Shining a Light: Celebrating 40 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Who Changed the World – An Illustrated Biography of Influential Historical Figures for Kids

by Veeda Bybee, Victo Ngai (Illustrator)

A collective biography of 40 influential Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, from Kalpana Chawla to The Rock to Tammy Duckworth, whose historical contributions readers may not know but whose light shines on, with stunning illustrated portraits by Hugo Award nominee Victo Ngai. Meet forty people who helped change the world in countless ways in this beautifully illustrated collective biography. From scientists to sports stars, aerospace engineers to artists, every person shines in this collection. Dynamic portraits portray each person with bold colors and clever, precise details. Each biography celebrates the determination and courage of people who were on the forefront of changing society. Using their specific talents, each individual fought for the space for people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent to be seen and treated with dignity and respect. Their important legacy lives on today.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle Grade, Biography, History, Picture Books, Asian Literature, Childrens

112 pages, Hardcover

Published March 28, 2023

Reviews

[Suey · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful tribute to a bunch of Asian Americans I'd never heard of. So awesome to read and learn about them!

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shining A Light highlights 40 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who left a positive impact on the world. Collectively these figures are both from the past and present such as Anna May Wong, Bruce Lee, Kamala Harris, Jerry Yang, Yo Yo Ma, Grace Lee Boggs, and Feng-Shan Ho. And many of their accomplishments helped made the world it is today, from Asian representation, social activism, political action, architecture, culinary, etc. And with many of these individuals, they faced many obstacles that tried to hold them back: racism, war, poverty; but they managed to overcome these to leave a legacy that allows greater opportunities for others and to show everyone they are more than just their color.

As someone who is also an Asian American, I found this book to be excellent in showing pride in Asian heritage and the impact these people had in both North America and the world. Each individual gets their own page on their life and impact, accompanied by beautiful illustrations of who they are and what they were known for. Honestly, I felt like the book could've went more into their backgrounds. But since this is aimed at children, and not being a thorough biography, it could make it very heavy on the details. Regardless of that, it is still a great book for Asian American Month and for readers to learn about some of these great figures who helped make history and show pride of their heritage.

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of 40 short biographies of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who achieved monumental things or worked to change others' lives for the better in the US.

The people included in this collection are listed in order of their birth year, so it starts with the oldest and works up to the present. Each person has a 1 page illustration and 1 page biographical text. The author did a good job in including a wide variety of Asian/Pacific root cultures people were from. I did find it odd that the book included no one born from the 1980s or 1990s, but I also couldn't think off the top of my head who I would have suggested. I liked the wide variety of contributions the people included have made.

Notes on content:
Language: None
Sexual content: None
Violence: Some of the people died early from accidents or diseases or wars, but none is graphically described.
Ethnic diversity: All Asian American, some Chinese American, Taiwanese American, Japanese American, Lao American, Thai American, Filipino American, Hmong American, Cambodian American, Hong Kong American, Indian American, Hawaiian American, and Samoan American.
LGBTQ+ content: It is briefly mentioned that George Takei is an advocate for LGBTQ+ rights.
Other: A couple biographies mentioned people experiencing racism, being incarcerated during WWII, or being given unfair pay.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 4 out of 5]

E ARC provided by Edelweiss Plus

Great collective biography with some people new to me, which rarely happens. Arranged in order of birth, each person gets a full page illustration as well as one page of overview of their life. This is the sort of book that I always want to take apart for bulletin boards! While there are some names that young readers will know, like Dwayne Johnson, Yoyo Ma, and George Takei, there were a lot of fascinating people like animator Gyo Fujikawa, diplomat Feng-Shan Ho, and architect Isamu Noguchi. The fact that the bibliographies at the end of the book included a lot of web sites just shows that we need more biographies on some of the people in this collection instead of yet another book on someone who is already the subject of many biographies. Great starting point for middle grade research.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great biographies about 40 people who helped change the world.

[Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

I eagerly read through all 40 entries in this encyclopedia type book that introduces young readers to a wide array of Asian-Americans / Pacific Islanders. Each profile has a full page painting done by illustrator Victo Ngai.


They have ancestry (either as immigrants or children, grandchildren, or great grandchildren of immigrants) from a wide range of Asian locations / ethnic identities such as Hawaii, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea, China, Cambodia, and India.

