FYI,

2022 Best of the Best Booklist from the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA), an affiliate of the American Library Association.

The Best of the Best Booklist celebrates stories from across the Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) diaspora. All APALA members were invited to nominate picture book titles about AANHPI communities and experiences that were published in the 2022 calendar year. Members of the APALA Family Literacy Focus Committee evaluated the nominations against the APALA Rubric and curated the final list. Eligible titles that earned a 2023 APALA Literature Award or Honoree designation were automatically added to the Best of the Best Booklist. 

The 2022 APALA Best of the Best Booklist titles are: 

• Arab Arab All Year Long! written by Cathy Camper, illustrated by Sawsan Chalabi, and published by Candlewick Press. 9781536213959.
• Gibberish written & illustrated by Young Vo, and published by Levine Querido. 9781646141104.
• Hana's Hundreds of Hijabs written by Razeena Omar Gutta, illustrated by Manal Mirza, and published by Barefoot Books. 9781646866205.
• Holi Hai! written by Chitra Soundar, illustrated by Darshika Varma, and published by AW Teen, an imprint of Albert Whitman. 9780807533574.
• Hundred Years of Happiness written by Thanhhà Lai, illustrated by Nguyen Quang & Kim Lien, and published by HarperCollins. 9780063026926.
• Kapaemahu written by Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Dean Hamer, & Joe Wilson, illustrated by Daniel Sousa, and published by Kokila, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. 9780593530061.
• The Katha Chest written by Radhiah Chowdhury, illustrated by Lavanya Naidu, and published by Salaam Reads, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 9781665903905.
• Love in the Library written by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrated by Yas Imamura, and published by Candlewick Press. 9781536204308.
• Luli and the Language of Tea written by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Hyewon Yum, and published by Neal Porter Books, an imprint of Holiday House. 9780823446148.
• Mommy's Hometown written by Hope Lim, illustrated by Jaime Kim, and published by Candlewick Press. 9781536213324.
• Nana, Nanek, & Nina written & illustrated by Liza Ferneyhough, and published by Dial Books, an imprint of Penguin Young Readers. 9780593353943. *2023 APALA Picture Book Honor
• Punky Aloha written & illustrated by Shar Tuiasoa, and published by HarperCollins. 9780063079236.
• Sitti's Bird: A Gaza Story written & illustrated by Malak Mattar, and published by Crocodile Books, an imprint of Interlink Publishing. 9781623718251.
• Where Butterflies Fill the Sky: A Story of Immigration, Family, and Finding Home written & illustrated by Zahra Marwan, and published by Bloomsbury Children's Books, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing. 9781547606511.
• Who Turned on the Sky written & illustrated by Marielle Atanacio, and published by 2157 Press. 9798985898408.

For additional information about the Best of the Best Booklist, please visit https://www.apalaweb.org/talkstorytogether/resources/apala-youth-literature-evaluation-rubric/ 

For a print-friendly version of the booklist, please visit https://www.apalaweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/APALA-Best-of-the-Best-Booklist-2022-final.pdf 

For additional Talk Story Resources, please visit https://www.apalaweb.org/talkstorytogether/resources/ 

To purchase the Best of the Best Booklist titles, please consider visiting the APALA Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/lists/2022-best-of-the-best-booklist 

The APALA Family Literacy Focus Committee/Bibliographies subcommittee members include: Becky Leathersich, co-chair, SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY; Zoë Bowlus, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Lawrence, KS; Nicole Fernandez, San Mateo County Libraries, Brisbane, CA; Anh Tran Ng, Danbury Library, Danbury, CT; and Jessea Young, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, CA. 

The Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA) was founded in 1980 by librarians of diverse Asian/Pacific ancestries committed to working together toward a common goal: to create an organization that would address the needs of Asian/Pacific American librarians and those who serve Asian/Pacific American communities.

All the best,

Sharon Rawlins, MLS (she/her/hers)

Youth Services Specialist

Library Development Bureau

New Jersey State Library

P. 609-278-2640 x116

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