In a word – and to quote from the title – this book is amazing. Filled with poems chosen by award-winning poet Lee Bennett Hopkins that celebrate the wonders of our diversity, this gorgeous book is populated by the vibrant immediacy of Chris Soentpiet‘s stunning canvases that breathe life in the very amazing faces all around us.
The opening poem, “Amazing Face” by Rebecca Kai Dotlich, acknowledges Soentpiet’s own background as a Korean adoptee … the gurgling baby in motion, his arms flung wide, his one little foot up in the air, laughing in joy at his adoring mother holding him up for all the world to see as she tells him, “Amazing, your face. / Amazing.” Clearly mother and child are not biologically related, but they have all the love to make them a forever-family. [Soentpiet groupies will also call to mind his illustrations for a previous book, Jin Woo by Eve Bunting, one of the most affecting picture books on transracial adoption, mostly because of Soentpiet's art.]
Soentpiet masterfully gathers a memorable crowd from all walks of life: from a young boy who has fallen asleep waiting for his mother to finish her long hours of sewing work in an excerpt from “My Chinatown” by Kam Mak, to a fabulous little girl with can-do attitude admiring her strong reflection in the bilingual “Me x 2″ by Jane Medina, to the no-longer-lonely student whose teacher asks her to play in “Miss Stone” by Nikki Grimes, to the high-fisted young girl with flying ponytail and outstretched foot mid-kick in “Karate Kid” by Jane Yolen, to a young boy watching the nighttime shimmer in “High in the Sky” by Pat Mora … the list goes on and on …
Perhaps the most heartstring-pulling of all is “A Young Soldier” by Prince Redcloud, which captures the strong embrace of a father and his son who has just returned from military service, as the mother stands in the doorway in shocked relief, waiting her turn for a beloved hug from her young man who has seen too much: “… keeping / miles of memories / sealed within // one / heartbreaking / boyish / grin.”
As a grandmother and two grandchildren share memories in “Abuela” by J. Patrick Lewis, and a great crowd gathers for nighttime festivities in “My People” by Langston Hughes, gather your family, share Amazing Faces, and cherish the moments of wonder-filled togetherness.
Readers: All
Published: 2010
The holiday season is fast approaching (already!) so take note now … order this book for everyone on your list who likes to eat! Part cultural history, part talk-story, and all thoroughly delicious, author 
The SI boys gather some of the top names in Asian American pop culture to present a unique anthology of the Asian American experience – complete with masked crusaders, caped champions, and even everyday heroes. Together, they’re making our ever-morphing, multi-culti American future a safer, more inclusive place for all our kids!
The inaugural post for a historic inaugural year!
A joyful celebration of all sorts of brown-tinted skin colors, reflected in the tan of a spicy masala chai to the cocoa of a frothy hot chocolate to the ochre of a bridal mehendi hand design to the coffee brown of café con leche to the adobe brown of a mesa home. 
Helen Kimura has survived and thrived by using her irresistable beauty to get exactly what she wants. Steely and independent, she’s never succumbed to anyone else’s expectations but her own. Her four daughters by four different fathers have, to say the least, lived rather untraditional lives, but they are tightly bound to one another as well as their surprising mother. When a serious car accident lands Helen in the hospital longterm, each of the daughters are scattered to their respective fathers and must find a way back to being a family again.
Luddite me made a surprisingly funny joke to two techies after reading 
The poignant shortcomings of soulful slacker Ben Tanaka are artfully presented in this striking volume. And, of course, Ben isn’t the only one with shortcomings. When his live-in relationship in Oakland falls apart and his girlfriend leaves him to take a Manhattan internship, Ben finds himself succumbing to his wandering eye, spending ever more time with his lesbian best friend and eventually flying to New York to see what the hubbub is about.
Yes, it’s pricey, but if you ever wanted a one-stop primer on Asian American theater, this is definitely it. Besides, I – yes, me, yours truly, don’t be so surprised! – get a very sweet nod in the acknowledgements and am cited in the secondary sources for a handful of old articles (am dating myself, I know), so it’s got to be good, right? Am just tickled.
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