Category: Events

I wanted to let you all know about my Kickstarter project that I am launching in two weeks.

Changing the Game: Asian Pacific American Female Athletes by Mia Wenjen

Everyone deserves to see themselves in the pages of a book. Now, Mia Wenjen brings the accomplishments of Asian Pacific American female athletes to life with incredible stories of their amazing accomplishments. Readers rejoice with these extraordinary women as they overcome obstacles to prevail in their sport. [nonfiction picture book, for ages 8 and up]

Growing up, my teenage daughter played many sports. I asked her if she knew the names of any Asian-American female athletes. She laughed and said that there weren’t any. I searched but found very few books featuring Asian-American female athletes. She was correct! How sad. The few books that existed center on sports that were more dance-driven like figure skating and gymnastics. Where were the role models for girls, especially for popular team sports like basketball, soccer, and hockey?

With seventy percent of all kids quitting organized sports by age 13, and with girls dropping out of sports at six times the rate of boys, it became clear that I needed to showcase Asian-American female athletes. Girls of every ethnicity need to see Asian-American females succeeding in sports to know that everyone can dream of stepping up on an Olympic podium. That was my wake-up call to write this book!

You will meet 18 Asian Pacific American Female Athletes in this book who excel at a range of sports and represent many Asian ethnicities.

• Eun Jung “EJ” Lee Ok (Korean American) is thought to be one of the greatest point guards ever to play women’s college basketball.
• Chloe Kim (Korean American) is the youngest snowboarder to win Olympic Gold.
• Miki Gorman (Japanese American) is the only female marathon runner to win both the Boston Marathon and the New York Marathon, twice!
• Victoria Manalo Draves (Filipino & European American), a diver, is the first woman to win two Gold Medals in both springboard and platform in the same Olympics games, the first Asian-American to medal at an Olympics game, and the first Filipino to win a Gold Medal.
• Evelyn Tokue Kawamoto-Konno (Japanese American) learned to swim competitively in a ditch through Soichi Sakamoto’s Three-Year Swim Club and is the first Japanese-American female to win an Olympic Medal.
• Julie Chu (Chinese & Puerto Rican American), a hockey player, is the first Asian-American female to compete for the United States in the Winter Olympics for a sport other than figure skating. She took home three silver medals and one bronze medal from five Olympics.
• Natasha “Tasha” Kai (Filipino, Hawaiian, Chinese & European American) is the first player from Hawaii to make the full U.S. National Women’s Soccer team. In 2008, she helped the team earn an Olympic Gold medal.
• Michelle Wie (Korean American) is the youngest female to compete on the PGA Tour and the youngest USGA champion in an adult event.
• Kristi Yamaguchi (Japanese American) is a two-time Olympic Gold Medal ice skating champion, a two-time singles World Champion, and a two-time pairs National Champion.
• Amy Chow (Chinese American) is the first Asian American woman to win an Olympic Gold Medal in gymnastics.
• Anona Naone Napoleon (Native Hawaiian) won the International Makaha Surfing Competition.
• Michelle Waterson (Thai & European American) is a Mixed Martial Arts champion.
• Liane Lissa Sato (Japanese American) took home a Bronze Medal for the United States Women’s Volleyball Team at the Olympics held in Barcelona.
• Catherine Mai-Lan Fox (Vietnamese & European American) is a two-time Olympic Gold Medal winner for swimming.
• Megan Khang (Hmong American) is the first Hmong American to play on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour.
• Mohini Bhardwaj (Indian & Russian American) is the first Indian-American gymnast to medal at the Olympics.
• Naomi Osaka (Japanese & Haitian) is the first female Asian player to hold the number one ranking by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).

You can preview my Kickstarter Campaign here!

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My books:

BEST #OWNVOICES CHILDREN’S BOOKS: My Favorite Diversity Books for Kids Ages 1-12 is a book that I created to highlight books written by authors who share the same marginalized identity as the characters in their books.