Winners
AAPI Communities
2025 FINALISTS - AAPI COMMUNITIES
See below for the list of 2025 finalists in the AAPI COMMUNITIES category, for books with a copyright date of 2024.
Billu Buttons
2025 Finalist
Author: Gus Singh
Illustrator: Delzin Choksey
Publisher: Sambasivan & Parikh
ISBN: 9781949528657
Billu loves doing things himself, especially getting dressed in the morning. His friends affectionately call him Billu Buttons, because his buttons are never quite lined up right. Featuring a confident Sikh boy, this inspiring picture book celebrates the power of positive thinking and self-acceptance at every stage of one’s growth.
Gaman: The Story of a Japanese American Prisoner in a War That Never Ended
2025 Finalist
Author: Kenichi K. Yabusaki
Publisher: Ahuimanu Press, Hawaii
ISBN: 9798987521021
Kenichi Yabusaki was born a prisoner of war in an American concentration camp in Idaho, when President Roosevelt sent 120,000 people of Japanese descent into camps in the US with no due process. This is the story of what Ken did with yellow peril that followed him after WWII, his coming of age in a family where strength within the silence (gaman) gave them the courage to be.
A Tree of My Own
2025 Finalist
Author/Illustrator: written by Nui Wilson, illustrated by Kayor
Editors: Gigi Little and Frances Lu Pai
Publisher: Qilin Press, 501(c)(3) nonprofit
ISBN: 9798990803404
Based on Nui Wilson's decades of volunteer work with Karen refugee families in Portland, Oregon, this story follows the journey of Posada and her family from Burma to a refugee camp in Thailand and finally to Portland where they make their new home.
About the
Independent Book Publishers Association
Founded to support independent publishers nationwide, the Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) leads and serves the independent publishing community through advocacy, education, and tools for success. With over 3,200 members, IBPA is the largest independent publishing association in the U.S. Its vision is a world where every independent publisher has the access, knowledge, and tools needed to professionally engage in all aspects of an inclusive publishing industry.
For more information, visit www.ibpa-online.org.
