Frankly in Love by David Yoon

Frankly in Love tells the story of Frank Li, a Korean-American, who feels disconnected from his Korean heritage. Despite this, his parents still expect him to only date Korean girls, but Frank has fallen in love with Brit, who is white. Frank's friend, Joy Song, also has a similar problem with managing her parent's expectations of only dating Korean boys while she is dating someone who is Chinese. Together, Frank and Joy hatch a plan to fake-date each other to fool their parents and to allow them to follow their hearts. What could go wrong? [Content Warning: Mature language and at least one instance of mature subject matter]

David Yoon is married to novelist Nicola Yoon, the author of Everything, Everything and The Sun Is Also a Star. Frankly in Love was a William C. Morris Award finalist, an APALA Honour Book, and a Junior Library Guild Selection.

Have you ever had any expectations placed upon you about dating and race?

Patron Saints of Nothing by Randy Ribay

Patron Saints of Nothing tells the story of Jay Reguero, a Filipino-American high school senior, who learns that his cousin was murdered in the Philippines due to President Duteurte's war on drugs. Desperate for answers, Jay travels back to the Philippines where he uncovers a tangled web of family secrets, immigrant identity, and his own unknowing role in the fate of his cousin. [Content Warning: Mature themes and mature language]

Randy Ribay holds a Master's Degree from Harvard Graduate School of Education and currently teaches English while living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Patron Saints of Nothing has received numerous awards including being a National Book Award Finalist, an NPR Best Book of the Year, and a NBC News Best Asian American Young Adult Book of the Year.

How has your family helped you shape your identity?

I'm OK by Patti Kim

I'm Ok tells the story of Ok Lee, a Korean-American middle school student who recently lost his father. With his mother working three jobs, he knows that it is also his responsibility to find money for his family. Between starting a hairbraiding business for the girls at his school and entering the school's talent show, which has a big cash prize, Ok must also find the time to protect his mother from the advances of a particularly annoying deacon at his family's church.

Patti Kim immigrated to the United States from Busan, South Korea when she as just four-years-old. She holds an MFA and is the author of the picture book Here I Am as well as I'm Ok and its sequel. I'm Ok is an APALA Honor Book and has been selected as a New York Public Library Best Book for Kids.

How do you help your family?

David Tung Can't Have a Girlfriend until He Gets Into an Ivy League College by Ed Lin

David Tung Can't Have a Girlfriend Until He Gets Into an Ivy League College tells the story of David Tung, a high school student who dreams of getting into an Ivy League college and becoming a doctor later in life. However, his strictly scheduled life of studying, working at his family's Chinese restraunt, and attending Chinese school on the weekends is turned upside down when Christina Tau asks him to a dance. David can handle school, but he does not know how to handle his strict mother who forbids him to have a girlfriend until he gets into an Ivy League college. [Content Warning: mature themes and mature language]

Ed Lin is a journalist by trade and is of Taiwanese and Chinese descent. His previous publications have won multiple Members' Choice Awards in the Asian American Literary Awards. David Tung is his first YA Novel.

What do your parents think of dating while in high school?

The Astonishing Colour of After by Emily Pan

The Astonishing Colour of After tells the story of Leigh Chen Sanders who must reconcile with her mother's suicide. Convinced that her mother has turned into a bird, Leigh visits Taiwan, and her maternal grandparents, for the first time to explore her mother's history and her family's story. Leigh's grief takes the reader on a journey through family, love, and loss as Leigh must figure out the difference between what is magic and what is real.

Emily X.R. Pan is of Chinese and Taiwanese descent. Her website states that she plays bluegrass mandolin, teaches yoga, and, until recently, thought she hated Reese's peanut butter cups. The Astonishing Colour of After won the ALPA Honor Award, the Walter Honor Award, and was long-listed for the Carneige Medal.

How have you dealt with grief in the past?

