PASADENA — “Writing About the Asian American Family” is the topic of a joint reading by Naomi Hirahara and Eric C. Wat on Monday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m. at Vroman’s Bookstore, 695 E. Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena.

In Hirahara’s latest mystery, “Iced in Paradise,” Leilani Santiago returns home to Hawaii, where she must clear the name of her estranged father, the prime suspect in a murder case. She also has to care for her ailing mother and a failing family business, not to mention her aging grandmother and younger siblings.

In Wat’s debut novel, “SWIM,” Carson Chow wakes up from a meth binge to?find that his mother has died. He has to plan her funeral and manage everyone else’s grief while trying to stay sober.

Whether you’re an amateur sleuth or a drug addict, Asian Americans still have to go home at the end of the day and make sure everyone is safe and fed. Though Hirahara and Wat work in different genres, both underscore Asian American family dynamics that can be as frustrating as they are fortifying.

Come and hear them read from their works and discuss how they each amplify and work out this ambivalence in their writing.

For more information, call (626) 449-5320 or visit www.vromansbookstore.com.

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