Asian Author Fills in Blanks Series: NEIGHBORHOOD HEROES

Who inspires the youth of America? How many really want tobe like Mike? Or Arnold? Or Hillary? Or Spike? Or Oprah?

Celebrities have long been role models. But there are otherpeople out there - most of whom toil in anonymity or something closeto it - who deserve star status when it comes to offering shiningexamples of dedication, drive and selflessness.

The Chicago Sun-Times has been highlighting a few of thesespecial people.

When she was 5, Sandra Yamate wandered the aisles of BargainTown searching in vain for a Barbie doll that looked like her mother.

Sometimes she feels as though she is still searching.

Few children's toys have her olive-colored skin, almond eyes anddark hair. Although her family came to the United States from Japanthree generations ago, such differences have made her feel out ofplace for most of her 33 years.

"It creates an odd sense of reality," said Yamate, recallinghow, as a child, she would ask her parents what was wrong with her."Even with Dick and Jane books, their idea of diversity was havingtheir city cousins visit their country cousins."

Yamate, by writing children's books, is now trying to make surethat the next generation of Asian-American children don't feel lonelyand isolated the way she did.

Three years ago, Yamate and her husband, Brian, founded one ofthe few publishing companies in the nation to print books solelyabout Asian-American children.

Operating from their Ravenswood Manor home, the couple haspublished six books, two of which were written by Yamate. The storylines attempt to squash negative stereotypes before children formprejudices.

"These aren't Cinderella with an Asian face slapped on thecover," Yamate said. "We work very hard to find books that reflectAsian ancestry and promote positive relationships between races. Ifkids grow up with a way to balance all the negativity in the world,maybe they will be more balanced human beings without the racialhatred."

One book tells the story of a Chinese-American boy who is teasedby friends for liking char siu bao, or barbecued pork on a bun. Hetries a peanut butter sandwich. He tries a hot dog. And finally hedecides not to change his eating habits just to fit in. Instead, hegets his friends to try his sandwich.

"It is important that we see the world as a big place - not justa white European influenced world," said Same Ozaki, a formerprincipal at Taft High School who has read all of Yamate's books.

But if reaching children with books is her goal, Yamate has aformidable task.

Of the 4,500 new children's books introduced last year, just 30were written by or about Asian Americans, according to a survey bythe Cooperative Children's Book Center at the School of Education atthe University of Wisconsin-Madison.

"Her books are filling a void in multi-cultural literature,"said Yvonne Lau, assistant dean of multi-cultural affairs at LoyolaUniversity.

"They are realistic and portray Asians as normal kids so thatwe're not placed on pedestals or mystified in a way that Asians arethe ones who are the whiz kids," Lau said. "Young children need tobe taught early on that we are all very different and that thedifference is something positive."