Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature

For more information about the Asian Pacific American Librarians Association, sponsor of this award, click here.

2017
Adult Fiction
Winner: The leavers by Lisa Ko
Honor: The refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Adult Non-Fiction
Winner: Asianfail : narratives of disenchantment and the model minority by Eleanor Ty
Honor: The long afterlife of Nikkei wartime incarceration by Karen M. Inouye

Young Adult
Winner: It's not like it's a secret by Misa Sugiura
Honor: Saints & misfits by S. K. Ali

Children's
Winner: Step up to the plate, Maria Singh by Uma Krishnaswami
Honor: Cilla Lee-Jenkins : future author extraordinaire by Susan Tan,‎ illustrated by Dana Wulfekotte

Picture Book
Winner: A different pond written by Bao Phi, illustrated by Thi Bui
Honor: The Nian monster written by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Alina Chau

2016
Adult Fiction
Winner: Deceit and other possibilities : stories by Vanessa Hua
Honor: The fortunes by Peter Ho Davies

Adult Non-Fiction
Winner: Picture bride stories by Barbara Kawakami
Honor: Changing season : a father, a daughter, a family farm by Mas and Nikko Masumoto

Young Adult
Winner: Outrun the moon by Stacey Lee
Honor: Watched by Marina Budhos

Children's
Winner: The land of forgotten girls by Erin Entrada Kelly
Honor: Momotaro Xander and the lost island of monsters by Margaret Dilloway

Picture Book
Winner: Puddle by Hyewon Yum

2015
Adult Fiction
Winner: The sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen
Honor: Don't let him know : a novel in stories by Sandip Roy

Adult Non-Fiction
Winner: The making of Asian America : a history by Erika Lee
Honor: From Canton Restaurant to Panda Express : a history of Chinese food in the United States by Haiming Liu; The good immigrants : how the yellow peril became the model minority by Madeline Y. Hsu

Young Adult
Winner: P.S. I still love you by Jenny Han
Honor: Ink and ashes by Valynne E. Maetani

Children's
Winner: Full cicada moon by Marilyn Hilton
Honor: Blackbird fly by Erin Entrada Kelly

Picture Book
Winner: Juna's Jar by Jane Bahk ; illustrated by Felicia Hoshino
Honor: Drum dream girl : how one girl's courage changed music by Margarita Engle ; illustrated by Rafael López

2014
Adult Fiction
Winner: Everything I never told you : a novel by Celeste Ng
Honor: The Sleepwalker's guide to dancing by Mira Jacob

Adult Non-Fiction
Winner: Dubious gastronomy : the cultural politics of eating Asian in the USA by Robert Ji-Song Ku
Honor: Big little man : in search of my Asian self by Alex Tizon

Young Adult
Winner: Tiger girl : a novel by May-Lee Chai
Honor: The shadow hero by Gene Luen Yang ; illustrated by Sonny Liew

Children's
Winner: Gaijin : American prisoner of war : a graphic novel by Matt Faulkner
Honor: Ting Ting by Kristie Hammond

Picture Book
Winner: Hana Hashimoto, sixth violin by Chieri Uegaki ; illustrated by Qin Leng
Honor: Father's Chinese opera by Rich Lo

2013
Adult Fiction
Winner: A tale for the time being by Ruth Ozeki
Honor: The gods of heavenly punishment by Jennifer Cody Epstein

Adult Non-Fiction
Winner: Citizens of Asian America : democracy and race during the Cold War by Cindy I-Fen Cheng
Honor: Garden of the world : Asian immigrants and the making of agriculture in California's Santa Clara Valley by Cecilia M. Tsu

Picture Book
Winner: Red kite, blue kite by Ji-li Jiang ; illustrated by Greg Ruth
Honor: Barbed wire baseball by Marissa Moss ; illustrated by Yuko Shimizu

Children's Literature
Winner: The thing about luck by Cynthia Kadohata ; illustrated by Julia Kuo
Honor: The Vine basket by Josanne La Valley

Young Adult Literature
Winner: Jet Black and the ninja wind by Leza Lowitz and Shogo Oketani   
Honor: Gadget Girl : the art of being invisible by Suzanne Kamata

2012
Picture Book
Winner: Good fortune in a wrapping cloth by Joan Schoettler ; illustrated by Jessica Lanan
Honor: A path of stars by Anne O'Brien Sibley

Children's Literature
Winner: Chengli and the silk road caravan by Hildi Kang
Honor: The Shark King : a Toon book by R. Kikuo Johnson

Young Adult Literature
Winner: Tina's mouth : an existential comic diary by Keshni Kashyap
Honor: Ichiro by Ryan Inzana

Adult Fiction
Winner: The collective : a novel by Don Lee
Honor: Drifting house by Krys Lee

Adult Non-Fiction
Winner : The third Asiatic invasion empire and migration in Filipino America, 1898-1946 by Rick Baldoz
Honor: Forbidden citizens : Chinese exclusion and the U.S. Congress : a legislative history by Martin B. Gold

2011
Picture Book
Winner: The house Baba built : an artist's childhood in China by Ed Young
Honor: Hot, hot roti for Dada-ji by F. Zia ; illustrated by Ken Min

