Winner of the ALA Asian/Pacific American Award for Nonfiction
"Captivating... [a] heartfelt account of how newcomers carve a space for themselves in the melting pot of America."
—Publishers Weekly
A first-generation immigrant's "intimate, passionate look at race in America" (Viet Thanh Nguyen), an American's journey into the heart of not-whiteness.
At the age of 12, Sharmila Sen emigrated from India...

Within hours of the attacks on the World Trade Center, misdirected assaults on Sikhs and other South Asians flared on streets across the nation, serving as harbingers of a more suspicious, less discerning, and increasingly fearful world view that would drastically change ideas of belonging and acceptance in America. Weaving together distinct strands of recent South Asian immigration to the United States, Uncle Swami creates a richly textured analysis...

After realizing her freshman boyfriend is wasting her time and refuses to put a label on their relationship, college freshman Maya decides to reclaim her life but does not have a lot of confidence in romance, so she is not thrilled that her co-planner on the Holi planning committee is the heartthrob Nishanti Rai, especially since their visions (and personalities) do not match.

Indian-American teenager Samantha Mishra, her best friend Mel Sharpe, and the other members of the Drake Rosemont Academy fencing team are on their way to Tokyo when their plane crashes on a jungle-choked island, so while they hope for rescue, the teens will need to use all their ingenuity to survive the jungle, the old man who is stalking them--and each other.

This anthology examines the multiple facets of daughterhood in South Asian American families. The voices in this volume reveal how a Good Girl is trained to seamlessly blend professional success with the maintenance and reproduction of her family's cultural heritage. Her gratitude for her immigrant parents' sacrifices creates intense pressure to perform and embody the role of the "perfect daughter." Yet, the demand for such perfection can stifle desire,...