I do not often write about books for late elementary and middle school, but this one is so exceptional it deserves the effort: YOU ARE HERE: CONNECTING FLIGHTS edited by Ellen Oh. In this collection, twelve authors (including award winners like Traci Chee, Linda Sue Park, and Randy Ribay to name a few) have crafted an interconnected set of short stories. They take place at fictional Chicago Gateway International Airport during a storm that results in numerous delays. The young characters are all Asian American, with travel plans and family backgrounds related to a variety of countries (China, Japan, Korea, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam). Each child or teen faces some sort of discrimination and/or rude comments from other passengers or airport employees, BUT each grows and steps up to confront the racist situation. That repetition felt potentially triggering for young readers, although it clearly was empowering, too. I think it would be fascinating to know more about the Zoom planning sessions between these very talented authors – many of the stories occur simultaneously and refer to a central character of another story which is intriguing and could be a fun puzzle for student readers to display graphically. In addition to their geographic cultural heritage, the characters are diverse in terms of religion, learning differences like autism or musical ability, and family situation (e.g., two dads, grandparents, only child, sibling responsibilities, etc.) – reflecting the life circumstances of the intended audience as well as a theme of belonging and connection. YOU ARE HERE: CONNECTING FLIGHTS received starred reviews from Booklist ("consistently engaging and rewarding"), Kirkus ("compelling and nuanced"), and Publishers Weekly ("artfully conceived and executed").

You Are Here: Connecting Flights, edited by Ellen Oh (Allida, March 2023), is a collection of related short stories by a variety of Asian-American authors that captures the Asian-American experience by telling the stories of 12 different children waiting in an airport for their flights. By tying the children’s stories together, Oh has created a sweet book that shows the interconnectedness of the Asian-American experience.

Each of the children in the book’s chapters is at the airport for a different reason. Most are traveling, some are awaiting a layover, some are just arriving, and one child is there because his mother works in the airport. The chapters are each written by a different Asian-American children’s author, including Linda Sue Park, Erin Entrada Kelly, and Grace Lin, as well as others I’m not yet familiar with.

In these stories, is the weekend of the Fourth of July, so this “American” holiday is also one that these Asian-American children have mixed feelings about. There is much to celebrate about American culture, and since they have been raised in America, they are American. However, their family culture impacts how they feel about being both Asian and American. I appreciated how the family attitudes were significant, either for good or ill, and I found this internal conflict for these kids a nice foil to the external conflict they experience from the passive and aggressive racism around them.

The racism the characters experienced is not something that I can relate to, and so this middle grade book was an important and eye-opening glimpse into the different lives. It is a window for me and I’m sure it’s a helpful mirror to those that may be able to relate. I feel like I need to reread the volume just to see the big picture of how the stories all fit together, as well as to better understand the big picture for Asian-American children today. You Are Here is a great middle grade volume for everyone to read.

I read a digital review copy of this book.

This collection of intersecting short stories all take place at Chicago O'Hare Airport on a stormy day with many flight delays and cancellations. (It reminded me of the way the short stories in Ancestor Approved all take place at the same powwow.) Each of the tweens featured in the stories are grappling in some way with their Asian-American identity and face a ripple of anti-Asian racism running through the airport. The stories were very relatable and showed differences not only through a variety of countries of ancestry but also intersectionality, such as adopted with two dads, Jewish, autistic, and a rockin' guitar player. This book will contain both windows and mirrors for anyone who reads it and is a lot of fun as well. Highly recommended for grades 4 & up.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Ellen Oh, all the authors and the publisher of this book for the eARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

A story of an airport and twelve Asian Americans whos stories are intertwined at a stormy and packed airport.
Each character connects to the next in this powerful story of the xenophobia that still exists to this day. I hope this story will encourage young people to stand up for others and speak up when things aren't right.

You are Here: Connecting Flights is a collection of twelve interwoven stories of Asian-American kids going through the Chicago airport on the same day. Each of these stories is written by a different author, and it is so impressive to see how seamlessly they blend together while still telling very individual stories from distinctly different points of view.