Children's Literature
Winner: The great wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang
Honor: Vanished by Sheela Chari

Young Adult Literature
Winner: Orchards by Holly Thompson
Honor: Level up by Gene Luen Yang ; illustrated by Thien Pham

Adult Fiction
Winner: The submission by Amy Waldman
Honor: Leche : a novel by R. Zamora Linmark

Adult Non-Fiction
Winner: The woman who could not forget : Iris Chang before and beyond The rape of Nanking by Ying-Ying Chang
Honor: The Bangladeshi diaspora in the United States after 9/11 : from obscurity to high visibility by Shafiqur Rahman

2010
Picture Book
Winner: Yasmin's Hammer by Ann Malaspina ; illustrated by Doug Chayka
Honor: Fly free! by Roseanne Thong ; illustrated by Eujin Kim Neilan

Children's Literature
Winner: Heart of a samurai : based on the true story of Manjiro Nakahama by Margi Preus
Honor: Bamboo people by Mitali Perkins

Young Adult Literature
Winner: Shooting Kabul by N. H. Senzai
Honor: A boy of Heart Mountain by Barbara Bazaldua ; illustrated by Willie Ito

Adult Fiction
Winner: I Hotel by Karen Tei Yamashita
Honor: Bitter in the mouth by Monique Truong

Adult Non-Fiction
Winner: Angel Island : immigration gateway to America by Erika Lee and Judy Yung
Honor: Charlie Chan : the untold story of the honorable detective and his rendezvous with American history by Yunte Huang; You have given me a country by Neela Vaswani

2009
Adult Fiction
Winner: Hotel on the corner of bitter and sweet : a novel by Jamie Ford
Honor: Shanghai girls : a novel by Lisa See

Adult Non-Fiction
Winner: American Chinatown : a people's history of five neighborhoods by Bonnie Tsui
Honor: Japanese American resettlement : through the lens by Lane Ryo Hirabayashi

Picture Book
Winner: Cora cooks pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore ; illustrated by Kristi Valiant
Honor: Tan to tamarind : poems about the color brown by Michelle Iyengar Malathi ; illustrated by Jamel Akib

Youth Literature
Winner: Everything Asian by Sung J. Woo
Honor: Tofu quilt by Ching Yeung Russell

2008
Adult Fiction
Winner: Unaccustomed earth by Jhumpa Lahiri
Honor: Steer toward rock by Fae Myenne Ng

Adult Non-Fiction
Winner: The fortune cookie chronicles : adventures in the world of Chinese food by Jennifer 8 Lee
Honor: The eaves of heaven : a life in three wars by Andrew X. Pham; The latehomecomer : a Hmong family memoir by Kao Kalia Yang

Picture Book
Winner: Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein ; illustrated by Ed Young
Honor: Monsoon afternoon by Kashmira Sheth ; illustrated by Yoshiko Jaeggi

Youth Literature
Winner: Roots and wings by Many Ly
Honor: 1001 cranes by Naomi Hirahara; Good enough by Paula Yoo

2007
Adult Non-Fiction
Winner: Driven out : the forgotten war against Chinese Americans by Jean Pfaelzer
Honor: Bento box in the heartland : my Japanese girlhood in whitebread America by Linda Furiya

Picture Book
Winner: Surfer of the century : the life of Duke Kahanamoku by Ellie Crowe ; illustrated by Richard Waldrep
Honor: Hiromi's hands by Lynne Barasch

Youth Literature
Winner: Hiroshima Dreams by Kelly Easton-Ruben
Honor: Keeping corner by Kashmira Sheth

2006
Adult Fiction
Winner: Brothers : a novel by Da Chen
Honor: Color of the sea by John Hamamura

Picture Book
Winner: The legend of Hong Kil Dong, the Robin Hood of Korea by Anne Sibley O'Brien
Honor: Brothers by Yin ; illustrated by Chris Soentpiet

Youth Literature
Winner: Nothing but the truth : (and a few white lies) by Justina Chen
Honor: The year of the dog : a novel by Grace Lin

2005
Adult Literature
Winner: Aloft by Chang-rae Lee
Honor: Snow flower and the secret fan : a novel by Lisa See; Saving fish from drowning by Amy Tan

Picture Book
Winner: The firekeeper's son by Linda Sue Park ; illustrated by Julie Downing
Honor: Bread song by Frederick Lipp ; illustrated by Jason Gaillard; Sixteen years in sixteen seconds : the Sammy Lee story by Paula Yoo ; illustrated by Dom Lee

Youth Literature
Winner: Kira-kira by Cynthia Kadohata
Honor: Project Mulberry : a novel by Linda Sue Park; Shanghai messenger by Andrea Cheng ; illustrated by Ed Young

2001
Adult Fiction Award: Life of Pi : a novel by Yann Martel

Children's Illustrator Award
Winner: Apple pie 4th of July by Janet S. Wong ; illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine
Honor: Tanuki's gift : a Japanese tale by Tim Myer ; illustrated by Robert Roth; Coolies by Yin ; illustrated by Chris Soentpiet

Children and Young Adult Author Award
Winner: A step from heaven by Na An
Honor: Born confused by Tanuja Desai Hidier; Beacon Hill boys by Ken Mochizuki; A single shard by Linda Sue Park