Hello AACP Newsletter Readers.

We’re really late with this edition – we apologize for this. We were hoping to get it done at the end of November or at the latest, the first week of December. Since we only have eleven editions each year, we usually don’t have one in December. But since we were taking a little longer to write this one, our “break” this time was in November.

I was hoping our book selection could be a gift guide. You can still get these books in time for Christmas if you order by December 13th, using standard shipping rate. If you use priority you can still get them in time if you order by December 18th.

Bookshop.org has a gift guide. All gift guide books are 15% off. On that page, they also have a book finder questionnaire that can assist you in your search. To get to the gift guide, go to our bookshop.org site and then click on the word “HERE” at the very top of the page. You can also get gift cards by clicking on “GIFT CARD HERE!” at the top of the page.

You’re welcome to come to our store (529 3rd Ave, San Mateo, CA). We’re having a sale. We hope to be open on the following days and hours.

Saturday 12/16: 11am-5pm

Monday 12/18: 11am-4pm

Friday 12/22: 11am-5pm

Saturday 12/23: 11am-5pm

As always, we suggest that you call (650-375-8286) ahead to make sure we’re there when you plan to come. If we’re short on staff and we need to take a break, there may be some periods when we won’t be there during the times listed.

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About this Newsletter

For our first article we have our 3rd annual year-end favorite children’s books selection. This year, I was able to read and review 72 of the children’s books we featured in our newsletters in 2023. This was part of the reason why this newsletter took so long. You get a different perspective on these books when you read them all together instead one at a time during the course of the whole year. Please check out this article, see if your favorite made it, and give us your feedback too. We’d love to hear from you.

For our second article we have A Report on “The Enemies of Gratitude.” Cornell University psychologist, Thomas Gilovich, had a lecture and a radio interview on the subject of gratitude. We wrote a summary article on his findings. I found it to be quite fascinating and hope you will too. There are many benefits related to feeling grateful. It’s something all of us could use more of.

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 Our Featured Books

It’s been over 20 years ago since author Yangsook Choi wrote her wonderful children’s book “The Name Jar.” Now this year we have a bunch of new books with a similar theme – two of them are featured in this newsletter. One is by bestselling author, Joanna Ho, called “Say My Name” and the other one is by one of our favorite authors, Supriya Kelkar, called “My Name.” They’re both worth checking out.

Michelle Sterling, author of “When Lola Visits” and “A Sweet New Year for Ren,” has a new book called “Maribel's Year” – a poignant story about a girl separated from her father for over a year as he remains in the Philippines and the family settles in America.

Are you familiar with the Korean game called Ddakji? Even if you’re not, check out the children’s picture book “Let’s Play Ddakji.”

If you read our year end favorite article, you’ll see that one of the featured books from this month made our list. That book is “Today is Different.”

We have a graphic novel and graphic memoir (“Tales of a Seventh-Grade Lizard Boy” and “In Limbo”).

There are six “Crafts, Games, and Activity” books, include a Hanafuda book (Hanafuda Games), and playing instruments (“Read and Play Indian Tabla Drums” and “Jake Shimabukuro Teaches Ukulele Lessons”).

Jeff Yang, co-author of Rise, has a new book called “The Golden Screen: The Movies That Made Asian America.”

This month we’re also featuring two science books for those of you that know someone who may be interested in science. One of the books is by well-known author Michio Kaku, called “Quantum Supremacy” and the other one is by David Hu, called “How to Walk on Water and Climb Up Walls.” David Hu has come under criticism from politicians (American Phyiscal Society article: What Do You Do When A Senator Calls Your Research A Waste of Money?) for his unusual studies. Read David Hu’s book and find out why his studies are important to our general scientific knowledge.

Please check out all of our great books this month.

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Year-End Report and Message

Although things are not quite back to pre-pandemic levels, we were able to participate in more events this year than last. Some of the notable events include the California Council for the Social Studies Conference, Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education Conference, the San Jose Obon, the Bay Area Chuseok Festival (Korean Moon Festival), and eleven more.

We assisted authors, illustrators, and even filmmakers through interviews and book signings this year. Some of the people we helped include Amy Uyematsu, Stan Yogi, Elaine Elinson, Oliver Chin, Phil Amara, Judith Kajiwara, Scott Kikkawa, Hope Lim, Amy Liang, Mina Eimon, Catrina Milner, and David Brodie. If you are one of the people that we helped, thank you very much, it goes both ways. It was great to meet and communicate with you all.

For those of you that answered our call for help in last year’s editor’s message and you volunteered this year, thank you very much. We can certainly use more of you to help at our events and especially with this newsletter. As we get busier with events, we’ll need more of you to help contribute interesting articles. If you’re an author or book creator, feel free to contact us about your projects and let us know how we can assist you.

If you’d like to donate, we certainly appreciate your financial help too.

At the very least, please keep reading and tell others about our newsletter and our organization. Drop us a line and let us know how we’re doing.

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Thank you Florence and Mas Hongo. We really miss you. I hope you are keeping a watch over us and helping us keep AACP going.

Thanks to all of you that reached out to us with condolences regarding Florence and Mas. It was great communicating with you again. Please keep in touch.

Thank you Frances Kakugawa, Cynthia Chin-Lee, and Frank Abe for your contributions to the newsletter. Thank you Judy Kajiwara and Sharon for your contributions to the newsletter and help at our events – much appreciated.

Thank you David Nakamura, and Lorene Do-Le and your friend for volunteering. We’d love to see you again even if it’s just for a visit.

Thank you donors. We really appreciate your support. Without it, we could not go on. Please stick with us as we continue with our 54th year of service to the community.

Thank you to our board, our regular staff of dedicated volunteers, and our newsletter staff – Susan, Philip, Mina, Harrison, Sophie, Sylvia, Angela, Christina, Clifford, Pia, Roger, James, Hal, Rosie, Warren, and everyone else that helped us this year (hope that covers everyone :).

I’m so grateful for all of you.

Have a Happy Holiday Season Everyone!