Back to Main List

Skin We're In: Asia
Stories that take place in China, Tibet, Japan, Korea...

   Blue Fingers :A Ninja's Tale by Cheryl Aylward Whitesel

Some people dream of being ninjas, but Koji is captured and forced to train. He resists until he finds a cause worth fighting for. (Japan)

   Bound by Donna Jo Napoli

A retelling of the Cinderella story, in which our heroine is considered ugly because she hasn't had her feet broken and bound. (China)

   Chinese Cinderella : the true story of an unwanted daughter by Adeline Yen Mah

The youngest of five siblings, Wu Mei suffers at the hands of her cruel new stepmother. (China)

   Hearsay : Strange Tales from the Middle Kingdom by Barbara Ann Porte

Retellings of traditional Chinese legends, with hints of history and tradition thrown in.(China)

   Homesick, My Own Story by Jean Fritz

"In my father's study there was a large globe with all the countries of the world running around it ... And I was on the wrong side of the globe."(China)

   Laughing Sutra by Mark Salzman

In search of the legendary Laughing Sutra, which is supposed to hold the keys to immortal life, Hsun-ching and his mentor experience the realities and amusements of the United States. (China)

   Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden

Follow 9 year-old Chiyo, sold with her sister into slavery by their father after their mother's death, as she becomes Sayuri, the beautiful geisha accomplished in the art of entertaining men. (Japan)

   Rebel: A Tibetan Odyssey by Cheryl Aylward Whitesel

Thunder rebels against his strict parents and he is sent to live with his uncle - in a remote Tibetan monastery. (Tibet)

   Single Shard by Linda Sue Park

Tree-ear, a thirteen-year-old orphan in medieval Korea, lives under a bridge in a potters' village, and longs to learn how to throw the delicate celadon ceramics himself.(Korea)

   Ties that Bind, Ties that Break : a novel by Lensey Namioka

After her father dies, Ailin is considered deformed and is given the choice of being a peasant's wife or a nun -- because Ailin's father allowed her to keep her feet unbound. (China)

   Wandering Warrior by Da Chen

His guardian thinks Luka is destined to be Emperor, so the teen is trained in the arts of philosophy and kung fu. (China)

   Year of Impossible Goodbyes by Sook Nyul Choi

A young Korean girl survives the oppressive Japanese and Russian occupation of North Korea during the 1940s, to later escape to freedom in South Korea.(Korea)