Yes We Will: Asian Americans Who Shaped This Country

Gr 2-4–Dancers. Gymnasts. Politicians. Inventors. Actors. Rock stars. These are just a few of the Asian Americans readers meet in Yang’s clear and concise commemoration of 200 years of accomplishments and contributions. Every spread features a sentence or two in the first-person plural that explains a featured person’s achievements, illustrated by a different illustrator (credited to the side of each picture) and a one-sentence biography. Scene by scene, the spreads are varied, yet build to a cohesive whole. All of the art is striking. Shreya Gupta’s lines flow to match the musical output of Yo-Yo Ma, and H.E.R. Sujean Rim’s pastel watercolors complement the fashions of Vera Wang and the elegant ballet of Lia Cirio. Kitkat Pecson’s bold colors celebrate author Jenny Han and activist Amanda Nguyen. Also depicted are Kamala Harris, Sandra Oh, and Peter Tsai, inventor of the N95 mask. Text and art combine to make this a perfect read-aloud book. For those interested in diving deeper, back matter includes expanded biographies of all featured subjects. Readers will learn about a variety of incredible figures, and will surely want to know more.