apala selects 2012 asian/pacific american awards for literature

For the bookworms... The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) recently announced its selections for the 2012 Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature, which "honor and recognize individual works about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage with exceptional literary and artistic merit."

The awards were announced last week at the American Library Association's Midwinter Meeting in Dallas, and will be presented during the ALA Annual Conference this summer in Anaheim. The awards are given in five categories, including Adult Fiction, Adult Non-Fiction, Children's Literature, Young Adult Literature and Picture Book:

Adult Fiction
The Submission by Amy Waldman

Adult Fiction - Honor Book
Leche by R. Zamora Linmark

Adult Non-Fiction
The Woman Who Could Not Forget: Iris Chang Before and Beyond the Rape of Nanking by Ying-Ying Chang

Adult Non-Fiction - Honor Book
The Bangladeshi Diaspora in the United State After 9/11: From Obscurity to High Visibility (The New Americans: Recent Immigration and American Society) by Shafiqur Rahman

Children's Literature
The Great Wall Of Lucy Wu by Wendy Wan-Long Shang

Children's Literature - Honor Book
Vanished by Sheela Chari

Young Adult Literature
Orchards by Holly Thompson

Young Adult Literature - Honor Book
Level Up by Gene Luen Yang

Picture Book
The House Baba Built: An Artist's Childhood in China by Ed Young.

Picture Book - Honor Book
Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji by F. Zia and Ken Min

For more information on this year's awards and the full list of award-winning books, read the ALA's press release: Waldman, Chang, Shang, Thompson and Young win 2012 APALA Asian/Pacific American Awards for Literature.