Maia Shibutani

This anthology contains brief biographies of 36 historical and contemporary Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) who have made lasting impacts in fields such as architecture, film, literature, music, and more.

There was a lot I liked about this book, including the diversity of the folks included. I could easily see two athletes turned authors focusing only on sports and literature, but that was not the case. There's also demographic diversity, with people from a variety of ethnic backgrounds (e.g., Hmong, Korean, Samoan, etc.), AAPI folks who have mixed heritages (i.e., Black and Asian), and people of various abilities, including physical disabilities.

Some of these folks I had never heard of before, even I recognized their contributions. Others I didn't realize were of Asian descent, having never seen their faces associated with their work. (An example of the former is Iwao Takamato, an animator who worked on Disney and Hanna Barbera properties. An example of the latter is Robert Lopez, a musician who composed "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen, among other things.) So, I definitely appreciated that aspect of this book.

The book is organized loosely by keeping people with similar contributions and/or professions together so that politicians Tammy Duckworth and Kamala Harris share a page while authors Viet Thanh Nguyen and Min Jin Lee are combined on another page. This makes for some interesting page spreads, but the chronology is definitely a mess as a result and sometimes certain topics, such as sports, are revisited pages apart so it doesn't always make the most sense.

I also thought the book was lacking for not having an introduction beyond the inner book flap, which many readers might ignore. It just jumps right into describing one person after another (and oddly enough referring to them by first name as if the authors and/or readers are pals with the featured personages). I think the authors' notes at the end of the book are lovely, well-written reasons why this book is needed for representation, and one or both of these would have served as a perfect introduction.

The illustrations are interesting, but I'm not sure I love the style. They can be very brightly colorful and eye-catching at times, but other times they seem to be a bit lacking. I don't love, for instance, how all three of the politicians featured are seen as almost passively waving a hand as though that's all politicians could possibly do. Some of the faces, such as that of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (on the top left of the cover as well as in an interior page), have their illustrated eyes lifted in a way that almost looks like the person is rolling their eyes. The overall effect of the illustrations is a mixed bag for me.

However, on the whole, this book is a worthwhile contribution to a classroom, home, public, or school library. I'm sure it will be trotted out for AAPI Heritage Month, but it's worth looking at year round.… (meer)

* I got this book for review from the publisher*

I thought this was adorable read. I loved that it was tied to the tokyo olympics. I also really enjoyed the game element that was featured. I also thought this book would be prefect for younger readers. I also really enjoyed how the book focused on friendship, brother and sisters realtionships and also loved how it explored the city of toyko. I loved how the mystery was connected to the games and found it super cute. I would def read more of this series in the future. Def a fun read and if you have kids that love games or the games in general, def a solid read.… (meer)

* I got this book for review from the publisher*

I thought this was adorable read. I loved that it was tied to the tokyo olympics. I also really enjoyed the game element that was featured. I also thought this book would be prefect for younger readers. I also really enjoyed how the book focused on friendship, brother and sisters realtionships and also loved how it explored the city of toyko. I loved how the mystery was connected to the games and found it super cute. I would def read more of this series in the future. Def a fun read and if you have kids that love games or the games in general, def a solid read.… (meer)