Changing the Game: Asian Pacific American Female Athletes Kickstarter Project!

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.

My Kickstarter project is 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]

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).

I hope you will share my Kickstarter project on social media when it starts on February 15 and consider donating if you are able.

You can preview my Kickstarter Campaign here!

I am also including an option to donate my book to the Free Diverse Books for Classrooms through Multicultural Children’s Book Day.

To examine any book more closely at Amazon, please click on image of book.

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My books:

Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación

⭐ Starred review from Kirkus
⭐ Starred review from Publishers Weekly
⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal
Kirkus: The Most Anticipated Children’s Books of Spring 2026

Free and downloadable guide:

Barbed Wire Between Us Teacher’s Guide

Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Postcards from Malcolm X: How Yuri Kochiyama Became a Civil Rights Activist

Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

Fortune Cookies for Everyone! (Smithsonian): The Surprising Story of the Tasty Treat We Love to Eat

California Eureka Non-Fiction Gold Award
Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)

The Traveling Taco: The Amazing and Surprising Journey of Many of Your Favorite Foods

California Eureka Non-Fiction Silver Award
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025

Bookshop.org / Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me

We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court

ALSC Notable Children’s Book
2025 Carter G. Woodson Book Award Middle Level Honoree
Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
2024 Julia Ward Howe Prize for Children’s Literature Winner
California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year 2025
Recommended Reading for the Social Justice Literature Award 2025 (International Literacy Association)
Pennsylvania Mountain Laurel Book Award Nominee 2026-27
Junior Library Guild Gold Selection