When I was coming up with characters for my Chinese New Years post, I was kind of disappointed in how much of a struggle it was to find characters who were Asian. Authors have been doing a great job writing books more with diverse characters, but I still and struggling to find books where an Asian character is a main character. Stacey Lee is going to have two books where the main character is Asian. Park is Asian in Eleanor and Park. Lara Jean is Asian. That's it? 

One of the reasons why I think YA lacks Asian characters is because there aren't a lot of Asian YA authors. I could maybe name four or five of the. Stacey Lee is Asian, so is Jenny Han and Cindy Pon. They all write about Asian MCs. If you were to look at the majority of popular YA authors, they're mostly Caucasian. Veronica Roth, JK Rowling, Stephanie Meyer, ect ect. 

Authors tend to sometimes write about from a ethnicity/culture that they're most familiar with and I have definitely noticed that. So why can't anyone write about Asian main characters? I mean, you don't nessesarily have to write about a main character as the same race as you. For books that do have characters of color, the author definitely did not get someone to write their dialogue because that is unnecessary. Authors are perfectly capable of writing about main characters that aren't "white," so why don't they? All it does is take a bit of extra research and someone could totally be able to write about an Asian character. 

It also really saddens me when I can't find Asian characters in books because there are so many different ethnicities under an "Asian." Not only Chinese but you have Japanese, Filipino, Mongolian, Korean, Malaysian, and just sooosososos much more. And it's not like there is very little information on Asian people. Whether and author wants to include Asian culture in their books is their decision, based on how much they want to include. 

Now you may be wondering why I want more Asian main characters. If you don't know and probably aren't able to tell already, I am Asian, Chinese specifically and I am always on the look-out for Asian main characters. One of the reasons why I had my eye on Under a Painted Sky. UAPS is such a great example on why I want more Asian characters and Asian culture in YA. Not only was Samantha, the main character, Chinese but she spoke Cantonese! (The main language spoken within my extended family. [Yes, my cousins and I do talk about people in public places in Cantonese. It's an ability we have and fully embrace.]) I was so excited to be reading about a Chinese character who could speak Cantonese because it was relatable. 

Readers building connections with characters is so important because that's what keeps some readers reading. A person can easily like a character, but it is more special when they build and connection with them. That's one of the reasons why I love UAPS so much. 

Because I was able to relate so hard with Samantha.

I understood the Cantonese words in that book without even needing to read the translation that came after it. It is such a great feeling to be able to relate to characters, I will be straight with you there. 

So if I want to be able to relate to more characters, why don't I ask for more Chinese characters. Yeah that's just simply because this isn't about me. Sure, it may seem like it because I am an Asian myself but really, YA lacks Asians. White characters? Psht! We got a navy-fleet of those! You have some of ours! Black characters? Hey, we're slowly getting more of those characters. (But seriously, if you asked me to know 5 black characters I could do that no problem). Latino/Mexican characters? Okay, I admit we lack those characters as much as Asian characters. Asians and Latino/Mexicans. We need more of them in YA.

All I'm saying is that there are more Asians in this world than any other race, and not all books take place in America. Why do YA novels make it seem like we Asians are the 10% of the world? It's 2016 people, everyone should be able to relate and connect to characters of their race in some way.