The solo show that made Kristina Wong a Pulitzer Prize finalist told the story of hundreds of women sewing masks during a pandemic. Her new book asks a younger question: How do you teach a 10-year-old to be an activist?
Wong will launch “Auntie Kristina’s Guide to Asian American Activism” at Sierra Madre Playhouse on Saturday, April 18, at 2 p.m. — four days after its April 14 publication by Beaming Books. The 236-page nonfiction guide, aimed at readers ages 10 to 14, is co-written with Theodore Chao, an assistant professor at California State University, Fullerton; Anna Michelle Wang; and Jenessa Joffe. All four are creators of “Radical Cram School,” the web series Wong launched in 2018 to engage Asian American children in conversations about identity and social justice. Tickets are $35 and include a copy of the book.
The event lineup extends well beyond a standard author reading. All four co-authors will appear, according to the Playhouse event listing. Mia Yamamoto, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney and civil rights activist who was born in the Poston War Relocation Center during World War II and later became the first openly transgender trial lawyer in California, will share stories and a song. Yamamoto is featured in the book as an “Auntie Hero” — the book’s term for Asian American activists profiled across its chapters. Two young readers from the book, Emi Hope Sperber and Liberty Chao, will also read selections.
Wong’s credentials place her among the most decorated working artists in the Los Angeles region. She is the first Asian American woman named a Pulitzer Prize finalist in Drama, recognized in 2022 for “Kristina Wong, Sweatshop Overlord.” That show — which dramatized her founding of the Auntie Sewing Squad, a mutual-aid network of volunteers, led primarily by women of color, who shipped hundreds of thousands of free homemade masks to vulnerable communities during the COVID-19 pandemic — won the Drama Desk Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Solo Show. She is also a Guggenheim Fellow and a Doris Duke Artist Award recipient.
The new book grew out of the “Radical Cram School” series, which Wong describes on her website as a show where Asian American kids ages 6 to 12 explore identity, revolution, and social justice through puppets, community storytelling, and comedy. Kirkus Reviews gave the book a starred review, calling it a work that introduces the legacies of Asian American activism through modular chapters on history, intersectionality, and allyship. School Library Journal, also in a starred review, praised its interactive structure. The book includes profiles of activists across generations, creative and STEM-based projects, journal prompts, and scout-style merit badges for each chapter.
Wong, who also serves as an elected representative on the Wilshire Center Koreatown Neighborhood Council in Los Angeles, has described her artistic approach as “subversive, humorous, and endearingly inappropriate,” according to her artist statement.
The April 18 event wraps Sierra Madre Playhouse’s Lunar New Year programming series, which this season has included Vietnamese dance, an East West Players production, and experimental pop music. The Playhouse, a 99-seat theater that has operated on Sierra Madre Boulevard since 1910, was named Nonprofit of the Year by Rep. Judy Chu in 2023. Its 2026 season is titled “Small Stage, Big World.”
Tickets are available at sierramadreplayhouse.org or by calling 626-355-4318. Sierra Madre Playhouse is at 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre — a short drive from Pasadena along the foothill corridor.
Wong is scheduled to appear the following day, April 19, at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, according to her website, making the Playhouse event the opening stop in a launch-week swing across the region.
AUTHOR — KRISTINA WONG: BOOK RELEASE Date & Time: Saturday, April 18, 2026, 2:00 PM | Venue: Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA 91024 | Phone Number: 626-355-4318 | Website: https://www.sierramadreplayhouse.org/event/kristinawong2026
