Noted crowd pleasers, including Erin Entrada Kelly, Grace Lin, Linda Sue Park, Randy Ribay, and Christina Soontornvat, contribute to this volume. As a storm rages outside a chaotic Chicago airport, an interruption at a TSA checkpoint involving Thai American Paul and his family sparks racist rumors and confusion. The event has a ripple effect on each of the protagonists’ lives, prompting them to find their voices and fight for what’s right in their own ways as uncomfortable feelings bubble to the surface. Each story is seamlessly interconnected with the whole, allowing moments to be revisited from multiple points of view and creating a sense of intrigue as readers piece together the larger picture. Although each character’s journey leads them to different destinations—a guitar jam session, a basketball tournament, a first trip to Vietnam—there are glowing moments of solidarity ranging from the subtle to the profound as they cross paths. The stories are imbued with a strong sense of authentic lived experiences as well as moments that will resonate with readers of other backgrounds, prompting examination of their own interactions or unconscious biases; it welcomes non-Asian readers to learn and connect. This remarkable anthology offers a warm and heartfelt reassurance to all those who recognize themselves reflected in its pages: You are seen, and you do belong.

Compelling and nuanced.

(editor’s note, meet the authors) (Fiction. 8-12)

YOU ARE HERE

Connecting Flights

edited by Ellen Oh