Eyes that Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho

Joanna Ho has written a brilliant book celebrating her Asian heritage, Eyes that Kiss in the Corners. The daughter of immigrants from Taiwan and China, Ho describes the book to Publishers Weekly as, "[not] just a story about physical appearances, but a story of how appearances are passed down and what they can represent: family, history, culture, relationships, love.” The text is poetic and empowering.

Write your own poem about what you love about your heritage.

Tired by Cleo Wade

What are the lessons that have been passed down to you? Explore those lessons in the form of a poem.

All Dogs Go to Heaven by Nikki Wallschlaeger

“Nikki Wallschlaeger’s is the author of the full-length collections Houses (Horseless Press, 2015) and Crawlspace (Bloof Books, 2017), as well as the graphic book I Hate Telling You How I Really Feel (Bloof Books, 2019) and an artist book Operation USA, through the Baltimore based book arts group Container (a project acquired by Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee). Her work has been featured in the Nation, Brick, American Poetry Review, Witness, Kenyon Review, and others. A recent transplant from Milwaukee, she now calls the Driftless region of Wisconsin her home.” - from American Life in Poetry

Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou

“Maya Angelou, an inspirational American poet, crafted a poem from a child’s perspective about all the frightening things in her world. Although this poem showcases many things that frighten a child, the greater theme in this poem is that no matter the obstacles we face in life, we can overcome them. The repetition of “life doesn’t frighten me at all” reinforces that theme.” - from family friend poems

Compliments of Shakespeare By Laura Mucha

A poem inspired by Shakespeare’s colourful insults. When foul language needn't be so foul. Laura Mucha - in her own words - I’m an ex-lawyer turned award-winning poet, author and children’s advocate. Some of my writing is funny (or at least I hope it is…), but some is serious and addresses important things that aren’t always talked about. I often think about how we live and what we can do to make our lives, and the lives of others, a little bit better. My writing has won multiple international awards and been featured on TV, radio and public transport, as well as in hospitals, hospices, prisons, books, magazines and newspapers around the world, including virtually every newspaper in the UK. My books include Rita’s Rabbit, Dear Ugly Sisters, Being Me, and We Need to Talk About Love / Love Factually (which Richard Curtis describes as ‘much better and more useful than my film’). I’m currently working on several books for children and adults (due to be published by Walker, Nosy Crow, Bloomsbury and Audible). When not writing, I spend my time visiting schools around the world, teaching creative writing and working with organisations such as the such as the National Literacy Trust, Royal Society of Medicine and UNICEF to try to improve the lives of children.

When the Teeth of the Gears Meet… by Raoul Fernandes

Hailing from Vancouver, Raoul Fernandes won the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 2016 for his debut collection of poems, Transmitter and Receiver. His early childhood was spent in Dubai, U.A.E., which he has spoken of being influential through the “sparseness of the desert landscape, the tension between the many groups of people there. The muezzin chanting in the evenings.” He moved to Tsawwassen in 1993, where he was led to poetry through music. His poem, “When the Teeth of the Gears Meet” confronts the mechanistic nature of our lives and interactions, and a desire to escape.

Words That Make Me Smile by Laura Mucha

Funny poem about sounds. Laura Mucha - in her own words - I’m an ex-lawyer turned award-winning poet, author and children’s advocate. Some of my writing is funny (or at least I hope it is…), but some is serious and addresses important things that aren’t always talked about. I often think about how we live and what we can do to make our lives, and the lives of others, a little bit better. My writing has won multiple international awards and been featured on TV, radio and public transport, as well as in hospitals, hospices, prisons, books, magazines and newspapers around the world, including virtually every newspaper in the UK. My books include Rita’s Rabbit, Dear Ugly Sisters, Being Me, and We Need to Talk About Love / Love Factually (which Richard Curtis describes as ‘much better and more useful than my film’). I’m currently working on several books for children and adults (due to be published by Walker, Nosy Crow, Bloomsbury and Audible). When not writing, I spend my time visiting schools around the world, teaching creative writing and working with organisations such as the such as the National Literacy Trust, Royal Society of Medicine and UNICEF to try to improve the lives of children.