I was familiar with some of the people but not with every element of their short biographies. Many readers will recognize Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Kristi Yamaguchi, Tammy Duckworth, Kamal Harris, Yo-Yo Ma, Bruce Lee, George Takei, and Daniel Inouye.

I was pleased to be introduced to new-to-me people such as the following:

Look Tin Eli (b. 1870) who helped transform Chinatown in San Francisco in a way that kept Chinese Americans in the city instead of being pushed out of town based on bigoted beliefs their neighborhood was unsanitary.

Feng-Shan Ho (b. 1901) who helped relocate Jewish people from Germany to Shanghai when he was working as a Chinese diplomat in Vienna during World War II. After more diplomatic assignments in a handful of other countries, he eventually immigrated to the US and became a US citizen.

Chien-Shiung Wu (b. 1912) was a physicist who earned a PhD in physics from University of Michigan and went on to do important research in radioactive decay.

Tyrus Won (b. 1910) did a lot of important work for Disney's film Bambi, but was unfairly identified as a background animator when his work was substantial. "In 2001, Tyrus was inducted into the Walt Disney Hall of Fame."

Yuri Kochiyama (b. 1921) was an activist who fought for human rights not just for Japanese unfairly imprisoned in internment camps but also for African Americans. She met Malcom X and formed a friendship with him. She worked with her husband to get a formal apology and reparations paid to Japanese Americans who were interred.

The backmatter includes a glossary and a list of further research about each of the forty people included in the main part of the book. There is also a substantial acknowledgement section.

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

This biographical anthology features gorgeous illustrations and fascinating information about forty different Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have made a difference. The biographical sketches are all brief, well-organized, and engaging, and they are organized by everyone's birth years. This helps the reader get a sense of history as it unfolds.

This will appeal to upper elementary readers and up. This is the best Asian American biographical anthology that I have read so far, since it is thorough and avoids getting overly preachy. I also like that in addition to addressing people's experiences in internment camps during World War II, the book also profiles a number of men and women who served courageously in the war or made a difference on the home front. Something else I appreciated is how the author made mention of historical inter-racial marriages when they were relevant, instead of just saying the person got married without indicating the significance of who they married.

I recognized many little-known figures in this book from picture book biographies I have read. There are too many for me to name them all here, but people who enjoyed this may want to look for picture book biographies for more details about some of these people.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shining a Light by Veeda Bybee

Shining a Light focuses on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have helped shape the history of the US and around the world. The book talks about athletes, actors, activists, doctors, educators, political figures, designers, and so many more amazing people. I found the book to be very inspiring! Many of the people in this book had to overcome various obstacles because of their race and/or their gender, but that didn’t stop them from reaching their dreams. This book is definitely worth reading if you enjoy learning about historical figures that are not always mentioned in the history books, but definitely should be!

I would like to thank NetGalley, Veeda Bybee, and HarperCollins Children’s Books for allowing me to read this advanced copy of Shining a Light. I would also like to mention that each person mentioned in this book had an amazing illustration by Victo Ngai to accompany their biography.

[Heila · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked both the writing and the illustration in this. Not too deep or overly involved, but also not flimsy bios about the people; and engaging, colorful but also not flighty illustrations. Learned some excellent information (just one page per person) about several individuals whom I plan to research more about. It was enlightening to find out more about these folks and their contributions, accomplishments and struggles. Thought-provoking to realize I've not heard of many of them or much about their stories before. Again I had the experience that I'm having regularly of late, since we're finally learning more about a lot of buried history -- it's like tasting some longed-for new foods that add variety and richness to life.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The collection spans quite a bit of time and also includes plenty of politicians, activists, and scientists that I hadn't ever heard of in addition to the usual-- athletes, actors/actresses, and "celebrity" types.

The easy-flowing narrative history of the person alongside their picture and basic biographical information is a testament to knowing and better understanding a culture's contributions in a brief way to explore them further such as why we have or haven't heard about them before, what lasting impact did they have on their field, why were they more well known or less well known in history, what was the impact of internment for many of the Japanese descendants, etc.

[Peter Z.]

There is nothing to celebrate about Tammy Duckworth. As her constituent I can tell you that she is the most haughty politician I've ever met. And I use "politician" in the worst possible sense, to connote a conniving shyster, bought and paid for, who will lie to your face -- IF she has to actually recognize you as a human by speaking to you. She does not represent ANYTHING well.

