The book to read to get up to speed on Asian and Pacific Island Americans (APAs) is Helen Zia's "Asian American Dreams." Part personal memoir, part history, part social and political analysis, "Dreams" recounts the past 30 years of Asian-American history through a discussion of defining moments for individual groups and for Asian America.
Zia, who has been, among other things, an auto-worker in Detroit and a magazine editor, is a journalist and activist whose political views and commitments were formed during the late 1960s and early '70s, when the Asian-American movement began calling for racial equality and political empowerment. Her narrative of the recent past is that of the conflict historian: Change or at least the potential for meaningful change emerges from flash points, moments that bring into focus tensions, conflicts of values and loyalties.
A chain of these moments over the past few decades has led to a self-defining process for Asians in the United States. Zia's book is organized to demonstrate how, through this process, "we were reclaiming our stake in a land and a history that excluded us."