2026 CALA Best Book Award Recipients

美国华人图书馆员协会2026最佳图书奖的获奖者名单 

The CALA Best Book Award Subcommittee is pleased to announce the following recipients of the 2026 CALA Best Book Awards.  

美国华人图书馆员协会最佳图书奖评审小组荣幸地宣布2026年度CALA最佳图书奖的获奖者名单。

The annual CALA Best Book Award recognizes outstanding books, published in English or Chinese, which exhibit excellence in addressing Chinese Americans, Chinese, people of Chinese origin, Chinese cultural heritage, or China, and written by Chinese authors or authors of Chinese descent. The Award is to raise awareness of these topics and authors in North America. 

一年一度的CALA最佳图书奖旨在表彰以英文或中文出版的优秀书籍，这些书籍在描写华裔美国人、中国人、华裔人士、中国及中华文化传承等方面表现出色，并由华人或华裔作者创作。该奖项旨在提高北美地区对这些主题和作者的认识和关注度。

The following are the recipients of the Best Book Awards. We congratulate the authors for their outstanding works representing the diversity of the Chinese and Chinese American experience.

以下是本次最佳图书奖的获奖者名单。我们向这些出色作品的作者表示衷心的祝贺，他们的作品展现了华人和华裔经历的多样性。

Children’s Literature 儿童读物

Worthy: The Brave and Capable Life of Joseph Pierce

by Andrea Wang (Author), Youa Vang (Illustrator)

Born in Canton, China, Joseph Pierce's journey began when he was traded for six silver coins as a child. He embarked on a months-long voyage to Connecticut, where he was raised by a ship captain and his family in the 1850s. Despite facing discrimination and racism, Joseph was determined to prove his worth. He enlisted in the Union Army, fighting bravely in key battles such as Gettysburg, Antietam, and Appomattox, and ultimately became an American citizen and a true American hero.

ISBN: ‎ 9781646145577

Publisher: ‎ Levine Querido

Juvenile Literature 少年文学

The Queen Bees of Tybee County

by Kyle Casey Chu

The Queen Bees of Tybee County follows seventh grader Derrick Chan, who is a third-generation Chinese American. His father was born and raised in Georgia, and having grown up with an immigrant mother who was convinced he needed to assimilate in order to survive, he carried that belief into how he raised Derrick, and a big part of their journey as father and son is their shared journey to unlock and embrace their truest selves.

ISBN: ‎ 9780063326958

Publisher: ‎ Quill Tree Books / HarperCollins Children's Books

Young Adult Literature 青年文学

All the Way Around the Sun

by XiXi Tian

In All the Way Around the Sun, main characters Stella and Alan are “satellite babies”—children raised by their grandparents in China before rejoining their parents in the US—which colors their worldview and relationship with identity in surprising, meaningful ways. Drawing from her own experiences emigrating from China as a child and growing up in central Illinois, author XiXi Tian compassionately explores the culture of immigration itself—the ways customs, biases, fears, and hopes are passed down and evolve with each new generation.

ISBN: ‎ 9780063086074

Publisher: ‎ Quill Tree Books / HarperCollins Children's Books

Adult Fiction 成人小说

Transplants

by Daniel Tam-Claiborne

The novel is a coming of age story following two young women—one Chinese and one Chinese American—as they learn what it means to be their truest selves in a world that doesn’t know where either of them belong. In addition to being a novel that swirls around topics of transnational identity, migration, and diaspora, Transplants is centered in both China and the US and prominently features the way pan-Asian solidarity can be forged or forsaken, especially during the pandemic.

ISBN: ‎ 9798888457214

Publisher: Regalo Press / Simon & Schuster

Adult Non-Fiction 成人非小说

Restaurant Kid: A Memoir of Family and Belonging

by Rachel Phan

A warm and poignant narrative about finding one’s self amidst the grind of restaurant life, the cross-generational immigrant experience, and a daughter’s attempts to connect with parents who have always been just out of reach. In Restaurant Kid, Phan combines candour, wit and insight to craft an important narrative on the strength and foibles of family, and how we come to understand ourselves.

ISBN: 9781771624343

Publisher: Pegasus Books / Douglas & McIntyre
CALA Best Book Subcommittee members chose Honor Books that are highly recommended for their literary contribution:

CALA最佳图书奖评审小组同时评选出了2026年度CALA荣誉图书以表彰作者们对文学界的贡献：

Children’s Literature 儿童读物

Oh No! Chinese School!

by Crystal Murakami (Author), Jon Kenzo Okeya (Illustrator)

ISBN: ‎ 9781949567151

Publisher‏: ‎ East West Discovery Press LLC

Juvenile Literature 少年文学

The Nine Moons of Han Yu and Luli

by Karina Yan Glaser

ISBN: ‎ 9780063284432

Publisher: Allida / HarperCollins Children's Books

Young Adult Literature 青年文学

The Blood Phoenix

by Amber Chen

ISBN: ‎ 9780593622780

Publisher: ‎ Viking Books for Young Readers

Adult Fiction 成人小说

Homeseeking

by Karissa Chen

ISBN: ‎ 9780593712993

Publisher: ‎ Penguin Random House/G.P. Putnam's Sons

Adult Non-Fiction 成人非小说

Chinese American Mothering: Toy Len Goon's Legacy and the Myth of the Model Minority

by Andrea Louie

ISBN: ‎ 9781479855568

Publisher: ‎ New York University Press

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Thank you to the CALA community, affiliates and supporters for nominating an array of books representing the Chinese diaspora.

感谢CALA会员、同仁和支持者为此奖项提名了一系列代表华人华裔的图书。

Sincerely,

谨此致以诚挚的问候，

CALA Best Book Award Committee

美国华人图书馆员协会最佳图书奖委员会

Rong Lu 吕茸, co-chair 联合主席

Kai Zhang 张恺, co-chair 联合主席

Alexandra Kwan 關仰山, member 组员

Yiping Liu 刘懿娉, member 组员

Li Yao 姚历, member 组员