I do wonder about this book: would it be racist to have a similar book called "40 white people who changed the world"? Or is there some hypocrisy afoot?

[April Price · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review! Shining a Light introduces young readers to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders from various backgrounds and details their contributions and the obstacles they faced.

The artwork is fantastic, and I think the historical glossary and bibliography will come in handy for those wanting to learn more. I prefer fiction over nonfiction, but I appreciate that young readers are being introduced to these individuals that deserve recognition and are typically overlooked in history classes.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
This book highlights 40 Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders who have done a wide variety of things to make our world a better place. Each person has a two page spread with one page being a full color stylized watercolor picture of them highlighting the thing they are renowned for (EX, Maya Lin in front of the Vietnam Memorial that she designed). The second page of the spread gives details about that person including their dates, where they are from, what inspired them, what they did, etc. An excellent addition to a collection and a very basic beginning place for research.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book of 40 one-page biographies of Asian American and Pacific Islanders are perfect for upper elementary and middle level readers who can get a short teaser of these leaders and then go and do research to complete their own inquiry project by finding other sources. The illustrations of each leader by Victo Ngai adds to the biography because of its use of background art and color palette.

[Ellen Neuborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

With awesome, vibrant illustrations by Victo Ngai, Shining a Light offers profiles from education reformer Yung Wing to activist Yuri Kochiyama to artist Maya Lin. This is a joyous, engaging collection that allows young readers of Asian and Pacific Islander descent to see themselves in print. And also a chance for their friends and classmates of other backgrounds to learn and appreciate the remarkable people profiled.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Where were books like THESE when I was growing up?! It has taken THIS LONG for books telling stories about Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (many of whom were new to me despite my attempts to *learn* as much about them as I can to make up for the lack of representation in my education) to reach me. I am *thrilled* that my middle school students (the majority of whom identify as Asian American) will have access to this outstanding and inspirational book in my library!

[I. P. Grise]

Every school day in May, I read my students a page from this book. They were really excited to learn about people they’d heard of, like the Rock and Bruce Lee, but they were also really interested in the lives of people they’d never heard of before. We had a bunch of great discussions following the read aloud including but not limited to: immigration, female education, yellowface and AAPI representation in movies and TV, what culture means, and what it means to honor your heritage.

[Tracy]

It took me a really long time to read this relatively short book. I could only read about a few people at a time.

I found myself googling the various people highlighted in this well executed book. I would recommend this book for what it is: a compilation of short biographies of famous Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

I wish they had also included actual photographs of each person.

[Carol Youssif · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this collection of short biographies. A good range of nationalities are represented, and don't let some of the well-known faces on the cover deter you: the bulk of this collection is made of lesser-known AAPI folks who made a big impact on the world.
A great read!

[Marilyn]

P 11 Gpa Sears 1892-1954 and Bhagat Singh Thind - writer 1892-1967 were born the same year

* What do they have in common?
Thind loved HD Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emererson and …

Thind became US citizen only to have it taken away 4 days later.

CONTINUE ON P 11

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Alice · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars Bybee highlights the accomplishments of 40 Asian Americans, some well known, some lesser known.

[Zoë]

Beautifully illustrated celebration of Asian Americans who've shaped our culture, art, and society.

[Tiff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very eye opening to all the Asian American role models out there past and present. Encyclopedic tidbits on each amazing person and their stories.

[Cynthia Ayyad · Rating 5 out of 5]

For AAPI Heritage month, we read through this book with our Chinese child to show the spirit and heroism among Asian and Pacific Islanders who came before to make their life better.

[Alana "Loni" · Rating 5 out of 5]

Definitely one of those books that makes you want to find out more. A nice broad exploration for students.

[Kalani Curl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love picture books like this that teach you about activists, actors, historical figures!

[Natalie Tate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's be frank—biography books that include tons of people are almost inevitably boring. You read one or two entries each day and that's about as much as your brain can handle. Or so I thought.

Shining a Light is a higher caliber book. Each one-page bio is succinct and well-written. Every one of the 40 individuals highlighted is distinct and notable. Take, for example, Haing Ngor, who received an Academy Award despite having zero previous acting experience; Look Tin Eli, who thought up the distinctive American Chinatown architecture; and Suni Lee, who won the Olympic All-Around title despite humble beginnings on a backyard "balance beam" built from an old mattress.

Top-notch writing, inspiring individuals, and great illustrations make this one a winner.