There is so much to love about this book. The representation of Asian-Americans is only the beginning. It depicts racist remarks and behavior that kids and adults experience every day - but the stories take this awareness a step further by empowering readers with methods to stand up for themselves and others. This book shows very real strategies to make change when faced with racism that kids can use in their own lives, whether they are being targeted or seeing someone else being targeted. It shows how broad the term “Asian-American” is, with each protagonist living very different lives with different backgrounds in diverse families.

Kids are a lot smarter than many adults give them credit for, and they do not like being preached to. This book recognizes that and allows readers to draw their own conclusions based on the fast-paced story. Readers are invited into the action, and the message is so much more powerful as a result.

I will absolutely be purchasing this book for my home and school library, and I’ve already recommended it to several friends and family members. This would also make a great classroom read aloud and would spark some great discussion! Grades 3+

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperCollins for this Advanced Reader’s Edition!

A wonderful book of 12 interconnected stories set in a Chicago airport, each featuring an Asian-American tween. Each character is traveling or in the airport for a different reason but they all are uncomfortable in some way. A great exploration of being "othered" and learning how and when to speak up. Although each chapter is written by a different author, the book flowed seamlessly.

You Are Here: Connecting Flights is a 12 chapter story, written by 12 different authors and offering 12 different POVs of Asian American travelers in the Chicago Airport.

It discusses the nuances of balancing multiple cultures, while facing racism- overtly and subtly.

The conversations are so intricate, especially how they wind together in the end. Each chapter holds an important lesson and it's interesting that each "main" character is someone roughly 16 and under.

I love the concept of this book and highly recommend.

This interwoven short story collection featuring a full Asian American cast navigating a Chicago airport is the best book I have read this year. I know there is a LOT of year left, but I'm serious: YOU ARE HERE has set a very high bar for my Favorites of 2023 list.

Reading about the microaggressions and outright racist way people in the airport treated LITERAL CHILDREN is absolutely painful to read. It hurts even more to know that the editor, Ellen Oh, asked the contributing authors to reach into their own passions and experiences. But all that pain is balanced by the sheer hope and resolve of each character in this story.

They are going to change the world. They are choosing to believe in the good. And they are going to stand up for what's right and make everyone realize that they are Americans too. And THEY ARE HERE.

This was a wonderful story collection that explored the experience of young Asian Americans in real and unexpected ways. You see, this entire collection takes place in an airport. Twelve young people find themselves at the airport for one reason or another. There are threads that connect each tale, but there is also a unique experience in each one. It's heartbreaking and beautiful, full of challenge and opportunity, and it gives a true window into what these lived experiences are like. Stories like this are so important to read, and I'm so glad this collection now exists. Thanks to NetGalley for the early look at this March 2023 release!

This was a wonderful and thoughtful book. I am looking forward to sharing it with my students. Everyone has something to learn from this. It is an incredible compilation of stories and authors. Much needed!

Really loved this! I found it very easy to get attached to all of the characters— which was surprising to me given how little we get of each one— but their stories are just so compelling. The message behind each story was incredibly moving and I think this is a great book for children to be reading.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Overall I really enjoyed this book - I had checked it out because I loved Ellen Oh’s book Spirit Hunters, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a diverse range of Asian American authors worked on it, not just her! These stories were short and great - I think the only one that didn’t really hit for me was AJ’s story, unfortunately. Some of these stories could feel a bit “90s PSA” but only faintly, and it’s obviously for a middle school demographic so I didn’t quite mind. However, AJ’s felt very blatant and forced, almost like the author was trying too hard to talk like a Gen Z kid. The other stories were great though, and I really appreciated how they interconnected! There’s definitely some characters in here who I would have loved to follow along with longer.

I also do wish that we could have seen the perspective of a South Asian character/author, however. I don’t fault the authors for this - I’m sure this is based on availability and they very much specifically mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic, which is going to affect East and Southeast Asians, not South Asians. But I was hoping for a South Asian story as well, especially with this centering on Asian Americans in an airport. Not every Asian centered story needs to focus each and every single part of the diaspora, but I couldn’t help but feel there was a missed opportunity with this setting - though again, they probably wanted to focus on COVID and the reactions and racism uniquely faced by a part of Asian Americans, which is completely fair!

