PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
Dora Ho
Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association
dorah2005@gmail.com
For Immediate Release
January 27, 2020
2020 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature Winners Selected
PHILADELPHIA – The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), an affiliate of the American Library Association, has selected the winners of the 2020 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature (APAAL). The awards promote Asian/Pacific American culture and heritage and are awarded to titles published from October 2018 to September 2019 based on their literary and artistic merit.
There are five categories for the Awards. Each committee selected a winning title for the category. Here are the winners and honor titles of the 2020 Adult Literature Awards:
Adult Fiction
The APALA Adult Literature Fiction committee selected “The Atlas of Reds and Blues” by Devi Laskar, published by Counterpoint Press as the APALA Adult Fiction winner. The honor title is “On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong, published by Penguin Press.
Adult Non-Fiction
The Adult Non-Fiction winner is “Ghosts of Gold Mountain: The Epic Story of the Chinese Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad” by Gordon H Chang, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. The Adult Non-Fiction honor title is “Chop Suey Nation”, by Ann Hui, published by Douglas & McIntyre.
Young Adult Literature
The Asian/Pacific American Award for Young Adult Literature winner is “They Called Us Enemy” by George Takei, Justin Eisinger, Steven Scott, illustrated by Harmony Becker, published by Top Shelf Productions, an imprint of IDW Publishing. The committee selected one Young Adult Literature Honor title “Frankly in Love” by David Yoon published by G. P. Putnam’s Sons, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.
Children’s Literature
“Stargazing” by Jen Wang, published by First Second (Roaring Books Press) is the 2020 Asian/Pacific American Award for Children’s Literature winner. The committee selected one Children’s Literature Honor title, “I’m Ok” by Patti Kim, published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.
Picture Book
The Picture Book winner is “Queen of Physics: How Wu Chien Shiung Helped Unlock the Secrets of the Atom”, written by Teresa Robeson and illustrated by Rebecca Huang, published by Sterling Children’s Books. The committee selected one Picture Book Honor title “Bilal Cooks Daal”, written by Aisha Saeed and illustrated by Anoosha Syed, published by Salaam Reads / Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing.
Each award will be named and given a plaque during the annual APALA Literature Award Ceremony during the 2020 ALA Annual Conference and Exhibition in Chicago, IL.
For a complete list of Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature including adult fiction and nonfiction titles, please visit http://www.apalaweb.org/awards/literature-awards/ .
The 2020 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature committee includes Co-Chairs Dora Ho, Los Angeles Public Library, Los Angeles, California, Ven Basco, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, and Helen Look, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Adult Fiction Award Committee:
Chair: Jenny Yap, Berkeley City College, Berkeley, Calif.; Kristyn Dorman, The Nightingale-Bamford School, New York, New York; Tiffany Esteban, George A. Smathers Libraries, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida; Yumi Ohira, University of Texas Arlington Libraries, Arlington, Texas; Tinamarie Vella, Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY, New York.
Adult Non-Fiction Award Committee
Chair: Ammi Bui, University of Texas, San Antonio, Texas; Allan Cho, the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada, Jessica Koshi-Lum, Renton Technical College, Renton, Washington.
Young Adult Literature Award Committee:
Chair: Kathy Jung, San Diego County Library, Rancho Santa Fe, Calif,; Stephanie Akau, Library of Congress, Washington DC; Zoë McLaughlin, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan; Christina Nhek, Long Beach Public Library, Long Beach, Calif.; and Renee Roberson-Tecco, Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, Cincinnati, Ohio.
Children’s Literature Award Committee:
Chair: Katrina Nye, Kirkus, Issaquah, Washington; Camden Kimura, Palo Alto City Library, Palo Alto, Calif.; Hadeal Salamah, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC; Maria Shackles, Tacoma Public Library, Tacoma, Washington; and Hannah Lee Park, American University Library, Washington, DC.
Picture Book Award Committee:
Chair: Eugenia Beh, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass.; Lana Adlawan, Sonoma County Library, Santa Rosa, Calif.; Julia Wright, Alameda County Library, Fremont, Calif.; Amanda Chuong, Princeton Public Library, Princeton, NJ; and Shanna Kim, Los Angeles Public Library.
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The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) was founded in 1980 by librarians of diverse Asian/Pacific ancestries committed to working together toward a common goal: to create an organization that would address the needs of Asian/Pacific American librarians and those who serve Asian/Pacific American communities.
Publishers interested in submitting books for the 2020-2021 awards should contact Dora Ho, Jury Co-Chair, at dorah2005@gmail.com