Beyond Boba: Grunge Rock, Taiwanese Democracy, and the Model Minority Myth—in A Kid’s Book

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  The idea for my first novel for kids, It’s Boba Time for Pearl Li!, came pretty easily. Anti-Asian and Asian American hate had surged in the early days of the pandemic, with its hateful perpetrators demanding that many of us who have lived in the US our entire lives “go home.” To resist their cruelty, I decided to create a sweet, happy, joyful book that showcased a normal, everyday, highly relatable Taiwanese American kid— one who was super proud of her heritage. And what immensely…

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the trilingualist: Creative Nonfiction by devon chang

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  Finalist, College Category - 2024 Betty L. Yu and Jin C. Yu Creative Writing Prizes “蘋果” “りんご”  “Apple.”  A baby gurgles apple sauce.  A mother splits her tongue in three.  The learned language  I was around the age of four when I first experienced a paralyzing sensation in my mouth. From the moment my teeth broke through the thick skin of a granny smith, I began to feel red swelter: first around my lips, and soon after, sprawling recklessly…

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“KITE”: On Crossing and Choreographing ‘Min Bridges’

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The old railway in HaMaXing Is the perfect place for flying a kite As breeze plays in the air The kite flies in the sky The kite flies among the trees The kite flies into every kid’s laughter The kite flies back to Dad’s childhood time   A time when  Grandpa worked and went fishing  Like a kite that flew and flew  All the way to the faraway seas  The kite’s string – Tied tightly around Grandma’s heart Held firmly between Dad’s hands – Supports…

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Author Q&A: Kara H.L. Chen and “Love & Resistance,” “Asking for a Friend”

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We're so honored to share this interview between two of our literary champions. Tiffany is a Taiwanese American book blogger and co-founder of Subtle Asian Book Club (SABC), an international book club with 15,000+ members dedicated to amplifying Asian storytellers. She is a passionate advocate for the accessibility and readership of Asian American literature and uses her platform to combat anti-AAPI hate and support the flourishing of Asian communities worldwide. We knew she would facilitate an astute…

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Sitting the Month: Caretaking for Next Generation Taiwanese American Parents

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Many of our Taiwanese mothers know about the strict rules of postpartum care, also known as “sitting the month” or  坐月子. No washing your hair, no showering, no air conditioning, no exercise, no leaving the house… the list goes on. As childbirth is accompanied by significant changes to the mother’s body, special precautions are taken to ensure that she can fully rest and recover. Many of these rules are rooted in traditional Chinese medicine practices. Many modern-day mothers don’t…

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Taiwanese Soy Milk & My Transnational Story of Migration

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BY ZIXUAN LIU / Feature Photo Credit: https://elizbeartravel.com/ From Yonghe District, New Taipei, to Shenyang, Manchuria, Bottled in 99 Ranch Markets During my first twelve years of growing up in the former capital of the Qing Dynasty, Mukden, now called Shenyang in PRC, I never skipped breakfast. For most of my childhood, my mother always took me to this one breakfast shop called “Yong-he Dou-jiang”, a chain in China that solely served Chinese breakfast foods for all meals. We always…

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(Mostly Unserious) Reality Index for The Brothers Sun

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Mostly Unserious Reality Index for Netflix’s The Brothers Sun Netflix’s The Brothers Sun is excellently written, acted and produced. More than just funny and entertaining, the show insightfully depicts trans-Pacific intergenerational relationships, Taiwanese American culture, and SoCal Asian American life. Though most of us have no experience in the criminal underworld and we obviously know the series is meant as entertainment, people have also been commenting on the series’ believability…

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Betelnut, Soldier-Wolf 檳榔，兵狼: Fiction by YakuzaBaby

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Grand Prize Winner, Middle School Category Betelnut, Soldier-Wolf: 檳榔，兵狼  Echo sat on the edge of the cracked leather seat, clipping a curler into her bangs. What the hell was she doing in this dingy-ass store, every surface plastered with slippery tiles in dire need of grouting, a flickering neon sign out front with the words 檳榔 五十年老店 and a drawing of a clawed hand faded into it. Though she could not read the words, she found the strange hand amusing. Her phone vibrated…

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“One Order of Dan Bing, Please”: Creative Non-Fiction by Tristan Tang

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Grand Prize Winner, High School Category 老闆, 我要一份蛋餅!  Summers in Taiwan are brutal. I mean, think of the thrashing Da’an heat, cooking you alive like a fried egg from a breakfast shop. Or picture an army of mosquitoes, all nosediving towards you with their suckers out, ready to unleash an unrelenting week of itchiness.  Buzz.  The irritating sound made me sigh.  A mosquito flew in circles around my ear, taunting me for not killing it before it’d injected its…

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