This was a great book and I think will be wonderful for its target demographic - and probably older; I certainly still enjoyed it and the authors did a great job.

Highly recommend adding this collection of interwoven stories that hi-lights the Asian American experience when faced with racism and social exclusion. Great for MG and YA classrooms.

Thank you Harper Collins and NetGalley for this Arc.

The concept for this collection of linked short stories is so cute—a bunch of Asian American children (around age 12) encounter each other in a busy airport (A fictionalized Chicago O’Hare, complete with Garrett’s popcorn in the climactic scene!). And even though there are 12 authors (including some of my favorite names in children’s lit), the execution is impeccable—the voices mesh well but are different enough, the details between the stories all line up beautifully.

It begins with Paul, who is accompanying his parents, little sister, and grandmother on a trip to Thailand and has to intervene when his grandmother is stopped by TSA, and ends with Soojin, who is sad about moving back to Korea with her mother. In between, we get Lee, a talented guitarist traveling alone; Mindy, an adoptee who is afraid to visit Korea with her white dads; AJ, traveling with his all-Filipino American basketball team, and more.

Various instances of racism shape the characters’ journeys, from the classic microaggressions about who belongs in the United States to more chilling incidents of racial profiling and outright confrontation from white travelers and airport personnel. The racism associated with COVID is clearly a huge motivator for this collection, which takes place in a newly post-COVID world, and it’s heartwarming to see the kids and other travelers stand up for each other.

Despite this context, I did feel like the collection’s limited scope was a major shortcoming. To its credit, it explicitly names its focus on East and Southeast Asians, without claiming to stand for all Asian Americans. Yet West and South Asians, especially those identified as Muslim or Muslim-adjacent, are subjected to far more frequent and insidious racism in airports. I kept waiting for an acknowledgment of this reality, but it never came. Although I enjoyed this version of the book quite a bit, I wish that the project had risen to the demands of its setting with a broadened group of authors or at least more expansive descriptions of racial solidarity.

The book follows several different characters waiting for flights in a Chicago airport, and each character’s story brings a unique perspective on what it’s like to be Asian American. Each chapter is dedicated to telling the character’s experience in the airport, but the stories of different characters find their way into that story in significant ways, whether it’s a young boy separated from his family or a pair of sisters who witness a racist interaction between two families. I found myself excited to learn more about the characters, especially interwoven through the other stories. Overall I found this to be a unique and important book that explores Asian American identity and addresses xenophobia against Asian Americans in COVID times. I think all readers will be able to find themselves in these stories and characters.

LOVED this story and the different characters stories interwoven with each other. It accurately captures the Asian American experience and the tenseness felt when confronted with situations of racism and feeling like other. It also accurately captures a great deal of how Asians feel in this new age of AAPI hate and the impacts of COVID-19. 10/10, would read again!

A fun, quick read aimed at an underserved audience filled with some of the best YA/MG writers going today. Great for middle school readers but not out of place in a high school library.

I was so excited to see this story---both in terms of subject matter and authors. And I was not disappointed.

There are so many modern, relevant topics to discuss, and the book is very school appropriate. There's no cursing, sex, or alcohol, but there are conversations to be had about implicit bias, media portrayals, stereotypes, etc. I like that each character has such a unique family life, background story, and focus.

I am actually recommending that we pilot and then adopt this book. Diversity is essential in schools, and this book is the epitome of it!

Overall: 5 stars

I'll tell my students about: discrimination, AAPI hate

**Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins the free ARC prior to publication. All opinions expressed are my own.**

I’m a sucker for interconnected stories. This collection of stories by and about Asian Americans was entertaining and inspiring. I loved how the kids all stuck at the airport in Chicago learned how to stand up for themselves and speak up for others!

Loved this middle grade book - more of a collection of short stories than a book. They follow different Asian American kids through a travel day at the airport. 12 kids, 12 authors, I loved how this all came together and highlighted the different lives and perspectives.

Highly recommend for MG and adults too!