Travel By Book by Laura Mucha

Laura Mucha - in her own words - I’m an ex-lawyer turned award-winning poet, author and children’s advocate. Some of my writing is funny (or at least I hope it is…), but some is serious and addresses important things that aren’t always talked about. I often think about how we live and what we can do to make our lives, and the lives of others, a little bit better. My writing has won multiple international awards and been featured on TV, radio and public transport, as well as in hospitals, hospices, prisons, books, magazines and newspapers around the world, including virtually every newspaper in the UK. My books include Rita’s Rabbit, Dear Ugly Sisters, Being Me, and We Need to Talk About Love / Love Factually (which Richard Curtis describes as ‘much better and more useful than my film’). I’m currently working on several books for children and adults (due to be published by Walker, Nosy Crow, Bloomsbury and Audible). When not writing, I spend my time visiting schools around the world, teaching creative writing and working with organisations such as the such as the National Literacy Trust, Royal Society of Medicine and UNICEF to try to improve the lives of children.

Why I Hate Raisins by Natalie Diaz

Natalie Diaz is a female American Latina and Mojave Poet. Her poem “WHY I HATE RAISINS” is about reconciliation and the postcolonial legacy. It tells the story of raisins and their connection to her mother and herself. What is a moment in your life where you have made a realization that changed your perspective?

You are in the dark, in the car... by Claudia Rankine

Citizen by Claudia Rankine is a mixed media book. A collection of poetry, images and other art. She examines the Black experience from the second person, along with an updating list of names for the Black lives lost due to police brutality. “You are in the dark, in the car...” puts us in the perspective of a Black American living life in vignettes separated with a slash. Write a scenario using the second person about a personal experience.

Just one by Laura Mucha

For the love of poetry

Ode to Chopsticks by Fiona Tinwei Lam

Fiona Tinwei Lam is the current City of Vancouver Poet Laureate and an literacy advocate. A former lawyer, she has authored children’s books, published her work in over 40 anthologies and been selected three times for BC’s Poetry in Transit.

Her work is memorable and authentic, highlighting her concerns for the world in which we live and the value of a distinct perspective.

What are the lessons that have been passed down to you? Explore those lessons in the form of a poem.

Reading by Jacqueline Woodson

There are all sorts of different types of ways to read. Speed reading. Close reading. Reading for school. Reading for fun. Silent reading and reading aloud. In the poem, Reading, by Jacqueline Woodson, we learn about a girl who loves to take her time, reading a book over and over, to savour the story.

Jacqueline Woodson, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, is one of America’s most respected children’s poets. The author of numerous picture books and verse novels, she served as the poet laureate of the United States, traveling across the country to read and write with children.

Write a poem about the type of reader you are. How do you consume books? How do you absorb stories?

How Do I Know When A Poem Is Finished by Naomi Shihab Nye

It can be hard to decide when to stop editing and changing a piece of writing and trust that it’s ready for readers to see! In How Do I Know When A Poem Is Finished, writer Naomi Shihab Nye imagines a poem is like a room and wonders when you should stop decorating the room and leave it alone.

Palestinian-American poet Naomi Shihab Nye has been publishing poems for children and adults for over forty years. She writes and teaches in San Antonio, Texas.

Answer the question in the poem’s title. How do YOU know when a poem (or another piece of writing) is finished? When do you stop editing and share it with readers?

Ramadan by Kazim Ali

April 2 is the first day of the Muslim holy month of fasting.

From the Quran, "The month of Ramadan is that in which was revealed the Quran; a guidance for mankind, and clear proofs of the guidance, and the criterion (of right and wrong). And whosoever of you is present, let him fast the month, and whosoever of you is sick or on a journey, a number of other days. Allah desires for you ease; He desires not hardship for you; and that you should complete the period, and that you should magnify Allah for having guided you, and that perhaps you may be thankful."

Poet, editor, and prose writer Kazim Ali was born in the United Kingdom to Muslim parents of Indian descent and has lived transnationally in the United States, Canada, India, France, and the Middle East. He earned a BA and MA from the University at Albany-SUNY and an MFA from New York University.