths diverging as the country descends into panic. Jen and Duncan are sent with their mother to Camp Tacoma, while Ursula and Alvin are spared through exemptions.

Inspired by real historical echoes, the novel examines racism, fear, and family through a lens that feels both unsettling and uncomfortably close to reality, balancing sharp social commentary with moments of humor and humanity.

More information on these titles, along with upcoming events for readers of all ages, is available at The Bookworm at 90th and Center Streets.

This has been Karl Erickson from The Bookworm for Arts Today on KVNO.