Asian American Culture: From Anime to Tiger Moms

Gr 9 Up—More than 170 articles and 118 sidebars by 69 specialists cover a huge swath of the experience of Asian Americans. These volumes attempt an overview of religion, food, the arts, education, sports, family, gender, tradition, and history. There are many black-and-white photos and a "Guide to Related Topics" but no chronology. Besides "see-also" and further reading listings after each article, a nine-page bibliography lists recommended resources (with a few DVDs but no websites). A pertinent introduction clarifies the category "Asian American," including mixed-race and South Asian Americans, and notes especially those historically underrepresented (for instance, Cambodians, Hmong, and Indonesians). Transliterated words are defined parenthetically on their first use in an article, but there is no general glossary. The index misses references inside articles. Some Canadians and Britons are included, but others are not. Ashima Shiraishi, Kent Nagano, Amit Majmudar, George Nakashima, Ved Mehta, Seiji Ozawa, Sarah Sze, and Eileen Chang, among others, ought to be included in a future edition. Redundancy, graceless writing, and copy flaws weaken the work's authority.