AAJA: Asian American Journalists Association


2010 Authors' Showcase

2010 AUTHORS' SHOWCASE
DISCOVERING THE AUTHOR WITHIN:
WRITING PUBLISHING AND PROMOTING
THURSDAY, AUGUST 5
PANEL: 10 - 11 AM, ELYSIAN PARK, 3RD FLOOR
BOOK SIGNING: 11:30 AM - 1 PM | GRAND BALLROOM, 5TH FLOOR
Get practical advice on pitching your idea for a book, finding an agent and interesting things about doing a book you never expected.
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SECRET IDENTITIES: THE ASIAN AMERICAN SUPERHEROES ANTHOLOGY
EDITED BY JEFF YANG, PARRY SHEN, KEITH CHOW AND JERRY MA
(THE NEW PRESS)
In "Secret Identities", editors Jeff Yang, Parry Shen, Keith Chow and Jerry Ma have brought together 66 top Asian American writers, artists and comics professionals to create 26 original stories centered around Asian American superheroes--stories set in a shadow history of our country, from the opening of the West to the election of the first minority president, and exploring ordinary Asian American life from a decidedly extraordinary perspective. All purchased books will receive a complimentary sketch by local artists featured in the book who will be on-site at convention.
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HALF SPOON OF RICE: A SURVIVAL STORY OF THE CAMBODIAN GENOCIDE;
MEI LING IN CHINA CITY
BY ICY SMITH
(EAST WEST DISCOVERY PRESS)
"Half Spoon of Rice" presents a child’s account of life in Cambodia during the Khmer Rouge regime in the mid–1970s. The book features vivid illustrations, historical context and photographs documenting the Cambodian genocide. "Mei Ling in China City" is based on a true story of events during World War II in Los Angeles China City. A 12-year-old Chinese American girl named Mei Ling Lee is separated from her best friend Yayeko Akiyama when she and her family were interned in the Manzanar War Relocation Center. By writing letters to each other, both young girls recount their lives in China City and Manzanar. The book depicts the hardships and cross-cultural experiences of Americans of Chinese and Japanese ancestry during the war years.
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THE ECONOMY OF CHINA
BY LINDA YUEH
(EDWARD ELGER PUBLISHING)

The emergence of China since 1979 has been a hallmark in the global economy, not only in the past but also in this century. This comprehensive book provides an analytical view of the remarkable economic development of the most exciting economy in the world. China's impressive economic growth has propelled it from being one of the poorest countries in the world to becoming its third largest economy. It is a complex economy with a mix of characteristics resulting from being both a transition economy and a developing country, which also points to the challenges that it still faces. This book explains China's remarkable transformation from a centrally planned to a more market-oriented economy through examination of the institutional reforms necessary to support such marketisation and eventual global integration.
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YOUNG, RESTLESS & BROKE
BY MICHELLE YU & BLOSSOM KAN
(THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS)
Michelle Yu, along with co-author and cousin, Blossom Kan, return with "Young, Restless & Broke," the long-awaited follow-up to her 2007 book, "China Dolls". In "Young, Restless & Broke," an aspiring young soap actress, Sarah Cho, moves to L.A. to pursue the job--and man--of her dreams. Sarah always knew that she'd have to rough it as an aspiring soap actress in order to fulfill her dreams. Flipping burgers and bartending to pay the bills, she is going nowhere far in New York until she meets Daniel Wong, a dazzling Hollywood soap opera producer. Instantly smitten, Sarah jumps at the chance to move to L.A. to pursue her ambitions--and a relationship with Daniel. But will Tinseltown be all it's cracked it to be?
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FAR AFIELD
BY SCOTT BROWN
(RED HEN PRESS)
"Far Afield" is a literary comedy of manners set in a fictitious island nation in the South Pacific, somewhere between the Japan and Indonesia. It tells the story of a vacationing Asian-American journalist, Benjamin Inoue, who gets swept up into a cascading chain of events and becomes the campaign manager of a buffoonish and megalomaniac island scion running against his younger brother for presidency of this small and forgotten island. Along the way, he becomes ensnared in a progression of absurd events orchestrated by dubious and unreliable characters, all of whom have their own conflicting agenda they force Ben into serving. In its scope, concerns, and satire, "Far Afield" aims for the literary territory of the early novels of V.S. Naipaul, as well as Graham Greene's "Our Man In Havana."
    Scott Shibuya Brown is a former staff correspondent for Time magazine and staff writer for the Los Angeles Times whose work has appeared in the Atlantic Monthly, the Washington Post, and LA Weekly, among other publications. He lives in Los Angeles where he teaches at California State University, Northridge and plays in the punk band Finland Station.
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LUCKY GIRL
BY MEI-LING HOPGOOD
(ALGONQUIN BOOKS)
Mei-Ling Hopgood's memoir "Lucky Girl" tells of her reunion and relationship with the Chinese family that gave her up for adoption when she was a baby. An all-American girl who grew up in the Midwest and became a reporter for a Michigan newspaper, she wasn't really curious about her Asian roots. Until one day, her birth family from Taiwan comes calling, literally, on the phone, on the computer, by fax--in a language she doesn't understand. They want her to return to them. Lucky Girl, re-released in paperback in June 2010, is a tale of love and loss, hilarity, deep sadness and great discovery that explores the meaning of family.

(Last updated 7/23/10)

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William Woo, "Letters from the Editor: Lessons on Journalism and Life" (University of Missouri Press). Woo was revered as both a writer and a reporter, and this volume collects some of the best of those essays to the next generation of journalists on their craft's high purpose. As inspiration for students from someone who knew the ropes, it distills the essence of the values that define independent journalism while offering them invaluable food for thought about their future professions. Donate to AAJA by purchasing Letters from the Editor.